#it's fine that people don't desire harassment

[thorne1435]

I want so desperately to be a streamer caught up in some bullshit drama, getting harassed with death threats online.

It genuinely sounds so fucking entertaining.

[gremlingottoosilly]

Tourist/On Visa Reader thinking it's part of the culture for them to be touchy because of König

You don't understand why people always say that Austrians are unfriendly - you met this funny, but a bit weird Austrian guy, and he is so touchy and active towards you, you'd think he is Italian or something! He was a bit quiet at first, when you met at some pub at Vienna - you wanted to go where locals go, having no desire to be like a normal, obnoxious tourist - you're going to the weird places, rare places, to something that you never seen on social media before. The guy has funny English - a bit of an accent makes it sound higher than normal, that boyish tone as he asks what you're doing here. He has a hand on your thigh almost immediately - it comes naturally, even the way he fights with the end of your shirt feels...normal. He has big hands, and you're a bit drunk and a bit of a sucker for hands like this, so you allow him to put them here. He says it's a cultural thing - something from the culture of the Salzburg mountains and how close people are to each other. It doesn't sound quite right, but you're too drunk on culture to care. He talks about his country and his job - something like a soldier, he says, and you salute him a bit sluggishly. He gently wraps his fingers around yours to make you salute properly - and you almost fall into his lap because of how careful he is. He handles you like fine china, like a really precious piece of equipment, and you kinda like it. He feels a bit awkward, still; sometimes, he would squeeze your leg a bit too tight and only let go when you whimper - you think he might be nervous about the whole changing into a different language thing. He asks where you're staying, and you tell him about a bit shitty hostel you got a room in - because you wanted to live like a local without being harassed by creepy Airbnb hosts. He asks if you want him to drive you to it - it's pretty late, and you don't really know the transport system yet. You thought he was too drunk to drive, but he didn't touch a single alcohol drop whole evening - he was just ordering you drinks, from beer to heavy liquor, constantly talking about how you have to try it if you really want to check out the culture. You want to trust him - so you smile at him as he pays for your tab and drives you. You don't recognize the area, but it's because you're a tourist, the first time in the city - he probably knows the roads far better. When you realise it's not even remotely close to your hostel, he is already dragging you in. It must be a cultural thing, too.

[antimony-medusa]

Okay because I keep seeing these posts, I am just gonna cartwheel in here and say something.

It is not inappropriate to be attracted to real people.

Like, entirely setting aside the question of if you think a fantasy character block men is hot, if you are looking at the photos of a real streamer and you've got hearts in your eyes, I can't overemphasize how normal that is. You're good. Don't worry about it.

These people are funny, and they have good voices, and we watch them be entertaining for hours at a time. This is prime real estate for a little crush. And having a crush is fine, the question is about your behaviour once you have a crush.

I am seeing people thinking that having a crush on a streamer means they're dangerously parasocial, or somehow predatory, or abusive, and that ever breathing a word of it is basically sexual harassment. And like, no. Being attracted to real people is not weird. That's arguably less weird than being attracted to fictional characters. The only question is like, once you know that you want to smooch the real person, how do you then treat that person and the people around you?

Seeing a photo of a famous person and thinking "oh hell yeah I want to hold their hand": this is a celebrity crush. I am aroace and I've spent enough time in some people's streams that I start to go "oh man I wonder if they'd like if if we played D&D together" (medusa-flirting). This has happened to regular people looking at attractive famous people probably since someone in the cave man clan was a particularly good hunter and got praise for it. Thoughts in your head don't hurt people. This is fine.

Seeing clips of a famous person and having sexual thoughts about them: this is still a celebrity crush. Your average boring office worker does this with movie stars. Half the people on the bus are doing this with instagram influencers. Runnning a nice r-rated movie in your head is fine, and doesn't hurt anyone. Thoughts in your head still dont' hurt people. This is still fine.

Collecting photos of a famous person and going GOD they're hot to your friends where the famous person won't see it: still a celebrity crush. There is a standing joke in I don't know how many healthy relationships that your partner gets a certain amount of freebies where you could totally cheat if it's Idris Elba, because it's IDRIS ELBA, that's not cheating that's just sense. You can aknowlege someone's sexiness to your friends, and even joke about it, and you're not being predatory, and you're not being inappropriate. Desire is not a crime. People can publically talk about being attracted to a person, and as long as they're not making it that person's problem, they're fine. Having a "hot people" tag on your blog with careful photos gathered from someone's public instagram where they deliberately posted photos of themselves looking hot? I can't over emphasize how fine this is. If people don't want to see hot people on their dash I guess they can unfollow? But you're literally being totally appropriate still.

Getting a nice private group chat with friends who like to talk abouta famous person and talking about how you'd like to knock him up: Look, what else are group chats as adults for? Are you seeing a trend here? As long as you are keeping your attraction to yourself and not making it other people's problem, as long as you're not bothering the real person with it, as long as you aknowledge to yourself that this is never going to happen and this is just a fun fantasy, this is just like, how attraction works. See pretty person, talk about pretty person, have fun with the fictional imaginings you're having— as long as you're not forcing this imagining on someone else, making it their problem, trying to make it real, as long as you know the difference between fiction and real life, you're fine.

Going up to someone's chat and talking about their dick: This is where you cross the line.

Putting NSFW work in someone's fan art tag. Wearing a shirt with porn on it to a meet and greet. Untagging your fanfic so that people who want to read g-rated works about someone are confronted with e-rated works. Asking one of their friends about their relationship status and if they smell good. This is the bad stuff. Don't do THAT. Keep it away from the real person.

The problem is not the attraction, the problem is forcing the attraction on other people. Like, use your brain. There's a segment of attraction that you can put on main, and then there's a segment that you can put on main but you'd better be sure that the person you're talking about is not going to see it, and then there's a segment you should keep for the group chat, but that's just a very basic sliding scale of "how sexual am I being" correlated with "how private am I being about this". If you want to run a full on porn video in your head starring Wilbur Soot, you're not bothering other people with that, you're not being inappropriate. That becomes inappropriate if you are a) putting that in tags where people who don't want to see the porn video would see it b) talking to Wilbur Soot about it. Those are the boundaries. Wait also c) talking to Wilbur Soot's friends about it, don't do that either.

If the person you're attracted to is an adult famous person, like, people being attracted to them is just part of the landscape. I promise an adult celebrity is not sitting in their room being traumatized because people might be thinking about them romantically or sexually. Putting it up in their faces? Bad. Very bad. I hate it. Don't do it. But I see people freaking out about thoughts. Thoughts aren't real. They do not exist in the real world. You can do what you fuckin' want in your thoughts and you are not hurting people.

Like I know we don't want to be inappropriate with streamers, but that doesn't mean that any sexual or romantic thoughts about them are forbidden, or that mild "GOD he's cute" or picspams on main are hurting people, or that off in a closed group of fellow adult enthusiasts you can't be like "so I think streamer would be submissive if I was domming him" and everyone can be like "oh you'd dom him so well". As long as you're keeping it away from people who are bothered by it, you're fine.

Attraction to real people is normal and how attraction works. You're not hurting people if you think they're cute. You're not hurting people if you want to fuck them, either, as long as you're not making them interact with that desire. This is just a simple matter of keeping the higher-rated material away from the people involved.

Attraction to real people isn't inappropriate. You're fine.

[merlucide]

reader gets hit on

Notes: holy shit i didn’t know I had this in me- I read this, and then they were like “you should write sum using this” and I was like “Hell the fuck yah” soooooo! 2 friend read throughs later, I present to you this fic attempt!!!(also had no idea what to call this lmao)

Words: 1k

Warnings: reader is fem(can be read as gn or masc), harassment, alcohol mentions.

"You don't have to protect me. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't protect myself."

"I'm not protecting you because you're a woman. I'm protecting you because you're my woman." - @leosxrealm

Excitement buzzed through you at the thought of the upcoming party, a chance to mingle and have fun. You found Shouei, hoping you could convince him to come with you. "There's a party tonight at Fukiwara-kun’s. It's going to be really fun. I’m gonna go, you’ll come too?" you asked, a hopeful smile on your lips.

Barou's reaction was immediate, his brow furrowing. "No, and you shouldn't go" he replied, his voice full of disapproval.

"Why not? It's just a party, it’ll be fun!”you protested.

“Parties like that are just trouble waiting to happen. You know how those scrubs are, especially with drinks involved. It’s not safe. End of discussion.”he argued, his annoyance evident.

Frustrated by his lack of trust, you retorted, "I can take care of myself, you know. I have fine judgment of who to avoid. " Without waiting for his reply, you turned and left, determined to enjoy your night despite his warnings.

At the party, the house was alive with music and laughter. Your friends wave you over, and you chat with them for a while. You left to go refill your cup of punch, when a guy, clearly having enjoyed one drink too many, slid up to you. "Hey, gorgeous, haven't seen you around before. Wanna dance?" he slurred, his intentions as clear as the alcohol on his breath.

“Ah no thank you.” You politely decline, he inches closer to you “Ah come on- don’t be like that. Let’s- let’s have some fun yeah? That’d be fun” he pressed, now grabbing onto your arms. your attempts to politely decline proving useless. The fun and freedom of the party suddenly replaced by an urgent desire for space and safety. Before you could respond, a shadow falls over you both, the music and laughter fading into the background as Barou Shouei steps into the scene. His arrival is like a storm, immediate and threatening. his demeanor is overwhelming, his eyes, dark with anger, his jaw ticked as he glares down at the man holding you.

“Let her go,” Barou commands, his voice a low rumble that cuts through the noise of the party. His stance protective and threatening. The guy, sensing the seriousness of the situation and perhaps noticing the danger in Barou’s unwavering gaze, releases your arm, stepping back lowering his head and raises his hands up in defense.

“You’re leaving,” he tells you, not a suggestion but a command. He firmly grabs your arm, dragging you through the crowd of people.

The street outside the house is pretty empty, a  few streetlights shine down, making the sidewalk glow a little in the darkness. Now and then, you might hear a car in the distance, but that’s pretty much it.

“Shouei, you didn’t have to drag me out. I could’ve handled it,” you say, your voice a mix of gratitude and frustration. You’re aware of his need to protect, but you were frustrated that he came, not trusting you to take care of yourself. Though, you really were glad he did, that guy scared you. The mixture of emotions swirling in your gut, and the adrenaline from the previous scene didn’t help.

"I told you, it's not safe. I knew something like that would happen.” he said, his voice firm, leaving no room for argument.

You sighed, knowing he was pretty much right. It really pissed you off  that he thought you couldn’t handle yourself. "You don't have to protect me. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't protect myself," you fired back, your frustration peaking.

Barou's expression softened slightly, his next words careful. "I'm not protecting you because you're a woman. I'm protecting you because you're my woman." he admitted firmly, his voice carrying a weight that made you pause.

 you can’t help but feel a warmth spread through you. His honesty and the raw concern in his voice, showing a side of him that’s vulnerable and sincere. It’s a reminder of why you care for him so much, his willingness to stand by you, even when his instincts lead him to overstep.

Despite the comfort his words bring, a part of you insists on showing your need for independence. “Shouei, hearing you say that means a lot to me, it really does. And I feel safe knowing you’re here,” you begin, your voice soft but firm, “But I also need you to understand that I can take care of myself. I value my freedom”

You pause, looking for the right words to show your feelings of appreciation and your need for freedom. “It’s about trust, trusting me to handle situations on my own and knowing when to step in. I need that space, to feel free.” You fiddle your fingers.

Barou listens, the usual intensity in his eyes softening as he thinks about what you said. After a moment, he nods, a silent acknowledgment of your needs. “I get it” he says, and though the words are simple, it’s telling you that he will try.

everything feels okay again between you and Barou. You look at him and see how much he really cares. The night air around you feels calm now.

You move closer to Barou and hug him. He hugs you back, tucking his head in your neck. Barou then gently lifts your chin and gives you a soft kiss. It's a sweet way to make up, showing you both are okay now, without needing many words.

With a smile, you both decide it's time to head home. His hand on your waist, you both start walking, enjoying the quiet night around you. The party seems like a long time ago.

This walk home feels special because it's clear you both understand and care for each other. 

Barou can’t help the way he feels the intense need to protect you. You’re just too important.

WAS THIS OKAY??? IVE NEVER DONE ANYTGUNG LIKE THIS BEFORE??? PLEASE LET ME KNOW🙏 also yes I know Barou would punch the dude, I just dunno how to write that lmao

made February 18th 2024

[local-queer-disappointment]

Fuck's a pro shipper?

We've got a new one boys try not to scare em off /j

Okay but seriously, I'm more than happy to explain. I assume that if you're asking this question you're not aware of the proshipper vs antishipper, uh, "conflict", I guess. So, here is what both of those terms mean, to the best of my descriptive abilities:

Antishipper (often just "anti"): someone who vaguely believes that consuming problematic fiction (usually specifically problematic sexual fiction like lolicon or incest) is either a true reflection of them as a person or a corrupting force that will cause them to play out these desires in real life, onto real people. Basically, if you read age gap, you touch real kids in real life or secretly want to.

Proshipper (sometimes "profic"): someone who does not believe the above, and believes that fiction is not the same as reality because it doesn't harm anyone and therefore people should be left alone as long as you have no reason to believe that they would ever do something like that irl. Often hand in hand with things like anti censorship, kink positive, etc, though being a proshipper does not necessarily mean you have a problematic ship or kink yourself (example: me).

You're probably asking this question because you saw me day in my bio that I am a proshipper. I've tried to stay neutral in this initial description, but obviously I probably didn't manage to be completely unbiased considering that I believe myself to be right (most people do) so if you want to ask further questions after this that's perfectly fine. That being said:

Why am I a proshipper?

So, to understand this, let's first look over the issues within both communities— every group has issues, after all.

What problems do proshippers have?:

- sometimes 4chan assholes co-opt the label "proshipper" just because they're lolicons, even though there's good evidence to suggest that they would do or even have done criminal sexual acts in real life, or that they possess actual csam (child sexual abuse material, a term being used in favor of "cp" these days as porn implies consent). Proshipping has nothing to do with the harmful idea that you should be allowed to exploit and abuse real children.

- there are still many gray areas which proshippers themselves don't agree on. For example: I've seen a bunch of arguments about if writing fanfiction of live action shows or movies changes the equation. The general consensus of proshippers is that writing fanfiction of a character played by a child actor is definitely a more delicate situation and should not be sexual as it's inextricably tied to the image of a real child, but there are others who believe differently.

- I'm genuinely struggling to come up with more of these. Um, sometimes lolicons are really shitty people, like in point 1. This isn't SUPER relevant though cause in reality the overlap between predominantly queer or female proshippers and Reddit incels who just wanna jerk off to a petite anime girl is pretty small, though I'm sure it exists somewhere .

Now, what problems do antis have? (Fair warning, this is gonna sound even more "biased" but I hope my logic is still sound from the outside :p):

- I don't have any statistics on this (haven't exactly been many research papers on fandom drama), so you're going to have to trust me when I say that antis are absolutely NOTORIOUS for extreme harassment campaigns. The first time I was exposed to the word "antishipper", it was attached to a story of a former animator committing suicide because antis had gotten them fired by "exposing" their porn alt on Twitter and they could no longer afford medication for their disability. So, hell of an intro!

- their opinions are, in pretty basic ways, not backed by science or even practical common sense. The human brain can distinguish between fiction and reality after around age four or five

and people certainly aren't trying to hand nsfw content to children that age so I think it's safe to say that the people who are reading these things won't be "confused" by them or whatever. Also, even just using your brain and talking to these people, you find out most of them project onto the YOUNGER character.

- they claim to support victims but often simply don't. I won't keep dragging threats into the spotlight because I know there are probably antis who aren't as violent, but it's honestly astonishing to me how often they jump straight to wishing death and terrible things on people, and this has included more than once telling a rape victim they hope they get assaulted again just because they're a proshipper. See, a lot of these "taboo" sexual fantasies like age gap and incest actually themselves stem from a traumatic experience, and any therapist will tell you that fiction is a much healthier way to explore intrusive thoughts and urges than more dangerous coping mechanisms like self harm or substance abuse. And when confronted with this, in my experience and many others', antis will simply ignore that fact or say that the therapist is some sort of evil enabler.

-the general cognitive dissonance of believing an incest fanfiction will make you "forget" that incest is bad vs being fine with horror movies and slashers speaks to a deeper and honestly kind of worrying anti-sex mindset. I'm not sure I'm qualified to tackle this particular topic, but I definitely agree that it's a thing; after all, I have no idea how else those two things could coexist.

Anyways, I'd like to close this off by saying not everyone is as crazy opinionated as I am, I'm just autistic and like talking lol. A lot of people who id as proshippers just have a sort of minding their own business, ship-and-let-ship mentality, and a lot of antis are unfortunately just teenagers who were told proshipper = evil pedophile groomer and thus they put "proship dni" in their bios just cause they don't know and don't really care what it means. It is undeniable that many antis are kids themselves, and that does worry me, because fandom drama (especially Twitter fandom drama) is dangerous and vitriolic and also they're putting extremely serious threats on their digital footprints at the tender age of 14! But whatever, I'm not their parents, that's just my worry. Sorry for rambling this long lol, I wouldn't blame you if you dropped out halfway through but this is basically my summary of this whole thing. Do with this knowledge what you will! Or, you know, don't! I'm not a cop!

[showmey0urfangs]

IWTV Fandom PSA

⚠️Warning: Very long post

TLDR: The users to block if you want to enjoy this fandom

I'm really hoping this is the last I will have to speak on this but over the past few weeks, I've been receiving a lot of DMs and had many conversations with other fans who reached out to me. It seems a lot of us have gone through or are currently going through the same negative experiences and it also looks like most of it is down to a specific group of fans, who have taken it upon themselves to make this fandom toxic and unbearable for everyone else through targeted bullying and harassment.

The most insidious part is that these individual disguise their vitriol and hatred as combatting fandom racism. They hide behind this pseudo morality to harass and bully others, while perpetuating racism and racist rhetoric themselves.

Though I agree with many of the issues they raise, I know that their arguments are not in good faith and they are only motivated by hatred and a need to assert control over other fans. I hate nothing more than to see something as ugly and heinous as racism trivialized and used as a buzzword in order to bully and demene others.

There is indeed racism in all fandoms, especially this one, and it does need to be pointed out and hopefully eradicated. But this is not the way to go about it imo, and most importantly, that is not the primary aim of these people. For them, racism just a trump card they can use to claim moral superiority over others, just like they use their blackness (for the ones that actually black, which is not all of them) as a pass that exempts them from any criticism, no matter how heinously they behave towards others.

I want to thank to everyone who reached out to me and shared their stories with me. I know a lot of you were not comfortable speaking about this publicly and that's understandable, so I hope I represent your feelings and experiences correctly.

Some in the fandom have also decided to go against this group anonymously or through trolling, which I don't condone because this only feeds into their narrative and gives them more leverage to paint themselves as the victims and to justify their disgusting behaviour towards others.

I believe instead, that this issue needs to be talked about in the open, because open and honest discussions are the only way we can grow and move forward as a fandom.

I recently read a brilliant article about the dynamics in fandom and the use of moral posturing as a both a club and shield for cyberbullying and harassment. While reading it, I realized this here is a textbook case—sometimes down to the word for word insults these people throw at other fans and the excuses they use to justify them.

So grab your snacks and drinks, this is gonna be a long one.

**the screenshots I used are a bit messy and different colors because a lot of them were sent to me by mutuals and other fans who have gone through a similar experience over the past year. Nothing is censored, including the vile language used and all the usernames. I want everyone to see and understand who these people are and how they operate. And these are just a few examples of many that were shared with me or that I have experienced first hand.

Let's start here:

This is the most recent example of the type of fandom interactions this group engages in, and as I pointed out into my response to one of them, the pretense of antiracism is just a cover. It is something they use to claim moral superiority and righteousness and thus justify their harassment of other fans, but the true motivation behind it is hatred, and a desire to exert power over other fans.

They seek to impose their interpretations of the show as the only valid one and to paint anything that deviates from that as wrong and morally reprehensible.

Let's take a closer look at where this stems from:

This group of fans seems to be united by their "love" for Louis and their hatred of Lestat, which fine and even understandable, but they then go further and also attribute moral value and hierarchy to other fans based on the characters and ships they like or the type of fanfic they consume. Once again, this is a textbook case of this sort of fandom dynamic.

This is very much reflected in their vitriolic posts:

To them, Lestat fans are reprehensible and this also extends to the actors and writers who may have any affinity for the character.

*this is the same user on her Twitter account—remember her name, she will appear here quite often.

This is just one example of their trivialization of racism—fans of a character they don't like are equivalent to something as horrific as the ku klux klan.

-----

They also target the cast, especially Sam Reid, for his great crime of liking the character he plays a little too much.

----

In their eyes, anyone who interprets these characters differently than them is either wrong or has simply failed to understand the narrative.

Again, this is just one example of that thinking:

This is once again done under the guise that any other interpretation but their own is racist because they believe if they throw that word around, no one will dare to disagree with them.

----

And with this justification, they go after fanfic writers and fan artists who depict Lestat or Louis in ways they don't like—especially those who draw Lestat as GNC, write Lestat as a bottom or verse, or attribute him any of the feminine traits he canonically possesses.

-----

And of course if anyone points out the very real racism, misogyny transphobia and homophobia in some of their own writing and discourse, they are told to stop policing the fandom or called anti black for criticizing black fans.

But when this group does it—going as far as to issue death threats to fic writers and fan artists—it's righteous and justified because only they have the moral authority on what is right and wrong and what is the correct way to consume this material.

The lengths they will go to:

Another example is that this group harassed a fanfic writer and sent them anonymous death threats for allegedly stealing their ideas —because again, only their interpretation is correct and they own a trademark on whichever tropes they write and no one else is allowed to write them.

And this was the response when asked to put an end to their harassment:

There was also an instance of going onto the fanfiction server to directly harass writers in their dedicated channels and consequently getting booted off by the mods for their aggressive behavior towards other fans and for breaking the server guidelines which include no harassment to other users.

This was, once again, done under the guise of combating fandom racism when in actuality it was simply a targeted harassment effort. This is further evidenced by the fact that even after the targeted authors corrected the issues with their fics, some of them going as far as deleting their entire fics, the group continued to harass them and still do so to this day.

*This was the same user later boasting about it on her blog and her friends applauding her for it in the comments.

And when asked about it later, she feigned ignorance and pretended not to care, despite still sending anon messages to the author, telling them they should also delete the rest of their fics.

It seems this same groups were behind the harassment of many fanfic writers over the last year, often anonymously, to the point where some stopped writing or deactivated their AO3 entirely.But again, when called out on this, their will paint themselves as the victims.

From the many testimonies and messages I received, this group seem to be behind most instances of fandom drama that occured in the past year, both on here and on Twitter. And even when the other fans acquiesce to them or even apologize, they will continue to go after them.

This all stems from the belief that they are the moral authority of the fandom, and their interpretation of these characters is the only valid one. Anyone who disagree is the enemy and deserved to be harassed until they comply—and even after that.

Again, this is never about the racism in fandom, it's just about asserting power over other fans.

Their behavior towards other black fans:

That is another important point; despite their claim of speaking for all black IWTV fans and 'uplifting black voices' in the fandom, this group will go after any black fans who disagree with them the most viciously.

They did it to me and many others, as exemplified here, here or here, using the most vile, dehumanizing and racist insults you can throw at another black person to do so. Their logic is always—agree with us or be branded a traitor.

This because our mere existence is a direct contradiction to their moral posturing. When we criticize them or point out that their behaviour towards other fans is reprehensible, they can't shut us down by saying "how dare you attack a black person."

We are black fans who also speak out against fandom racism but disagree with them and point out the hypocrisy in a lot of what they say. Therefore we must be silenced and discredited in order for their tactics to work. We have to be painted as 'the wrong kind' of blacks, race traitors and coons upholding white supremacy while only they have the correct understanding of it.

-----

This was being said to me by a white fan who somehow felt entitled call me a race traitor and accuse me, a black woman, of upholding white supremacy by criticizing him because he knew the group would back him up as long as he continues to carefully toe the party line. And he was right, they all rushed to his defense because it was never about "uplifting black voices" and they have no problem attacking other black fans and using the most vile, degrading and racist insults to do so.

I can personally say that it's the most alienating and dehumanizing thing to be told that you are a traitor to your own skin, that you are not fit to belong to the identity and culture you do—to be told your blackness is somehow lesser—and all this over your opinions about fictional characters.

Again, these are just a few examples. Tumblr only allows certain number of images per post, but I was inundated with screenshots and messages, and I know there are so many more in this fandom who've had similar experiences with this group in the past year, outside of all the ones who've already reached out to me.

This group believe they are justify in dehumanizing and abusing other fans, and in engaging in toxic behaviors such as anonymous hate, harassment, death threats, doxing, false reporting of other fans' accounts etc. because they believe they have the moral high ground and therefore anything they do and say is warranted. They also think this supposed moral superiority makes them untouchable and exempt from all criticism. After all, the rest of us are nothing but lowly pieces of shit who think the wrong things or likes the wrong ships/character etc.

And of course, the moment you respond, defend yourself, or point out their negative behavior, you're a bully, racist/anti black and they are invariably the victims regardless of the context.

----

I'd been ignoring this group's repeated attacks against me and had stopped engaging with them in the hopes that it would eventually die down, but it seems it has only escalated. So I've decided to speak about this once and for all and hopefully be done with it. If this post can also help other fans who have dealt with a similar experience, then even better.

Bullies win by silencing you and making you feel isolated and alone but know that you are not. This is a very common thing that happens in a lot of fandoms and I would once again highly recommend the article linked above and the other posts from that Twitter user because they offers so much perspective on this type of fandom phenomenon.

Fandom is supposed to be a place where we come together around a shared interest in things that we love, not around hatred of certain groups or characters. And I am so grateful that throughout this experience, I was able to meet and exchange with some amazing people that made the negative aspects pale in comparison to all the joy and kindness I've experienced in this fandom.

In conclusion:

My advice to other fans is that anytime someone comes after you, attacks you, throws accusations at you or uses vile dehumanizing language towards you—all under the guise of some false morality crusade— ask yourself if they are truly reaching out to you in good faith or if their aim is simply to demene and ridicule you for a power trip.

If you realized that their goal is just to bully into silence or harass you just because they think they are entitled to, do not engage with them further. There is no point in trying to argue or reason with someone who has no interest in an honest and open dialogue and only in scoring points. Simply block them and move on.

And so to that effect:

**NEW BLOCK LIST JUST DROPPED**

Many of you have probably already come across this person, perhaps some of you may even already have her blocked.

She also has a another account called meastyeyes and goes by that same username on Twitter and on AO3

And these are some of the other people in her friend group that I have seen first hand engaging in this type of bullying and harassment or have found through screenshots sent by other fans.

And of course, this user, formerly greedydemands, who now goes by downstairsbar and verseau on AO3

Some of you may have also seen the others in AO3 comments as

There are probably a few more of them in this group, and in typical coward cyberbully fashion, many of them have burner accounts and they will still find a way to stalk and harass you even after you block them. But I believe blocking and not interacting a good first step.

This has been my fandom PSA. Stay safe out there.

[utilitycaster]

Hi I’m a new critter and I love your account and both your meta and your takes on “drama” I genuinely want to know (if you don’t mind saying of course) what you consider to be the most egregious, bad faith cr take that you’ve ever seen. I just like reading your criticism because it’s both incredibly articulate and smart but also very satisfying

Hi anon,

Thank you! I do have to say this is a difficult question with a boring answer but I'll give you a tangential one as well to make up for it.

Obviously, the misogyny and death threats in C1 are the worst! Anything that rises to the combination of structural oppression and literal death threats is going to be the worst, even before you factor in how utterly tiny the stakes were here (and, frankly, you shouldn't factor that in; doesn't matter what the cause is, big or small! Do not send death threats!)

The reason I tend not to talk about that is because there's very little to say. It's misogynistic death threats. That's awful, inexcusable, and dangerous in any context. But if someone doesn't understand how terrible this is, I don't think I can say anything to add to that.

Anyway because that was true, but obvious and not terribly revealing, I have been thinking a lot about mean-spiritedness in the fandom and I'll talk about that here. It's something I try to be cognizant of, because here's the thing: I talk a lot of shit. I'm aware I talk a lot of shit. There's many reasons why I talk a lot of shit. But I do try very hard not to be mean-spirited. I think there is a very clear distinction between criticism, even harsh criticism, of things you don't like, whether it's in execution, concept, or they just aren't to your taste; and mean-spiritedness, which is much more based in a desire to do harm to others.

I think again the example I've mentioned recently of people harassing Liam until he took a song off a Caleb character playlist is the pinnacle. This doesn't have any real goal re: criticism - it doesn't address an issue with the character nor the narrative and the only personal preference it reveals is "I, a random fan, don't like that this song was used in this context" which is not really relevant and you can skip it. Harassment is never justified, and even behavior that skirted harassment really served only to be a dick to Liam. It didn't have a single result other than "Liam takes the song off and feels kind of bad for a while," which I suspect was in fact the goal for most people, and that's pretty abhorrent.

Harsh criticism is not necessarily constructive, but it is with the intent to reveal - either a personal preference, or what you believe to be a flaw (structural, thematic, etc) within the story. It might not have a goal - personal preference really is just "I don't like this guy" and that's fine. Mean-spiritedness, however, exists just to spew bile and do harm.

So the following (most of which are paraphrased, but all are things I've personally seen on Tumblr alone, and nearly all are from the last year or so) aren't per se the most egregious or bad-faith takes, but they are absolutely mean-spirited. They have all destroyed my estimation of the people saying them for the most part beyond repair, and in many cases, if they have not hurt my estimation of the ship or character they were intending to support, they have certainly increased my estimation of the things they were intending to oppose. (And it goes without saying: any harassment - any - is automatically mean-spirited).

"I hope Fjord and Jester have divorced [author's note: they were not married] and I hope it hurt."

"I hope Caleb and that floaty fuck have broken up by the solstice."

"I hate Ashton, and Campaign 3 wouldn't be any different if they weren't there."

"My wishlist for this episode is that Chetney hits on Fearne and Ashton cockblocks him"

"I hope Fearne makes that robot eat his stupid coin"

"I'm not surprised that Yasha missed, because Yasha is bad at everything."

"Funny how Vex goes against her husband but does everything that Keyleth says" [Author's note: later proved to be hilariously untrue]

"No one cares about Travis's characters."

"Oh, Liam meant that Essek's own guilt would still exist by 'It won't help the inside?' I thought he was just being a fucking twat."

I think some people go into fandom not because they want to talk about characters, but because they see it as an opportunity to hit someone. I think some people believe they are entitled to a "win" (not normal to want nor possible to achieve and often less about the story and more about the fandom agreeing with them) and will engage in any tactic no matter how underhanded if they don't think they're getting it. That's what mean-spiritedness is in the end. It's not a single opinion, and often it goes under the radar compared to more stupid but less clearly unpleasant takes - a lot of the above didn't result in a ton of discourse because most people see these and rightfully go "oh that person is a tar pit" and block them - but it's certainly, outside of bigotry (which is also frequently also mean-spirited) - the most bad-faith approach to fandom on the whole.

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

I don’t think the harassment is acceptable. I think people are really out of pocket doing that, but I do think him establishing what is and isn’t part of his job is fine. And maybe did need to be said, because clearly people didn’t know.

As for using Buddie as promo… idk. The marketing team is gonna do whatever ABC feels will garner the most viewers, and right now it’s Buck being bi and the long held desire to see him and Eddie become canon. They’re gonna milk it however they can, which falls back on Tim, thus him feelings like he needed to explain himself, presumably.

I do agree it could be toned down though, because Buck is now canonically dating someone else, and I don’t recall them teasing Buddie for real when he was with women. So doing it now the way they are is purely because they’re banking on Buddie fans, while also currently not committing.

Plus, everything Buddie related from before has to now be assumed not canon, so it’s putting everyone in a messy spot. Because we have canon, fanon, show runner confirmed but not on screen, and canon jokes that are now floating in the in between because no one knows if the they’ll be acknowledged in canon or get scrapped.

I think people should just calm down and wait to see what the season brings, anyway. Once it’s over and we get an idea of where all the characters are at, then start asking bigger questions or letting out the more angry frustrations.

Hi! Sorry for the late reply. The sheer amount of work that goes into television hasn't often been well realized in fan spaces. The writing, how it translates to screen, the process of acting, all the work by the crew, the pressures from moneymen, managing the expectations of the audience, the long hours and repetition of scenes. How multiple people working on a creative project means multiple interpretations— all of which bleed through. The showrunner has every right to protect himself and the people who work for him. I was mainly trying to draw on my own experiences in how these harassment campaigns happen, how they continue, and how they can be mitigated.

US TV production has a long and rocky history when it comes to queer narratives. That doesn't really end now that there are canonically queer characters on screen and this fallout is part of the response to that tension.

For example, if I engage in the whole Buddie vs. Bucktommy thing (sorry), I'd say both perspectives have a point they don't realize they're making about queerness in television storytelling.

The thesis I feel like Buddie fans are making is there are two queer coded main characters who love each other, who have seasons of build up in their individual characters and in their relationship. Why can't they be together? Because they're two male main characters on network television? Be bold, be brave. Wouldn't it be amazing if they did commit to that story? Wouldn't it be game changing? Sexuality and friendship and love is not set in stone, it's okay to be flexible. M/F relationships are allowed that space to develop within a story and you know if one of them were a woman they probably would be together already.

The thesis I feel like BuckTommy fans are making is that Buddie was never going to happen, realistically, and it's amazing enough that they committed to Buck being canonically bisexual. Why do you want to rock the boat? Don't you see that if you can't embrace this development it could be snatched away at any moment. The show is its own thing within its own context and not the blinkered interpretation you have of two characters. This queerness is canon.

Those two thesis's (thesi?) are rubbing up against each other and building straw men of the other to attack and tear down. A showrunner wading in was only ever going to combust that tension further and that's what happened. What keeps happening.

[pansear-doodles]

Cancelling a majority of my rain world projects

I really didn't want to do this. After the incident, for a while I thought I could just easy out on it by just checking in on people who are still okay with me, but that'll only drive more stress, and frankly- I hate that my life forward in this fandom is a guessing game. I value a lot of people in this fandom and now... a lot of them are gone. Just like that. I can't stop them and... that's okay.

I figured that- in the end. I think it would be better that I cancel these projects, and assume that anymore new ones I make would involve people who are those that are accepting of me and do not distance from me after everything. I don't want to create forced things, especially when furthering the kind of interactions that introduce discomfort from both sides.

Unfortunately the cancellation of these projects involve the outputs of people who are chill with me, but I believe that those people who are chill with me would be fine with myself prioritizing my health and safety over things that aren't made out of sheer obligation.

It sucks, but in order to move forward, I have to let things go. These projects included. Please do not blame the people who were responsible for these causations. Do not harass them.

If this brings any comfort, not all projects are affected. The MAP will still go on (and I'm so thankful to have a lot of supporters regardless of everything) and I'm certainly not cancelling my Anthro AU projects over this (but... projects involving modcats... I don't know...).

As much as a lot of things hurt, I won't back down myself completely just because I disappointed some people. I must have courage. I have the right to exist and share my work to everyone and enjoy these experiences. They may mean nothing to others, but to me, it means everything. It is my passion after all.

I'm not making this post to be a woobie nor this is me desiring clout or whatever. I think it's best to address what will happen to these projects from there on out directly.

Notable projects include:

Shipping punnet square

Pride Month Requests

Different artist scugs in the same drawing

Sticky Note walls (it just hurts to look at some of the messages now)

Drawbox Sharing (but... I remain to see the drawings for my eyes for myself, even though some of them really hurt.) ; In turn, I'm closing the drawbox.

Thank you for understanding. Here's to hoping a good future and projects that can come to life and find their own finish lines.

[taylorswiftstylequestions]

omfg i'm sorry to rant but i NEED a sympathetic person to hear this. i like the every single album podcast more than most swifties, but today's ep -- and the last few -- are driving me insane. i am so fucking sick of hearing nathan and nora wring their hands over what joe might deal with. all harassment is bad, but i am done pretending that jake g and john mayer went through….any kind of wringer? they had like...a semi-awkward couple of weeks? jake is still a mega a-lister and john mayer is widely considered to be one of the greatest living guitarists. fuck, what mayer did was outright predatory -- and he's done it to multiple women -- and lbr, he lives 99% of his life totally unperturbed by it. he's not losing gigs or status in the places that matter to him; i suspect a lot of swifties aren't aware of this but i'm a guitar nerd, and uh, yeah, he's considered a living god and no one gives a shit what he did to taylor. and literally everyone woman in the public eye, including taylor, goes through worse every single fucking day, even at their heights of popularity. i don't know how to deal with hearing nathan and nora worry about :(((( omg what will joe go through :((((( when he's never going to have disgusting ai porn of himself explode across twitter on a random weekday. maybe i feel this strongly b/c i work in games, where hordes of male fans regularly ruin random women's lives because they animated a female character wearing a t-shirt instead of a string bikini, but i can't deal with this anymore. these men are fine. lots of people get mad at them, but it's because they did truly shitty things to her and she refused to absorb it silently. then it breaks, and their lives go on.

---

I feel like Nora really articulated what Anon was trying to say the other day about along the gist of "I hope something really bad happened to justify all of this." Interesting perspectives! Btw I just want to be super clear that I don't think Taylor or anyone has to justify anything like that! Just thought it was interesting how Nora put it in the latest episode and T's power is the unusual part of this equation.

---

In a very classic "I thought the two of you should meet!" re: today's The Ringer / Every Single Album pod episode.

I will say I read both of these messages before listening to the episode myself and tbh I think Nora ultimately landed in a pretty middle and reasonable place (it started out pretty rocky though) by the end of the episode. My understanding is she ultimately felt like Taylor has every right to tell the story that she wants / needs to tell and the work will speak for itself. That this is Taylor going face to face with the elephant in the room and (probably - we don't know obviously) not obfuscating the reality that we all saw play out in real time behind 'fictionalized' half truths roleplayed by semi-imaginary characters. And at the end of the day the (likely - AGAIN WE DON'T KNOW) reality is that she's prepared to walk through the narrative that is this pressure cooker storyline many are waiting with baited breath for which is the deterioration of her most significant relationship to date.

All that to say is that I think both of these points are incredibly valid. I personally have a lot of feelings wrapped up in it that do tend to come down more on the side of it's strange that the default position is this desire to sign up as first in line defence attorney for a man when the crime as we know it is 'woman writes her life into art'.

Nora interestingly noted that there's a "pressure for this album to come with receipts" (paraphrase) based on this (fan) hyped up narrative of something sinister having gone awry that this album will pull the curtain back on. And if it fails to do that, enter said self-appointed attorneys.

[bayleafpsa]

Yaad tells Laios that he needs to pop out some heirs soon to ensure the royal succession. Laios, who has no desire to be harassed by a bunch of nobles until he picks the least bad to impregnate, does what any brother would and tries to push responsibility to his little sister. Fallin decides to stand her ground to keep Marcille from committing regicide and goes "nuh-uh, that's YOUR job" and of course, like siblings, they start arguing indefinitedly:

"I don't have time to court anyone, I can barely keep up with this king thing!"

"But you accepted to be king, didn't you?"

"I wasn't thinking!"

"And I was dead!"

"Ugh, but nobles are so stuck-up, if I marry one she's going to hate me and try to kill me :C"

"It's fine, Marcille and I will protect you c:"

"But you are sooo much better with people :C"

"I have feathers! I don't want anybody to judge my feathers."

"If anybody says anything about your feathers I will arrest them! "

"Thank you, but that's abuse of power... c:"

And that's how the kingdom ends up having no choice but to invent general elections.

[fox-steward]

Hello, this ask is probably going to be rather heavy, so it's fine if you don't want to respond to it.

So my situation is that for several years (from 13 to 17) I considered myself to be a man trapped in a woman's body and wanted to transition to become "my true self". However, since then I became gender critical and stopped pursuing transition because it would not fix my internal issues and above all it would not actually ever make me male. So transitioning became pointless to me.

Now as an adult however, I've recently started feeling my desire to transition creeping back on me, although this time it was because of how apparent it became to me how misogyny all around the world is seen as a non-issue. Every day I hear of women dying, being sexually assaulted, forcefully impregnated and in general being disrespected by everyone. All of this became too much for me to handle so that's why my desire for transition came back. (Not to mention that I'm the only GNC woman in my social circles, so there is also the added alienation from other women.)

I think my question is: is it really that bad to transition in order to avoid or at least lessen the amount of misogyny i face every day? I know that by doing so I would be throwing other women under the bus, but I'm not mentally strong enough to challenge the oppression women face. I know that transitioning would make me miserable in many ways and probably physically sick as well (with all the hormonal side effects), but at least it would mean that men would harass me less. I'd rather be safe than happy.

you don’t need anyone’s permission to make that choice, but i will reflect back to you some of the truly limited insight i can glean from this message:

you already think transition will be bad for you, both for your physical body and your mental health.

you don’t seem to believe the central tenet of gender ideology that generally allows trans people to persist in their identification.

you seem like you feel isolated and alone, mentioning being the only GNC woman in your group. perhaps trying to find other GNC women is a safer and more attractive goal for you than transitioning?

you’re right that misogyny is everywhere, but some of the examples you mention make me think you’re spending a lot of time online where your exposure to these things may be magnifying the role they’re playing in your everyday life. maybe i’m wrong and all these things are truly happening TO you, but if they’re not, there’s no shame in limiting your exposure to them. same concept as doom-scrolling affecting how people view society. you don’t need this, but i give you permission to look away from the carnage sometimes so that you may look upon your own life with love and appreciation, because there likely are things there to love and appreciate.

you aren’t single-handedly responsible for challenging the oppression women face, and an inability to fix it all doesn’t mean whatever you can do (something as seemingly small as being a visibly masculine woman who gives a little girl hope for how she can be in the future) isn’t meaningful.

best of luck to you, and i get it; it makes sense to want to hide, and camouflage is a widely used survival technique in prey animals. but our lives are not so purely animalistic, we must also create meaning to live fully. i want that for you as i want that for me.

[findafight]

tbh i think ppl that genuinely think steve dragged her there kind of take nancy's behavior at the party in the best light/take nancy at her word bc,,,, we see nancy excited for the party to the point of spending time making a costume and encouraging jonathan to come only for her to start lashing out at steve right after they get there. like i always felt so bad for him when tommy and billy start harassing him and nancy literally rolls her eyes and just stalks off only to start heavily drinking specifically to spite steve given what she says about how she's just acting normal like he wanted (also that smug look she sends him right after continuing to drink). idk the way nancy starts acting out (this makes her sound like a 5 y/o throwing a tantrum but,,,, if the shoe fits) could make it seem as if she's been forced to do something against her will when taken out of context but in context she's literally just acting like a huge asshole to her boyfriend bc she's upset about something she hasn't even told him about. i get upset when i think about it too much bc ppl focus way more on the bullshit scene (for obvious reasons) but nancy really was treating steve like shit that whole night.

yeah like. Owens talks about "the anniversary effect", and I think that's hitting Nancy hard, and so she's lashing out! She's a teenager and she doesn't know how to handle her grief and her desire for justice. That's fine and she deserves to yell and cry about it. But she also isn't communicating what she actually needs from Steve because I don't think she really realized it until she saw the redhead in the library. And dropping that on him and kind of freaking out about it at school wasn't really the most appropriate place to have a deep discussion on what to do. (idk why people view this as steve just flat out refusing to talk about it ever, it's clear to me he's nervous about it because they're at school and he doesn't want to be overheard and doesn't want to risk the government hurting them/their families)

We see Steve do his best to support Nancy by going to the dinners with the Hollands, and also encouraging her to go to the party, after we have been shown Nancy talking about it and inviting Jonathan and excited for it. He is engaging her with something she was looking forward to. idk why people view this as steve just flat out refusing to talk about it ever, it's clear to me he's nervous about it because they're at school and he doesn't want to be overheard and doesn't want to risk the government hurting them/their families. Yeah maybe if she had asked him to come with her on the plan to entrap Owens he would have said no, but at least he would have known where she was at and what she was thinking, instead of the sudden one-off talk they had in the library.

I guess if people only watched tina's party and not anything that came before they could see nancy as completely correct and that steve was pretending while she didn't want to (instead of mostly pretending with Steve and having had one freak out about it in a place that people could overhear) and that he dragged her there. But it's astounding that people can watch Nancy smile and give the flyer to Jon and still say Steve was a bad boyfriend for taking her.

She is definitely drinking vindictively in the scene, even though for all Steve knows Nancy genuinely wanted to go and have fun at the party. He's trying to get her to slow down and idk I've seen some takes as this showing Steve is controlling but legitimately what the fuck else are you going to do when you see someone you care about (friend/partner/whatever) ignoring you and being kind of an ass and drinking way too much while obviously upset about something. Of course he would encourage her to slow down!

He doesn't know what's wrong because Nancy actually has a habit of not talking or communicating to her boyfriend what is upsetting her. Nancy is so over pretending but she has only barely broached that with Steve. He did try to shut it down, but I don't remember him saying he was unwilling to talk about it, just that it was a bad idea, and that Nancy was coming with this "tear the lab down" thing from nowhere.

Part of the problem is that Nancy had feelings for Jonathan and didn't know what to do about that, and so decided that actually, everything was Steve's fault, because he wanted to be normal, he wanted to go to the party and have fun, he wanted to date and be in love, when, to drunk Nancy's mind, she wanted none of that. (even though we are shown that that isn't true) So she's going to drink and she's going to have fun and she's not even in love. (idk it depends on the day for me if nancy was faking the whole time or did, at some point, fall in love with him and then out of love.) The whole party scene is a mess for Stancy and poor Steve has no idea why his girlfriend is drinking too much and suddenly acting like they're fighting when there's no reason to. and then he gets yelled at and told she's pretending to love him.

[charmixpower]

Okay, so Selina the earth fairy as an antagonist

S6 did this by, for some insane reason, by making Selina Bloom's childhood friend who's always had magic which doesn't work on literally every level. So I'm going to try and come up with some ideas that make parts of it work

Selina the earth fairy that was taught by Eldora:

Tbh this is the easiest option

Selina is an earth fairy from the old days along with Eldora. During the WotBC attempted wiping out of all magic users they fled to Tir Na Nog and live under Morgana and Nebula

The Legendarum is a book created by ancient Faries that Selina's family has been in charge of caring for for generations

When the fairies of vengeance are released Selina is soooo excited to help kill the Wizards and the Winx, and their leader Bloom take their revenge away from them by complaining that they shouldn't be allowed to kill the people that tried to WIPE THEM OUT

Selina is pissed, and her teacher Eldora, the woman that saved her life, going on about how forgiveness is the way isn't helping

Season 5 teaches her about the rest of the magical dimension, season 5 teaches her about the Trix

The Trix are blinded by their desire for revenge and make the perfect pawns. They don't care what they lose as long as the winx don't win

And Selina assures them, the Winx will not win

Selina the earth fairy that was Bloom's friend:

This one is a very elegant solution me thinks and it's the FUN one.

Selina and Bloom are childhood friends and the main targets for Mitzi's bullying. Bloom has kind parents, Selina does not, and for eight hours a day they have to listen to people talk badly about them. Mitzi never puts hands on them but they're social pariah's and deal with constant verbal harassment and false accusations

First year of highschool is more of the same and Selina is prepared for it to be them against the world again in their second year, and then Bloom never comes to class

Selina is alone to deal with the bullying she at least had a confidant in Bloom to at least tolerate it with, and now she's alone

Mitzi tells everyone that Bloom was sent to a school that caters to the mentally ill to finally convince the 16 year old that fairies aren't real, and Selina makes things worse for herself by defending Bloom

They text each other, not often and Bloom won't tell her what new school she's going to but they still text. Selina comes over when Bloom goes back to earth (and goes home before the Trix show up)

And then the next year Bloom goes to Mitzi's Halloween party with her new, cool, pretty, friends. Bloom excitedly tells her about it, she's finally going to make Mitzi the butt of the joke and all Selina can think is that she's been replaced

That's not fair though? Bloom is allowed to be happy at her new school so she bites her tongue and pushes down her resentment and rejects Bloom's offer to come with

Next year is...fine. Bloom comes to her graduation party, and she's a bit mopey that she didn't graduate with honors like her new friends but is over all more excited to hear about Selina's college plans. Bloom goes on a trip in the middle of summer and comes back glowing because "the mistake in my grades was fixed and now I have honors!" And it sounds like a lie but Selina doesn't bother calling her out on it. I mean? What if she's telling the truth

Then season 4 happens, and then it's revealed that Bloom is a fairy

Not only did Bloom replace her with better, prettier friends, but she also lied to Selina about being a fairy. Lied to her face about everything related to magic because apparently Bloom never trusted her

And Selina burns with resentment

Selina stops responding to Bloom's texts and avoids her. Everyone asks Selina if she knew, if Bloom told her, who those aliens are, and all Selina has is half truths from the stories Bloom spun her to respond with

Seeing Mitzi become a fairy, unaware of the dead magic that run though her, unaware that the power Mitzi was given comes with a price no one should have to pay, Selina is furious. Incandescent

Magic returned to earth and Selina can float small objects. She's one of the few people that after the earth's magic core was repaired gained magic and she's on the bottom of the scale of power in a group categorized by how they're not as strong as those who can use magic without the core

Hatred fills her lungs like smoke

Season 5 Selina sticks to herself. Bloom usually isn't on earth like she was last year and this Diaspro chick who came from a different planet to help earth get caught up with the rest of the dimension is on the TV all the time talking about Bloom. Selina hates the fact that this woman who met Bloom though a knock-down drag-out fight knows Bloom better than Selina ever did

Did Bloom ever think of her as a real friend?

(Bloom couldn't take the one person that was her friend though all of that calling her a liar, she comes to regret this)

Eventually, while stumbling around the woods, far away from faces that could mock and lie to her she stumbles across a book. The Legendarum. It promises her power, Bloom's regret, importance. All she has to do is open it, anyone with magic can, her strength doesn't matter with the Legendarum doing the work for her

How could she ever refuse?

[venus-vampire]

𝙿𝙰𝙲: 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢?

Tarot collaboration with @daarlingdatura

From left to right: pile 1, pile 2 and pile 3.

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔢 1

This pile could struggle with shoving themselves into societal molds and boxes in order to have some sense of normalcy. They could feel like from a young age the ephemeral world has harassed them, you could be somewhat averse to the idea that you are psychic. You need to let go of societal standards and start using your gifts. It doesn't have to be for other people and can be solely for you. You might pride yourself on your practicality but you are burying your divine gifts in the process. Not everything is rational, that's just life. You might've been seen as bizarre or weird as children. You need to get in touch with your past and let go of the need to control. I feel like you guys get lost in details. By allowing your thoughts and feelings to flow freely you can begin to become more in tune with your venusian enery. I'm also envisioning laughter, so it could be like playing and joking around and expressing joy is part of it too. Get in touch with the element of water, releasing fear of your shadow self and flaws will really do wonders for your self expression. Like once you get rid of the idea that you're not allowed to fail or make mistakes you'll be golden. Stop depending on others to lead or guide you as well. Realize that you are the authority figure and your authenticity is your guide. don't be scared your intuition will do just fine

Pile 1, do you like pastel colors? Clothes with light colors? I feel like y'all have a water Venus (or Venus in a water house) but have troubles tapping into that venusian energy. Y'all may have had multiple incidents in which y'all chose not to listen to your intuition and gut feeling, only to realize it was true in the end.

the high priestess, the devil, the world  // 10 of pentacles, 4 of swords, 3 of wands // the magician, 6 of swords, the hierophant

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔢 2

This is a beautiful pull honestly. To connect with your venusian side you need to connect directly to your Venus and femininity, pile 2. Connect to your inner creativity, how you nurture yourself, how you empress your feminine energy.  What does femininity mean to you? Don't be afraid to connect with others, have a self care day or spending money on something that you value. You can also try to connect with your venusian side dancing and listening to music that you enjoy, even if others find it weird. You are blind to the beauty within yourself, everyone has a venusian, loving side. You might protect your energy by putting shield around you because you were betrayed in the past, but emotions and feelings are an important side of any relationship. You need to learn to trust people and share how you feel, especially your friends and family. However, keep an eye on who you're letting inside and don't project your expectations on other people because you will end up feeling disappointed. Think who really deserves your time, energy and a spot in your life.

the empress, the lovers, knight of swords // 8 of cups, page of cups, the king of cups

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔢 3

There could be a specific person or group of people in this pile that are hooked up on someone that doesn't love or like them back. I feel like getting rid of this person will be a new and beautiful journey for you. You are going to be in a long moment of solitude and it's going to bring out your inner and outer beauty. You're going to learn to control your thoughts and emotions and put the right energy and manifestations out there to bring in your desired reality. You could lose some friends or have some kind of debacle but I think people will support you from the sidelines and see the truth even if they might not say it out loud. Take your leave and walk away from these toxic spaces. I feel that this group is very multitalented and outgoing and can be a little too dependent on how others view them. By standing in your power and truth and cutting out the shitty people from your life you will thrive. You also need to stop trying to get the attention of people in passive ways. I feel like you need to be more forthright and let your actions speak for themselves. Good luck pile 3.

the fool, the hermit, the magician // the knight of wands, queen of pentacles, the ace of swords

[aleksanderscult]

Went there and

I mean we know he wouldn’t stop when she says no tbh because he… doesn’t in the subsequent books. Plenty of times when he touches her or kisses her it’s straight up played for horror and he’s overtly like trying to scare her. Meanwhile the R&R “let me” tether scene, for example, despite being framed more romantically, she does straight up tell him to stop but he mostly ignores it.

Uh

“On this topic: the kiss when she was a captive was definitely in noncon territory because she can't say no! No matter if she inwardly wants to kiss him, it's still wrong like he was threatening her friends atp, and she was keeping herself still etc.”

But there are no other such instances. And no instance implies that he would not stop if she says no. HE MOST CERTAINLY WOULD!

If this was legit the case of he won't stop if she said no, he would have already raped her. He didn't have a lack of opportunities. He most certainly pressed his advantage in situations etc and while that must be because he could feel through the tether that she wanted him, it was still harassment and he shouldn't have but apart from that, no.

The Darkling had many opportunities to become a rapist, that's true anon. But he never was. Firstly, I never saw him, see him or ever will see him as one. He doesn't strike me as that kind of person. Besides if he was, Leigh would definitely say it and wouldn't support him in her interviews. Secondly, (and that's my own point of view) I see him as a man that stops when the woman he has in front of him doesn't want to continue. He wants someone that is willing to him, that wants him and not to violently force them to have sex with him.

Now about how that person calls their intimate moments "horror" is uhh.....not what I would describe them at all. You see it's all about the perspective. From the Darkling's perspective, he wants her but he hates it. Feelings were not part of his plans and, furthermore, they make him vulnerable. But he can't help but feel drawn to her and imagine a future where she's there too. For Alina, she wants him too but that frightens her. Because he's a murderer and a manipulative person. He brings out a dark, forbidden part of her that she fears because she wants to remain good and pure. But she also hates him because of what he has done to her and to the people she cares about. But she also wants him because he understands her on a level that no one else does. The loneliness, the isolation, the desire for power, the uniqueness of their powers and existence are all something that binds them and Alina sees a part of her in him for that reason. Just like he sees a part of him in her. Aleksander is lost in his rage, desperation and obsession but Alina is his light. The good part of him. Alina is lost in her anguish to remain good, pure and holy but Aleksander is her darkness. The dark part of her. Both of them have that piece of the puzzle that the other one lacks and refuses to have but still seeks and, secretly, likes. IT'S ONE HELL OF A SHIP.

So I wouldn't call their intimate moments "horrific" because that is both untrue and too simplistic. Their intimate moments are sometimes filled with lust, other times with longing but always with a surprise and bitterness because of that pull that they feel and neither of them wanted. Or maybe they subconsciously did want it? Aleksander always wanted to have a companion and Alina always wanted to belong to someone and be understood. "Careful what you wish for" maybe applies to them, huh?

(Okay gonna stop here. I don't know how the hell I just wrote a mini meta about their relationship.)

Lastly, about the tether kiss, it's true that the situation seems like a fine line between harassment and Alina's habit to deny to herself that she called him (but she was also unaware of it). I think Aleksander knew that Alina wasn't fully aware that she was calling him. But he still came that night because he missed her and also responded to her loneliness. Maybe if Alina wasn't so preoccupied with trying to remain pure, she would acknowledge that he wanted him there and then the scene wouldn't seem like harassment. Because she did want him but she's afraid of going mad and, furthermore, she keeps pushing her feelings for him away just like I said in the previous post.