#stranger things fandom crit

[sexybabystevie]

Just saw your post about b/ler and their stans hating on everyone and I have to agree.

Like, I don't mind discussing little theories, but the way they go about things it's super annoying. Like the whole blue meets yellow in the west shit like that was a thing for scoops. idk why you make it about b/ler. Or saying Mike dressed up in yellow at the airport for Will when El's favorite color is also yellow. When they complain about other characters having screentime, I have to laugh because they manage to make anything about that ship anyway, so it shouldn't matter so much in the end. They act like this ship is the foundation of the show when Will is barely a real character because he doesn't even have a personality other than the gay kid who disappeared. And the fandom hardly develops his character because his relationship with Mike is the only thing they talk about. (And before ppl complain, other characters are underdeveloped as well, but I don't put them on a pedestal and call them the main character of the show like they do with Will)

Their treatment of El in all of this is the most upsetting part. Similar to Steve, she isn't allowed to be hurt or upset if others do something (aka r/nance, b/ler). Like they should all be super supportive allys, and if they are upset, they are deemed as homophobic or terrible friends.

I think the saddest part what i've read about b/ler was people insisting that Mike never loved El and had always feelings for Will, which is so cruel? In general, making m/leven important to Mike is not a thing in the b/ler fandom because they don't want Mike to be bi, which idk what the problem is with that. I just think they are scared that Mike is still interested in girls is threatening their ship or whatever.

Anyway, what I also hate when discussing b/ler is that they simply make El a lesbian in order so she doesn't feel bad instead of letting her deal with complicated feelings. Like in s4, Mike's inability to say he loves her clearly upsets El, meaning she does have feelings for Mike that are beyond a friendship level. It's also weird that they take away El's agency and reduce her to this abused child who doesn't know about anything so she shouldn't be in a relationship because she can't know what love is. (Ignoring s2 and her learning throughout the tv about the world and feelings and making her own decision regarding that part.) If we go that route non of the kids should know about love bc they are all traumatised and fucking 14 lol. And then they break up lumax so Max and El are together and everyone is happy? (Forgetting about Lucas) Also, idk crossdating within a friend group is so messy, but people just take the complicated parts out.

Also, what I found not discussed enough is the Will and El relationship. Like yes, Will likes Mike, but El is his sister. He also loves her. And tbh I think he would have reservations about dating his sisters ex-boyfriend because he cares about her. Maybe El gives them their blessing, but Will would know that she's hurting, so he might not follow through because he values the sibling bond with El more.

In general, I hate when there are ships that have to be so clean and liked by every character that is around. They don't exist in a vaccum, other people esp those who have close relationships with the people in those ships (ex-partners, best friends, siblings etc) might have negative reactions to it which is fine. That doesn’t mean they are homophobic it means they feel betrayed by a friend or sibling who dates their ex they loved for a very long time.

I like the theory of b/ler, but people take out the complexities that come with the ship. And then when you point them out, you're the worst person on earth, and your fave deserves to die. (esp Steve)

(Sorry, this is long. You don't have to answer. I just needed to vent a bit)

oh my gosh, no worries at all about this being on the longer side of asks! i don't mind at all and actually really like talking about this stuff and you brought up so many good points! since this is longer, though, i'm gonna put my thoughts under the cut <3

firstly, the theories CAN be fun. emphasis on can because they aren't anymore. b/lers make it clear that you pretty much have to agree with every single point they make, treating every single detail as canon rather than a theory, and it's exhausting. some of the ones i read a while back were genuinely interesting and fun! but when you take away the actual idea of it being a theory and just insist upon it being the truth, then going as far to call other people who don't agree/who are skeptical stupid or homophobic or some other name they come up with, then it makes people not want to interact with you.

i'm gonna be really honest here and say that i think all this stuff about blue and yellow is really ridiculous. i mean, they're quite literally colors. not saying there's no literary meaning to colors, but implying that every time we see blue and yellow in the show is some secret b/ler symbolism is just... so bizarre. (again, this could have been a fun little thing, but they take everything SO seriously and are such negative people that any amount of enjoyment is immediately stripped away just because you can't even have a civil disagreement with them without getting accused of being homophobic or without getting loads of anon hate.)

you said "When they complain about other characters having screentime, I have to laugh because they manage to make anything about that ship anyway, so it shouldn't matter so much in the end." and THANK YOU for wording that so well. this is what i've been trying to say for a while now, but i couldn't word it correctly. b/lers go out and make every single hint of foreshadowing, every single character and their personalities or arcs all about mike and will (because they for some reason are convinced this show is just a massive great love story for the two of them, and to that i have to say that this show has an ensemble cast. the other characters will and SHOULD have their own personalities, arcs, etc, that do NOT tie into b/ler) so why should it be a problem that a character is gaining popularity? if everything really is about b/ler like they claim then it should be no big deal to assume that this completely unrelated character exists entirely for the sake of your ship, right? it's honestly ridiculous.

also, yeah, will is barely even a character. he barely has any screentime that's spent creating his character, despite the fact that i think he's an essential point to the show. he's more of a plotline than a person, and i think blaming anyone other than the duffers for that makes no sense. fictional characters don't write themselves??

as for treatment of el, i made a post forever ago the parallels between steve and el as characters, and i think that goes for here too. they're both essential characters at this point, they're heroes, but even still b/lers treat both of them terribly. with el, it's pushing her to the side, dehumanizing her in a very ableist way, etc, and with steve, its much the same. dehumanizing, pushing him to the side, not allowing either of these characters to have feelings about their best friends/close friends dating their exes, and its just not realistic and its also weird. to enjoy a ship is one thing, but to push it onto everyone else and actively hate on other people who don't like it (which, by the way, you literally do not have to have "valid reason" to dislike a ship. you can just not like/hate it and that should be fine!!!) is immature and exhausting.

interestingly enough, i think b/lers mainly view el and steve the same way - an "overrrated" character, probably some part of why they hate the "general audience"/"fanservice", and, interestingly, i think there's also this idea that they're both basic in some way. like, steve is the "basic" straight white guy (idk why there's anything wrong with that??) and el is either a misinformed, confused lesbian or a pathetic straight girl too and its... so exhausting as well because characters can be queer without having to be mike and will!!! (and in the view of el they can also be queer without breaking up other important ships just for the sake of b/ler??) the amount of times i see people say that people are homophobic for having steve or el as their favorites is just... why? like, going on some kind of homophobia-yelling witch hunt isn't going to make anyone like you or your ship that you're so heavily promoting.

and with mike, i've seen some people (the more tolerable ones, i think) say he's bi while others insist he has no attraction to girls whatsoever, and i don't know, i think people read into it too much just to go and discredit el's relationship with him. if they can go and say, "oh, their relationship wasn't important to mike OR el so now we win!!" then they can convince themselves that b/ler is endgame, everything is happy for them, there are no problems, etc, which, again, is unrealistic. breakups are messy even if both parties were not to feel romantically about the other, and especially when you're gonna go and date someone in your group again. like, i've personally seen situations like that entirely destroy friend groups, time and time again, but let's ignore that for the sake of b/ler!

(also side point that goes along with what you're saying - they're literally 14!! i think so many people forget that since the actors look older or whatever, but like... they're children.)

the will and el relationship is always ignored and never talked about because it doesn't fit in the b/ler agenda (unless they assume that el is a lesbian and therefore doesn't care about will going on to date mike). which honestly is a shame because i love their dynamic but i also would rather not hear thoughts about that from b/lers anyway, but regardless it's a major plothole in their plans that they all just totally ignore because the only solutions to it are severely out of character.

i honestly don't think there's anything wrong with shipping m/leven or b/ler, if you're not insane about it. the b/lers heavily despise people who ship mike and eleven and go on to call them homophobic (are we sensing a trend here?) or whatever else, and i honestly haven't seen enough m/leven shippers here to know what they're doing so i won't put words into their mouth or whatever. either way, there's this general distaste and shunning that happens of anyone who doesn't like b/ler or ships something else and i'm personally so tired of it. i don't ship either of these because i just don't care that much (and also these people ruined it for me) but shipping m/leven does not make you inherently homophobic, and shipping b/ler does not automatically make you annoying in the way that most of them are.

now that i've kinda covered your thoughts, i want to add a few more points of my own that i think of every time this situation arises.

one, i think a large chunk of the toxicity of the b/ler community comes down to the fact that they worship the ground the duffers walk on. and this is a general thing that a lot of people and some of the media do, where they dramatize how good the show is and hype it up to be some untouchable, perfect series, which is far from the truth. they're convinced the duffers are on their side (b/ler endgame) and thus can do no wrong. (also a very weird way to act when they go and hate every other character CREATED by the duffers - but oh no! they didn't do it because they wanted to or because they like other characters too, it's all because of the general audience and how they just fuck everything up!!).

which, this is just setting them all up for failure. no one is getting this perfect dream of an ending, and i think if anyone knows this, it's the steve fans. we are painfully aware of the fact that our fave will either die or will have some shitty ending that none of us want, and b/lers are on the other side of the spectrum where they think everything will end perfectly for them, and you're just setting yourself up for colossal disappointment. every little hidden clue or theory that you've come up with is not going to be true, every bit of "foreshadowing" isn't going to pan out, and that's just a fact. the duffers simply are not as good as these people want to think lol.

secondly, i think the treatment of el and steve is also very similar in the viewing of their love triangles. there's st/ncy vs j/ncy and m/leven vs b/ler, and in both of these situations, everything is always one person's fault when people don't get their way - el and steve. if j/ncy happens and steve's fine with it, then people have to talk about how shitty of a boyfriend he supposedly was. if j/ncy happens and steve's upset, then it's on him for, again, being shitty and "deserving" to be alone. if st/ncy happens then it's steve's fault for having feelings or being a popular character or some other bullshit that makes no sense. and in the case of el, will and mike, it's the same. b/ler happens and el's upset, it's her fault for caring about her boyfriend. b/ler happens and el isn't upset, it's her fault for NOT caring. m/leven happens, then el is primarily the problem because SHE loves mike and cares about mike and "only gets all these things because she is a popular character."

overall, it's just pointing fingers, making excuses, and acting like babies 24/7 until they cry enough to get their way, honestly.

[cannibalismyuri]

coming out as a passive jopper hater bc the insane level of capitalist pandering they did with s3 (with ERICA who is like. one of the worst, stereotyped portrayals of a black girl ive ever seen, bless her heart) was truly crazy. combine that with the copaganda and the general attitude of hopper in s3 which was played off as 'awkward loser guy doesnt know what to do with Feelings more at 8' was a bit .... Eh :/ to me. because it is so obviously a fictional character and show but like. disliking hopper/jopper bc of the ideals st is perpetuating and the fact that they arent compatible at All in s3 (to me, atleast) is valid. some ppl might just think that jopper is unhealthy and/or 'overrated'. because they do sort of pay a disproportionate amount of attention to jopper, compared to the other canon romantic ships (afaik, bc of the screen time counter) and that can be Weird, esp with the... how should i say this? balancer/savior role hopper takes in the relationship (we constantly see him placating joyce, sometimes even being slightly patronizing, and also they place a lot of importance on him saving joyce from a lot of stuff, which is cool and sick if it wasnt for the fact that it directly correlates with him being a cop, yk). and the general power imbalance bc he's a Cop and abuses his position of power constantly, and that is exactly Why anything that joyce does is seen as a #insane girlboss category 5 woman moment because she simply has the short stick in the power race and when she does manage to make an impact DESPITE her economic/social/'general uselessness in say in Major decision-making when it comes to authorities' shortcomings it is seen as an amazing win. hopper on his own is extremely fleshed out as well, because we get to see his arc play out with his relationships with his daughter and ex-wife and el and re-learning how to be a parent and how to not let love allude him, and that is lovely! it's so great to see the adults in the show being focused on! but joyce is absolutely disregarded and underdeveloped as a character of her own right outside of her relationships with hopper or her kids. we see that she is determined and a force to be reckoned with and that she cares very deeply for the people she loves and would go to insane lengths for them but all that doesn't Mean anything, because we never see a backstory for her. we never figure out who she is without her family or hopper, or what her motives and aspirations and emotional shortcomings and stumbles and mistakes are. for a character to be fully fleshed out, they need to be an interesting, refreshing and palatable character On Their Own without their relationships with other characters, and we just don't see that with joyce. like u have Thee winona ryder on ur show, and u forsake developing her character in favor of developing hopper's character with /not the best taste/ and causing her to be a blank slate of a mother, lover, woman and friend, but not a PERSON. all she's been reduced to is a Mother and Hopper's Girlfriend, and honestly, that's the worst decision they could've made in relation to her and her relationship with hopper.

anyway, all this to say; these are my thoughts on the matter, but i'm definitely not hating on people who enjoy jopper passively and DEFINITELY not any by/ler (the most predominant fandom im part of in the parent fandom of st) who enjoys them as a ship with their own dynamic separate from canon. because the by/ler fandom is NOT a monolith and nobody is obligated to agree with me or change their opinion if it doesn't align with mine or be forced to look at my opinion and feel bad for shipping anything. im not going to act Holier Than Thou for expressing my opinion and u should definitely continue shipping jopper if it makes u happy! as long everybody recognizes the copaganda and capitalist mindset grind propaganda shit in st (which is Pretty Obvious) and respects that while shipping what they want, i have no problem with it. all that is to say; peace and fucking love. can we (the by/ler fandom) stop fighting abt jopper we all have our own opinions this is bc we are Not a hivemind or a monolith and not obligated to have the same opinions relating to all aspects of st just because we happen to ship one thing. i am a hater and a lover

[liveandletrain]

My Stranger Things fandom pet peeve is the way the fandom gets onto the Duffers and Netflix for discarding characters and relationships as if they don’t to the exact same thing.

The example that comes most prominently to mind is the way y’all are out here throwing Steve at every new love interest who walks by as The Most Important To Him as if this mans life doesn’t revolve around Dustin and Robin.

If Steve didn’t have somewhere to stay he wouldn’t be shacking up with Billy Hargrove or the Munsons. He’d be hiding under Robin’s bed or in Claudia Henderson’s guest room.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

everyone who was into ofmd for like two weeks and then ditched gay pirates to go draw and write porn of those white boys from stranger things are cowards and have terrible taste

[valleyrunearchives]

Love at First Roll

Rating: Teen and Up Fandom: Stranger Things Pairings: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Warnings: None

Chapter 1/1

Eddie can remember the first time he met Steve. Well, met in the actual sense. He knew of Steve from before. Of course he did! Everyone at Hawkins High knew of the King Steve himself. But to actually know him is a completely different story. That first official meeting with him though was… magical.

OR

Eddie falls in love with the single roll of a die.

Check out my Ko-fi!

Eddie can remember the first time he met Steve. Well, met in the actual sense. He knew of Steve from before. Of course he did! Everyone at Hawkins High knew of the King Steve himself. But to actually know him is a completely different story. That first official meeting with him though was… magical.

Well, no, the word magical actually makes it sound weird and kind of unbelievable. But Eddie is dramatic and not afraid to admit it!

He's running a quick campaign with the hellfire club as kind of a welcome back/welcome to the club for baby Byers since he and his family had just moved back from California. It's Dustin's turn on the final battle when Steve enters through the door of the classroom they had commandeered, calling, “Alright, guys. Pack it in, time to go.”

He notes Gareth turning his head to hide a sneer as the kids groan in disappointment. “C'mon Steve!” Dustin whined, “It's the final battle! Can't we finish it?”

He knows the other seniors of the club are expecting Steve to tell them no. After hearing the unlimited praise that Dustin and the others - Mike not included - had for Steve, it doesn't shock him when the other man just rolls his eyes with a reluctant agreement. 

Dustin grins before holding his D20 out to him, “Roll for me then, Steve!”

Mike protests while the other freshies beg Steve to do it. Steve smiles in fond amusement - God, how can a man be so pretty?! - before stepping over and taking the D20 from him. He rolls it into the little tray Dustin has for rolling his dice. The die clatters around in the tray before settling. Dustin gapes at it. Steve blinks at it before turning to Eddie to ask, “Is that good?” 

He leans up to check the number with a small smile, expecting something low.

It's a natural 20.

“Are you kidding, Steve?!” Dustin exclaims with a shocked grin, “It's a nat 20!”

“Okay?” Steve says in confusion as the whole table erupts in shock.

“It's a critical hit!” Dustin explains further. He picks up more of his dice and rolls for the damage amount, “Okay uh… so 18 points of damage. Double because it's a crit. So, 36 points!”

The rest of the table plus Steve look at him for guidance. He blinks at them before checking the health of the enemy. He chuckles, near hysterically, “Well, I'll be damned. Normally I ask the character's player how they want to do this. I'm not sure what to do in this situation since Harrington rolled for the final blow.”

The whole table erupts in more excited shouts before Dustin stands up dramatically - Eddie has taught him so well - with his hands held high, “At the most intense point of this Climactic battle after stunning the creature, I reach into my pouch and pull out an ornate horn! Everyone is confused until I blow a mighty sound from it and, there, over the horizon appears a paladin on a steed! ‘Tis the prince of the land, Prince Steve, arriving to assist at last! He rides down the hill, holy mace in hand and bashes the stunned creature with it! The creature explodes into a thousand bloody pieces with a final scream of pain! The prince gives a fond nod and smile to the party before turning his noble horse and riding off!!”

The younger teens, minus Mike, all cheer at the end of the story. Mike groans in what seems to be annoyance but a smile is trying to creep onto his lips too. Gareth and the other older teens are still shocked into silence to really react. Eddie claps for Dustin, “Nicely executed storytelling there, Henderson! Wrapped everything up in a nice neat little bow for the ending battle! That means that all characters level up one level each with the exception of Will's who is up to level 6 thanks to the battle. We'll set new skills and points next week just so Harrington doesn't have to wait around any longer.”

Everyone starts packing up their supplies. He starts doing the same with his DM supplies as Steve approaches him and whispers, “Hey man, thanks for doing this for them.”

He almost looks around the room like an idiot before realizing that Steve absolutely is talking to him with that fond little smile. He gives a smile back, “Yeah, of course! I mean - no problem!”

“No seriously, thank you. They've been so excited since Will came back to play with him. They told me it's not your normal day for this so I super appreciate it,” The smile on Steve's face gets bigger and Eddie swears his heart skips a beat. Steve doesn't say anything else, just turns to the other teens to call out, “Alright. Let's go!”

“Shotgun!” Dustin calls out.

The other kids groan but Steve just puts his hands on his hips - he looks like one of those soccer moms, oh my God... - and tells him, “You had shotgun on the way to school this morning. Let one of the others have it.”

“Race you guys!” Lucas calls out before sprinting out the door. The others follow with Mike shouting behind him, “Hey no fair! You're the athletic one of us!”

Steve shakes his head before turning back to the table with yet another smile, “Bye guys. Thanks again, Munson!”

Eddie waves at him as he trails out the door after his gaggle of wards. As soon as he's well enough away from the door, he drops his head into his hands with a loud groan. Gareth pauses on putting his stuff away and asks him, “You alright, man?”

“No…” He begroans once he realizes his inevitable situation, “I'm fucked…”

The others don't understand but he does. He just developed a massive, gigantic, and life altering crush on Steve fucking Harrington from a thank you and a roll of a dice. 

He's so fucked.

[envihellbender]

Eddie Munson as a DBD killer, seeing Steve in a trial for the first time

Rating: Mature (gore)

Fandom: Stranger Things, Dead By Daylight

Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington

Content: gore, horror, character death, abuse

Summary: Eddie is new to this, and seeing a familiar face was the worst thing that could’ve happened.

—

It was Eddie’s third trial, and it had taken a long time for the Entity to get him to this point. He didn’t know how long it had been, but finally here he was in all his glory- the Dungeon Master. In the end the Entity had changed the rules for him, or at least his perspective of them. Each trial had become a ‘Campaign’. The survivors were his ‘Players’, that’s why they kept coming back, it was fun for them, see? To be trapped within this game forever. Deep down, Eddie knew that wasn’t true but it was what he had to think to survive. The Entity was very good at making it seem like a dream, he just had to play along. Eddie was given a pen, a sharp fountain pen and a vial of ink. He could spill puddles of it on the ground and it acted like a tar, whatever his diced rolled depended on the effects. If it was a low number, it slowed them down the player, it it was about ten it caused them to be stuck, above fifteen and they received a random status effect alongside it. If he got a twenty? They were put into the dying state. A one? No effect. When he approached a player, he could slash or stab at them with the pen, and it did a hell of a lot more damage than he thought it would.

The Entity gave him the body he wanted, a flat chest and toned arms, his hair was neater and made him look just like what he told everyone was his “guy-spiration” as well as being his crush Lars Ulrich. When he wasn’t being asked to engage in his Campaigns he had a nice little apartment all to himself. All he had to do to pay the rent was kill- no, he told himself shaking his head. Play the Campaigns. Wasn’t too bad, not like he actually knew the players. He wore a mask usually, a metal skull given to him by the Entity. When he wore it he could become someone else, not that weak bastard that got beaten to death in the woods by assholes who blamed him for Steve’s disappearance. As if he would lay a finger on him, he loved him. He’d been spending every waking minute trying to find him.

The anger always came back up before a Campaign, the anger at being treated like the antichrist, a freak, someone to beat and abuse. Maybe that was apart of it, the anger. Maybe that was what made him accept the Entity. The Campaign he played currently was a blur, the Players always looked like drawings of his of characters he’d created. There was the ranger, a human who was far too hairy. An elven mage. A masked teenage halfling. And finally, a strange one he’d not got a good look at. They seemed to he a changeling - a beautiful, handsome changeling. Whoever or whatever he was, he was the last survivor, and Eddie was chasing him. He giggled as he saw the changeling head straight for his puddle of ink. Eddie rolled a crit 20. His player was on the ground.

He sauntered over to him, delighted at having beaten his players again. However when he was a metre away he paused. In fact, he stopped completely, frozen in his tracks as he looked down at the body before him. That hair. Those clothes. Those trainers. How the hell had Steve ended up here? He almost couldn’t believe it, another trick by the Entity.

“No,” Eddie yelled, his breath become weak and shaking. Steve lifted his head and looked at him with confusion, he wasn’t scared - he’d been through this too many times. Eddie realised he was wearing his mask, the player - no, Steve - didn’t know what he looked like. It all clicked into place, the strange dreams Steve was having, the fog in the forest… The same thing had happened to them both, on different sides. How poetic.

“Steve?” Eddie called out, his stomach writhing and his limbs shaking and almost whimpering. Without thinking Eddie took off his mask, and Steve’s eyes widened.

“Eddie?!” He spluttered. “How- why are you here? What- what happened to you?” Eddie froze as Steve had a look of disgust on his face, but seeing Eddie’s look of fear at his upset took the edge off.

“I- I- why are you- I don’t understand.” Eddie gripped the sides of his head. “Why are you in my campaign? Is this- is this where you disappeared to?”

“Yeah. I guess. Why- how could you-” Steve stammered over his words and curled up a little as he awkwardly sat up. “So you’re a killer now, huh?”

“I- don’t know. No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t want to be but this fucking thing…This creature. It’s in my head. Twisting. Grabbing. Tormenting. Fuck.” Eddie stopped and wrapped his arms around his torso, the image of the player as a changeling had broken, now he was just Steve. The landscape around him wasn’t an alleyway in Waterdeep, it was just a junkyard. “I- when I was looking for you. I died. And. The Entity says I have a lot of anger and pain inside of me… It likes that.”

“Wait- you- you died? How?” Steve felt a pain in his chest, an aching, throbbing grief.

“Erm. Tommy and some other ex-jocks. Blamed me for you disappearing. Thought I did some black magic shit. One day when I was searching the forest for some clues to where you’d gone they found me,” Eddie rambled anxiously. As he relayed the story he felt anger and pain rise up within him again, filling him like it was his own blood. It almost made him want, no need, to kill.

“Fuck. I’m- I’m sorry, Eds,” Steve said, his eyes stinging with tears as his body ached and burned from the ink clinging to him. Apart of him blamed himself, for getting lost, for leaving, for not sticking up for Eddie for the first time Tommy threw his books to the floor. “It’s- it’s okay if you have to kill me-”

“I want to talk to you. I want-” Eddie began, anxiety filling him. He couldn’t hurt Steve. He couldn’t hear him scream as he sacrificed him.

“Babe, we’ll talk, but I’m bleeding out and the game will stop when I do,” Steve interrupted, grounding them both, Eddie looked at Steve’s wounds as if seeing them for the first time.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah. Entity cures ‘em. Sees ‘em right up. Don’t worry about me.”

“Tell me what happened before you go.”

“Weird dreams. Really weird dreams. I think something to do with Hawkins Lab? And then… I got lost in the woods whilst I was erm, babysitting, I guess. And ended up getting lost in the fog.” Steve’s voice grew weaker as he spoke and Eddie knew he had to get him out of there. He bent down, picked Steve up with a strength he wouldn’t have had before this, and began wandering around.

“Eds, there’s a hook right there,” Steve pointed out as Eddie carried him.

“I know.”

“What, you taking me to the basement? Entity likes that, right?”

“It does but no, not there,” Eddie replied as he strained his ears hoping to hear it. “I’m getting you out of here. And then… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll figure out how to get to you.”

“You can’t get us out of here, I’ve tried. Everyone’s tried.”

“No, but maybe we can be together. Wait- fuck! It’s there!” Eddie exclaimed, bounding towards the hatch with a speed that hadn’t been possible before. He opened it with his foot and let Steve go.

“Thanks, Eds.”

“I- I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that again. Entity’s gonna kick my ass.”

“I know, don’t worry, okay?”

“Love you, Steve. Always.”

“You too babe, no matter what side we’re on.” Steve crawled into the hatch, Eddie wished he’d kissed him, held him properly, something other than just letting him go.

[rosesradio]

fanfic ask game

i saw this ask game i wasn’t tagged in so let’s do it 🤠 & i’ll tag whoever wants to do it as well

1. how many works do you have on Ao3?

27 :-)

2. what's your total Ao3 word count?

466,409 (oh cool i’ll most likely hit 500k by the end of the year 💪)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

currently pjo & once in a blue moon hsmtmts, but i have written for like 10-12 different fandoms in my life

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

ceaseless eve 🌙 (a leo, nico, & piper quest + valdangelo)

camp triple pine 🌲 (a lawrusso summer camp au with fwb 👀)

talk to me, deep in the night (& i’d tell you something i never thought i’d admit) 🏕️ (a surprisingly non-smutty first caswen fic in which ricky talks with ej about how he works too hard, written in s3 era)

Cobra Kai/Karate Kid one shots 🥋 (fluff, humor, angst, smut…what it says on the tin 🤠)

he’s only here for one thing, but (so am i) 🔥 (valdangelo college au smut + camboy nico 👀)

(because i can’t tell a lie, i did skip over one or two stranger things fics on this list. i have complex feelings about them & keeping them up due to the controversy, but also abandoning them or deleting them…i’m sentimental, and i procrastinate lol. i’m glad a higher volume of people enjoyed them by nature of it being a more popular fandom, but i also feel like the kudos aren’t as genuine or earned as they are for my longfics in less popular fandoms for that reason. at least To Me. i hope that makes sense 🧍)

5. do you respond to comments?

i try to reply to every comment around the first week of posting something (because by then it’s an “old work” and it’s “weird” to comment on it, but that’s another post 😐). i still haven’t replied to the last of the ceaseless eve comments & i feel terrible, the sentimentality of it all overwhelms me but know i appreciate it 😭 i wish there was like a code word though that people could comment that lets you know if they want you to respond or not, because it’s hard to know if people want an author response or if it’ll scare them off yk

6. Which of your fics has the angstiest ending?

i don’t do a lot of angst, but when i do, i do (meaning i lay it on too melodramatically thick lmao) but i thought i’d give a list of some of my angstiest/darkest fics 🤠

the moonlace & the sunflower 🌻 (in which grover dies protecting a demigod, so the empathy link causes percy to pass away as well)

games long lost 🌳 (in which luke must drink annabeth’s blood for kronos’s reformation, it covers the dark lukabeth of it all & there’s some death)

the smallest casualty ♟️ (in which it’s slowly revealed over the course of a luke & annabeth chess game that the gods lost the war, and percy & friends have been subjected to dark magic experiments to make them compliant to luke’s fantasy)

rewired 🤖 (okay. i usually try to be humble or self deprecating or whatever but this 1400 word fic is an actual fucking masterpiece to me idc. it just came out of me and makes me physically nauseous to this day. showing this to my hypothetical therapist etc etc. oh wait what’s it about lmao—the concept of daniel rewiring his brain & morals to fit into silver’s desires. ft that sick sick silverusso dynamic)

7. Which of your fics has the happiest ending?

i have a variety of fluffy fics, but i’d have to say my happiest most sugar coated ending is—

who said anybody would? (a ej/gina/ricky road trip fic that literally ends with an ot3 picnic scene 😭 it’s just too much 🫶)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i’ve gotten unwarranted criticism (i like to ask for constructive crit comments at the end if it’s like a longfic) that’s been surprisingly rude…i won’t say which fic but someone got so mad at one of my chapters they left a lengthy mocking crit comment and then stopped reading 😭 but that’s their prerogative, i hope they found something they enjoyed afterwards. other than that, surprisingly considering some of the controversial dark fics i’ve written…no sign of flames, so thanks! 😅

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have four different smut fics (hopefully a fifth if i can ever finish it up)…i fear they’re repetitive but also not really, they cover different fandoms and explore different kinks. i’m not really sure what to say about them, hopefully people find them hot ! or whatever !

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i’m not a fan of crossovers currently, but my longest fic i wrote when i was 15 (it’s 97k i’m beating it someday 😭) was a crossover between sanders sides, voltron, miraculous ladybug, and gravity falls (doesn’t that feel like a kick in the gut lmao—did i mention i was 15? 😅)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of 👁️👁️

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i know of 👁️👁️

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i tried, myself and another author had a shared Google doc & everything…but we both just didn’t commit. i don’t think i’d work well with another writer…i don’t mind bouncing ideas around with a beta reader/editor (like @heavens-vault 🤠) but ultimately i’d prefer to write on my own

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

it changes—it’s currently valdangelo, but the ones I’ve written the most over the years are: prinxiety (😐), lawrusso, caswen, and valdangelo. i’m excited to explore a bunch of other ships as i continue writing as well

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh gosh, i mean i hope i don’t have any like longfics in question…i hope i can finish + deliver on Ivory Rain, but i’m sure I’ll manage even if it takes a while. i haven’t really mentioned this a whole lot to “the public” but i have what i call a “scrap fic” i’m working on, with a bunch of like 800 word chapters i just kinda bounce around when i have time. the concept is really exciting but the execution still needs work, so i’m kinda seeing how that’s gonna play out, it might not be posted. i hope it will though !

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think i’m pretty good at characterization, good romantic moments with good buildup, and humor :-)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

action scenes i hate you so much 😭 why do i insist on writing pjo fics when i can hardly write a fight scene

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i should do it more, i hate that i don’t, especially considering nico being Italian and leo’s native language being Spanish. but I’ve used & been disappointed by Google translate too many times…perhaps I’ll find another way to translate to include that for more character accuracy

19. First fandom you wrote for?

actually i think percy jackson, i’ve come full circle. the first fic i posted was sanders sides, but i remember when i was probably nine or so i wrote with pencil and paper and stapled a book together with a hand drawn cover 😭 it was about a son of Apollo, a satyr, and a daughter of Demeter on a quest…so really, richard took some creative liberties from my hand written fanfic i think 👀

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

like the ships, it changes—I love all my fics, it’s hard to explain how there’s little fractures of me at different points in my life at any given time in my works. no amount of over-explaining could make anyone understand how i express myself through my character’s emotions and desires and fears and journeys.

at the moment, my favorite fic is CE. it just got completed, myself and others are excited for the sequel. i think all my pjo works in particular are pretty good, and of course i tend to shy away from my older works because my writing…probably wasn’t as good. but that just means I’ve improved, so that’s good.

that’s all the questions, but this was fun ! :-)

[cum-villain]

For the violence ask game: 6, 9, 21, and 25

6. which ship fans are the most annoying? -steddie obviously deserves a mention just because they are fucking everywhere in the stranger things tag when they shouldnt be. but hardcore liujiu fans who hate yue qingyuan have to be similar tier.

9. worst part of canon -i really cant think of any bad parts of the stories i like? i read well crafted stories, so the parts i dont enjoy still have purpose and i wouldnt want them to go away. idk buddy, i cant think of anything. maybe the fact that chengxian dont reconcile in mdzs novel. maybe.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped -honestly, at this point, i'd say shen jiu sleeping (literally) with women at brothels. is it a part of canon i find fascinating and i think contributes to the story well? yes. am i so so fucking annoyed with the people who go from that to "shen jiu is a poor wittle meow meow who did nothing wrong" and "shen jiu is a feminist"? absolutely.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing -oh theres so many. yue qingyuan being too possessive (bitch where?). shen qingqiu not actually loving luo binghe in maigu ridge (bitch where??). liu qingge not getting his happy ending (at this point i'm ready to join arms with the ''lqg doesnt have a crush on sqq'' crowd despite thinking he does because how dare these people slight bingy boy). maybe the crit that maigu ridge sex is bad, because that was 100% intentional.

[angelcasendgame]

omg renu finally someone else who appreciates dean and amara!!! i need to stop being so shocked that you and i share the same opinions so much alskflfl;f but literally i feel like fandom always writes them off as a "weird noncon thing with no chemistry" but like.... regardless of how it started i just think they ended up truly caring about each other in the end!!! and i actually do think it's interesting how they could never really hurt each other and the nature of their bond and what it truly meant. because it's not something as simple as "amara forced a connection onto him" when even in season 15 she thought it was something chuck did to them!! anyway sorry for rambling but i just love them <3

Hello Moogs beloved!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜

I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING!! We are literally one I love that for us 💜💜 yes exactly to what you said!! Like she's this ancient being from before creation whose brother locked her away for the universe to be born!!!! It's more complicated than that which makes it all the harder to figure out!! GOD THE S15 THING AHH. Okay ideally I wish Dean and Amara after the Mary talk would be on better terms and instead of destroying her, they'd recruit her but thats spn for you. Also you have unleashed a beast bc I have so many emotions about Dean and Amara and I'm gonna subject you to them under the cut because you just Get Me <3333

Okay so idk if you're aware of the story, the ones who walk away from omelas but the general premise is this beautiful perfect town, Omelas where people are happy. But then it turns out there's this one single child locked away under the town and as long as they're miserable, the town continues to be okay (and most people, once they find out, can't handle the guilt and walk away, hence the title but that's besides the point)

I can't help but think of both Amara and Dean in this way. Like Amara was literally locked away for creation to exist, all of this, the entire world is here because she was imprisoned and miserable. And Dean was locked to his family to keep all these strangers and his dad and his brother happy. And obviously Sam was abused by John too, this is not Sam crit at all, but from Dean pov, he always felt obligated to stay imprisoned to this life out of wanting to make John happy and Sam happy and these strangers that he saves happy. So we have two beings locked away in their own way for the happiness of others. But the difference here is that their respective "towns" weren't happy. Dean was never enough for John and always made him feel inadequate. Sam literally ran away even though Dean had the opportunity to dip with Sonny but chose to come back for Sam (not Sam crit, I 100% support his decision to gtfo) but he feels that betrayal. Even though Dean keeps killing monsters, there's always more, by season TWO the life was too much for him. Like all this happiness he sacrificed and for what?? The people he loves always leave and he keeps failing the people he can't save. And Amara was literally imprisoned for all of creation, she finally gets to see the world and all she sees is the bad. This is what she was locked up for?? All this misery and hatred? I would also destroy the world the FUCK

This isn't saying that the child in the book doesn't deserve to tear the world up, but I'm just looking at their dynamic

But Dean without John around is learning to have a better place in the world. He's farrrr from perfect (see: the entirety of the show) but like Cas said, Dean has so much love for the world and people. And this is what Amara learns from him too by the end--the thing that stopped her from destroying the world was the literal power of love despite the horribleness that exists in the world

And I think this is the connection she was looking for. Dean and Amara were linked from the moc but I think she latched onto him bc she saw herself in Dean. And all the consumption of souls was yes for power but part of me thinks she was looking for something to fill the void (uh darkness pun not intended). And then yeah, she understood after speaking to the woman feeding the birds and understood what she was missing from Dean which was love for the world

She got her closure with Chuck and then bounced to explore the world (you go girl) and I do think Dean got closure from John in Lebanon when he truly put the idea behind him uh see this post lmao, where he just wants the idea of John but not John himself . And I just WISH s15 would have been them coming together after healing and taking Chuck down together who implemented the whole fucked up system to begin with!!

There's just so much to explore in their relationship and like this doesn't even TOUCH Amara bringing Mary back to life and saying she did that to give Dean the opportunity to know the real her and not the false one John made up (also ahhh Chuck and John as gods and authors, I could go on about this forever too fhskhdkshs)

[casey-complains]

hello, stranger! welcome to the blog of complaining and yelling and disappointment ! im casey/kc, im 16 years old, use xe/its/him pronouns, and this is where ill ramble into the void about ts crit!

i was a fan of thomas for 6/7 years, and active in the fandom for about 4. ive not seen it all, but ive seen a lot of it, and i know firsthand its not always pretty. i made this blog to share the build-up of conflicting and overall negative feelings i started to form towards thomas and his work

let me be clear, though: this is not a hate blog, its a crit blog. any negative discussion around things like his looks, sexuality, personality (unless relevant to conversation, such as how xyz personality trait affects his content) etc will not be tolerated.

asks and anons are on, feel free to send any criticism or complaints around anything ts my way. please dont vent or ask for advice though, it is definitely not my wheelhouse !

[proskenions]

pretty funny how the second a male character is associated with something femenine the fanbase revolves his entire character and identity around homemaking huh 🤔🤔

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Alear

Edit: Don't know why but my brain farted and thought the characters name was spelled Elear. Oof.

Oh me, oh my. Oh yee, oh ha! A new Fire Emblem’s been revealed at long last, and it seems like we’re already getting drip marketing. So, I feel like posting my thoughts about it.

Alear

Their design… is a little silly, but otherwise fine. The fandom came around on Corrin, it came around on Byleth, it’ll probably come around on our new minty fresh protags as well. And aside from their hair color, I actually dig both of their outfits quite a bit.

As for FireEmblemJP’s tweet about them, here’s a rough translation…

The main character of this work is the divine dragon "Alear". (CV: Hiroshi Shimono, Aya Endo) A thousand years ago, after the Fell Dragon was sealed. I was asleep in the sacred land "Ritos", but one day I suddenly woke up. I can't seem to remember who I am because I've been asleep for so long.

So, we have another amnesiac Avatar. I actually think it’s a good thing. The player is a stranger to Elyos, so it makes sense for the avatar to reflect that, as cliche as it may seem. Another thing that caught my eye was a name for the Holy Land, Ritos. I don't know if this’ll be the English name or not, and I can’t seem to find anything the name would be a reference too. Either way, I feel this confirms the game starts out in the Holy Land.

Another tweet says…

You can choose from two appearances for the main character. The default name is called "Alear". Red and blue hair and eyes are impressive.

Well, it seems like customizable appearances are out the window. Figured as much considering the cutscene quality. Chances are the theories about joycons determining hair are also not gonna pan out. I’ll admit, I was curious to see how Alear would look with my green and pink joycons, but oh well.

Finally, we have the tweet detailing Alears class and crit animation…

Alears initial class is "Dragon Child". A descendant of a dragon clan that has lived since ancient times, and can use divine dragon swordsmanship.

So, it seems the avatar is sword locked, at least at the start. Apparently they use a special school of swordsmanship though. Ordinarily, I’d assume their “descending from a divine dragon” bit was similar to how various cultures have claimed their royal families descended from gods throughout history, and just that. However, in the ui his class is listed as “Dragon Child/ Dragon”, implying wyrm slayers will deal bonus damage. This makes me wonder if Alear will be able to transform into at all later on, perhaps via promotion or a story event. If so, I'm eager to see their dragon form. 

Now before I finish this post, I wanna examine the crit animation clip, and what will likely be the game's first map. It seems to be a small map, taking place in a valley outside. We’re up against some corrupted, all ax users. The twin characters are green units, and Alear and Vander seem to be rushing to their rescue. However, the top half of the map is completely empty. As such, I think after you talk to the twins and recruit them, more enemies will teleport in, and give you tutorials on mage and healer units.

Considering there's a cutscene where Framme and the others seem to see corrupted for the first time, I think the story will be that once Alear wakes up, they and the others will journey outside the castle. After some brief introductions and worldbuilding, the corrupted will arrive to become fodder for tutorials.

So, all in all, Alear seems to be a pretty basic but functional Avatar. And while I don’t hate them as much as others, I’m still pretty lukewarm.  Hopefully their swordsmanship will stay flashy, and they’ll transform later on. That’s all I’m really hoping for. As an aromantic individual, I find shipping the units with each other more enjoyable than shipping my own character with one, so the Avatars of the series will never really be a big deal to me. 

Now, what I’m really excited to learn about are the other characters.

[avi17]

B V Y

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

I'm kinda struggling with this one bc my tastes in shipping are so specific that I just kinda tend to see My Thing somewhere and latch on like a monkey xD But I love when people turn me onto friendships I hadn't thought of. Also shout out to @tofadeawayagain for her very painful Naia/Rian "our lovers are both dead and we don't love each other but what else do we have" ship, it hurts me.

V - Which character do you relate to most?

Oh man. I think there's something I relate to in all the characters I get super into, and they all tend to end up with bits of me in return when I write them. I don't think I've ever seen a character where I was just like "ah yes that's me." Maybe Python if I had to pick? Except I'm much less allergic to work 😂

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

Crit Role is a big one right now, a tooon of my friends are big into that. Also OFMD and Stranger Things at the moment (though the latter I at least know some of from work) and stuff like SPN that I will never watch kind of always 😆

[angeloncewas]

the thing about the jawsh tweets you just mentioned, yeah the were worded absolutely horribly, but he did have some points in it, and if he didnt word it that bad then i feel like more people in the fandom would actually agree with him. also as time has gone on, things he has said have become more and more true. like back in, what was it december?, when he made them, his statements applied to a much smaller part of the fandom, but now the apply to a HUGE part of it

I guess I'm just hesitant to agree with someone like him.

I know that good takes are good takes, regardless of who put them forward, but validating the angry ramblings of a man who very clearly has little compassion or care toward the people he's talking about concerns me.

I make jokes about mcyttwt and some days I'm a little meaner than others, but at the end of every discourse cycle I try my best to emphasize that the answer to our problems doesn't lie in shitting on these kids who are just trying to be a part of something. They're representative of larger issues that are much more important to focus on. The people who are invested in the toxic aspects of the culture are being harmed just as much - if not more - than the people they're harming in turn. That doesn't make their actions okay, but it's not as though everything is suddenly gonna be fixed by dismantling communities full of people who bond over having similar interests. If you pluck a weed out of the ground, it'll just grow back and kill your entire garden. We need to do stuff about the how and the why.

In his tweets, Jawsh makes some valid claims about the way "stan culture" encourages groupthink (or similar tendencies) and the issue with idolizing someone who is ultimately a stranger. He also demonizes mental illness, denies twitter-users' autonomy, shows a laughably hypocritical perspective on his own career, and clearly reveals a rampant insecurity which manifests itself in his egotistical and defensive response to any level of criticism.

There's overlap, we're a venn diagram of crit, but if I ever start sounding too much like Jawsh, you've gotta reel me back in.

[nonagesiimus]

22, 26, 28

Do you listen to anything while you write?

not specifically, sometimes i listen to music or i actually write a lot while watching tv, but i dont have a set writing routine where i have like, my writing playlist set to go. i also write in dead silence a lot lmfao

Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

hmmm i started writing a saw au (to be clear, not saw fanfiction but putting some other characters in saw) that i probably wont end up finishing bc a) i dont think i can stick the landing and b) i recognize this is probably too weird for the fandom in question (its not a horror thing and i recognize that people who dont like horror maybe dont want to read about their faves cutting their limbs off). i guess i clearly wasnt too scared to try writing this because i did try it, but i am probably to scared to post it, so

How well do you handle criticism when it comes to your writing?

super super depends on how sensitive i am about the thing in the first place. i havent actually been in the position of getting real criticism since i did creative writing in school and the nature of ao3 is that you dont usually get actual criticism, you get like, hate comments, which do usually hurt my feelings at least a little because its almost always because i like, made a character black or trans and someone didnt like that and they can get very rude about it. i feel really lucky in that the other people who read my fics pretty much always have my back against hate comments before i even notice them. its only happened once that someone gave me actual crit in a comment that was like, thoughtful and made sense on a fic and i ended up agreeing with them and fixed it (i was like seventeen and had totally blanked on tagging for certain triggers so like, that was totally my bad)

oh and it also depends on who its coming from which is partly why i wont link my ao3 to here - i can take anything from a stranger but i do Not want to know what my friends think of my shit especially if i didnt ask

ty!

[suf-lives-rent-free]

Negativity in the SU/F Fandom

I feel like the best way to begin my cringe vent blog is to drive away as many people who would take issue with my opinions as possible, so way too long meta/fandom post let’s go.

Something I became increasingly aware of when I started to look into the Steven Universe community online several years ago was the sheer amount of negativity within the fandom.

What I saw included fans frustrated with long hiatuses and complaining about ‘filler’ townie episodes, desperate to get back to action-y space stuff, when – if you look at it – that wasn’t really the show’s focus, especially after Season 1A.

I saw people selecting freeze-frames and isolated shots of characters and spewing conspiracies about how the show had either had its budget cut or the board artists were bad/being lazy for going ‘off-model’.

I saw homophobes trying to downplay the explicitly queer elements – to the point of ‘gals pals’-ing Ruby and Sapphire, who at the time were seen by a lot of people as pushing the envelope with regard to visible queer rep in kids’ media.

Later in the show’s run, I saw people obsessively insisting that the crew were fascist apologizers, when the real problem was that they themselves had misread the Diamonds as allegorical fascists, and were angry at them being treated as complex characters with some sympathetic traits, rather than as evil obstacles to be knocked down and destroyed.

And by now everybody and their grandma knows about the video.  Y’know.  That one.

A lot of people seemed to be utterly, unreasonably enraged at the show just because it had the audacity to exist. 

The term ‘toxic’ – like ‘problematic’ – is overused online to the point that its meaning has been kind of diluted, but think that calling this type of all-encompassing negativity ‘toxic’ is accurate.

Looking at the fandom after the original show ended, it seems like a lot of these people – SU Crits – lost their steam and vanished off to go bother people in other fandoms.  Personally speaking, I saw a lot less of this kind of mindless bashing of SU in the lead-up to the Movie and during/after Future airing.

However, the impression these people made lingers on.

I think it’s fair to say that Steven Universe Future – particularly its second half – is divisive. A lot of people did not like the direction that it took.  Full disclosure, I am one of those people.

I’m not going to pretend there wasn’t some of the toxic SU-critical mindset going around, but of all of the people I knew who disliked Future, none of them were like that.  They had reasonable takes, and listened to and engaged with opinions that were contrary to theirs. Often, they avoided being ‘too’ negative to spare others’ feelings.  I myself have avoided being publicly critical of Future specifically because I’m afraid of alienating or hurting people who like it.

What I’m trying to say here is that while the level of toxic negativity in the SU fandom tapered off around the Movie and Future, the response to that negativity remained.  To me, it feels like a lot of the people who loved the original show and were active in the fandom while it was airing – who had experienced the worst of the SU Crit trolling – have become so used to engaging with criticisms made in bad faith that any and all negativity directed towards the show feels like an attack.

I’ve seen people who screencap smear frames and point out funny proportions/facial expressions – not to accuse the artists and animators of laziness, but just to say ‘ha, this frame is funny!’ – get condescended to and told they don’t know how animation works.

I’ve seen gatekeeping; people being told that they just ‘don’t get it’ or have a right to comment on the show’s portrayal of mental illness because they’ve never experienced it themselves (which is... a hell of a thing to assume about a stranger on the internet).

And I have been told explicitly in private circles that my opinion about the show  – its characters and themes  – was not wanted unless it was positive.

Essentially, what I’ve seen since Future’s second half began to air, and in the several months since it ended, is people who have any issue at all with the show having their opinions equated to those of the SU Crits, and being lumped in with them.

People who love the show are so used to having to defend it at literally every turn that they shut down and disregard any and all negativity.  I sympathise with that because I was there too and it does suck to have something you like picked apart and bashed, but it’s also gone way too far in the other direction.

It is my opinion that this stifling ‘all positivity all the time, no negativity allowed’ atmosphere is why the SU fandom has dwindled away so quickly; people like me, who feel they cannot express genuine opinions about (let’s remind ourselves) a fucking cartoon made for children without being shunned by people they consider friends, have largely decided that the best - and easiest - thing to do is keep quiet and dip out.

If, in the first couple months after Future ended, you noticed a lot of people who had been very intensely into SU just stop talking about it and hopping over to She-Ra or Owl House or whatever else, well… I honestly believe that might be the reason why.

I wanted to get all of this off of my chest because these thoughts have been rattling around my brain for months now, and I’m kind of sick of not talking openly about it.  

The amount of toxic negativity people had to deal with during the run of this show was nothing normal.  A lot of it was motivated by misogyny, homophobia and a basic misunderstanding of what the story of the show was meant to be about.  There is no getting away from that.

However, that does not mean that any and all criticism of the show comes from that same, malicious place.  Some of us really loved it, but just disliked the direction the epilogue series happened to take.

The derogation of any opinions that don’t amount to universal praise is, I would argue, just as toxic and damaging to the fandom as the people defaming the show and trolling fans who enjoyed it. 

Not wanting to engage with negativity is fine, but don’t shun people for it.  I’m not talking about the trolls here; I’m talking about other fans whose opinions aren’t as wholly positive as yours.  Pushing us out and disregarding our opinions because you disagree is unacceptable.

Steven Universe is over.  The fandom seems like it won’t last that much longer either, so it’s too late to do much about it now.  So instead I want to ask that, in future fandoms you find yourself in... don’t do this.