#therefore it was bad and it’s like. people are entitled to their own opinions. but also.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Watching season 2, Armand is so fascinating yet confusing to me. I have only read 1.5 books at this point so I don’t know much about him at all from a lore standpoint. But, the show seem to made him more nuanced than he was at least in the first book, with his backstory and hearing things form his pov and all that.

What I find fascinating is his bad side; his cruelty and violence, because it doesn’t seem unmotivated as in, like, he SOLELY take delight in - it’s almost like he actually feels ENTITLED to it? Like, he genuinely seem to NOT understand how cruel he is sometimes? Or that he is going too far. Take it out on people that I make no sense too. Or hurt people that he claim to love, and then believe it won’t change anything, and when it does it confuses him?

Very interesting, a lot of the reason for it seems to simply be out of just pure jealousy - and nothing more.

It’s…strange?…And tragic.

I surprised when I started to feel bad for him because I can actually understand how his thought process may go.

Also, his what it seems to me twisted way he sees love. Confusing love with dominance and control; and when he witnesses actual love being given to someone, he doesn’t know handle it and either want to destroy or make it fit the only mould that he knows.

;(

Armand... is Armand. :) (And yes, they gave him a LOT of nuance!)

I'm not sure how else to say it. He does not think like other people. Part of it is the way he was broken, for centuries, by the cult. Part of it is definitely the way he thinks, imho. Anne wrote him with synesthesia, too.

He feels deeply, but fails to foresee the emotional impact on others when he does not feel for people and hurts them (Claudia, for example, and the emotional impact him killing her would have on his relationship with Louis). He cannot really anticipate the repercussions, and therefore is then taken aback and hurt by said repercussions. (Which is why he ends up "readjusting continuously", in the show, too, he constantly tries to protect his own feelings, and reach his own emotional goal, but thereby hurts others... which then backfires.)

And yes, he feels entitled to what he does - and he does what he thinks best, regularly, even in the later books, which is imho part of the centuries of forced ruling as a coven leader. What he thinks is best does not always match with what others think is best though - which is, ironically, something he shares with Marius, who also often does what he thinks best, no matter the opinion of others.

[taketheringtolohac]

being so normal about peoples bad opinions on theater. being so normal.

[theradfemprincess]

You know how many times I’ve been told that I must be a man, even before I made this controversial blog?

And no, I wasn’t being crazy on my other blogs, I was just genuinely posting sfw radfem opinions. Opinions that people didn’t like, opinions that made radfems call me a man.

It feels good, doesn’t it? It feels like an instant win. Well, I’m a woman, so I’m the good guy, and there’s this other person I don’t like… but if THEY’RE a man, aka Bad Guy, then I win!

I mean, it’s not like I can prove I’m NOT a man. So it’s your conclusions vs my testimony. But once you’ve said I’m a man, you’ve already won. No matter what I say in response, your radfem buddies don’t even want to think about agreeing with someone slightly alleged to be a man.

Even though you pulled it out of your ass. But okay.

Obviously I’m doing things much more egregious than you all are used to but my point is that this is a problem spread to even the tiniest radfem disagreements. Who can be the first to call the other the man, let’s race!

Not to mention the fatphobia.

You say “it’s okay to be fatphobic to men”, but I know I’m not a man. I know that for a fact, even if you don’t believe me, because I have XX chromosomes. but even if you don’t believe me, what happened to the “if you’re racist to men, you’re racist to women” rhetoric that’s constantly spread around radblr? Does it no longer apply when it’s fat people? Pancake tits, obese, ugly? There’s a million biological women that look just like me (I am one but what can I do to make you believe me). Even if I was a man, or if I stole that picture from the internet, you are insulting women who look that way. You are insulting fat people. That includes fat women.

I have been sent gore. I have never blocked in my life, but I had to for this because I felt unsafe.

All because someone assumed I was a man. Therefore, it’s okay.

Meanwhile people have been arguing with me that women can rape men. You hate men SO much that you can be fatphobic to them with no problem and send them gore, but you love them enough that you will defend them from women online who think women can’t rape them? I’m just looking for some consistency here. Either males are subhuman or they’re not. Choose one.

Anyway, radblr, you got some problems. You’re a couple of entitled women who can sit back unharmed in your beds while you harass people online as you please in a pretend daydream of faux rightousness. At least I know I’m the bad guy sometimes. Y’all seem incapable of doing the same self reflection, judging from my about a year of different accounts on radblr

This might be up for a while or might be deleted soon idk. But I’ll be back soon with a new acc and you won’t know a thing. I’ve blended in before. I’ve actually rounded up quite a following before. At the end of the day, I am an actual radfem.

Women can be fucked up creatures too, yall. You complain about tumblr virgins but I think you’re the naive ones if you don’t even know the kinda stuff women get up to on here. We can’t ALL be roleplaying tims. There’s absolutely some freaky ones amongst your beloved angel sex. Sorry you had to find out this way.

Tldr… fatphobia ain’t cool, so either start being freely racist to brown men too or suck it up and don’t be fatphobic to ANYONE, man or not. Stick to your own damn self-imposed rules

(not to mention I’ve been telling y’all to reverse image search that picture and none of you bothered! Lmfao)

[legends-on-legends]

the "classic" villain

some ppl try to defend totk ganondorf’s one-dimensional characterization by arguing that he’s meant to be a “pure evil”, “classic” villain. now, personally, i’m not entirely opposed to having ganondorf just be an unhinged evil guy – in my opinion, part of what makes him great is the fact that he can do it all, he can be the tragic fallen hero, the sympathetic anti-villain, the remorseful old man who can’t give up the ghost of his ambitions, and also the magnificent bastard who enjoys terrorizing hyrule bc they kinda had it coming, let’s be real here. pure evil villains are fun, that’s why i love sukuna from jujutsu kaisen, he’s just an absolute unapologetic menace.

but the thing about “pure evil” or “classic” villains is that they still have to make sense. take, for instance, big jack horner from puss in boots: the last wish, a character who some have smugly pointed to as an example of a “real villain” that’s supposedly rare nowadays. the main point of jack horner is that he’s an asshole, a real piece of shit who’s uninterested in redemption or helping others, despite the best efforts of his jiminy-cricket inspired companion. jack horner is fun and adds some variety to a film that also has a sympathetic antagonist who experiences growth (goldilocks) and a force-of-nature antagonist who steals the show (death). but jack horner still makes sense; he’s an over-privileged man-child who wanted for nothing and therefore feels entitled to everything, and he’s also spiteful bc pinocchio upstaged him that one time, leading to his vendetta against fairy tale creatures.

same goes for every other classic villain that people like, whether it’s the old-school disney villains or the bad guys from classic cartoons. pure evil villains still have to be coherent and understandable in some way. that doesn’t mean their reasons have to be good – in fact, i think pure evil villains are defined by NOT having good reasons to justify their actions. but they still need to have reasons.

but totk ganondorf? this dude makes no damn sense. why does the king of the gerudo, out of all people, become king of demons? it might as well have been the king of gorons or zora or rito who turned evil. why did the gerudo support his conquest of hyrule only to turn against him once he transformed into the demon king? where did he get his powers from? how and why did ganondorf, of all people, reach the conclusion that hyrule must be bathed in eternal darkness, and why is he so dedicated to this goal that he’s willing to sacrifice his own mind and body to achieve it? what, exactly, is driving this man? you can’t call him selfish because again, he’s willing to permanently damage himself to attain his goals, that shows he’s bound to a higher cause. but there’s no explanation for why he, of all people, has chosen this particular cause.

and sure, the fandom can speculate and try to use the lore to fill in the gaps, but the fact that there are such big gaps in the first place is totk’s biggest failure, in my opinion. if people have to look at lore guides to make sense of your villain, then you’ve failed as a storyteller.

totk ganondorf might have made more sense as a monster that spawned from the Depths rather than a man who was born among the gerudo. maybe the zonai dug around too deep and activated the Depths’ defense mechanism, and boom, ganon emerges, furious at the surface world that has dared to intrude upon his domain, and determined to return the favor by covering the land of light with darkness. he’s still a monster who must be defeated but at least there would have been some logic to his actions.

[dancermk]

HELLO MY FELLOW TRAVELERS!

I, like many viewers, have been completely entranced by Hawk and Tim’s love story in Fellow Travelers. As a mature queer person, this show has been very emotional, and I am deeply invested. (I WILL riot if Tim doesn’t get to die in Hawk’s arms, and know that he is, and has always been, loved by Hawk.) But I digress.

Something that I have been fascinated by are the differing opinions that have surfaced about the characters, especially Hawk. I’m not looking for any arguments here, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and this is simply mine. To me, Hawk falls hard and fast for Tim. He breaks all his own rules for Tim - they topple over like a house of cards.

When we are introduced to Hawk, he’s cold and heartless with the men he hooks up with - they are nothing more than a body to fulfil his sexual needs and desires. He doesn’t do repeats and he doesn’t bring them home. But Tim, he instantly begins returning to, gets him a job, then allows him into his own apartment, etc. When Tim pushes back, Hawk relents further, letting him in emotionally, sharing parts of his past, crossing lines by introducing him to others in his circle, and so on.

Hawk is a traumatised man, carrying guilt and anger and shame, and a bucket load of fear! Yes, he has some internalised homophobia, but interestingly, he’s also extremely righteous about his homosexuality -and I don’t believe he thinks being gay is wrong in any way. (His response to his father is indicative of this).

I can personally say that I’ve never thought it was wrong to be queer, yet I spent much of my life hiding who I was and feeling shame. It’s an odd thing! Perhaps it is that the shame forms purely from what is outside of us, while what is inside of us can love another person of the same sex, knowing it is right and pure. Perhaps these contradictions between self and society are what causes so much pain and conflict?

But back to Hawk. Hawk is undoubtedly most affected by his teenage first love experience. A love that he fucked up through his own fears (fear for many men is unacceptable and a sign of weakness), and now carries the burden of believing he is responsible for their death. Hawk doesn’t allow himself to love again, until Tim. And we see many times throughout the show how much Hawk fears losing Tim. And in the end he’ll have to face that fear. I think that, in part, not attempting to have a life with Tim, is also fuelled by his fear of fucking it up and losing Tim - so it’s easier to just not attempt it! In episode 7, when he loses his son, part of that spiral is Hawk recognising that he can’t really prevent loss, and he wasted his life trying to be something he’s not - still losing his child and Tim along with it.

But Hawk is a survivor! And no one has the right to hate or judge him for it. I don’t think some young people truly understand what it feels like to live in a world where who you love can put you in jail, and destroy your life. I grew up in the 70s/80s and my experiences were bad enough, but I try so very hard to think about what it was like before that! When being queer was a crime and a mental illness! That’s pure terror! And for Hawk, he chose to survive the best way he knew how, and he wasn’t able to change because that’s fucking hard when all you’ve known is living in constant ‘fight or flight,’ and when have chronic trauma and experience collective trauma.

I think in episode 8 we’ll finally get to see Hawk grow - I certainly hope so - because he deserves to be free. Our beautiful Skippy has been free for some time, and while we mourn for the cruelty of a world that would take such a truly decent man, I am glad he got to live freely. Being closeted is the worst kind of suffering- a compartmentalised and fragmented existence where you are never truly whole, and therefore can never be the best version of yourself.

Before I go, I just wanted to also talk about being in a closeted relationship-which I experienced in my youth. I think that Hawk and Tim’s intense and toxic and exquisitely beautiful relationship, in part, arises from this. Because two closeted people in love live their relationship in secret, in a bubble, only in certain rooms, with none of the outside world reflected back at them. It becomes the two of you against the world. It’s so insular. Hawk and Tim literally live their 1950s relationship within two rooms - their apartments. All their memories are held within those walls. And it only belongs to them. They know each in ways that no other living soul does. It’s all-consuming and often unhealthy, but also stupidly romantic.

Anyway, sorry for this long winded post that no one will read and is likely full of grammatical errors because I’m tired! This atheist is praying we get everything we need from episode 8! Acceptance, forgiveness, understanding resolution, healing and a whole lot of love! ❤️

Cheers queers! 🏳️‍🌈

PS Matt and Johnny are exquisite on and off screen and I am so thankful to them for bringing these characters and this story into our lives!

[halfagone]

So Here's the Thing About the Fenton Parents...

I have written more than one post about the Fenton parents now. You might have seen them, you might not have. These are the two posts if you're curious: meta post and the original ask that inspired the meta.

From these posts, I've learned that this topic can be very divisive in the fandom. There are those that prefer them depicted as good parents, others as bad, some search for a more mild depiction of the Fentons' poor parenting, so on and so forth. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you want a certain depiction or trope, please read those and be respectful to those who don't. It's as simple as that.

However, there is something that I realized we don't talk enough about as a fandom. I'll admit, I've done the same:

How can we depict the Fentons as good parents when they cannot adhere to basic safety standards?

It's easy to excuse this as quirky, eccentric behavior. This is a cartoon show after all, we shouldn't take it that seriously. Except... Danny Phantom, the show, has also showcased how their lacking safety measures has hurt and injured the people around them. More than once.

Vlad was first with the proto-portal in college. Arguably, their children have been struggling with their parents' carelessness long before the portal was ever finished: their food is constantly ecto-contaminated, coming back to life to traumatize their young kids, as we see in "The Fright Before Christmas". And then, of course, we have the Accident. Danny is turned half-ghost, and the rest is history.

Only... now these two have ecto-powered weapons that they use to hunt ghosts, caring very little when their hunts intrude on or injure their children, like the multiple occasions they have turned their weapons to Jazz, who is neither half-ghost or anything ghost-adjacent in canon.

There have been multiple scenes where the Fentons blatantly choose to ignore safety standards. The meta post I linked earlier shows a couple of such examples. But you might be wondering, what does this have anything to do with their parenting style? Well...

If they were good parents, their children's safety would be top of mind.

The Fentons cannot be wishy-washy with their basic lab procedures and also be good parents. These two facts cannot coexist, especially so when their lab headquarters is in their home, where curious children can walk in at any time, unsupervised. Should kids be walking into a lab with dangerous chemicals around? No, but it is their responsibility as parents to make sure their kids don't roam about.

It is their responsibility to teach their children this basic safety procedure, and adhere to it themselves, because it is meant to protect them and everyone around them. This cannot be a "do as I say, not as I do" situation. Their failure to be responsible can both directly and indirectly harm others, as we see from canon, where Danny becomes a halfa in a second portal accident.

Strictly speaking, if Danny had good parents, he would not have become a halfa in the first place. If the Fentons were good parents, they would have been there, in that lab, with Danny, Sam, and Tucker, supervising their visit. Danny would have never been allowed into the portal which- at that time- had been dysfunctional. Furthermore, even if Danny had been allowed in the portal, it should have been unplugged in adherence to safety code. Therefore, even if Danny did trip and hit, say, a misplaced "On" button inside, it wouldn't have turned on because it should not have been powered up to begin with.

More than once, safety measures could have been implemented to prevent a lab accident, yet nothing ever came out of it.

Furthermore, neither Fenton parent make an effort to reach out to Vlad after his own accident. Of course, we could extrapolate and say that the Fentons tried but were barred entry. However, that is more wishful thinking and personal headcanons than based on concrete canon evidence. What does this indicate about the Fentons?

Simply put, they are not good people. Of course, there are many characters in media that are depicted as villains but show compassion and care for their children. The Fentons are not one of them. They say they love their children, but very few times do they show it outside fighting off ghosts- which they would have done regardless if their children were there or not. They do not have respect for personal boundaries, public or private property, or public safety.

There are more than a few examples of this, but here is a very obvious one: the portal itself.

The Fentons believe that ghosts are nothing more than scum; they believe ghosts are malicious entities that would destroy the world given the chance. And yet they thought it was a good idea to create a portal to a world full of so-called malicious entities with little to no preparation whatsoever.

Oh sure, they have their weapons, but as we can see these two cannot be everywhere at once. Not even Danny, with superpowers, can be everywhere at once. The Fentons do not build a door for the portal until episode 13 of the series. 13 episodes. By this time, there have already been multiple ghost attacks, some of which spanned city-wide.

Incompetence is not an excuse. In fact, that incompetence should outright disbar them from keeping their children.

At the end of the day, whether you believe the Fentons really do love their children beyond their prejudice, they have repeatedly shown that they cannot be trusted to care for their children. This begs the question:

Is it still possible for the Fentons to be good parents?

Technically speaking, yes. Everyone is capable of change. The Fentons are more than capable of learning from their mistakes, although evidence indicates that they likely wouldn't, seeing how there were two portal accidents.

But yes, they can learn from the past and become better parents in the future. Jazz and Danny would likely have to be removed from the home until they update and comply with safety regulations, and they may even lose their business license because of their failure to adhere, but it is still possible.

However, the Fentons were not always good parents. Even if they were to learn and grow as people, it cannot be ignored that once upon a time, they had been responsible for a lot of damage: material, physical, mental, and emotional. This can come with consequences, including prison time and losing custody of their children.

Of course, we could choose to ignore all of this. We as a fandom do that for many aspects of canon, the Fenton parents could just be another one. You could argue that canon declares the Fenton parents are good.

But here's another thing:

The Fentons redeem themselves as parents when they accept Danny after a reveal. They are not automatically good ones.

Hopefully this will be the last meta on the Fenton parents from me. I understand people want Danny's parents to be good, and they certainly can be, but I am tired of people ignoring the very real neglect and abuse both their kids suffered. You do not have to have the Fentons dissect Danny to make them abusive. You do not have to have the Fentons work day and night to make them negligent.

Abuse and neglect cover a variety of cases. That includes kids like this too.

Thank you for reading.

[ilikekidsshows]

I know you’re more of an “Adrien centered” criticism/defense blog but I am curious about your opinion on this.

What is your opinion on the “Chloe deserves/doesn’t deserve redemption” situation or the “Chloe wasn’t meant to be redeemed and there for what happened to her is fair game” stance?

---

My thoughts on the Chloé situation are kinda complex. Back when the show only had three seasons, I did think Chloé’s character trajectory made sense. Sure, she’d saved people when she was acting as Queen Bee, but she still treated her classmates the same. In fact, she started treating Sabrina worse than before because she considered being anything other than Queen Bee hanging out with Ladybug was slumming it. For me, it really was a 50/50 on whether or not Chloé would be redeemed or fall into actual villainy.

Because, here’s how I saw it: I didn’t think Chloé was an actual villain-villain in seasons 1-3. She was Marinette’s school nemesis and a decidedly defanged one. Marinette was scared of her exactly once, in Origins, a flashback episode meant to showcase how much more confident being Ladybug has made Marinette that she views Chloé as small potatoes. The season 3 finale could have been the culmination of an arc where Marinette accidentally causes Chloé to become a villain and ally herself with Hawk Moth in the future.

And it would have been caused by Marinette, even if unintentionally. It would have shown how good intentions can have unforeseen consequences, especially when you don’t know what you’re helping someone with or what they want before you do so. Marinette doesn’t really understand what she’s trying to help people with whenever she does try to be helpful, because she assumes what they want and need instead of asking and listening (like in Reflekdoll, the latter part of Ikari Gozen and Quilt Trip). Many heroes create their own villains this way, and Marinette could have done so as well since she was the one to strengthen Chloé’s bond with the person who taught her to be an entitled bully and then she dragged her feet on whether or not she could use the Bee Miraculous.

The season 3 finale shows Chloé brought to a new low. The following New York Special gives us a glimpse of a Chloé who is withdrawn, like she’s reconsidering her life. This could have led to Chloé deciding that she would have revenge on Ladybug for leading her on and then dumping her (as a teammate). But, it could have also have led to Chloé realizing that, while Ladybug wasn’t her friend, Sabrina was, and she pushed the latter away in pursuit of being the Bee Miraculous holder. Chloé could have gained new insight that would have led her to start working on how she treats those closest to her, finally starting to treat her schoolmates with decency and, maybe, with time, kindness.

Then season 4 came along and all that foreshadowed introspection was dumped out the window in favor of having Chloé do cartoonishly stupid school antagonist character things. In season 4, where this kind of hijinks are so incredibly low-stakes that it’s both laughable to see, and laughable to realize the writers think this is good television.

I think the writers realized this too, because then comes season 5 with the retcon that, actually, Chloé is an evil mastermind who is so heinous that she orchestrated a traumatic event that led to Marintette’s character flaws and therefore Marinette should be forgiven for her flaws and Chloé blamed for them. Never mind the damage this episode does to Kim’s character, turning him from an oblivious to jock to a total creep, it also tries to convince us that Chloé is this big threat despite that it happened at least a year ago in-universe and that she had never done anything even close to this bad since. It just makes no sense when contrasting with the early seasons, where Marinette treats Kim as just one classmate among many and Chloé as a low-threat nuisance.

The problem was that they decided that they didn’t want Marinette to hold any responsibility for anything she does anymore. This is why they wrote the episode ‘Derision’, to absolve Marinette of all responsibility in her stalking of Adrien, even though them making it a serious trauma response instead of a cartoon-logic joke means that now she absolutely should take responsibility for her behavior and get therapy. Because they wanted to give Marinette a retroactive justification, the episode just doesn’t mesh with the rest of the show. But, like, the writing in Miraculous seasons 4-5 is so bad it’s of course never just about a single episode, it’s all about how the Miraculous writers don’t know how to build up arcs that then come to a logical conclusion, which is why all their story arcs’ endings fall flat and leave viewers thinking “where’s the rest of it?” when they’re not considered one of the worst finales for a show.

Basically, making Chloé a villain could have worked, but it would have required her getting built up into such a status. The Chloé of seasons 1-3 isn’t a monster, she’s a brat. But the writers didn’t want to do that work despite wanting that story, thinking some repetitive episodes of Chloé being a brat some more will accomplish the same thing. So, Chloé just keeps performing petty bullying until the writers think the viewers forgot that she’s like this because of her mother, who Marinette reunited her with, all the while pretending the woman who calls her by the wrong name to her face on purpose has done nothing wrong as a parent other than “leave”, before she randomly turns on Miss Bustier and starts working with Hawk Moth for supposedly no reason in Collusion.

And, like, the thing that really grinds my gears is that it worked. So many people forgot that Chloé’s bullying was modeled to her by her mother, who Marinette reunited her with. Marinette repeatedly tries to fix abused kids’ relationships to their parents with no regard for how that could harm them in the long run (Adrien, Chloé and Kagami). It’s a pattern, but the show thinks Marinette’s missteps shouldn’t be pointed out because she “had good intentions” when her intentions in the instances of The Bubbler, Style Queen and Ikari Gozen were nothing more than: “Well, my parents are great, so these kids are obviously safe with the parents I just saw make them miserable!” The accusing finger for Chloé’s behavior should be pointed at Audrey. Marinette being “triumphant” over Chloé because Chloé is now stuck with the abuser who made her is already iffy without the added grossness of Marinette being the one who reunited them in the first place.

[crosshairslefttoe]

If I see one more person saying hunter is gonna blame crosshair for losing omega again I might go insane. Like everyone is obviously entitled to their own opinion but like I feel like some people are just not understanding hunters character at all, and with him being my absolute favourite it hurtsssss to see all the hate towards him sometimes.

I believe that yes, hunters is going to be mad and upset that again, omega has been taken from them, from him, but I don't think he'll direct it towards crosshair - (at least not fully maybe in the heat of the moment but not overall)

Hunters been through losing omega once before to which he heavily blamed himself for. We saw how deeply routed in grief and guilt he was in episode 2, with wrecker seemingly being the only thing keeping him sane at the time. So therefore I truly believe he's not gonna hold it against crosshair for losing omega a second time.

Hunter knows how ruthless the empire is and how they will stop at nothing to get what they want. He saw that completely the first time omega got captured. He won't blame crosshair for losing omega because he knows what it feels like. He'll know that crosshairs gonna be feeling incredibly guilty for letting omega go forward with her plan.

As well as this hunter is fully aware that omega is incredibly stubborn when it comes to making decisions - and that's not necessarily a bad thing, btw. Like in season 1, she had her mind set upon helping Hera out, and when Hunter said no, she would not take that as an answer. Her whole character is built upon helping others. So if crosshair explains to hunter that it was Omega's choice to turn herself in, he'll know that it would have been incredibly difficult to argue and change her mind he won't blame crosshair for losing her.

It's the empires fault they are the ones to blame, no one else's.

Anyways, that was a long rant but I just feel like alot of the hate towards hunter is unwarranted and all because some people don't understand the sort of person he is, yes he may seem dark and broody but all in all he is just a guy who has to put on this hard exterior for the safety of his squad, he has to be the strong one for everybody. In reality, he's a big ol' softie who understands people and cares for others more than he lets on. 🫶

[thisisyourprincipalspeaking]

well students,

i really thought we might get have a nice quiet weekend without the resident wannabe-queen-bees trying to make a play for the kingdom. but here we are with grassy checking in for duty posting their harangue against the 'opinions everyone is entitled to, but cling to the pr angle and isn't it weird...'. normally i write this fool off to another wannabe-mean-girl who thinks they're doing something while no one actually cares about them. but, they've made posts policing this fandom (and me, but i'm more focused on the fandom) and i feel the need to share my piece. since everyone is entitled to their opinion and all.

this person made an account to purely give attention to the 'delulus' they can't stand and call out 'bad behavior'. yes, those delulus are fucking insane and need to be called out; but isn't what you're doing giving them the attention they want? it's all you talk about. this constant back and forth, launching thought turds to try start a fandom war is played out. but now you are going after the people who think this might be pr and lumping them in with the crazies? i hope you are including yourself with the crazies, because you sure are one. everyone is entitled to their opinion, right? just not these people who are discussing a celebrity's relationship on their blogs or in group chats. and probably not my opinion when you read this (hi!) and start using terms you don't understand to call me names. imo you are trash just like the rest of them. you and your friends are deeply concerned about those group chats, aren't you? odd. but i digress.

why do you care so much what these mods think, when by your own accord, they aren't harming anyone or sending nasty notes or hate? sorry, i added that last part, but it is implied by your other posts. you spend so much time fighting to confirm a marriage that isn't yours. you give the 'delulus' airtime time and time again. are you that bothered by people disagreeing with you? and why does it automatically have to be jealousy if someone doesn't believe the bill of goods they are being sold? fyi, seeing the awkwardness or plot holes is not confirmation bias. maybe these fans are trying to grapple with the upset of their favorite actor not living up to ideals he has claimed to hold. maybe they are just trying to continue to enjoy his projects without associating her in them. we do not have to bring her into absolutely every conversation about him, but both dumb ass 'teams' sure try. and yes, his wife is plenty problematic. she may not have directly said the horrible things her friends have and then tried to throw (at least one of) those friends under the bus, but you know what is said: when someone sits down at a table with three nazis, and if they don't call them out, there are four nazis at the table.

so what's the real reason for your constant vitriol and desperate attempt to make people 'see the truth'? why are you fighting so hard for a relationship that isn't yours? do you, just like those 'delulus', think you'll get some big prize for being his biggest defender? you don't want to have genuine conversation with anyone, you just want to argue your point of view time and time again. you want everyone to see things through your lens and agree with your confirmation bias.

yes, you, your friends, and the delulus all just love to police the fandom. i thought it was a joke when i was told about the constant policing, but here you all are, over and over, day after day. telling people what to think, telling people what to post, cruising around tumblr to comment on posts that have nothing to do with you. for what? i'm starting to believe the rumblings that you all are part of the plot to advance a certain narrative and keep the nunemployed at the forefront of the discussion. i can't prove it, but again, it's rumored.

i'll close with some words you might recognize, grassy.

these two people do not know you. they don’t care how you feel about them. you will likely never meet or know them in your lifetime. therefore it is really weird to INSIST you are right about certain things happening in their lives and/or behind the scenes when absolutely none of his fandom knows anything beyond what he presents to us.

think about it for a while. why do you care so much if someone doesn't believe this narrative? are you getting paid for this? because if not, it is very strange to be this invested in someone else's marriage. maybe you are jealous because you aren't married. i don't know. but jealousy is your go to.

from the archives: you once told people they would be accepted by you and your ilk if they admitted they were wrong. that announcement and offer gave very strange, cult leader- like vibes. so fucking odd. so here's this -if you can admit you're just a bitch who wants tumblr notoriety (HA) and has an axe to grind, we'll accept you. there's no prize for being an asshole online. ce will never care if you were his greatest warrior on the world wide web. you're just another asshole existing on the same coin with the others and think you are better than everyone else.

i will definitely be using tags on this. i will continue to use them. and as you say: most people are doing no harm. they are discussing things in private chats, but i understand that you all are so upset about not being invited. i promise, being honest with yourself will set you free.

and grassy? shove your dollar store, rip off musing up your ass.

[babyboywinchester]

Nvm I didn't know you were gonna refer me to one of the most vile bullies in fandom. I also can't believe what terminally online speak I'm hearing. Queerbaiting, really? He does something fans enjoy and continues doing it, I don't see the harm. As for his personal sexuality, that is private and clearly isn't so black and white when you look at what he's said. I don't understand the nitpicking. I agree re the Js though. I'm just genuinely bummed by how antagonistic fandom gets

@nancylou444 has never been vile or a bully to me and anything I’ve seen of hers has been defending other wincest shippers or going toe to toe with terminally brain dead destihellers. Lmao… terminally online? I’m a working and married mother of two. I can assure you I’m not “terminally online”. That’s the EXACT phrase he and the hellers have used when referring to how Destiel has got such a shit go of things so why are you attacking me over a phrase such as that when I am just using literally the same term these blowhards use?

Listen, dude, if you don’t like what I post or who I associate with or the opinions I have then go somewhere else… I don’t know what else to tell you.

He made his sexuality a topic of public discussion when he PUBLICLY insinuated he was bi, had to PUBLICLY retract said statement, and then had to PUBLICLY come out as straight. So, do not get onto me about it being a “private” matter… he did it in the public sphere and therefore it is open to ridicule. If you don’t want those things talked about then you… don’t talk about them. Funny how that works…

Everyone is capable of making mistakes, doing bad things, and growing. Misha has shown, to me, no growth and continually doubles down on his questionable and creepy behavior. He does charity? Cool good for him. Neat. He campaigns for Ukraine? Also a great cause. He still makes overtly sexual comments about his costars about a fetishized gay ship that Jensen himself has repeatedly said he finds no basis for and then gets attacked when he points out that it’s not canon, not how he played the character, and it’s not how the character was written. I do not like Misha. I find his pandering, entitlement, “look at me I do good things I’m a good guy” attitude to be abhorrent and distasteful.

I also do not like how vile fandom can get, but luckily I’m a wincestie and a lover of both brothers with a Sam leaning attitude… so, I’m surrounded by great mutuals and like minded people who I’ve went out of my way to cultivate an online experience with and so generally my online experience has been very positive.

I suggest you do the same and maybe not come to my blog, especially not on anon if you’re not going to have the courage to face me, if I am not your cup of tea. No one is forcing you to view my opinions and content. You alone have the power to curate your own online experience. If you want to come off anon and talk so be it, but the next ask sent on anon will just be deleted because I’m not going to continue you this conversation especially if you’re accusing me of being “terminally online” for using a well-used phrase outside of online life… like seriously grow up.

Have a wonderful day. Godspeed.

[toastedcatbread]

I'm sorry, but I don't really find "At the Altar" to be very sexy or cute at all. I've been thinking for weeks how to phrase that doesn't sound like outright bashing, so I'll do my best. First of all, Cloud becoming blessed without even realizing it (lacking CONSENT), can't remember if he was even a child, and then Sephiroth coming around to collect his 'due' in sexual favors is just coersive and cringy. And later, Sephiroth outright killing everyone in his village because reasons??? and Cloud's all like, "Oh ALL RiGHT but don't you do it again~" is just?? mindboggling? Cloud would do anything for his people, for the ones he cares about, and sparing just a few isn't doing Cloud any favors. He'd want to save everyone he could, even if they weren't his biggest fans. There's a huge imbalance of power here that doesn't jive with 'loving, consenting relationships'. Cloud is subjected to painful, unrealistic sex because he has no CHOICE; and therefore, Sephiroth can't just fuck the living bejesus out of Cloud and woops, that's how love happens. It's unbelievable, it's really kind of rapey, and it really isn't for me. For a reader, I approached this story "Porn Without Plot", and that's fine, but there is some semblance of plot here, though it's so poorly presented that it's painful to read and it rarely deviates from, 'Sephiroth does something bad, but it all goes away because Cloud just loves getting dicked until he can't see straight' and because he's such a subserviant individual - which, canonically, he isn't. He wants to live for himself, in the end, find his own identity. I really hope you consider wrapping up the story soon, because even as I can't stand it, I'm hoping that somehow, really hope, that Cloud realizes how much he's been manipulated and gets away from Seph, because this is not the basis of a healthy relationship, at all, and it frightens and upsets me to my very core.

Sefikura, as a whole, has never been healthy or cute or wholesome. In canon, it's presented as a manipulative, dark, gritty, and horrendously co-dependent in a way no one can call healthy.

Listen, anon, you're entitled to your opinion on At the Altar just as anyone else is. I didn't write the story to explore any deep plot or dynamic. It's not meant to be fun or cute. It's really just a fantasy theme that I'm writing to practice writing sex, which I personally find difficult.

However, you're bleeding "real world" into fantasy at this point. No one today would disagree that, should something like this happen in real life, it would be horrific. Of COURSE, Cloud isn't subservient in canon, especially not to Sephiroth. Of COURSE he's trying to find his own identity in canon. They don't have gods or blessings or offerings in the actual FF7 storyline. In this world where humans identify themselves as "followers", things are different. Cloud is different. It's an AU and, at some point, it will deviate from "normal" Cloud's actions.

Stop comparing fanfiction with canon or real life. AUs exist as a genre and people write them to explore outside the box of canon. You don't have to like it, nor do you have to read it. I understand that you may like some of my other works, or maybe you don't, but I'm not really writing for clout or popularity in the fandom. If it's not to your taste, I'm sure there's plenty of other works out there that can scratch that itch for you.

If I'm perfectly honest, there's thousands, maybe millions of people reading on AO3. How in the world is anyone supposed to write something that satisfies every single reader anyway? It's impossible. So I don't aim for that. It write for various reasons and At the Altar just happens to be me practicing porn. It's not meant to be realistic or true to canon.

[childofchaosnic74]

Rant time: hotd spoilers ahead

This is my personal opinion, you're free to disagree, just be civil about it.

I don't agree with those who say that it's impossible to "defend" Alicent here after episode one with Alicole happening (and I say this as someone who is not a fan of the pairing)

Cause honestly, she did her duty for years, she sacrificed everything, her whole life and self, for her husband, for her children and for the realm, so now that she has fewer obligations in that sense I think it's perfectly ok for her to seek something for herself. Side note, having her be unecessarily "punished" again and made to feel guilty (after b&c) for the one time she has a consensual relationship is such an uninteresting choice imo (we've seen more than enough of that in s1).

And as to the argument that she's a hypocrite because she slut shamed Rhaenyra and then had an affair with Criston, I find it kinda irrelevant, cause of several reasons, the way I see it that was never truly the point of her criticism of Rhaenyra and also, so many other characters in this story are "hypocrites" but that doesn't make them bad or unlikeable or any less compelling (ex: Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, Otto, Daemon, Criston and a good chunk of the other characters too) .

As I've said before, the way I see it, Alicent was angry at her because Rhaenyra acted selfish and entitled several times, not thinking about the consequences to other people (examples: Rhaenyra almost sleeps with Daemon and then with Criston, is seen and risks her position as heir, Alicent defends her and that ends up costing her her greatest -perceived-ally -Otto- then Rhaenyra sleeps with Harwin, producing obvious bastards that will inevitably weaken her claim, therefore putting Alicent's children in even more danger, and doesn't even acknowledge it, fast forward Aemond loses an eye because of Rhaenyra's refusal to admit the truth -even to her children, causing them, especially Jace, to develop a huge complex about their true parentage-, so we see that again and again the people who suffer the consequences of Rhaenyra's actions are almost always others, mainly Alicent and her family). It's like Rhaenyra does whatever she wants and it's always Alicent that pays the price for her actions. Of course she's gonna be frustrated and angry and the teachings of the faith are mostly a convenient way for her to justify her feelings to herself and to others without showing just how much she cares and how wounded she is by this chasm between them.

Also if we follow the logic that Alicent is awful and deserves to be hated because she's a hypocrite for shaming Rhaenyra, then Rhaenyra should get just as much hate cause she was the one who slut shamed and victim blamed Alicent for marrying Viserys first even though she had no choice in the matter at all.

I personally think that reading the "where is duty, where is sacrifice?" line and Alicent's criticism of Rhaenyra as just Alicent slut shaming her is quite reductive and does not do justice to the characters and the complexity of their relationship.

To me it's clear (as Rhaenyra says) that Alicent "hides beneath the cloak of her own righteousness" (the faith) because her real reasons to resent Rhaenyra are way more personal and vulnerable and ugly, but admitting that betrays how deeply she actually feels for Rhaenyra.

[abyssleaves]

Why I'll Be Remaining in the Lurking For Love Community

Ok.

Honestly, I really don't want to make this.

I'm way too old for fandom drama, and I don't need to be making myself a target. My gut is telling me that it's a bad idea to get involved, and I'm inviting trouble for myself by posting this.

But the most recent post against Tom is just ridiculous and I can't not speak my piece.

I'm not linking to it or reblogging it because I don't want to send hate anyone's way, and honestly because I'm going to block them as soon as this is posted. You can read mine and theirs for yourself and decide what you think.

As far as the “anti-Latino” posts that Tom liked, I can't speak to whether they do damage, or what Tom’s views actually are. I am not Latino, and I'm not Tom. It's not my place. But I will say I was aware of those posts long before I saw that “callout” post, and it's because multiple Latino artists I follow liked and retweeted them. At the time, I was given to understand that they were satirizing the fact that both were styles of stereotypes, but one was acceptable while the other was not, despite both being bad. I can't say, based on just those tweets, that I see any anti-Latino sentiment in Tom. I'm willing to admit that my knowledge on that front isn't bomb-proof.

The second point, well... I'm sorry to the friend that feels used. They're entitled to be hurt. And I will readily admit that I'm only able to respond to the info within that post. Maybe there IS more to it.

But I don't think that Tom ceasing contact over the hormones is surprising at all, from a mental health standpoint. Put yourself in his shoes: you're a trans person in US, which is its own struggle, and you've reached your mid/early 20s without being able to attain gender-affirming care. Now someone years younger than you just got the thing you want more than anything else. Sure, you might be happy for them. But that is also going to hurt, horribly. You really have three options:

1) stay friends and smother the bitterness/possible resentment. That will either end up ruining your mental health, or coming out and ruining the friendship anyway.

2) Ask your friend not to tell you/post about their transition. That makes it about you and also ruins something that should make them happy.

3) Distance yourself.

Maybe he should have spoken more directly with you about his feelings, granted. But, Tom has not been shy about the fact that he struggles with his mental health. None of us handle every situation well. As far as his occasional venting, I would think, if you WERE his friend, you might have some compassion, and either cease contact if the friendship is not fulfilling, or accept his sincere, well-written apology (Which are the ONLY words straight from Tom’s mouth on the entire fucking post).

Instead, you got the apology from him, and then shared a bunch of gossip between you and another friend, and outed your interpretations of his vent sessions to the world. That's not exactly classy, posting about how he sought people he felt safe with during a time when a big chunk of the community he built is telling him to do horrible things to himself.

I want to make it clear that I don't agree with all of Tom’s views as expressed on his initial explanation post. Again, many of them are issues that I don't feel are my place to get involved in, and therefore I stayed quiet at the time.

I'm aware that the justified and intense hurt felt by people in those communities can mean that even differing opinions feel like a slap in the face. You have every right to see Tom’s views as hurtful and choose to leave, and/or make a separate community for support. I don't blame people who are in those communities for doing so. This post is aimed at the obsessed minority that won't leave the tag/remaining fans/Tom alone.

All of the above being said, the reaction to Tom’s post is the most “touch grass” thing I have ever seen.

Tom liking one or two comics from a dark-humor comic artist so widespread on the internet that I didn't even know he had an actual page, or anything about him as a person (something Tom also stated) = Tom is a Nazi sympathizer.

Tom saying “I don't care for neopronouns, but I won't attack you for using them and will respect what everyone wants to be called” = Tom is a monstrous bigot.

The racism accusation has me especially 💀. All because he liked a post about help from an unexpected source and that we should be kinder to each other.

How on earth are you going to tell a POC that he doesn't know what racism is because he’s NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF POC? Do you hear yourself?

(FWIW, I also don't agree with kink at pride. Sorry. LGBTQ+ people are not "narsty little freaks"--yeah I SAW that post--they're people. They can be kinky, they can be vanilla, whatever. Kink has nothing to do with your orientation, and therefore it isn't part of Pride. Also, my guys, if you're having public sex/being nude at pride for kink reasons, then you're not part of the healthy kink community: safe, sane, and CONSENSUAL. Nobody around you consented to that. Similarly, while I feel that sex education for minors should be normalized in order to give them better tools to tell when they're being groomed, seeing strangers with no pants on is NOT education, that's involving minors in your fetish. And that's fucking gross. )

The LGBTQ+ community in the US is in a lot of trouble right now, and we have a very bad habit of eating our own. We divide and subdivide and allow ourselves to be carved up by a united conservative front.

We do not allow for differing levels of leftist beliefs, and we constantly accuse each other of being not POC/leftists/queer enough, or being the wrong kind, or using a term for ourselves that some other individuals don't like. A great deal of the bullying leveled against him is justified by others saying that he's choosing to support a party that will turn on him and cause him and others like him harm.

Well, to be honest, the only community I see doing that right now is this one.

The amount of disingenuous “OMG, just FYI everyone to everyone hurt by [situation], I’M not transphobic/a bigot, you're all welcome here 😌” posts from people, who did not read his post, did not link to or quote his post. Disgusting. You know very well that nothing in his explanation or in his actions throughout his time in the community pointed to any abuse ON HIS PART towards trans people, non-binary people, people of the Jewish faith, or POC. You're virtue signaling, you're putting lambs blood above your door to keep the baying mob away.

This is insane. When did differing opinions turn into this? You don't have to agree with Tom’s views on anything. You're welcome to not follow his accounts, not like his art, not buy his game. If you feel that his opinions are too severely different from yours, you should be allowed to leave the fandom without people telling you that you should do bad things to yourself because your opinions don't match theirs (sound familiar?).

But…please. Can we stop with this awful parasocial obsession with his personal page? You can't lie to yourself and call it anything other than literal stalking. It's creepy as hell, and it reflects more on you than on him, in the long run. People might agree with your outrage, but deep down, they're afraid of being the next target, and they stay quiet out of fear that you'll stalk them next and send a mob hurling abuse their way.

To Tom, I'm sorry that this happened to you. You didn't deserve anything even close to this level of vitriol and abuse. You started from scratch and created a character and story that I feel was something truly unique. You reached an incredible number of people's hearts with Lurking for Love and Jacob, and no matter what happens from here with both of them, you deserve to feel proud of that. I hope that you are ok. Being a public figure on the internet doesn't mean you don't have a right to private opinions or even just general privacy.

I'm not tagging any characters in this. I'm only tagging the game because I hope other fans get to see that they're not alone. I don't believe the tags should be polluted this way. If you have to discuss a creator, it should be in his tag and not in a fandom space.

I'm aware that there will be deliberate bad-faith readings of this, or nitpicking of things I didn't cover. Whoever wants to, go ahead and respond, but I've said what I came to say, and I have nothing more to add. My inbox is closed and I love the block button.

[myfairkatiecat]

as an actual person getting a degree in criticism of english literature, i'd like to say that you are completely entitled to your opinion and i am entirely thrilled to see discussion of literary theory in the kotlc fandom!!!! it's fantastic and i wish everyone engaged with the work like you are!!!

that being said, I do have some questions? problems? smth idk. for you. This is not an attack or anything like that, pure academic camaraderie and engagement. Literary theory shifts entirely based on who, how, and why people engage with it.

You stated in one post that when an author writes their story one way, you as the reader can't really argue against that at all, as you are choosing to engage with the work. For instance, if you hate Sokeefe and it turns you off from reading the series, you can't say that the author was wrong without basing it in some real criticism. My response to this would be, what would that criticism look like? Do you have a good argument for why Sokeefe wouldn't be a good route for the author to take? I am an AVID Sokeefe shipper, and I can think of at least three. But I digress. My main thought here is that an author, at least in my opinion, can be completely wrong in their execution of anything. Just because something is written in a story doesn't necessarily mean that's how it has to be, or how it would best be written!

I genuinely think millions of writers have begun writing things simply because they saw a poorly executed story.

Writing, for me, at least, always seems to be utterly entwined with itself. Story, wording, execution, pacing, it's all combined into the whole it becomes. This is why Twilight is so bad, why KOTLC has isn't classics material, and why, say, Jane Eyre is! It's all combined together into a beautiful flashing collective, and it is when you get excellence across the board that a work of fiction really shines.

However, I don't think one can take the author as the prime example of perfectly executing their own story.

I would write so much of KOTLC completely differently if it were my writing, and I would argue that all of that would make it worlds better, even if some of my choices are primarily based on personal taste, not supported criticism, because I think that I know how to write just as well, if not better than the author does.

It is based in this very same idea, that even if I were operating solely out of personal taste that I could do it better, that I find myself disagreeing with your claim.

I genuinely believe an author can make terrible decisions with their story, and be wrong about how it's carried out, even if it's in the material and published.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Sorry, I know this is kind of long.

Anyways! Thank you so much for bringing up theoretical stuff!!!! I literally LOVE to see it!!!! :D Have a great day!!!

I love this stuff too OMG im going to college next year and I’m majoring in English

Anyway yes!! Most of what you said is actually about the execution of the story, which I totally agree can be objectively better or worse! I like to put all those things like style, pacing, and execution in the family of “writing” and things like plot and scenes and what is actually happening in the universe as “content.”

I think the “writing,” as I loosely defined it above, can be thoroughly criticized at any point, and ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE! That’s how readers and writers alike learn and grow from other media and nurture their own talent! I can definitely think of some things about Shannon’s writing in kotlc that I would have executed differently, but with kotlc, I mostly try to ignore it since it’s………kotlc 😭 but no you’re absolutely right!

I bristle a little bit at criticism of “content” as I defined it above. I know it’s wrapped up in the writing, but I think things that are actually happening in the universe—such as decisions characters make or big events that affect the plot and characters—are things that are totally up to the author, and therefore can’t be objectively wrong. For example, Sophie deciding to date Keefe is something happening in the universe. Therefore, it can’t be the “wrong” thing, because it’s Shannon’s universe in the first place.

Now, there could be other pathways the story could have taken. The story might be more enjoyable to some people if other pathways were taken. But Shannon isn’t… “incorrect” about her own characters, which is a take I’ve seen implied (and even outright stated somewhere, I’ll have to find that again) since she created them and what she decides to have them do is a part of the story she’s deciding to tell. From an objective standpoint, we can discuss her writing methods and the execution of the story she is telling, but at the end of the day, if someone’s problem isn’t with the execution but with the story itself, their criticism ceases to really be helpful. That’s basically like saying, “I like Harry Potter, but J. K. Rowling really messed up when she made Voldemort a half-blood.” (Which might be a bad example because it was actually a genius narrative choice.) In that statement, you aren’t criticizing Rowling of her execution of the story, you’re criticizing the very story she decided to tell, which is her right as an author.

I think an author can make choices that don’t move their story in a direction that would lend it more literary merit or have more of an impact. But if those decisions are related to the “content” rather than the “writing” (according to the groups I defined above) then I don’t think anyone can objectively say the decision is wrong. That’s the other thing—the use of the word “objective” in situations it has no business being in.

In short, writers can execute things well or poorly, and they can make narrative decisions that don’t lead the work down a road that gives it more meaning, but when coming up with the actual plot of a story, authors can’t be wrong about what should happen in a story that is of their own design! If they think that their character would do X, Y and Z, then they’re right, because they created the character. Even if we, the readers, haven’t been exposed to a single thing about that character that would make them make those decisions, the author is still right about their own character. Now, in that scenario, the writing can be criticized, because a character who would do X, Y and Z should probably show signs of it earlier in the work so that it doesn’t give the readers whiplash and better develops the character, but the author can’t be wrong in their own universe by virtue of having created the universe.

Thanks for stopping by!! I love chatting about this stuff, feel free to reblog and keep it going

[readychilledwine]

Silence looks bad on this Elizabeth. Feelings on Nyxlin?

So, I haven't responded to the multiple asks about this because I have a very jaded viewpoint because of my job.

On a daily basis, I am entering information regarding crimes against children. It's why I don't enjoy aged up romantic fics. It's why I scroll when I see them. Peep the keyword there.

I have opinions that are not black and white on this subject. Some involve the spirit of fandom, some involve how, even if we don't like it, fandom is evolving, some regarding fault in fandom elders for not educating our fandom littles, some involving fault in people's general entitlement. Including the entitlement to a creator's opinion.

I deserve to process my opinions and away from work, where I've also been all week, so therefore, I am not in the mindset to answer this. Once I settle with my own feelings, maybe I will give you all an opinion. Until then, though:

Ps- was upset full name was used. May delete later.

[soreiya]

Here are some suggestions on how to make the fandom a little safer/more welcoming for everyone:

Keep in mind that this fandom appears to be a lot smaller than it actually is. Sadly we have a rampant problem with segregation. A lot of the major issues within the community coincide with an entitled desire to force others into conformity. It pushes people into choosing which cliques/factions that they need to fit into. Which in turn isolates them from making any other potentially meaningful connections with other fans. This behavior is part of what is encouraging the extremists. When you tell people that things have to be a certain way, they are obviously going to want to rebel. Instead we should try to be open to new takes/ideas. You can be friends with people who don't always agree with you. You don't have to like the exact same things in order to appreciate or encourage one another. Try to be supportive of your fellow fans. Example: Just because someone likes/doesn't like a ship that you do/don't, doesn't make them a terrible person. Allow others to make their own decisions on who they want to interact with. It’s not all that difficult to figure out who is a bad egg. If an opinion or HC differs from your own: Respect the other person’s individuality Consider having a polite debate Agree to disagree Ignore and move on Be open to constructive criticism. Sometimes you don't notice things until you are exposed to another person's perspective. Try not to blindly trust word of mouth information, or out of context screenshots. Ask for sources! Get the facts. Tumblr polls are an unreliable sources of information. I wouldn't recommend trying to use them as a way to win an argument. Please use the appropriate tags/warnings. It's important to allow others to be able to curate their fandom experience. By tagging or informing others to tag triggering topics, AU character names, or references. You are doing a service to the community as a whole and not just the corner in which you choose to reside in. Example: Reading fanfiction is a huge time investment. Therefor it's disheartening and sometimes downright infuriating to be exposed to unwanted content without your consent. This includes epilogues that state "And things continue from here into ___ fandom AU."

If an ask/request is not to your liking: Politely decline Ignore the message Block the individual if you really don't want to hear from them again If you’re getting harassed: Do not engage Report Block Consider turning off anon asks