#this is literally an essay omg

[drenched-in-sunlight]

saying this as respectfully as possible but. Do not put fandom content creators on a pedestal. We are also just fans contributing to a community just as you are. We have boundary on our own work and that’s it. What I say is not and should not be considered sth the whole fandom should listen to. I’m just a normal ass person ranting about things on my blog. If it does not have a fandom tag for others to engage in, do not make it out to be me trying to start fights or addressing the whole community. Because it’s not.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, my art, my lore talk, is biased. I’ve never tried to hide that I view Marika a certain way and will always develop my theory following that base assumption.

Aside from translation stuffs and pointing out in-game items, everything else I say you can look at it, agree or disagree, and move on to form your own opinions. Just because I draw stuffs doesn’t mean you get to saddle me with responsibilities about managing fandom expectations. What the hell? I’m a fan artist, I’m the last person who you should look at for “leaderism” (?) WHAT?

I can and will be a hater in my own space, like I know sometimes other artists will just post their stuffs and not engage too heavily with fandom, and for a while I did try to do that here (because I’m already a dramatic ass on twitter), that’s just not me though.

You will get art and you will get my opinions as well.

[oceans-beloved]

Meme dump yayyy🥳✨️

(off to make more now muhahaha >:3)

[beeduoo]

would u try

[dykrophone]

I love following a person and seeing they have a dni and it’s all no terfs no racists you know the standard stuff and then out of nowhere I’ll get jumpscared by CATRADORA SHIPPERS

like okay loser calm down I’ll leave I see you’re allergic to awesomeness

[hall0wedwyrm]

I don't know how to even start this post so im just gonna-

I LOVE ECLIPSE AND I MISS HIM.

He's such a gem of a character that gets used in ONE arc. He's only in TWO of the four-part stories. and...

he completely stole my heart. They had the audacity to write him so tragically and then give him some GOLDEN lines. He and Shadow having banter, and some of the remarks he makes are just great too. He's so funny and I love him.

If you haven't read Shadow Fall and Total Eclipse from Sonic Universe, and you're a fan of Shadow and his backstory and the Black Arms stuff like I am PLEASE READ THEM! Shadow Fall starts at issue 59 and Total Eclipse starts at 67.

I'm going to be making a spoiler follow up post because my passion is analysing Eclipse and his comics and his story. or I'll make a bunch of posts about it because I have a lot to say.

[aneatlittlelemon]

Not me sobbing listening to Never Love An Anchor thinking about Aelwyn and Adaine

Like

It so them

It’s so Aelwyn to Adaine

[leclerrari]

me when charles starts the season winning and serving and slaying spectacularly proving what he’s capable of during every single free practice qualifying and race session only for ferrari to gradually make his championship hopes vanish into thin air by constantly ruining his races with either poor strategy calls or poor car performance with the cherry on top being ferrari’s team principal not admitting those mistakes and claiming he loves and trusts charles but never truly showing it

[centi-pedve]

we have the kind of media literacy that makes us a king among men on booktok but a blubbering idiot on tumblr

[themyscirah]

@katmaatui I haven't read it yet because I'm holding my brain hostage until I'm productive on this essay for like an hour or so but oh god this has me so on edge now... did something happen...

[rollercoasterwords]

consumer culture + fandom rot

here's some more fandom analysis nobody asked for!! this is gonna be my charlie day moment this is gonna be me standing in front of a red-string corkboard shouting about how i've connected the dots bc i cannot sleep and i am in desperate need of a topic to take my mind off Other Things. so here's me breaking down what i mean when i say that consumer culture is the root issue of all (? or at least many of) the problems i currently see in marauders fanfic/fandom spaces (the only fandom i am plugged into; perhaps some of this can be generalized outwards, perhaps some of it cannot. i'm not an expert on anything i'm just overthinking shit i Observe).

Part 1: The Black Hole of Consumer Culture

ok so first we need context first we need to make sure we're on the same page and the page that we're on is that late stage capitalism is destroying our ability to see literally anything outside of a consumer culture. like we are reaching a point where literally every facet of our lives is monetized, including our hobbies, our entertainment, our art.

like. ok. part of the sort of like...promise? expectation? assumption? with capitalism is that work, money, the consumer economy, all that jazz is a contained sphere, right? you have your home life, and you have your work life. but that just...doesn't really exist anymore. no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, you are consuming or being consumed. everywhere we turn, somebody is selling us something; everywhere we turn, our lives, our data, our attention is being sold to advertisers, who then use that information to sell us back their products. we are all stuck in this endless consumer cycle. and because we're stuck in this cycle where the lines between our private interior interests and thoughts versus our public selves and images are constantly blurred, it's getting to the point where we are being taught to literally always see ourselves as products for the consumption of those around us. this was only exacerbated by the pandemic, where suddenly everyone was lonely and isolated and seeking connections through algorithmic social media platforms that turn you into a product for advertisers and then work to sell shit back to you. i mean, i think about margaret atwood's whole "you are the male voyeur in your own head," right, but with the growth of social media and the surveillance state there's almost this constant sense of being watched that i think applies to practically everyone, and there's also this sense that the only way to assuage our loneliness is to boil ourselves down into byte-sized (couldn't resist the pun sorry) aesthetic photographs or 30 second tiktok clips or pithy little tweets to gets as many likes as possible, and that's--fuck, sorry, i'm already ranting, but it's just. it's just. that's not what being human is, and yet because we are stuck in this consumer cycle it is becoming more and more difficult to see ourselves outside of it, and that means boiling ourselves down to the most shallow and basic little pieces of meaningless shit in a desperate attempt for some part of ourselves to just be seen by strangers on the internet. and social media is tugging us in with these algorithms, destroying our attention spans, getting us addicted with little dopamine hits until we literally do not know how to connect with each other as people, as human beings, because all of our social interaction is coming from people's boiled-down internet personas and these parasocial relationships we develop with what essentially amounts to cardboard cutouts of humanity, and we wonder why we're all so fucking lonely all the time, and we open our phones to scroll through tiktok to get that dopamine hit and try to forget. fucking FUCK it's a nightmare and we're all stuck in it. sorry.

the point: it is becoming more and more difficult to see any aspect of life outside of the framework of a consumer culture, where everything--even our very personalities, our very selves--is a product for consumption by someone, somebody, somewhere, anywhere.

so if this is what's happening to us, what's happening to our art?

Part 2: The Deterioration of Art

look, let's get my personal stance on art established and out of the way, alright? i think that good art, dare i say real art, is one thing: a conversation. i think good art (using "art" broadly here--literature, music, performance, etc all included) asks us questions, good art makes us think, good art sits with us and says: what does it mean to be human? good art does not hold up a set of moral guidelines and say "this is how you're meant to live your life"; good art holds up a mirror and says "how do you think you're meant to live your life?" good art engages our critical thought.

the consumer economy is not conducive to critical thought. the consumer economy is not conducive to good art. the consumer economy wants your attention now, right now, and now it wants you to look at something else, and now it wants you to look at something else, and it wants you consuming as fast as possible, and it doesn't want you sitting and thinking and reflecting on what you consume. and it is extremely difficult to find any art that exists outside of the consumer economy, at this point, because like i said--we're all stuck in it.

and the thing is, like. it is incredibly difficult (maybe even impossible) for any art, any media, that is created within the consumer economy to actually challenge its hegemony, because like...i mean, the organizations producing so much of our art are businesses. the tv shows and movies we watch, the books coming out of these big publishing houses, the music that gets played on the radio--all of it ultimately has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, because the status quo is what puts money in the pockets of these giant corporations.

so what does that mean? what does it mean that so much of our art is being produced by corporations that want to keep us happy and distracted and consuming as much as possible, as fast as possible?

it means we aren't getting art as a conversation. we aren't getting art that challenges us to think deeply, and critically, and to struggle with what it means to be human. instead, we are falling prey to this insidious idea that art ought to exist with moral guidelines built in, that art is supposed to tell us how to live. and it concerns me to see this growing spread of moral puritanism that aligns in many ways with what i've seen in the conservative christian spaces i grew up in, which decries any moral ambiguity as Supporting Moral Wrongs--as though art is something meant to be morally pure, and if it's not then it is a corrupting influence that must be eradicated. and because we're being brainwashed into thinking that art is no longer meant to be a conversation, but instead a simple product to consume that already has all the answers pre-packaged for us, we end up seeing so much mainstream art and media that is so incredibly shallow, as well as increasing censorship surrounding art. i'm just gonna link to this jen silverman essay, which talks about this really well.

Part 3: Bringing it Back to Fanfic

ok so here's where i finally start to get to the point. and the point is that fanfiction is meant to exist outside the consumer economy (if you've read any of my other posts about this, you'll probably think i'm starting to sound like a broken record. that's because i am). and that is so incredibly unique in this day and age. there is so, so little art left that exists entirely outside the realm of the capitalist meat-grinder, and we should be striving to protect it at all costs.

but! but. of course, the consumer economy is insidious and it spreads like a mold over everything. and the thing is--here's my theory, okay? here's my theory. not an expert, new to fandom spaces, disclaimer disclaimer blah blah blah. here's my theory.

i really think that tiktok is largely the reason that fanfiction has become so much more tied into a consumer economy over the past 3ish years. like, marauders fandom specifically--it seems like atyd going viral on tiktok is what essentially started this wave of people going, "oh, fanfiction can be TikTok content," and then suddenly...it was. and once fanfiction became TikTok content, it got placed inside a consumer economy, because tiktok is an algorithmic social media that does all the shit i discussed in part one of this fucking. rant. essay. whatever.

SO suddenly people are interacting with fanfic within the framework of a consumer economy, and we see this shift in fandom culture that i think has left a lot of people really confused and upset and has also led to just a lot of people talking over each other, because if two people are engaging with a form of art using entirely different frameworks, it's just like...well ur starting with different premises. like of course you're going to have communication issues.

anyway here are some problems that i personally have observed that i think all tie back to this issue of engaging with fanfiction through the framework of a consumer economy:

unnecessarily criticizing fanfction the way you might criticize a product that you paid for and didn't like

demanding that fanfic writers produce a certain amount of content or produce content in a specific way, as though fanfic writers are making a product for audience consumption

engaging with fanfiction under the assumption that anyone writing fanfic wants it to be advertised and go viral and gain a huge audience

when a fanfic does go viral and someone gains a huge audience despite never seeking it out, treating that person like an influencer or celebrity and placing expectations + responsibilities on them that they literally never asked for

on the flipside of that, people getting into writing fanfiction who like...advertise their fic as though their goal is to go viral. i mean there's nothing wrong with sharing your work on the internet and wanting people to see it, y'know? but just like...evaluate your own motivations behind why you're sharing your writing. if your main priority is to just to get as many likes as possible, it will probably not end up being a very sustainable or joyful hobby for you.

treating fanfic as though it is meant to be a set of moral guidelines (rather than a conversation about morality) and loudly declaring fanfic problematic when it contains subject matter that does not align with your personal moral code

acting as though there is a clear delineation between writers and readers of fanfiction in a way that plays into the dynamics of producers and consumers

i'm sure this isn't a comprehensive list but this is everything that's coming to mind for me right now. so. yeah. when i say that placing fanfiction within consumer culture is like the Root of All Evil this is what i mean! and this is why i think it is so so so important to push back against fanfiction being placed in a consumer economy and to try very hard to keep it separate in its own little oasis.

in conclusion i have cracked the code. i am so tired. the end.

[shizuostrans]

I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HCS THIS??? Si, yo quiero mucho! I don't always HC this, but I have many times looked at him in profile and gone "I see you, I see your binder chest."

Incorporating "I see you, I see your binder chest" into my everyday vocabulary from now on THANK YOU!!!

I love how the anime gives us a Shizuo montage episode and post-puberty Shizuo wears only one article of clothing outside of his school and work uniforms and it's a baggy shirt. Almost as if he chooses to wear baggy clothing to hide his frame, almost as if his brother gifted him a whole ass wardrobe of layered clothes tailor-fitted to give him gender euphoria which he then proceeds to wear that and only that in public for years. Cis Shizuo just removes a part of the depth behind these actions and for whaaaaaatt

I also subscribe to the belief that Shinra gave him top surgery right before high school after Tom slowly opened him up to the idea that altering parts of your body isn't actually disrespectful to your parents and can help you and others in many ways.

Once again cis Shizuo interpretations just erase depth tbh

And I WILL stick by it being an interpretation until Narita gives us hard evidence to the contrary because nothing in canon confirms he's cis. Dude doesn't scar from anything, has connections to underground doctors for discreet gender-affirming care, and has a girly nickname from childhood with no clear explanation why his classmate would refer to him like that.

(sidenote: interesting for the ova to only show Shizuo once without his blazer or with a shirt loose enough to show that he doesn't have a binder on be when his chest is completely obscured. I see you, I see your binder chest.)

[jeanmoreaux]

It might just be me but, while I understand a lot of people enjoy ‘fanon’ for a reason, I think when it’s pushed down people’s throats it’s very annoying and borderline delusional

I know it’s an old discussion that will never be resolved but for example: gender of a character

‘To me this character is xyz’ — like ok. But I still find it strange when it’s prefaced like that because the author/creator wrote a woman or man, or whatever. And people like to say they’re something else.

Obviously for fan fiction or HCs that’s totally fine that’s why these things exist. But to say it like it’s a fact that character A is gay when they’re not, and character A is clearly a woman (or man or whatever human) as the creator made them—I just. It’s annoying and it feels disrespectful to the author who made this character in the first place

Listen, as an example, Renee and Allison from aftg are straight. But a lot of fans ship them as a lesbian couple. And it’s whatever. But then someone starts attacking other fans for simply enjoying and saying what’s actually canon and not every damn character has to be queer just to satisfy the audience.

This rant came out of nowhere I just thought of this blog as it’s always discussing so many character thoughts and meta and I 💀

well we love to discussing character thoughts and meta on on this blog for sure!! i see your point, but i think fanon is unavoidable and the best thing i found to kind of not get riled by discussion like this is just disengage from fandom at large and focusing on groups of people who share your interpretation of a media or are chill about their headcanons.

you already brought up aftg and ngl i tend to struggle a lot with some fanon aspects while embracing others. it’s really just a matter of curating your experience. i think with aftg in particular canon is super lose if you don’t include the extra content (because it’s not directly tied to the books like in an addendum or anything). sooo if you look at it like this, technically renee and allison aren’t canonical straight or queer. in canon, their sexualities remain undefined which is probably why a lot of the fandom headcanons them as queer. so canon basically says nothing about that topic.… so who is right now? you see what i mean?? sooo much room for different fanons that all aren’t really canon. ofc you can take nora’s extra content into account, but i don’t think what’s outside of the book has to count for the canon text. it can if you want, but it doesn’t have to??? does that makes sense?? i also don’t think fanon is necessarily disrespectful to the author and their vision, but in extreme casea it might be… and some authors might be bothered while others couldn’t care less. but i think when you create something and put it out into the world people will always interact with it in a way that might sometimes be removed from that original vision.

it’s really just kind of on you to remove yourself from that if you don’t vibe with it. fanon will always be there one way or another…. you do you and find the people who do as you do and you’ll forget some fanon stuff even exist.

[ceebit]

yall have got to get on ur zoom and start reblogging with words and emojis

[whimseee]

had one of those v8 veggie/fruit/tea caffeine drinks and I swear to god I can feel my neurons now

[laesas]

As someone who definitely doesn't count as an A/B/O enjoyer it's still super interesting to me just how much influence it has over wider fandom and fanfiction. Like as soon as you're "in the know" it's just absolutely everywhere.

[singsweetmelodies]

i get so much joy when i see you on my dash and you have basically written an academic essay on piarles in some random post's tags. like, actually the best part of opening tumblr is seeing you on my dash and reading your tags. i have loved the routine of reading them for a while now, thought i should tell you that i really appreciate and love them. have a lovely day katie! 🌸🌼💐🌻🎄

oh my gosh this is THE sweetest thing ever, ahhhh 🥺🥺🥰🥰🥰 part of your routine!! CRY. something something about screaming into the void but suddenly it means everything when other people read it & appreciate it too 💜 hugging you tight and kissing your forehead, actually. thank you so much for validating me in the best way possible, ahhhh 😍 <3333 and i hope you have a wonderful day too! 🥰❤️