#we don't talk about about fanon here folks

[thattimdrakeguy]

Tim Drake is one of the weirdest characters when you look at his fan base, because he's been such a different character over his time existing as a fictional character.

You have a chunk of people loving him because he's an emo, asshole in Red Robin, then there's a ton of people that prefer and love early Timmy, and it's like "OH, LOOK, IT'S AN AUTISTIC BABY DOING HIS BEST". and it's fucking weird the range there is 'kay

glad we settled that

and you have people fighting over what's right?? Like, gentlemen, gentlemen. You're both right

technically

if you think about it

[fangirleaconmigo]

It's time again to play...

I Can't Believe It's Not Fanon

otherwise known as: 

Witcher facts that sound like Geraskier fic writers made them up, but that are, in fact, book canon. The subject of this post is...(drumroll please)

In fic, Geralt is often extremely, over the top, protective of Jaskier. Is this is a bit of an exaggeration invented to please Geraskier shippers?

Well, folks...

It is canon, my friends. And I think you guys are going to really like this one.

Geralt is especially protective of Jaskier/Dandelion, thinking of him first, even in war zones, and even when he has others to protect.

Now, to review, my previous post was about how Dandelion is protective of Geralt. I've written here how he mocks people who are bigoted against Geralt. I wrote here about how He puts his pride aside to take a job he doesn’t want  to do because Geralt is hungry and gives him the equivalent of puppy eyes. He also withstands torture for Geralt and lies to his employer Dijsktra (essentially becoming Geralt’s spy rather than the other way around)

But now we're going to talk about:

Geralt as a Protector of Dandelion

When we think about Geralt being protective, we tend to think sword fights and bar brawls. And that is true, for sure. Geralt is absolutely fine with killing anyone who threatens someone he loves. 

But it’s not just grand gestures and homicide, folks, it’s day - to - day devotion.

Geralt is a bit of a mom friend and considers it his job to protect Dandelion’s from his own trademark curiosity.

Dandelion has little restraint when he gets it into his head to examine, grab, question, taste, ANYTHING that he discovers. (I think Joey shows this very well in TWN when he’s in the Kaer Morhen lab sticking everything in his mouth!!) Everything fascinates him!

And this comes up a lot.

Once again Geralt quietly cursed the bard’s irrepressible curiosity.

Baptism of Fire Ch 2

and

Dandelion, who had never been able to reign in his curiosity, urged Pegasus on…

Baptism of Fire Ch 3

Geralt takes it upon himself to protect Dandelion from the effects of his unfettered passion and interest in the world. Here is a funny (to me) scene in Sword of Destiny. Dandelion insists on going with Geralt on this job to look for a sea monster. He’s hoping to see a mermaid. 

They spot some underwater steps and immediately Dandelion wades out too far. 

"...they are steps," Dandelion whispered in awe."

Uh oh. Geralt tries to warn him.

"Dandelion! That's a trench! You'll slip off!"

Dandelion dismisses him of course. He has already seen this new cool fuckin thing, and won’t be dissuaded.

"...See it's shallow here, barely waist deep...as wide as a ballroom.."

Until

"...Oh, bloody hell."

Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bloody hell. Geralt intervenes.

Geralt jumped very quickly into the water and grabbed the bard, who had fallen in up to his neck.

Dandelion, of course, isn't fazed. He just ignores it and prattles on about the pretty mollusks he's found. (Is Geralt still grabbing him?)

"...It's a pretty color don't you think? Grab it and shove it into your bag, mine's full already."

LOL he’s filled his bag with sea shit and expects Geralt to now take up space in his bag. Poor Geralt. He tries again.

"...Get back on the shelf this minute, Dandelion, this isn't a game."

I laughed when I read that. ...this minute, Dandelion. See, it's no wonder he's such a good dad to Ciri. He just acts like that all the time. Then, sea monsters come out of the water (like they do) and Geralt and Dandelion run away. But Dandelion...

"...suddenly stumbled and fell...Geralt caught him by the belt and hauled him out of the foam, now seething all around them."

Sword of Destiny pp 221-226

I just love that visual of Dandelion trying to keep his head above water and Geralt hauling him out by his belt. I picture him like a flailing yowling wet kitten being scruffed. But anyway, they drag each other out and Geralt lives to fight another day.

But not before Geralt says RUN DANDELION SAVE YOURSELF and Dandelion says NO I’M NOT LEAVING YOU. 

That is a habit of theirs. You’re gonna see that a few more times in this post.

Dandelion’s physical safety is always in the back of Geralt's mind. He thinks of it when making any decisions.

In Baptism of Fire, when they are about to go into a scary forest with a whole company of friends, Geralt’s first thought is for Dandelion:

I’ll have to keep Dandelion on a short leash, and make sure he doesn’t touch anything. Particularly since there’s no shortage of plant life that likes to supplement its chlorophyll diet with morsels of meat, plants whose shoot are as deadly as a crab spiders venom when they come into contact with skin. And the gas of course… Baptism of Fire Ch 7

I just picture Dandelion on a little short leash and I cackle.

Now, what about when Geralt has more people to take care of? Does he still think of Dandelion first before anything else? Yes.

In Baptism of Fire, Geralt is traveling with a company of friends (the dearly beloved hansa), Zoltan Chivay and his crew, war widows, and war orphans. (Don’t ask how he gets himself into these things...it’s usually bc his heart is squishy shh don’t tell him I said that)

But holy shit! What’s this??? Nilfgaardian troops appear out of nowhere! (Well, not nowhere, they are traveling through an active war zone). Shrieks from the refugees pierce the sky.

“Nilfgaaaaaard!”

Cavalry from the West! Nilfgaard are attacking! Every man for himself!

There is utter pandemonium. Milva (archer friend, love of my life) calls out to Geralt.

“Our horses!...Our horses, Witcher, follow me!”

Milva is the biggest horse girl in all of the saga (Geralt is merely a second rate horse enjoyer, world’s okayest horse dad next to her) and she’s like COME WITH ME.

Now, let’s look at what Geralt does. Let’s review. There are civilians. War widows. War orphans. Several other dear close friends. Horses. And what does Geralt do? Well, actually let’s start with what Dandelion does...you know, what he always does...shriek for Geralt.

“Geralt!” Dandelion shouted. “Save me!”

If there is one thing Dandelion will do every time he is in trouble, it is shriek for Geralt. Again, this is well represented in the show by Joey when he tells Yen: "You don't get to be the damsel in distress. That's my job." (I really wish I knew which lines were improv'ed bc I loved that one)

But ok, so back to the passage.

“The crowd separated them, scattered them like a great wave and carried Milva away in the blink of an eye. Geralt, gripping Dandelion by the collar, didn’t allow himself to be swept away...”

So. He didn’t think long about that one. He already has him by the collar when shit starts happening. Then Geralt tries to get his bearings but he can’t because:

The Witcher could no longer see anything, but neither did he have any time to watch since he was busy rescuing Dandelion, whose legs had been swept from under him again by a stampeding hog. When Geralt bent down to pick the poet up, a hay rack was thrown straight onto his back...

Ouch. Now he’s on the ground and Dandelion is up.

“Get up!” the troubadour yelled. “Get on your blasted feet!”

“I can’t,” the Witcher groaned...Save yourself. Dandelion.”

“I won’t leave you!”

Baptism of Fire 166-167

They are again, in the midst of danger, shouting vows to not leave the other. It’s their thing. 

When Geralt comes across Dandelion in Sword of Destiny, he is fleeing the war and once again asking Geralt to deliver him.

 "...Geralt, don't leave me here! I'll never survive by myself! Don't leave me!"

"You must be insane, Dandelion," 'the witcher said, leaning over the saddle. "you must be insane with fear, if you think I'd leave you. Give me your hand and jump up on the horse..."

Sword of Destiny p 368

So. They are just Like That.

Ok, onto the next dramatic Geralt rescue where he is so impressive and gallant in Dandelion’s defense it blows Cahir’s balls off. (Not literally. Also, if you’ve only seen TWN please forget everything you know about Cahir before proceeding. They are friends here).

Anyway, it’s near the end of Baptism of Fire, and the hansa is caught in the crossfire between Nilfgaard and Lyria. Dandelion is trying to get the Lyrian's attention to tell them they are on their side...ie...they are Nordlings, not Nilfgaardians (quick somebody hide Cahir). Someone shouts at him to get down. He...doesn’t listen.

The poet, as usual, rather than listen to the warning, wanted to know what it was all about. And right then, arrows whistled through the air...Two flew straight for Dandelion, but the Witcher already had his sword in his hand, leapt forward, and deflected both of them with swift blows.

“By the Great Sun,” Cahir grunted. “He deflected two arrows! Remarkable! I’ve never seen anything like it...”

Baptism of Fire 328

I mean COME ON. Gallantry. Can you hear me clapping and whooping? Geralt, buddy, you are magnificent. 

There is SO MUCH MORE OF THIS. In fact, my first canon or fanon post was about him slaughtering a whole room full of people to rescue a kidnapped Dandelion.And I still haven't covered everything. I can only include so many examples. But you get the idea.

Ok, but you could say...he always defends Dandelion because he’s the most hopeless one. And Dandelion usually is the least warrior-y person around. But not always! Sometimes there are war refugees. 

But more importantly, the thing is, we KNOW why Geralt saves him. The story tells us that it enrages Geralt when people harm Dandelion. It is his emotions. He just reacts. Here are two examples.

First example of Geralt feeling rage when Dandelion is harmed:

In this one, the people who harm Dandelion live (or more correctly do not live) to regret it. So, in Baptism of Fire (can you tell I just reread this one) Geralt and Dandelion are fleeing the noose (long story) and Geralt steals a horse.

"Jump on, Dandelion! And hold tight!"

They are fleeing soldiers but end up surrounded. Arrows start flying through the air. Dandelion has his arms around Geralt.

Dandelion yelled, this time very loudly indeed, and dug his fingers into Geralt's sides. The Witcher felt something warm dripping onto his neck.

"Hold on!" he shouted, catching the poet by his elbow and drawing him closer to his own back. "Hold on, Dandelion!"

They lose balance and both fall from the horse. Dandelion hits the ground.

The poet thudded onto the dirt and lay still, groaning pathetically. His head and left shoulder were covered in blood, which glistened black in the moonlight.

Geralt does not take this well. Like. At all.

The Witcher sprang up, feeling a wave of cold fury and hatred inside him. He jumped out to meet their pursuers, drawing the horsemen's attention away from Dandelion. But not because he wanted to sacrifice for his friend. He wanted to kill.

So Geralt felt a wave of cold fury and hatred. He sprung up, not to sacrifice himself because he had no intention of doing so. He was going to kill. And reader, he does exactly that. He kills them all.

Then when he gets Dandelion back to camp, Regis offers to help. Regis is a barber surgeon and can do field dressings. The only thing is, Geralt has just FINALLY realized that Regis is a vampire. So even though Regis has saved his life and been a fucking amazing friend, Geralt is a TAD TENSE. Also, he is still emotional from seeing Dandelion get hurt. So when Regis says the following:

"Your blood smells nice, poet."

Geralt does not react well to this.

At precisely that moment the Witcher did something Milva would never have expected. He walked over to the horse and drew a long Nilfgaardian sword from the scabbard fastened under the saddle flap.

"Move away from him" he snarled, standing over the barber surgeon.

Now, Regis meant that Dandelion's blood wasn't infected, and was also poking at Geralt (the way he does). But we do see Geralt becoming enraged in that scene when people harm or when (he thinks) they threaten Dandelion. He's like, get your blood licking vampire mouth away from my fave boy. (Never to worry, they do all make up with best boy Regis)

Here's the second example of the story telling us literally that Geralt feels rage when Dandelion is harmed.

In The Last Wish, we are told how Geralt feels when Toruviel breaks Dandelion’s lute. More specifically, we are told how Geralt feels when he sees Dandelion’s lips quiver.

Here is Dandelion's response to seeing his lute smashed.

The poet turned as white as death. His lips quivered.

The very next sentence after "His lips quivered." is this.

Geralt, feeling a cold fury rising up somewhere within him, drew Toruviel's eyes with his own.

Geralt doesn’t feels fury when Toruviel kicks him. He is calculating. Smart. But now that Dandelion's lips are quivering, it's cold fury time.

Next, we get typical Geralt ‘kill me, not him’ gallantry. Filavandrel comes in and informs them that he has to kill them. Geralt says: 

"Spare him, at least," Geralt indicated Dandelion with his head. "No, not out of lofty mercy. Out of common sense. Nobody's going to ask after me, but they are going to take revenge for him."

I have to include the next part because it’s hilarious. (even though I’ve talked about it before). Filavandrel says...I can’t, because if I spare the poet, he’ll come back and avenge you.

So Geralt is having a ‘save yourself Dandelion’ moment, which as fucking always, Dandelion will. not. let. him. have.

"You can be sure of that!" Dandelion burst out, pale as death. "You can be sure, you son-of-a-bitch. Kill me too, because I promise otherwise, I'll set the world against you. You'll see what lice from a fur coat can do! We'll finish you off even if we have to level those mountains of yours to the ground! You can be sure of that!"

"How stupid you are, Dandelion," sighed the witcher.

The Last Wish, pp 190-200

But there is an even greater reason why Geralt defends Dandelion with such constancy and devotion. There is the single most important thing of all. Geralt tells us exactly what it is with his own words. So let’s let him tell us. 

In the djinn story in The Last Wish, Geralt is in the tent with Chireadan explaining why he needs to get Yennefer to help Dandelion with his throat, and he says,

“…this only concerns Dandelion. He suffered at my side, in my presence. I didn’t manage to save him and I couldn’t help him. I’d sit on a scorpion with my bare backside if I knew it would help him.”

The Last Wish pg 236

Geralt values his friendship and appreciates his loyalty. Plain and simple.

And ultimately that is why Yennefer comes to value Dandelion too, despite the fact that he can be a complete nightmare. It is his sheer loyalty and steadfastness that wins her over. In Blood of Elves when she is explaining why she wants him to be safe, she says:

“...Do as I ask. I wouldn’t like anything bad to happen to you. I like you too much, owe you too much--”

“You’ve said that already. What do you owe me, Yennefer?”

The sorceress turned her head away, did not say anything for a while.

“You traveled with him,” she said finally. “Thanks to you he was not alone. You were a friend to him. You were with him.”

The bard lowered his eyes.

“He didn’t get much for it,” he muttered. “He didn’t get much from our friendship. He had little but trouble because of me. He constantly had to get me out of some scrape...help me...”

She leaned across the table, put her hand on his and squeezed it hard without saying anything. Her eyes held regret.

Blood of Elves, p37

The fact is, both Yennefer and Geralt have had long lives filled with people using them as tools. Exploiting them. Wanting to use their power in the service of things they don't care about or actively despise. They both have a metric shitton of trauma plus some serious self worth issues.

So what both of them need more than anything is someone who values, likes, and loves them simply for who they are. That is why they both end up as parents to Ciri. They both make the decision to fight for her. To fight for the chance to love her as a child, not as a Source or a Chosen One or anything else. They realize they need humanity and to embrace their inherent worth as people.

That is why Geralt loves Dandelion. That is why Yen grows to love him. That is why he fits right in.

Because in a continent full of people with agendas who are thirsty for power and don’t hesitate to try to use them or Ciri, Dandelion is just there because he loves them. That’s it and that’s all. And what is more important than that?

I would fight to defend that too. 

[decepti-thots]

do you wanna talk about your opinions re: Drift in fanfiction, maybe?

I think fanfic Drift is something of a game of fandom telephone tbh. There's a core that has been steadily whittled away by fanon repeating itself enough it seems shallow. The thing is that a lot of IDW1 canon has been subject to this directly, because it wasn't of much interest to folks writing fic while the MTMTE stuff was ongoing, tbh. When Dratchet became a focus in the LL run, stuff got reevaluated about Drift in shipping terms, rather than as character analysis, I think. And it became more abstract through that, and it encouraged Fanon Drift TM.

A lot of fanfic-Drift does not incorporate pre-MTMTE canon for him. This is understandable, because in its own right, that stuff is not very good tbh. But much of what we see now in fandom is... a clear reaction to fanon that sprung up independently, and so is trying to pose a counterpoint to things that only exist in fanon, and the whole thing becomes a mess of self-referential shit if you take it only on its own terms. Drift often only exists as a discussion of those issues in fandom, and where the writer falls on them right now, or when the fic was being written. (Much early Dratchet fic treats Drift as something of an afterthought and Ratchet as the obviously identifiable protagonist, lbr.) Fanfic-Drift is more a litmus test for fanon than a character in his own right, even when he's being written more strongly in canon, I think. He's a cipher. What fandom decided to make that cipher mean is interesting.

I have a whole post I could make about how people's ostensibly anti-regressive takes on 'was Drift a [metaphorical] sex worker, and if so what are our ideas about that' are still fundamentally bound up in anti-SWer ideas and fandom conversations more than canon, because it's all just a reaction to fanon fundamentally based in terrible ideas about what sex work is. (By which I mean I have one post idea I have repeatedly junked bc uh. Don't want to listen to people get shitty about sex work.) But at base level, a lot of fandom's idea of Drift is basically rooted in this idea of the 'theoretically sympathetic addict who has extenuating circumstances we need to articulate for him to be sympathetic, but who is still Abject bc of all that' which I think go so against what we see of him in pre-MTMTE media. Here are some things I think fanfic is bad at engaging with: Drift is an addict, and not the kind of addict a lot of fanfic wants to talk about. Drift is isolated in a way that is not easily explained by people being unfair to him. Drift has strong political opinions that inform both him joining and defecting from the Decepticons. If Drift was a sex worker, metaphorical or otherwise, that is clearly the least important thing in any shame he has.

But more important than those nuances, I think, is that Drift just isn't... allowed to be based on his canon stuff period? It feels honestly slightly irrelevant in the face of just. How much fanon Drift stops being based on extrapolating from his canon actions and starts being a character who exists purely to serve other characters. I think a really interesting take on him needs to do something with that sense he is someone who has deliberately buried what he wants to get what he wants. If you don't go a little meta with it, you get nowhere; and if you do you get something far more interesting than the 'ummmm sad SWer ig, ratchet kindly saves him' idea. See also: his most interesting canon relationship, and I say this as a dratchet shipper, is STILL Drift and Rodimus, because it dictates way more of WHAT THEY DO that Dratchet doesn't manage. Dratchet is great but canonically mostly exists as a culmination to a plot we are filling in behind the scenes; Rodimus and Drift exists as an ongoing discussion outside that. tbh.

tl;dr: sex worker drift would be great if anyone writing fic understood it has Zero to do with canon and approached it as such. it's not canon and people only think it's canon bc of bad opinions about what sex work is. either way i love drift. none of this is coherent sorry. we have discussed some of this before, and i have sharpened my opinions ig?

[zahri-melitor]

I love all three Holiday Bashes, so we are going to review all the stories.

DCU Holiday Bash #1 (1996)

The Benefaction of Peace. This is a Superman story. Lois talks to George, who is about to jump off the top of the Daily Planet building because he’s so lonely. Lois tells him a story of an early Superman Christmas, where Clark tries to clean up Metropolis as a ‘present’ for everyone, but doesn’t notice all the ordinary folk doing their bit to help each other. Then of course Superman learns the lesson that “it takes every one of us to make it safe”.

A High Father Christmas. Obviously this is the New Gods. Highfather and Orion get mistaken for being the hires for department store Santa and his elf. Highfather gives out REAL presents, as you always do with this plot, and the department store floor manager has a change of heart about the Meaning Of The Season.

Bearing Gifts We Traverse Afar. Catwoman! Selina goes to warn a woman and child that some goons are coming after her because of her husband killing someone in Blackgate and helps her get out of town safely.

A classic Selina view panel here.

The last one is just this -- I don't like goons who hurt mothers and kids. Not ever, but especially not on Christmas Eve.

Satan’s Little Helper. Etrigan is summoned by a magician, who grants him one thing ‘you can pick up and hold’ in exchange for his soul. However, the magician’s kid comes in, decides Etrigan is Santa, and reaches into the portal to pull out…a Batman doll. Etrigan accepts the bargain, magician is heartbroken.

The Vessel. Green Lantern (Kyle). This is the Hanukkah story in the set. Kyle meets some friends including one who’s sister is the local Rabbi. They go to the synagogue to find it vandalised with Nazi symbolism. Kyle goes off to track down the vandals (who are the world’s most stereotypical neo-Nazi skinheads). Kyle’s ring is almost out of battery and fails…and then is magically recharged during the fight. A miracle!

“And hope can keep a flame going when its fuel should long ago have run out.”

Present Tense. This is the Wally/Linda story, as opposed to the story of the same name in Holiday Bash II, which is the coal for Darkseid story. Basically, Wally overhears Linda on the phone to her mother saying “Wally knows exactly what I want for Christmas. (As I told him)”. Wally instantly panics because no, he does not remember what this item was. All he can remember is an incredibly ugly late 80s/early 90s sweater. Wally panic buys a bunch of things, which he immediately realises are no good, so he leaves the presents in the hands of passing shoppers. Wally eventually gets Linda the ugly sweater, and gives it to her saying that he remembers their conversation: Linda asked for him to really listen to her and pay attention.

Just Another Night. This is an Alfred story. Note for all the fanon fans – Tim goes on holidays to the Caribbean with Jack this Christmas, and sends a lovely card to Alfred. But the main plot of the story is Bruce and Alfred both acting like it is any other night, until Alfred finds a present waiting for him from Bruce. Awwww.

No real Santas, but plenty of sweet stories.

[triflesandparsnips]

Off the back of your RPF post (which I wholeheartedly endorse, support, etc), why do critics totally forget the concept of public personas? We all have them (see any social media account, work!You versus friends!You, etc), so why are people being so precious about RPF being the Nice and Accurate Representation of someone?

note 1) Once upon a time, I [very stupidly, in retrospect, but fuelled entirely by morbid curiosity] dipped into some RPF about two people I had worked with and, naturally, it was in no way like the people involved. Of course it wasn't. Because the people in real life are sometimes pathologically shy or have a really terrible sense of humour or don't give a damn about the character they're playing, but get paid a lot to sound like they do. The exact opposite is also true.

You are 1000% right that the critics who spout awful nonsense about reading/writing RPF totally miss the part where the people in RPF do not exist because we as fans do not know strangers' personalities.

But also...

note 2) there's a reason famous people generally keep stuff like that at arm's length because, really, can you imagine someone shipping you with Jan from Accounts and then reading about it? No? Exactly.

Yikes. Sorry. This wasn't meant to come off as a rant, more a co-sign to what you wrote! Just wanted to reach out and agree. I've no need/desire for you to respond if you don't fancy it :)

(Also, sorry Jan from Accounts, I'm sure you're lovely, I just don't have the spoons for that kind of relationship)

Yes! ABSOLUTELY.

Regarding note 1: Anon, I KNOW THAT FEEL. There are Folks on tumblr here and also In Various Public Spaces that I definitely work with and/or exist alongside in the same work community, and what fans (or, in some cases, just people outside that work community) believe those Folks are like in Real Life is... deeply inaccurate. But what few things they do "know" are "facts" that have been specifically shared as part of the persona! And where there are gaps in the persona (similar to where there are gaps in a piece of media), fans will add their own emotional narrative logic to try and fill in the blanks-- and the folly comes (as anyone who goes ALL IN on a piece of fanon or personal heartcanon) from believing that the shit you made up is somehow actually true.

And regarding note 2: YES ALSO ABSOLUTELY. Like, let people make their own terrible decisions because they are goddamn adults and/or let them curate their experience with the help of their actual friends. We can't know what these Public People want to do! We can't know what they're okay with! STOP SHOWING UP IN THEIR LIVING ROOM, FFS.

John Oliver has a delightful story about reading Daily Show slash RPF that he got from a friend (or so he says, in the middle of a comedy show, which is also a crafted work that could be full of lies for the sake of the narrative). In his comedy narrative, he wasn't into it! But even assuming it's all true, it was his choice to continue reading, and his choice to turn it into a comedy routine. Because he is an adult who gets to make that choice.

2010s bandom, on the other hand, was a cornucopia of RPF because the bands publicly talked about or referenced reading fic about themselves (to the degree that a common fic warning was "Stop googling yourself, Gabe"). They also got to make that decision! Fans got kind of uncomfortable about it! Bandom looked into the void and the void looked back and said "That was hot."

(Meanwhile, if you continue to believe John Oliver's comedy routines, he also discusses the ramifications of googling yourself, but by god, it's still his choice to make.)

(...And because of these choices he and his writing team on Last Week Tonight have been able to do some truly fantastic shenanigans, including, for instance, collecting digital data from Congress using ads for "Ted Cruz erotic fan fiction". So like. Even personal tragedy can lead to Art, so jot that down.)

Finally, Zach Kornfeld from the Try Guys (which hey if we wanna talk about the difference between personas and reality, ahahaha) specifically discusses what it means to be reliant on the parasocial relationship between audience and creator:

You know, look, the parasocial relationship is the only reason I'm here. It's the people who watch me, I owe them everything and I wanna give them everything. But there has to be boundaries you create. It's a really tricky thing. I also don't want to abuse that relationship. I think it's really easy to look at your audience and go, like, "We're friends," and "Come on, you love me, support me." We're not friends. You don't know me. I'm lying to you all the time. I'm curating what I give you. I'm trying to make myself look as good as possible. The job of a creator is to be as broadly likable as possible all the time.

And like... yeah. YEAH.

RPF is fiction. From the top to the bottom, from the beginning to the end. And the moment you think any of it actually touches on the """truth""" of a real person, you are the one making things fucking weird.

[apatheticlexicographer]

People who have had mostly het ships often don't seem to realise that you can ship something that you know for a fact won't be canon. The majority of queer ships are like that, because most of them are between main characters and unless something is explicitly marketed as a "Gay Show For Gay People", you're only allowed up to 1 fruity main character, 2 if you're extra super quirky, and they can't be the protagonist.

That being said, if the people shipping it are unobtrusive enough, most passive homophobes will let it slide. You won't catch much heat for shipping Steddie, Ronance or Elmax because we all know that those ships are fanon, even if they're good ass ships. People might clown on you (why can't they just be friends) but on the whole they seem to mostly ignore it.

On the other hand, if you talk about Byler a swarm of angry homophobes will descend on you like enraged bees. If you dare to say "there's a nonzero chance that Byler could be mutual" outside of the Byler Sanctioned Safezones (and often inside them as well), folks will be so quick to go "uuuhhh you do realise mike is straight right??? 🙄🙄"

This isn't just a Byler thing either. The moment people start to actually go from "this queer ship would be cute together in my fanfic" to "what if there's actually a canon backing to it???" the passively homophobic people will start to perceive it as a threat. They lash out because they can't stand the thought that an LGBTQ ship, and LGBTQ people by extension, might steal "their" media from them. "You can have your gay ships as long as they don't get near my straight ships."

People don't get so bothered by the noncanon ships because they aren't a threat to the mostly het canon ships. The fact that the homophobes are so pressed over Byler only indicates that they're scared, but what they fail to realise is that they can't demoralize us by saying it's not canon, because saying "Byler isn't endgame" isn't the same scandal to us as "M!leven isn't endgame" is to them. We'd be extremely pissed off if it's not canon, sure, but most folks here have had queer ships before and a lot of us have been queerbaited before. It wouldn't be a shock, it would be an intense and bitter disappointment.

[a-big-apple]

omg these are bangers i got greedy 🍅🥐🍬🍄

<3 <3 <3

🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing

this one is here! you and t have it in for me today!!

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

So close!! That is a shape 💕

also tutant meenage neetle teetles

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

hoo boy ok STRAP IN! i think maybe we have talked about this before on discord, oh well. i don't think coronabeth is fat in canon, and i'm just not into it in fanon. i think she's tall, i think she has big hair, i think she has big presence. i think she's got some bazongas and some curves and she's not as wasted-thin as ianthe. i think there is weight bias deeply entrenched in House culture (and that's not a criticism of tamsyn muir, i think it's an interesting part of her worldbuilding). the most iconic binary in this world is necromancer and cavalier: someone whose power literally eats away at them, and so thinness is evidence of necromantic strength; and someone whose purpose is to fight, and so muscleyness is ideal.

i think gideon, for example, is muscley fat. tamsyn described her as built like a rugby player, thick and solid. she only eats protein paste and greens and works out a LOT, she's achieving the cavalier ideal of muscle mass, and she lives in a freezing cold environment where the extra insulation of some fat is helpful. ortus, on the other hand, is not muscley--he's just fat. his size is perpetually derided in the narration. he fits nowhere on the binary of what's desirable in the Houses, and so he is utterly unattractive and therefore inconsequential.

coronabeth is the hottest girl anyone has ever seen. she's healthy-looking for a necromancer. she's the opposite end of the spectrum from ortus: also neither skinny nor muscley (until NtN when she's got some biceps), but in a vivacious way that makes everybody super into her. yes, because she's a woman and this is a sapphic series, but also because House culture has clearly held on to pre-Res standards of attractiveness. boobs, hair, a white girl with a great tan, probably a trendy amount of "thicc." i don't feel, personally, that fanon-ing her fat does me as a fat person any great service; it obscures any conversation on the actually interesting weight bias happening in the books that echoes and complicates the weight bias of everyday life. seeing a fat corona doesn't tell me that people think my body is traffic-stoppingly gorgeous or that i have value outside my attractiveness or non-attractiveness, it tells me that the only character who can afford to be consistently fat in fanon is the one who is repeatedly praised as the most attractive in canon, and that's only if she's sexy fat--bosoms breaching containment, pillowy and perfectly shaped hips and thighs and ass, just a little bit of belly and back rolls sometimes as a treat.

tbh if it's a kink thing, folks should do what floats their boats! but to me it's not some big representation win, just own the kink, make everybody sexy fat, whatever (i mean this genuinely, i am in favor of kink even though this is not one of mine).

so i guess my actual hot take is that i wish there was more ortus art and fic about how the strength of his love and conviction and lungs all saved the day and he did it while being fat and depressed and not sexy

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

i answered this one here but i'll do griddlehark too for funsies! i think neither of them is the least bit suave or confident in relationships, doubly so with each other, they are the two shyest and most tittering, blushing, nervous, virginal queers you have ever seen and it would take them weeks if not months of dating to even start taking their shirts off to make out let alone anything spicier. no matter how many bases they hit they will never not be shy, they will just keep raising the bar of where the shyness starts.

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

[a-real-life-hermit]

hiya peeps! if ur on my blog, u may want to read this before u scroll/interact extensively to make sure this is a safe place for u <3

u can learn more about me, the real life hermit, under the cut or get a quick explanation on my pronoun page :3 quick tw just in case: i do talk lightly about gender, sexuality, and disabilities under the cut!

hi hi hello all! glad to see you here! how are u! look at ur lovely face!

before you go any further, while i'm not against minors interacting with my posts, i personally try to avoid interacting regularly with minors! that doesn't mean minors DNI, that just means that if ur age is in ur bio i may keep some space! if we interact and i don't realize ur a minor, pls let me know! i also please know i do swear semi-often, so if you're uncomfy with or triggered by swearing it might be safest for u to click off this blog <3 also this blog IS a safe space for bipoc and queer folks. if you aren't okay with that, feel free to leave my blog immediately.

short and sweet with details later: felix, 20. they/them, enby lesbian, autistic, white, american (central standard time). very fucky sleep schedule. this is a side blog!

that's me, felix! i am the real life hermit. obviously the only hermit ever in existence /s

i'm autistic and hermitcraft is one of my special interests! hence the whole side blog. my sleep schedule is abnormal for my time zone and i don't get out much, so don't be surprised at my strange posting/reblogging hours :D i am nonbinary/genderfluid but use more femme-aligned terms of endearment and i do use queer to describe myself :3

please feel free to message me, send me asks, and tag me in posts, reblogs, or comments! if it's hermitcraft related you can tag/ask/message this blog, but you can also interact with my main blog, @felixxthefrog ! i don't bite i promise <3 i love my moots so much but struggle with reaching out, so don't let my introvertedness discourage you!

as for hermitcraft specifics, this IS a TangoTek Fan Blog. okay? no tango slander. he's my fav.

for the most part i consistently follow Tango, Skizz, Impulse, Ren, Gem, Pearl, Grian, and Scar. i'll watch eps that people recommend or send to me, and will occasionally watch other peoples' vids if i'm bored. i pretty much only watch tango, impulse, and skizz's streams.

i'm okay with character shipping, but i personally only do platonic ships and am anti-content creator shipping as the hermits have requested people not ship the real people.

i love all things fanon, i do post/reblog life series things, and attempt to keep up with the lore around martyn's (inthelittlewood) personal AU lore, tho i'm not super familiar with it. if you are familiar with it, please feel free to rant at me about it in messages or asks <3

anyway. long post over! i'll add more things as i see fit. thanks for reading!

[lxvenderjewel]

song/ship analyses part 7: aziracrow and "cuz i love you" by lizzo

i'm going to apologize in advance for the way the lyrics are written. it pissed me off so it'll probably piss some of you off as well. but i don't have enough energy to rewrite them to look better so 🤷‍♀️

“Never been in love before

What the fuck are fuckin' feelings, yo?” aziraphale is the only person crowley’s ever been in love with and the same vice versa

“Got you somethin' from the liquor store” azi and crowley drink together all the time

“Tryna open up a little more

Sorry if my heart a little slow” crowley doesn’t really tell azi about hell and like he never talks about how he feels to anyone really but in s2 he starts to open up about things a little

“I thought that I didn't care

I thought I was love-impaired” this is more of a fanon thing but a lot of fanfics bring the idea that it’s commonly thought by angels that demons are unable to love (if it was said somewhere in canon i look like a fucking idiot right now)

“I don't know what I'm gon' do” crowley falls for azi immediately and then pines for 6000 years without making a SINGLE move this demon has no idea how to do anything

“I'm cryin' 'cause I love you, oh” season 2 finale right here folks

“Got me standin' in the rain” this is more relevant to the show, azi covers crowley with his wing and he’s left in the rain from what we can see

“I would do it for you all, my friend” he went to hell for crowley like i think this angel would fistfight god for crowley

“Wanna put you on a plane

Fly you out to wherever I am” he wanted crowley to come with him to heaven and get reinstated as an angel, he always wants crowley to be right next to him

“Catch you on the low, I was ashamed

Now I'm crazy, 'bout to tat your name” azi starts out very embarrassed to be talking to crowley but through the years he gets over that and ends up being willing to do anything for him

“I thought that I didn't care

I thought I was love-impaired” azi believing it’s impossible for an ANGEL to love a DEMON and spending millennia oblivious to the fact that he did

“I don't know what I'm gon' do” he figures out he’s in love with crowley in 1941 and then the next time we see them together this mf goes “you go too fast for me” he does not know how to deal with his feelings AT ALL

“I'm cryin' 'cause I love you, yeah” literally ever since 1941 bro has been grappling with the fact that he’s down horrendous for a DEMON and then it ends in the season 2 finale he is definitely crying

[abschaumno1]

Dear Hermitblr,

I want to start this by saying that I'm not out to get anyone here or to tell anyone what they can or cannot do. You are free to do fandom in whatever way you like and go out and draw and write whatever you want.

However, tumblr as a website, and we as communities talk a lot about curating our experiences and filtering things we don't like to see. We're already doing great with shipping from what I can tell. Good job everyone.

I do have a suggestion though. Or maybe something we could discuss as a community at least? Either way, in that spirit of "curate your own experience" I would like to bring something up that I have noticed over the past few weeks (which is when I started to pay closer attention to it):

Hybrid headcanons, Winged characters and Watchers. More precisely, the way they get tagged in the community.

These are all popular headcanons, I know. But I will be honest with all of you, I don't care for them very much. Now i do my best to filter, but tumblr's filtering system has its limits. Mainly the fact that there are about a billion different tags to filter for, either in terms of conceptual tags (as in "Watcher Grian") or artists' personal art tags ("[username]'s art" or any variation thereof) and not to mention the various artists who tag their art with "my art" (you folks are valid btw it's just not a tag people can easily filter out, or search for for that matter). There is also a number of people out there who don't have their own art tag at all, which makes things even harder.

My proposition would be that we all as a community try and work out together how we can make this easier for everyone. I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't always want to see these things. Maybe we could come up with tags so people can more easily filter out popular fanons they don't particularly care for without having to filter for a million different tags or not being able to filter. Maybe we could try and work towards tagging new fanart at least.

This is just an idea right now, but I'd hope we can discuss it as a community.

[naphelion]

Hi I'm just. curious where you got kieran's age from. Cause the only source I can find for that is a fanon wiki, as in non-canon. I promise there's no shade in this just a genuine question

hiii no worries, thanks for asking! i love talking.

short answer: I think i probably got the impression he was 36 from googling it and seeing the fanon wiki, and only realizing later that it wasnt canon so the idea stuck with me. its also just sort of funny since kieran gets picked on by sean, whose abt. 19, even though kierans visibly older than him.

long rambling answer that u dont need to read unless youre insane: I don't imagine him as 36 anymore because someone pointed out to me that him hitting on marybeth and being like 16 years older than her would be weird, but it made sense to me before that because 1) his design just changes age so often somehow, like in his official fullbody hes got grey hairs and a decent amount of wrinkles, but in game he looks much younger, so it's possible to imagine him as pretty much any age and 2) he has this one single line in a camp interaction with karen where he says something like, "some of the boys here, they treat me alright". Its probably just a throwaway line but I love this game and it stood out to me so I'll treat it like it means something anyways; kierbo calling the men in camp "boys" (to me) made it feel like hes around the average age for their group, or at least older than sean and lenny. Ofc it could also just be that that was what was normal for the time period, or that kier was used to calling gang members "boys" (ie. dutch's boys, colm's boys), but we really aren't given a lot of hints for his age so I'll take what I can get. and 3) in playing a social call, kieran steals an odriscolls gun and uses it to save arthurs life. based on how kieran shot the odriscoll as soon as he came out the door, he was already close to arthur, all the way down the hill from where the gang left him. since R* actually took the time to have sean make mistakes in his missions to show his age and inexperience, it doesn't feel like they'd have kieran make the decisions to steal a gun and go to where arthur was if they wanted him to appear young, especially since he has so few missions/chances for characterization.

And these are just some of my thoughts on his age based on what little information we have: according to...... familysearch dot org...... lmao..... the avg ages of soldiers in the spanish american war (1898) and the philippine american war (1899-1902) were 16-60, so kieran was probably at least 16 when he joined the military. Based on his conversation with sean, he joined his first gang AFTER leaving the military, but he doesn't describe them apart from them being killed by odriscolls. I think based on what he says about life later, "folks all seem to die", he was probably with that gang long enough to consider them his family (given that he was young and lacking one) or at least enough time for their deaths to make a lasting impression on his worldview, which I'm inferring was about a year at least. Hes also able to describe colm and how he manipulates his men concisely and, by 1899 ILLITERATE outlaw standards, what is pretty flowery language like sean just asked him what was up with colom and OFF THE CUFF kieran goes "like the devil is upon you", jesus. So he was probably with the odriscolls for a pretty long time too, or at least a year I'm guessing. So if he was 16 in the military + spent 1 year in an unknown gang + spent 1 year w/ the odriscolls he was,,,,,, at least 18 at the start of red dead. shocker.

I got carried away and said pretty much every thought I've ever had abt kieran's age (sorry) but hopefully the first part answers your question !!! :o)

[zeroducks-2]

Don't know if you're still doing this but Lex ×Clark for the ship ask

Oh god yes

I ship it

What made you ship it? I think every millennial shipper of Clarklex will be on my same page when I yell SMALLVILLE (the TV show that aired from 2002 to 2011) - I was something like 12 and I was DOWN BAD for those two gaddamnit...

What are your favorite things about the ship? Well it's a hero/villain ship first and foremost, one in which the villain is positively obsessed, which is right up my alley. The thing with Lex is that he's always collected and calculating, except when we're talking about Clark. He loses hold of his detached demeanor when it's about Superman, and he turns into a passionate rageball that feels more like he's throwing a temper tantrum for attention, and less like he's... trying to rule the world or something like that. It's easy for me to see this behavior in the light of need for someone to understand him (and love him), but Lex is emotionally stunted and doesn't realize it, focusing on the negative part of his emotions. But if there's someone in this world who can be so understanding, so patient and so open, enough to get even someone like Lex out of his carefully constructed shell of childhood traumas, emotional immaturity and the facade of an uncaring, unlovable narcissist, that person is Clark. I know, Clark is not the pure-of-heart always loving always caring himbo that we often see in fanon, but he does have what it takes to understand suffering and see through it, and he has a heart big enough to forgive.

And also, imagine how funny a relationship between them would be. Lex would require so much attention and constant confirmations of Clark's feelings, it would make him look stupid. More than usual I mean.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Not today officer

Ask game found here! Go grab it folks!

[blackbird-brewster]

Do you think that jemily could have been Canon? I think back to season 3 how the writers put them in situations like (you.kids.i can see it). What do you think about it?

'Could' have been canon? Sure, I think anything 'could' have been. There was always subtext between JJ/Emily and that played out over the entire course of the show. I think fans (sapphic people especially) have psychoanalysed every single second JJ/Emily shared screen time in the 15 years the show ran and I think we (sapphic folks) will ALWAYS say 'damn Jemily really did happen' (because we want it to be true) But logically, honestly, Jemily was never canon (nor do I think it ever will be). Because the thing about LOOKING for queer subtext as a queer person is....you will always find it or you will create it. There are tons of scenes where I jokingly say 'No heterosexual explanation for this' but that's because I'm queer and I'm biased and I am looking for Jemily, so OF COURSE I see Jemily. (Does that make sense?) Now if you're asking if they ever would become canon. No. I don't believe for a single second that's ever going to happen. Which actually brings to me to something I've been thinking a lot about since Tara was confirmed queer. So many fans are saying 'Oh why wasn't Emily confirmed queer?' or 'Emily's turn next!' and I don't know how else to say this but, I wouldn't hold your breath. I don't think Emily will ever be confirmed queer for a few reasons.

Many people take that little trivia bit 'Emily was supposed to wake up with a woman in her bed' which was leaked in an interview by Kirsten in 2015 and use it as confirmation that Emily IS queer. Ever since then, people have doubled down on analysing every single thing Emily has ever done, looking for queer subtext. (Me included) But here's the thing, just because in one early version of the show, Emily was supposed to sleep with a woman DOES NOT mean there's automatic queerness hiding in Emily. People will say 'oh well the costuming department knew and purposely dressed her like that, 'Paget knew and purposely played Emily like that', 'The writers knew and purposely hid queer subtext in there' None of that seems logical or real, imo. For all we know this mythical scene was just an idea tossed around in a writers room. We don't even know who all knew about it at all, OR when it got nixed (as in, how far down the pipeline did the idea get pulled bc there's a huge difference in this scene being in ONE draft vs this scene getting filmed and cut in editing. We literally have NO further context) Yeah, I talk about Emily being a lesbian all the time, but I need people to understand the difference in head canons/fanon and canon. Canon Emily isn't queer. Nor has she ever been. (Not unless the show explicitly has Emily come out)

Speaking of the infamous AfterEllen interview, SO SO many people say 'Oh well now that it's streaming we can finally have queer Emily! The only reason they never did it before was because of CBS and because that was way back in the early 00s' Again, the interview was in 2015. Kirsten says 'Back when Paget was on the show' which means prior to 2011....but we don't actually know WHEN this scene was supposed to happen. It could have been ANYTIME between S2 (2006) - S7 (2011) For the sake of argument let's say this scene was supposed to happen in S2 when Emily first joined the team. Sure, that WAS back in the early 00s....but this show ran UNTIL 2020. If the reason they couldn't make Emily queer was because 'It was back in 2006 and it was too taboo' well guess what? They had fourteen seasons of the show where they could have made her queer, considering how many main-stream shows have queer characters now. 'It was CBS who nixed it' well, by 2020 CBS had multiple queer characters on their shows. [X] So that's not really an argument anymore either. If the showrunners WANTED to make Emily queer, they really could have done it at ANY time after Emily returned.

Another reason I don't think we'd ever see canon queer Emily is because of the toxicity and cringe of a lot of the fans (Mostly Jemily fans!) online. People have zero understanding of parasocial boundaries and the way fans act online towards the actors is so so so gross. No matter what Paget or AJ posts on social media there will always be 100 replies of people being like 'Jemily is real!' or 'Is Emily a lesbian?' or 'Can you confirm JJ and Emily are in love' (I'm not even going to delve into the ones that are simply sexual harassment bc fans are calling the actors 'mommy' or making sexual jokes directed towards the cast) There was literally one time when AJ posted that one of her friends was missing. IN REAL LIFE. And you know what happened? Jemily stans got in the comments and started begging her to confirm if Jemily was real. ON A POST ABOUT HER FRIEND BEING IN DANGER AND BEING MISSING!!! The showrunners see you. The actors see you. And in NO world, do I think the showrunners would want to ever add fuel to that fire. Let's walk through this: What would happen if Emily is canonically confirmed queer? All of the Jemily stans would say 'OH SHES GAY SO JEMILY IS REAL, ALWAYS HAS BEEN!!' By confirming Emily's queerness, the showrunners would also be subsequently confirming 15 years of JJ/Emily subtext as being queer (whether they want to or not). Which of course has HUGE implications considering JJ has been with Will since S2. It changes SO much of the context of the show and JJ's relationship with Will. The show is simply NOT going to give us canonically queer Emily, because there are WAY too many ramifications of doing so. It would never be just a simple 'Emily is queer' because Emily has WAY too much history on this show. That's why I am so glad it was Tara. Tara doesn't have that deep history with another character. Sure, we can say 'Oh wow, Emily and Tara really were flirting all those years' (I already have head canoned that) but that's FINE bc Emily and Tara were both single all that time. No harm no foul, see what I mean?

I truly believe one of the MAIN reasons we got a canonically queer character AT ALL, was because Aisha would have pushed for Tara to be queer. Aisha has always spoken up about LGBTQ issues and she's also sapphic herself. So I would bet money on HER being the one to present the idea of Tara having a girlfriend now. And I also would bet money, that wouldn't be something Paget pushed for, because Emily being queer wouldn't hold the same importance to her as Tara being queer is important to Aisha. Plus, as much as I love Paget, she has said some really harmful stuff online that toes the line of transphobia/homophobia. I know it wasn't said in a malicious way, but even saying uneducated transphobic shit is still awful to see as a queer fan.

This turned into a long-winded explanation but I think all of these things are important to remember right now and I think they're all worth saying. But no, I don't think we'd ever have canon Jemily.

[derry-rain]

For the fandom meme - H,I,Y and A 😄

HIYA! :)

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)

Interesting! Ordinarily I'd say "any of these", but if I really think about what I get fandomy over outwardly, I think it tends to be tv shows. The others tend to rotate more in my head, whereas there are edges of playgrounds in tv shows that I like to spend time in. There are exceptions, of course, I'm never quite able to predict what will grip me fandom-wise - I think I've been there for all of the above, except anime - but yeah, tv shows tend to be where I land.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

Hmm, yes and no. It's not a tumblr thing. Every platform I've been on has had fandoms that just get plain fucking irritating after a while. Whether it's people flocking to BNFs, ship wars of any depth at all, people insisting certain fanon interpretations are basically canon, or - and particularly badly in historical fandoms and I've been in too many of them to count - people smugly wanking on about historical fact when you're out here like "yes, I am also aware of This Knowledge but counterpoint, I'm writing fanfiction and chose not to care about it"*. I guess any time anyone puts their head up and starts thinking they're better/being treated as if they're better than anyone else. Mate, we're all in fandom and we all do it in our own way.

Uh, that is to say, yeah, I break or even dip from fandoms frequently.

* I'm not talking about people who love the history, discuss the history or share the history (I do too!), or the folks who love to incorporate research in their work, just the people who think it makes them superior in a fandom space. So no, I don't mean you.

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

Oooh, ok. I think a lot of you are into Supernatural in a fandom way? And also Top Gun? Which is a movie I haven't seen. And I keep promising to watch. And then. Like. I don't.

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

Hnnnngh. EOIN/PADDY from SAS: Rogue Heroes because they're perfect little furies. Also I'm sort of rotating Mike/Johnny in my mind to see if there's anything that falls out right now.

Lots of Klinger ships in in M*A*S*H, just because of the grand rewatch. Mulcahy, Blake, Soon-Lee and BJ for sure. Actually, having just watched Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, I'm gonna add BJ/Mulcahy to this.

And then there's my various babies - Tom/Greg (Succession), Keeley/Roy/Rebecca (Ted Lasso). Liebgott/Webster (Band of Brothers)... kind of dude heavy at the moment, but that's probably a reflection of my current fandoms (mostly military).

ETA: I FORGOT ALL MY TERROR SHIPS

Pilkington/Hodgson! The original lad/nerd pairing. For the most discerning. I have gotten two (2) other people to write this and I love them for it.

Little/Armitage - See next ask. I love this.

Goodsir/Gore - hot for soft bois.

Hickey/Gibson - unhinged and true.

Tozer/Irving - I don't know why this has me by the throat, but it does.

Sophia/Jopson - don't touch me don't talk to me i wrote this like... idk a year or two ago and never posted it. but they should kiss.

[fangirleaconmigo]

The Witcher, any version you prefer. 4, 10, 11, 20.

Hello hello! Yayyyyy an ask for the tv/book/movie ask. I guess it isn't surprising but I love talking about mah stories.

I'll do the witcher show (TWN) version, but if anyone wants these questions for the books, they can send me questions for the books.

Ok, Ima be honest about my feelings, but pls don't worry about me if you love what I dislike. Love what you love. Don't mind me XD.

Show

4. A character I couldn't care less about.

I'm sorry folks, after S2 idgaf about show!Vesemir. I actually really love that character and all of his complexities and moral quandaries. But I was so enraged by what he did to Ciri and Geralt that I couldn't give a shit about that old man anymore. It was stupid. He knew better. That man is 300 years old. His motivation was weak.

I still care about him in the books, games and in fic. But when we get S3 I'll just be throwing popcorn at the tv whenever his face comes onscreen.

(also, even though the actor is great, idgaf about show!Cahir. Stop smelling Yen's hair. Get a job. Stay away from her, etc etc.)

10. A ship I would gladly go down with... and then become Davey Jones, so I can continue to captain said ship for eternity

Oh gosh my shipping is all over the place. In canon, I demand better for Yenralt. They are the canon otp/soulmates and they deserve better.

In fanon, it depends on the season, and I multiship. But I clearly cannot stop writing Geraskier, so there is obviously just something about it for me. (I won't go on about it or I'll write a novel)

11. A ship that makes me want to look into the camera like I'm on The Office

bahahahhahahah um I think I'm so used to fandom that nothing at all surprises me. You cannot shock me. I don't even flinch anymore. I am bulletproof. XD

20. Fics/fanart I'd love to see

I just wrote and deleted an entire answer because I remembered I'm answering these based on TWN. So for TWN only, I'm enamored with Yennskier. I'm loving the art and fic people are producing for them.

But I'd love more rarepair stuff too. I'm partial to Yen x Renfri.

And ok, here's a crossover I have to include. I love Jaskier x Eskel (book and game), and as far as I'm concerned we can never have enough Jaskel art. We have few Jaskel artists so I cherish every art of them I can find.

[petphantoms]

hi I'm the anon from earlier. clarifying that scott isn't aro and i was referring to it being a headcanon I've seen alongside these types of interpretations, my bad on the wording there. and thank you for sharing your thoughts, I'd hate to get into like "shipping discourse" or anything so i hope the original message wasn't too idk pessimistic or aggressive about it, i was really frustrated at the time and the whole thing was really rubbing me the wrong way (so i might have been a little less charitable in my observations). I love discussions around interpretations and fanon and aus of this kind of thing and i think your input is thoughtful and interesting! sorry for dragging it out onto this one random blog though i do feel a little bad about it, you seem cool though

lol nooo! i love to talk! and aah that makes sense.. as a headcanon, and then pairing them together... that deffo rubs me wrong. and espec if he was aro irl, right, thats a totally different can of worms.. idk how to explain myself there but ty for the clarification!

i mean to be completely honest, i made the post bc i was asking. i was frustrated with it too, because my exposure to scott in the fandom had only been negative, so it was just not sitting right with me. now that im learning my way around i definitely am finding more folks that share interpretations similar to myself (or they just post silly shit and thats all i want anyway), and its not as like. im realizing. oh thank god, not everyone is doing that, but it was still so weird scary to walk in on...

100% if you want to chit chat or something about this stuff feel free to keep sending anons or even message the blog? i can dm you with my main or something if you go off anon and tell me you want that, lol. im open to really any shipping discourse i guess not because im a discourse person (i dont rly like discourse ngl) but because i do have an interest in what makes people see things the way they do, and i like discussions where i can throw my own hat into the ring and either learn things or feel like im engaging with others thoughtfully instead of passively.

i am 100% open to hearing your thoughts and or bitching, i wont say im staunchly anti a!fh, because truth be told i just dont have enough stake in it to care (and those who did explain themselves to me didnt seem to have poor intentions in mind, and it was just an interpretation! which was nice), but i am definitely.. not someone whos going to partake in it myself, lol...

i feel like i just rambled in a circle here but. don't feel bad for talking abt it, i opened the door myself, and 100% i love to chat so if you have more to say im all ears! we dont have to agree to have a discussion, hehe (: -🍄