#why do huge fanbases always have to be the worst?

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Ugh. The Final Fantasy fandom can often be so horrible. I'm glad that even though I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan--it's always been one of my favorite fandoms and is probably my second favorite fandom--I've never really interacted with the fanbase in a lot of cases.

Or, at the very least, I've never gotten into "which game is better" conversations with people. Because that whole thing is stupid and it all comes down to opinion, anyway.

I've also gone on record many times saying that I think people who think there are set rules that Final Fantasy has to follow to be a "true Final Fantasy" are often off base, since Final Fantasy has always been about reinventing the wheel with each new installment.

[captainclickycat]

So while we're on the subject, here are some other thoughts.

I found Neil Gaiman's online presence - and the more overzealous members of his fanbase - annoying. And please stay with me here, I promise this isn't me trying to be smug or claim I "knew all along" or anything. There's a huge gulf between finding someone a bit annoying and thinking that their behaviour online is less than stellar occasionally and suspecting them of being a sexual predator. I don't think there could have been any way of me "knowing all along" without reading everything in the worst possible faith, which I'm not willing to do and which I maintain is not a good or helpful approach in general. And to people who genuinely looked up to him and felt completely blindsided by the news, I'm really sorry. It wasn't your fault and I hope you can do something kind for yourself today.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I didn't like the way he handled criticism of his work, a lot of the time. I don't think creators are obligated to personally listen to and address every negative opinion of their work, or explain every individual aspect of it that someone disliked. But I felt like a lot of his responses to feedback tended to lean into and encourage praise, while being a little disingenuous and sometimes belittling towards criticism. (And really, why feel the need to respond to everything when you could just ignore it?)

I didn't like the way he always felt the need to weigh in on fandom debates or throw out "word of god" explanations for this or that thing, including when nobody even asked. (Want to know who inspired the "I don't care what the author said" comment in my bio? Take a guess.) Especially when some of them felt engineered to paint him and his work in the best possible light.

Again, I'm not drawing attention to all this in an attempt to claim any one thing was a blatant red flag or must have been down to some sinister motivation. That's not the point I'm trying to make.

But it is one of the reasons that I was always deeply uncomfortable by the culture of hero-worship and "touch not god's anointed" that always seemed to exist around him. Like regardless of whether or not you thought this or that criticism against him was warranted, the way people would treat him like some kind of messiah who deserved nothing but praise and lose their absolute shit whenever anyone said anything remotely negative about him was absurd. Nobody deserves that, regardless of what they've done.

But at the same time... you know, I liked his work. Not just "I liked the stuff he co-wrote with someone else" or "I liked the films and TV shows he worked on with a whole bunch of other people." I liked the books he wrote by himself. They had some parts worth criticising, sure, what doesn't. But overall I thought they were well-written and funny and thought-provoking and I enjoyed myself when I was reading them. Neverwhere is the first book I had a crack at re-reading in a different language, which should tell you how much I liked it. And I didn't even dislike everything he posted on the internet. I thought some comments were pretty funny and/or insightful. I even reblogged the odd post.

And I wasn't all that vocal about any negative feelings I had towards him, because... well, frankly because a lot of the negative feelings I'd seen expressed by other people about him tended to look like "he's the devil incarnate, his work sucks, he's the worst person alive and he secretly hates every marginalised group and people should feel ashamed for sincerely liking his stuff."

And I didn't agree with that either! I didn't want to be roped in with those people. I didn't feel comfortable around them, any more than I felt comfortable around the Neil Gaiman Defense Squad, Working Tirelessly Day And Night To Aggressively Stamp Out Any Criticism Of Our Lord And Saviour.

And honestly I'm not entirely sure what kind of broader point I'm trying to articulate here, or whether I'm just working through stuff in my head. But I will say that this kind of polarising, zero-sum-game approach to criticism is... bad. It's just bad. It makes it so people are reluctant to put forward any kind of nuanced stance, for fear that they'll end up getting pigeonholed into one oversimplified category or another, or it ends up pushing people towards one extreme stance or another out of sheer frustration or contrariness. And it makes it incredibly difficult to have any kind of actually productive debate when it comes to criticising media, or criticising creators. Inevitably people's hackles are going to be up whichever side they lean towards more, and a lot of people with valuable input will inevitably end up going "yeah, I can see how that's a good point, but also the last person who brought this topic up with me deemed it appropriate to send me a barrage of messages telling me to kill myself about it, so forgive me if I'm not interested in engaging any further."

Obviously a culture of hero worship inevitably makes it a lot easier for predators to operate, and I have no doubt that being inundated with messages about how wonderful you are and how everyone who's criticising you is in the wrong must make it a lot easier to rationalise your actions. But I feel like this tendency to paint everything in terms of "are they a pure uwu blameless smol bean angel OR the devil incarnate" is incredibly unhelpful regardless of what side you come down on. The "devil incarnate" crowd can be part of the problem too.

[araivallejo]

I’ve only ever “shipped” characters in two programs I’ve watched. The first one was Niles and Daphne from Frasier, when I was a teen/young twenty something, and Ted and Rebecca from Ted Lasso.

These two pairings could not be more different. Niles was smitten from the start with Daphne, despite being married (!) with seemingly everyone clued in except Daphne herself for seven years (!!) until Frasier blurts it out to her. Only then does she start to view Niles as someone she might love. The Frasier writers had all the tropes on display for this one. Ah, the 90s.

Looking back now as a much older adult, I see glaring red flags in the Niles and Daphne pairing. The man was married, not once but twice, while claiming to be in lust/love with Daphne. Young me didn’t care though. I thought – romance! And when they ran off together, I was smitten. My one and only delve into fanfiction I wrote in 2000 when they both took off in the Winnebago. Oh my. With the benefit of hindsight, I wonder just how much I’d ship those two these days. Now if Frasier were to be remade the creators would have made the Niles character what he should have been all along, which is gay. The early 90s you just couldn’t do that, although the Frasier team loved to give a wink to it at times.

For Ted and Rebecca, I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t ship them in season 1 and most of season 2 at all. I thought this was simply a lovely friendship and that’s that. It was only the writers’ little bantr fakeout that clued me in on the possibility. I knew it wasn’t Ted, but it got me thinking when it was revealed to be Sam and I was disappointed it wasn’t Ted. Why was I disappointed? Then looking back at the earlier episodes and seeing all the ways they cared for one another and seemed to be clued in to each other. I thought – aha! This is the way to go about a real relationship. Show the friendship. Show the trust. Show each other at your best and your worst. It’s not a fantasy. I never minded that there were no obvious longing looks between the two because I saw all those signs the writers put into the show that kept pointing back (for me) to only one conclusion: Ted and Rebecca were meant to be together. The two obviously long for a romantic relationship and are deeply loving people. It wouldn’t be lazy writing! It would be brilliant to have it slowly evolve into a beautiful relationship built on friendship.

My only sticking point on the two getting together was the fact that at the end of the day, Rebecca was still Ted’s boss. Having grown up in the same region at the same time as Ted, I figured his midwestern values would deem that as unethical and therefore a deal breaker, no matter how deep the attraction was. I figured Ted would always choose his son and want to go back to Kansas, but I also concluded he would still need someone else in his life and not make Henry his sole reason to live. That’s too much of a burden on Henry. So if there were some way to have Ted be with Henry and Rebecca not be his boss… There have been some wonderful fics written to show how these two could still manage that feat. Both Ted and Rebecca are wealthy – with Rebecca shown to be “filthy” rich. Miss “I’ll just buy the restaurant” could make just about anything happen.

It all seems like a hell of a missed opportunity. I believe Jason was so enamored of the movie “Once” that he wanted to make his own version. That’s fine – it was his show. I just wish maybe they would have thought more about why they needed to do some of these little fakeouts. Having read some of the writers and editors’ responses this past week I have concluded that while some of this was purely accidental, the vast majority was absolutely intentional to keep the incredibly loyal and vocal fanbase (the shippers) coming back for more. They knew exactly what they were doing. I’m not naïve; I get that it is a product, and they need eyes viewing said product. But this show was a huge hit from day one when many of us didn’t give a damn about the pairing. Why go to these lengths?

What is hilarious to me is what we’ve been given instead of the well thought out relationship is the very definition of lazy writing: throwing Rebecca with some random man we’ve seen ONE TIME in the last season. We don’t even know his name. Yes, he is attractive and clearly Rebecca enjoyed being around this man. I even said after the ep aired that I wouldn’t mind it, but I was hoping there would be more buildup between the last time we saw him and now. And unlike above with Ted, boat man has not seen Rebecca at her worst, nor she his. It does not feel earned at all and that just pisses me off.

Don’t even get me started on Beard and Jane. Jesus that’s a topic for another post.

[daubigny-stan]

i watch a lot of youtube because i do not like having nothing on in the background lest i consume myself with my own thoughts. one of my most watched genres is fashion youtube. i've been watching fashion youtube since highschool, back in 2016-2017. and from watching all those yearly trends, thrift flips, and hauls, i've come to the conclusion that if i ever want to do youtube, i would not start until ive got a dayjob and like... robust self-esteem. age 27 AT LEAST.

so let me take you through my thought process. the queen of fashion youtube at the time was Ashley bestdressed. she did thrift hauls, thrift flips, outift inspos, the whole shebang. i think she was college - fresh graduate age when her channel was at peak popularity? and in 2020 she just dipped. disappeared. she makes content for ig only now and is working for many major fashion houses (good for her!). she vanished for a variety of reasons, in her videos she has always talked about her mental health struggles, having a stalker so she had to move a couple times during covid nonetheless, and honestly having the worst fanbase. i was on bestdressed reddit and discord at the time, these fans were horrible.

now, the most popular girlies on fashion youtube are kathleen illustrated, beepworld, mina le, and steal the spotlight (although im sorry to say in numbers not doing nearly as well as ashley; give em a watch if you're into fashion!). many of them started around the same time citing Ashley as a big influence. here i want to compare these creators to Ashley, not to incite hate but to understand what makes a healthy and sustainable content creator career.

I think age and career are a big factor because although social media content creation is usually a young man's job (because young people can keep up with trends and what not), the social part of social media is grueling. the horror of being known times like. a million. in ashley's case she had 3 million subscribers. and when you're around 21-25 ish you are the most insecure you will ever be. at least for me, i hope (im 22 now). so not only was ashley most likely struggling (she was very open about it, she made a lot of self deprecating jokes) but her biggest demographic was people her age who's insecurities were probably fueled by her content. like i will stress, im NOT blaming ashley, but like. 20 year olds watching another 20 yr old live her best life? oh my god the jealousy. the insecurity. it didn't help that she was so relatable and humble about it, i think we get more jealous of other people's success the closer they are to us (why i dont look at my personal instagram anymore lol). badabing badaboom parasocial relationship and 3 million people watching your every move and critiquing every bit of it. her fanbase had THE most baseless critiques. disguising her rich background or whatever, hating on her for being privileged (which she recognized a lot btw), literally going incel mode and making comments about every inch of her body, the only critique that holds up is prob the amazon video which she deleted. also she was not white which i think people were very weird about. i cant deny that her white contemporaries got much less hate.

what works with the creators now is some of them have careers outside of youtube and are also less personal with their content. for example, kathleen illustrated has a career in the creative industry which means she mostly does youtube for fun. you can tell it's not a source of stress for her, from the way she is in her videos. they also don't really talk about their lives in a personable way which separates them from their audience. now i know this point in particular in contentious, authenticity and relatability are huge selling points on youtube. but i guess it's more of analyzing the costs and benefits of it? is it worth to put your whole life out there? showing your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friends? what if you split up? you can have a personable aura without revealing private details. in mina le's videos, since most of them are video essays she has the opportunity to show off her personality without revealing private details.

i hope the creators i mentioned and others don't have to go through what ashley bestdressed has gone through. i know content creation is a very passion filled career and to end up in circumstances where you lose your love for it sounds awful

[dovelydraws]

Im no creator or anything, but that last part you wrote about how the internet is becoming a lonely place…i kinda feel that. Most likely not in the same sense you do, but everywhere the release of new and newer stuff and media is on the forefront, AI is rising and making the release even faster (at the cost of quality most of the time) and it‘s just…there‘s no appreciation anymore? Nobody stops to listen or see or engage with stuff because newer music or art or anything really is coming out and everyone wants to keep up. Communities or fanbases become short lived and that‘s for the huge pieces, and the smaller ones kinda seem to just…fall behind and are forgotten

Engagement also seems to have become somewhat precarious. That‘s solely an opinion of mine, but whenever I hear what creators have to deal with due to the animosity made possible by the internet…it‘s just sad. And as such, I for one don‘t want to bother anyone and so I feel like not wanting to say the wrong thing and in the worst scenario cost an artist some motivation or joy (yes, Im aware, me sending an ask anonymously is a bit ironic, but that‘s mostly my anxiety peaking)

Yeah, I totally agree about everything going way too fast. Over the last few years I REALLY began hating the binge-format brought on by streaming services, ever since I noticed how quickly communities die out after new shows air because of it. I remember a lot of people complaining when certain ones like hbomax and disneyplus decided to release their shows weekly instead of all at once, but I actually felt relieved and excited by the idea, because it meant we'd all actually have time to digest and truly appreciate what we were seeing and have actual discussions around it like we used to.

It's why I describe the feeling I get when people simply leave a quick "like" on my art without actual engagement with me and my work as "consumption." I don't fault people for doing it on occasion, I get sometimes we just like what we see and don't have much to say about it and that's that, I certainly do the same thing sometimes. But when it's constantly the only form of recognition I'm getting, it really starts to feel like I'm not being seen as a person behind the screen, that my work was churned out for instant individual gratification with no extra thought behind it.

This feeling started to get really, really bad with the rottmnt fandom in particular actually, which is why I swore off making any more fanart for it. Seeing several strangers discover me, spam-like through my blog on all my fanart posts, ignore everything else, no reblogs, no comments, and not even follow me afterwards, it really began to leave a bad taste in my mouth and made me super uncomfortable. It was happening literally every day for months at one point, after the movie came out. It made me feel like a content mill, and I very nearly deleted every single one of my fanart posts because of it. I'm hesitant to jump into making fanart for any other fandoms now too, because I don't want that to happen again.

As for what you said about the way people treat artists making you nervous to engage yourself, in worry that you'll bother them or make it worse- tbh, I think your recognition of that makes it even more important for you to say what you want to say? Art is a form of communication. Artists are looking for community, when we share our work to the world. We're always bound to not be understood or treated fairly, when you open yourself up like that. Whether that's feeling hated, or ignored, or disrespected, I think every positive comment left by someone who enjoyed what they saw helps to drown out those bad experiences. It's all we're ever looking for, to know that our effort meant something to someone.

I totally get where you're coming from with your anxiety, but I truly think you could only do more good than harm by letting someone know that you liked something they put a lot of love and effort into creating. I always reblog art that I like over on my personal blog, and I try to leave little comments in the tags whenever my brain's not totally fried after an 8 hour shift at my job, lol. It doesn't even need to be anything specific! I try to do that for people when I can because I know how happy it makes me feel when someone else does that for me. :)

[my-mt-heart]

I'm anon about the "wind". Your answer to another question now is that Zabel doesn't understand Daryl's character, and I agree with you. and so my point of view is that Zabel is not behind shipbait. I think it's Norman's idea. yes, he is not responsible for everything. but he has influence, and he's the only one who knows his character or knows what makes people talk about him. and since Daryl is now alone, without his family and the people who identified him, they move on to a simple bait… and it all looks like rewriting the story with Leah and someone else

Okay, got it, thank you for following up. I agree that Zabel wouldn't have any interest in riling Caryl fans up. I don't think he was that knowledgeable of the fanbase. There's evidence he read Caryl scenes for his own purposes (or someone's purposes), but I don't think he was knowledgeable of Caryl's relationship or Daryl's and Carol's individual characters the way a showrunner who's written on TWD for many years or fans who actually watched the show from beginning to end would be knowledgeable. Until Melissa signed on for S2, Zabel was writing for his original character, Isabelle, and for Daryl, who he is treating like an original character in a lot of ways. Like @that-left-turn pointed out, he used to write for network TV where it's standard to tease something between the male and female leads. That's why I think he's leaning in that direction even though nothing will come of it in the end. So basically, his mistake was not bothering to do his homework, which is a huge fucking mistake in my book. I'm not saying he's solely responsible for the shipbaiting, but he is the reason why the shipbaiting could turn out to be the worst we've seen so far.

Then of course, there's AMC who have always relied on shipbaiting for engagement and apparently this time overestimated the fans' patience for it. And there's Norman who for some reason has to be marketed as the show's most eligible bachelor. Of all the players, I would've hoped he'd speak up on something that wasn't doing justice to the character he's played for over a decade. Based on what I've observed so far, I'm wary, but I think the fair thing for me to do is wait until S1 is over before I go further. The point I'm making right now is that the shipbaiting is a team effort, and like other Carylers have said elsewhere, I think it's helpful to call it out. All it does is insult everyone from the fans to the character to the actors who deserve so much better. If no one acknowledges it as the failure it is, then AMC will take that as permission to keep doing it.

Again, this is just my opinion as someone who's trying to pay attention to as much as possible and hear as many voices as possible. If not having the emotional capacity to watch the show from beginning to end invalidates my opinion, you are free to ignore it. Judge for yourself.

[persephoneflouwers]

I’ve been in the fandom forever, so I’ve seen basically it all and one thing I’ve noticed is that back in the 1D days fans at listening parties or events would anonymously or not so anonymously spill things or leak info as a way to share it for everyone and to allow everybody to experience those moments even if they weren’t there. But in the post 1D years I’ve noticed a sort of shift where people will hold onto the info and not share anything with a sort of sense of entitlement of ‘I have this, and you don’t’ not to say everyone is that way now, but it’s a definite shift more towards it. Like the days of the Brazilian Youth recording the worst quality clips of Midnight Memories through a hotel door and posting it, or at the MITAM parties the person who released the clips with the 1D unseen footage and then tweeted ‘sue me’, it was such a different time.

In a way, it’s the era of “exclusive content”. You get to keep to yourself the things you see or record them just to plaster them all over the internet when you want. Not in this case, because I don’t think any fan would actually want to take videos of the documentary since it will be available soon for many of them and Louies are very loyal.

Plus you have to add on top of it the obsession pop culture has with streams and sellings. When Harry’s House was leaked I got a very rude anon calling me dumb and ignorant for simply saying that the album was going to be fine, because it didn’t seem possible to me that we had the album exactly one month before the release in its entirety. It also was weird since it has happened before to other artists (I mentioned future nostalgia and Dua Lipa) and there were discourses on how many huge label/production teams do use leaking as promo and stuff (Marvel has been using it for ages). And it turns out I was fucking right, cause that album is a grammy album winner now wasnt I? Lol

The other anon basically called me stupid because I believe this is a behaviour that goes beyond cultural context. Again, I’m not saying or as they said ‘dismissing’ how the fact the premiere was in Japan has influenced the lack of tea spilling about the documentary just to ‘complain’ about fandom. It just got me thinking. They said Louis would even choose Japan because of their politeness, which I would understand in certain moments like when you are recording an album or spending some time off, when you need very low-key quiet moments for work or personal space, it really seems like the perfect place to keep privacy to yourself, but if you are premiering your movie I don’t think you want it to be kept a fanbase secret. Premieres are the moments where the buzz starts because the moment when it will be available in theatres is getting closer. You want people to be curious and intrigued. Instead I see the no spoilers campaign on twitter (not by japanese fans, but by any fan) and I’m just alright but why? Are they afraid talking about and giving away more information on what to expect and what not will ruin the tickets numbers? Because that seems always the core reason between any secret keeping in fandom culture, if that makes sense.

But again, maybe we are going to get more infos after the next premieres and this was just a first premiere kinda thing!

[emberettee]

This post is not to slander anyone. Just how disappointed I am about the fanbase as I always am.

Arsenal fans are the worst in terms of being fair to everyone. Leo wasn't at his best form back from injury and was among the worst if not the worst on the pitch. Saka out early caused Jesus to cover right wide as a result Leo and Kai lost a rotating one-twoing option yet somehow it's Kai to blame while it's him and Leo contributing to the killing chance right into the 2nd half that we couldn't score from.

We had a decent game until Saka off injured. Almost the entire team didn't play to their best afterward yet it's Kai the one that should be responsible to shine like I don't understand why. For the second goal conceded Kai didn't even make mistake. He's a LCM so his duty is to force the opp to move the ball out the flank and he actually did it. It wasn't any of our players' fault either. Wahi was brilliant with that finish.

It's like you guys never recognize someone you have prejudice against. When he does something good for you it's pure fluke. When the entire team perform poorly he's the only one to blame. When there's a weak link in the squad Kai has to be slated off because of his 65m transfer fee.

I didn't see anybody criticize Leo performance or Zinny and Martin constantly losing possession yesterday and even if they do it's nothing compared to 1/10 of how Kai got treated. Because they're the fav children. The same goes to several past games, to Vieira, to Eddie.

Or look at how you guys praised Vieira for his 2 brilliant games and it took y'all just one game in which he was forced to play against his forte to throw him under the bus. Or the amount of slander toward Raya is just very rare considering how much Aaron has received making the same mistake. When you win you're a part of the family. When you lose you're an adopted child. I'm so tired of having to write paragraphs after every matchday seeing the abuse Kai and other unfavorite players are subjected to. I don't even defend them this is just common sense.

You're only in 2 polar opposites of either "we're the best team in Europe" after a win or "we're shite let's just fight for top 4 this season" after a draw/lose, no in between. Life would be much better if we can be fair and learn how to strike a happy medium. Or at least give your players the support rather than drag them down to hell once every bad game.

One lost in the group stage is not a disaster considering we're just 2 games in and the personnel loss. Still a high chance we can be top of group B. Pick it up and move on to the next one and see how we're going to react this weekend that's should be our priority. Hopefully Saka is totally fine and fit and the return of Nelli will do us a huge favor.

[piquira]

People really forget sometimes that it’s super rare for pop stars to have the level of success Shakira is having in middle age. That’s why I will never complain about her taking her time to put out an album or anything music related. A lot of others would be full on retired or coasting on past hits to do small venues at the age of 46.

Instead she’s cranking out #1 singles and will be able to do stadiums when she eventually does a tour, I’m assuming next year.

I also think based on when she releases it, she will finally get her #1 on the US album chart based on the streaming strength of all these singles she is releasing that will be on it.

She’s been doing amazing and we should appreciate it because this very well could be her last major era, and the fact it’s close to being the same kind of iconic as the Laundry Service period is crazy all things considered.

Thank you!!! I swear, Shakira's fandom is the weirdest group of stans I've ever seen. The way they act as if Shakira's some type of newcomer who has no idea what she's doing, and not a 46 year old global legend whose been 30+ years at the highest level and who defies all the norms for female pop artists at her age, is just absurd! And even before this record breaking year, she's always been unique in that she's one of the few artists from past generations, who has smoothly transitioned into the streaming era and continues to impact new generations. At her age & her trajectory, normal (and expected) would be to live off classic hits. Live off of name, past glories & touring because for the most part, the gp isn't really consuming your new music (ex: Xtina, Mariah Carey, Jlo, Britney Spears, Thalia, Paulina Rubio, etc). Ms. Beyonce herself, even though she continues to be huge (especially in touring & in general pop culture) isn't a top force in streaming services. Meanwhile Shakira is subsequently one of the trendiest artist of the moment, while also being an established legend. But for some reason, her hardcore fanbase is always on edge and expecting the worst. It's completely insane and unbelievable lol.

It's annoying that we still have to keep waiting for the album, but I also imagine it's going to do very well when it finally comes out, likewise her inevitable tour. Nobody can predict the future obviously, but I've always thought that one of the reasons Shakira's managed to keep herself relevant throughout the years is because she knows how much to give the public and when. While fans continue their discourse about Shakira "missing her opportunities", I think Shakira's been very strategic about how much exposure she needs at given times. She knows that impact and authenticity, is more important than trends and numbers when you're playing for the long run. And the little bits of material she's been giving us in the last year or so, have proved that she knows exactly what she's doing. Nothing's a guarantee in life, but this has damn well been one of Shakira's most successful years in her career, and that's saying a lot!!

[shopcat]

okay here i'll have a little extra insane rant as well cuz i love to chat shit... like okay. this is accurate for sure

everything else WAS NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

half of the reason i am always hesitant on any fanbase-wide TAKE on an alternative character is because of people who say stuff this like UGH. why are you random person online the authority... and even I'M doing it now to be fair but it's like.. eddie is not real but he is reflecting real life. people in real life do not exist like this.

eddie wearing MAKEUP which is again super fucking weird to NITPICK does not make him an "inaccurate portrayal" because eddie is a "human being". also it's funny cuz i'm 99% sure i read somewhere that he WAS going to wear eyeliner but they decided against it lol

and the punk "rivlary" thing is like sure maybe though it IS still EXAGGERATED or like... talked about inaccurately. there was no huge musical rivalry it was a cultural mixing pot first of all i DON'T know why people go braindead and forget all music scenes influence each other let alone alternative ones metal literally wouldn't exist without punk rock lol. the cultural rivalry is because they don't get along bc metal guys are the worst. but like whatever that aside you're like grasping desperately at straws trying to rationalise ur Period Accurate portrayal of a guy who had a anti-fascist homage hand painted on his acoustic he did not fucking hate punks 😭😭 he probably would have BEEN ONE. jesus christ.

eddie is a guy in the metal scene he may even self identify as a metal head and yeah he's not in the punk scene either but you can't just decide what he would or would not do when he was never written (because he's a CHARACTER) accurately to begin with‼️‼️‼️‼️ i can't EVER see him leaning more into the metal scene but i CAN see him leaning into the punk one more than he already fucking has anyway but i have a whole other essay about that somewhere on here. eddie is not married to being a metal head and he's not portrayed inaccurately if he wears makeup because guess what. He might like wearing makeup. because he's a person. god.

[modelbus]

Movie Night

MCYT's included: (all CC!) Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Dream, Sapnap (mentioned Philza)

What a movie night with them would be like :)

Wilbur Soot

He drags you into some psychological thriller that's new on Netflix. You only agree for the popcorn.

Wilbur definitely gives some effort, gathering a few blankets and making popcorn, but for the most part it's just a simple movie night.

Both of you keep trying to guess the ending of the movie throughout the entire thing but never get it right.

After it ends, you're both leaned against each other but are way too outraged to even think about sleep. You end up tweeting together about what a bad ending it was, riling up the fanbases.

Seriously, the movie gets pulled from Netflix after that...

Netflix scandal or not, it was a very nice night in.

TommyInnit

Tommy claims he's a big man but is terrified of horror so you two end up watching a comedy at his apartment.

100% goes all out. Popcorn, every blanket and pillow that he owns, Haribo twin gummy snakes.

He literally cannot stop himself from cracking jokes about it the entire time. You spend more time laughing than listening to what the characters are saying.

Popcorn gets thrown.

So do pillows...

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard." "Hey! I'm a brilliant comedian, bitch!" "Well- AH! Did you just throw a pillow at me?!"

The entire movie night is actually a secret sham for him to cuddle with you though, so don't be fooled.

Later, on stream, he fully recounts the movie and informs chat how funny he was, despite just making dumb jokes.

Tubbo

I feel like he would be really invested in a drama with you, but only if you watch it at home.

He dramatically gasps at every twist and turn, so the theater just wouldn't work out for him. At some point you start to exaggerate your emotions too, which turns it into just you two gasping or yelling every two seconds.

Somehow you both still end up retaining information from the movie and chat about it for a while after.

If you disagree with his opinions on it, he heads to Twitter and makes a poll to settle it. Basically, you're doomed.

Popcorn is a must, as are your favorite blankets, but he tends to sit on the floor and move around a lot.

One movie isn't enough for him, so you probably have a huge marathon of movies one night.

Phil is very unhappy with you two when you both show up to a recording half-asleep.

Dream

You'd manage to lure him into a horror movie with taunts because his ego cannot withstand your hits.

Somehow you managed to pick the scariest movie on Netflix, both terrified out of your minds.

At first he tries to pretend he's not scared at all though.

"Why did we pick this movie?!" "What do you mean, it's not scary at all." "You're a bad liar, you know."

It wasn't too bad because you clung tightly to each other, providing a sense of comfort. Or you were clinging to each other until he screamed and spilled popcorn all over you two.

Needless to say, neither of you got sleep that night. It ended up being a sleepover in the living room, all the lights on.

You posted the fact he was a secret wimp like you on Twitter, resulting in him not speaking to you for an hour straight. This man and his ego...

Sapnap

Unlike Dream, he actually lives for horror movies.

Maybe if you beg enough, he'll put on an adventure once in a blue moon, but he's insistent on watching horror.

And he wants to see it in theaters with the surround sound and huge screen to "make it a better experience."

He's a hungry guy, getting a huge bucket of popcorn for the two of you to share.

If you arrive to the theater before the movie starts, he will pelt you with popcorn during previews.

Somehow you manage to find your way into his seat, forever thankful for the huge recliner seats the local theater had.

Guilty, he always protects you from the horrors shown on screen.

"Why did they have to show that?!" "Just don't look."

Or, if he's feeling mischievous:

"Is it gone now?" "Yup." "YOU'RE A LIAR!"

Afterwards he finds a way to get you to admit it was a good movie, which he always uses against you when you want to have another movie night.

[skepticalarrie]

I think the way Harry acted at the press conference could have been for multiple reasons, like you said: he wasn’t prepared or he was playing dumb. I tend to think he was trying to be cheeky and self-deprecating, and his humor bombed because everything was already so tense and people were just dancing around the HUGE elephant in the room.

Nevertheless, he does need to be better prepared in the future, no excuses. But I did want to add that I do also think Harry was genuinely hurt by the Shia-Shia-Shia video and that’s what caused him to be so cold towards Olivia and was part of why he was all over the place at the press conference. I think that video fucked with his confidence because it kind of confirmed all the nasty things people have ever said about his acting career: that this part was a handout in exchange for his fanbase.

Christopher Nolan flat out said he deserved the part in Dunkirk. Michael Gandrage and Robbie Roberts are saying the same thing re: Tom in My Policeman. His directors have always publicly been in his corner, and as a novice with a lot to prove, you really really need to feel like your director believes in you, and believes you earned the part. But the way that video showed Olivia completely undermining an established actress like Florence and begging Shia to come back makes it very very clear that choosing Harry was a marketing strategy and nothing more. And although I know that he knows that his biggest leverage is his fame, fanbase, and marketing (he’s not naive), it’s different to be publicly confronted with the fact that that’s clearly the only reason she hired you, and she never actually intended to pull a good performance from you that was worthy of the actor he was replacing.

And for a guy who’s largely spent his career working hard to be taken seriously, especially in a pivotal career moment like this, that’s humiliating, and I’m sure a confirmation of many of his worst nightmares.

And I’m not saying any of this to excuse him. I’m just saying that it’s easy to gloss over how the BTS “drama” has a rather significant impact on his self-confidence as a new actor and probably also the way he stepped into that press con. Florence knows she’s a stellar actress, whatever anyone says, and she knows that she’ll be able to hold her own in any and every project that comes after this. Harry hasn’t earned that self-confidence yet.

Totally agree, anon

[alphinias]

I seriously doubt Nancy backs off of Park anytime soon. The next episode is rated TV14DSV. Nancy probably sleeps with him. With only four episodes left, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to buy anything happening with Nace in the finale without some huge hand waving. There’s just not enough time for any of this to play out realistically.

Plus, the fact that she could do that while Ace is missing or even at all when she was “pining” for him a week ago (show time) is frankly unbelievable. I know she loves sex but the person she allegedly loves is nowhere to be found and that’s her default move?! The writers obviously want us to ship Nancy with a man who is way too old for her and that she barely knows over the pairing that’s had nearly 50 episodes of build-up. You’d think with the fanbase being 99.9% Nace that would mean something, but it truly doesn’t. Also, not sure why Kennedy loves 310 so much when it seems like a show/ship breaker and not in a good way.

I had such high hopes after 218, but this has honestly been one of the worst seasons of television I’ve ever experienced. The writing has deteriorated with every episode because of an obsession with a new character, the lack of Drew Crew interaction, the lack of meaningful Nace scenes, the looming character assassination of Nancy, and an extremely confusing mystery. Not to mention the weird social media “promotion” including Park being praised 24/7 and Scott Wolf seriously implying Nace is unhealthy which still blows my mind.

I can’t even recommend this show anymore without a disclaimer. It’s been a huge disappointment and that makes me incredibly sad. We’re all getting played for fools just like with every other CW show that’s ever aired.

I mean, you’re entitled to your opinion, but I don’t agree. I don’t think it’s a perfect season of television by any means, but I personally am having a great time even though I dislike the Park storyline. They’ve given us what I take to be meaningful Nace scenes in pretty much every episode this season, and several episodes where Park is not present at all. I think a longer season would have maybe been better for the Nace development, but the story isn’t done yet. These writers have taken things that make no sense before (like Nancy and Gil) and made them make sense, so I’m just here along for the ride. But the nace set up right now is the angst and pining of my dreams, to be honest, so if you don’t like it at all I just can’t relate!

I didn’t see the Scott Wolf comment or whatever, and I found the nark promotion annoying, but they also promote Nace ALL THE TIME. This cast and crew is very nice about Nace. It just makes me think that some of you haven’t been a part of a fandom that’s ACTUALLY a shit show (like Bellarke, for example). I don’t know. I think you just have to take little comments that rub you the wrong way with a grain of salt, because at the end of the day their experience isn’t the same as ours. They are promoting their job and we’re experiencing it as fans. And either way, the actors aren’t writing the show and have no say in what happens, especially about a storyline they aren’t even involved in.

If it’s making you that upset, I always recommend taking a step back and maybe not watching. For example, I’ve had to take a step back from the Rookie because I don’t like where it’s going, but yeah…. I’m currently having a great time with ND and Nace.

I might be disapppinted at the end of the season. I don’t know. But I’m not right now.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Enemies To Friends To Lovers Masterlist

Links Last Checked: April 6th, 2022

A Light & His Soul Snatcher (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Phil was the most powerful magic wielding human of the decade, even when he was just a child. He was what his people called a light - someone that was a pure source of magic. He'd been forbidden to leave his house because his parents were terrified that he'd attract soul snatchers, which was horrible creatures that consumed innocent souls. But Phil was a curious little one and he was bound to step outside eventually.

Dan had been a stupid young boy, who'd gotten too obsessed with the magical culture and peer pressured into doing something really dumb, just because all his friends had done it. His soul had been broken and locked away, never to be seen or felt again, as his body was doomed to roam the world as a soul snatcher. But Dan would be granted a second chance.

When the two meet, the impossible happens. Lights have always fallen prey to soul snatchers before and Phil should really be dead and Dan should really be fed. It doesn't quite go like that.

A Stolen Ring (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary:

Dan’s not normal. Why? He's not human, he has a mysterious ring, and he hates Phil Lester. They have a strange past, one filled with bullying and avoidance, but when Dan turns into an incubus, everything changes. He struggles with his identity and cries himself to sleep most nights, yearning to be normal. And somehow the universe makes it worse by bringing him and Phil together - in the most literal sense.

a theism in evolution (ao3) - Tarredion

Summary: The sungod, Phil, sends letters to Mother Gaia. He puts all his worries into words… even when he himself can’t see right through them

Desires (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: What would you do if you were suddenly hauled from your inauspicious life and dumped into an unforeseen catastrophe with your worst enemy?

Dan Howell and Phil Lester completely and utterly hate each other. They fight every time they meet, and all of their friends are tired of it. But one day, these two hot-headed, reckless men stumble through a secret passage in a mysterious old house and wake up on a strange island uninhabited by other intelligent life forms. They only have each other and no way to escape. Will they fight to death, or will they learn to trust each other in a world where no one else exists? Can they put aside their mutual hatred for each other to survive this misfortune?

Getting Along (ao3) - enthuzimuzzy

Summary: When Dan Howell's co-host of their talk show leaves abruptly, leaving a gangly cameraman, Phil Lester, to take his place, he's understandably upset. Beyond upset. But what happens when the two get stuck on a mandatory retreat for two days, sharing a cramped cabin room?

And what happens when they realize that maybe, just maybe, they might want a little something more?

I Found (ao3) - wildflowerhowell

Summary: Dan Howell and Phil Lester hate each other, and everyone at the Ida Gatley school of dance knows it. So what happens when the two are paired together to choreograph and perform a duet at England's most renowned contemporary dance competition?

In My Way (ao3) - INeverHadMyInternetPhase

Summary: Daniel Howell is 21 and Britain’s newest star. He’s just been cast in the much-anticipated film adaption of Last Man Standing, the popular teen fantasy novel with a huge fanbase hanging off his every tweet. In other words, Dan has made it big.

Phil Lester couldn’t care less. He’s a stressed out PHD student working part time at a bookshop while he struggles to get into post-production. He’s 26 and still lives in a tiny flat on the fifth floor of a building with a lift more broken than it is in use. He loves books, but he thinks big film adaptions screw with the plot too much.

Needless to say, Phil is less than impressed when Last Man Standing is getting filmed in his hometown. And he certainly doesn’t want anything to do with obnoxious, arrogant, so irritatingly perfect leading actor Daniel Howell.

In Which Dan Is A Bit Of An Asshole And The Whole Story Is One Big, Fat Cliché (ao3) - obsessivechild

Summary: Dan hated school. He hated running. He hated going out. He hated homework. But above all, he hated Philip Lester.

Just The Beat Of My Own Heart (ao3) - howellhaze

Summary: Dan and Phil fall in love on tumblr, unaware that the person they’re talking to online is the person they hate in real life. A “You’ve Got Mail” AU.

Libertas Volandi (ao3) - Im_Innocent_I_Swear

Summary: Phil Lester hates his boarding school. He hates how he has no friends or how he always gets bullied. He hates getting laughed at by everyone, or getting called names. And he absolutely hates his new roommate. Dan Howell. It must’ve been some lousy trick from fate as the two absolutely despise each other. But now they have to share a room, they realise they actually have a lot in common! Phil now knows it was the best trick fate pulled on him yet as this Dan Howell guy, is not an asshole after all. He’s not that mean, he’s not a bully, he’s not horrible. But he’s also not human. The two boys fall in love, and Dan knows that he’s not allowed to fall for a human. But how bad can it be? It’s just a little fun. No one will die from a little fun like this… Right?

My Love is on the High Seas (ao3) - TheKidFromYesterday

Summary: After being accidentally kidnapped by pirates, Dan realizes that just maybe, his heart has been stolen as well.

Our House (ao3) - sierraadeux

Summary:

Enemy is a harsh word. Rival sounds so immature, like Dan’s the star of some teen drama on Netflix. Competition is close, but not quite there. In simple terms, Dan has a distaste for Phil Lester. Otherwise known as AmazingPhil in their line of business, for some reason that’s beyond Dan. What makes him so amazing anyway? There’s a reason the network wanted Daniel Howell and Phil Lester for this specific series, and Dan guesses there’s really only one way to find out that answer. or And they were co-hosts. Oh my god they were co-hosts.

slow-closing doors (ao3) - kae_karo

Summary: SECRETS, DRAMA, BETRAYAL (okay no betrayal dw).

Phil's agreed to be an RA for his floor this year at uni, and he's determined to be the best RA ever - after all, this is these students' first year, he wants them to have the best year ever.

Stirring in Love (ao3) - andthenshesaid-write (ladyknight1512)

Summary: When Phil applied to be a contestant on the Great British Bake Off he didn’t even expect to make the long-list, let along make it into the actual tent. But make it he does and there he meets Dan, a baker unlike Phil in every possible way. After a rocky start, Phil realises that maybe he can learn some things from Dan after all, and the biggest things have nothing to do with baking.

Vows (ao3) - lionkid (orphan_account)

Summary: Phil works as a video producer for Buzzfeed UK. Dan, a coworker he’s not particularly fond of, comes up with a video idea: two single people have to act married for a week. He just so happens to volunteer to ‘marry’ Dan. Based on Buzzfeed’s “Single people get married for a week” series.

What day is it? (ao3) - kae_karo

Summary: It's the first day of the semester, and it's already gone to shit: Dan's late to his first class, finds out his mortal enemy, Phil Lester, is the TA, and gets rejected by the girl of his dreams, but at least tomorrow's a new day...right?

Aka the one where Dan and Phil are stuck reliving the same day over and over and can't figure out why.

You don't know me (but I want you to) (ao3) - TsingaDark

Summary: “If you agree to go on a date with me.”

“That’s blackmailing,” he replied cooly. His hands were sweating uncontrollably and he had to restrain himself from wiping them on his trousers.

“Is that a yes?” If possible, Phil’s smirk grew even wider and he leant forwards, into Dan’s space.

“No,” Dan spat. “I’d rather have a date with the fucking janitor.”

or: the one were Punk!Phil asks Pastel!Dan out on a date and Dan says no, but Phil is adamant at making Dan change his mind.

you're gonna be my wound (ao3) - obsessive-fics (xoPrincessKayxo)

Summary: Dan and Phil are cast in their university's production of Spring Awakening, as the two male leads. They hate each other. Until they don't.

[popanalysis99]

Toxic Men in TV Series who are the absolute worst.

(TW: R*pe and Sexual Assault)

While there are some men who seem to be interesting, let’s not deny the fact that there are most male characters who act like their “toxicity” is cool but honestly, it’s horrible and something not to root for. So here are the toxic male characters who are the absolute worst, excuse my misandry:

Kevin McRoberts - Kevin Can F**k Himself

We had to start somewhere from the bottom of the underworld. A recent entry on this list, Kevin is the lead character Allison’s husband who...let’s just say has the brain of a dumb frat bro who is extremely high on pot and hasn’t recovered since then. While most of the sitcoms in the past would portray these so-called goofy and dim-witted husbands as “big fun” and lovable, Kevin is not like that, at all. In this anti-sitcom nightmare, Kevin literally believes that the whole world revolves around him. He plans such stupid unrealistic schemes to seize the day, recklessly spends the savings on stupid irrelevant sports merchandises and doesn’t even let Allison have her own agency outside of his life. Plus he is so petty and spiteful to the point he destroys one good thing that any of the women in the series have, like Allison’s dream job and Patty’s love life. And that latter was because she didn’t bring him a burger! All of this makes him look less funny and more tyrannical. No wonder poor Allison got spurred into wanting to kill him.

Ross Geller - Friends

Ross may seemed like a “nice guy”, but let’s just agree it was a facade. Ross believes that he knows what’s best for the women he dates in the series and thinks he is superior and is always right about everything. He is seems extremely disturbed over the fact that his ex-wife, Carol is a lesbian and is jilted towards her current wife, Susan and snarks at the latter for it. And then there is her extreme control and jealousy towards Rachel, especially in her career. While Rachel is no saint either, Ross jumps to the conclusion that the man who got her a perfect job wants to sleep with her, then goes out of his way to humiliate and mark his territory on her and even if it’s revealed that the said guy has a girlfriend of his own, Ross still doesn’t abandon his theory, unless he believes that the guy is cheating on his girlfriend with Rachel. And then there is the fact that he joined his student girlfriend on a spring break just to have her all to himself, not caring about the fact that what if one of his students or colleagues would’ve seen him on TV with her and that could’ve put him in a huge scrutiny.

Joe Goldberg - You

The show is basically built around how toxic Joe is, but this didn’t stop him from having his own fanbase apparently, with most of them glossing over his actions. But Joe is not a dream boyfriend at all. Once he sees a woman in front of him, he immediately gets obsessed with her and believes she belongs to him and him only. And to achieve that, he stalks her, he checks everything about her, kills people he believes are harmful to her when he himself is the same and when the woman finds out about him and rejects him, he kidnaps and kills her and the cycle begins again.

Chuck Bass - Gossip Girl

What is it with the teen drama industry’s obsession with the “Bad Boy who can be redeemed with love” trope? Chuck Bass is “the bad boy” of Gossip Girl. If his attempted rape of Serena and Jenny didn’t give fans an indication that how deranged he is, his violent and emotional abuse of his girlfriend Blair cements him as this. He slut-shamed women around him, hit Blair once and even traded her for a hotel ownership and somehow he gets a happy ending with her at the end! What?

Nate Jacobs - Euphoria

Nate is a star quarterback of his high school football team and seems like he has it all, but underneath, he is fucking deranged. His untamed manly rage causes him to physically and emotionally abuse his girlfriend Maddy and blackmail Jules, who didn’t do anything wrong but just sleep with his father, which makes me think that Nate is blackmailing her into lying to the cops about his assault on Maddy when she wasn’t even there when it happened just because it’s fun for him. Honestly, I’d like to see the imagine Rue and Jules had of killing him become a reality someday.

Dawson Leery - Dawson’s Creek

Just because the show is named after him since he is the protagonist, doesn’t justify his actions. Dawson sees himself as some sort of a Nice Guy hero who believes he is entitled to everything. He has this extreme view on women and how they should fulfil his fantasies of his Rom-Com world. He is extremely critical of Jen when he finds out about her promiscuous past and tells her that she should be ashamed of herself for it, and gets jealous when his two best friends Joey and Pacey begin dating. And when he was briefly in the movie business, he was a rookie but was already a primadonna with the director and crew of the movie was working on and insulted a film critic for criticising his movie which was actually bad.

Kilgrave - Jessica Jones

Kilgrave is the main villain of the Marvel-Netflix series Jessica Jones. He becomes obsessed with the titular heroine when she breaks off from his mind-control. Before that, he spent years treating her as his sex slave and raping her constantly, which left her traumatised. He begins to stalker and believe it will be a “lover’s reunion” when he will see her again someday. He manipulates and brainwashes everyone around him to his whim and treats most women as objects but despite all that, sees himself as the good guy of the situation. Even after Jessica finally gives him his just desserts, he still haunts her everyday.

Fernando Vera - Mr. Robot

This spawn of satan is the reason why I decided to write this list in the first place. Where do I even start? He is first introduced into the series when he forces Shayla to go on a date with her and later rape her. This is what causes the misandrist vigilante Elliot to sell him out to the FBI and this apparently turns on Vera and moves his unhealthy obsession to Elliot. He has Shayla killed when he tricks Elliot into breaking him out of prison, then returns to have him all to himself by kidnapping his therapist Krista and forcing information out of her about Elliot so that he could “break him and build him back up”, like a fucked up version of The Taming Of The Shrew. He psychologically abuses Elliot into remembering being sexually abused by his father as a child and proceeds to gaslight him into thinking that he was just helping him. The huge problem with Vera is that he sees himself as some sort of Christian Grey who believes that his abuse towards both Shayla and Elliot is charming. Whenever someone failed his desires, he immediately gets bored of them and moves onto someone else, like when he got Shayla killed and moved onto Elliot. That’s why it felt so cathartic when Krista killed him.

Tate Langdon - American Horror Story

Apparently, he is Tate Langdon and he is...hot?? While most of the AHS fans glorified him due to his emo bad boy nature, let’s not forget the fact that he was a school shooter who murdered innocent students and staff and was in general possessive and toxic towards Violet. So no way he is boyfriend material!

Don Draper - Mad Men

Don Draper was the main protagonist of Mad Men. He was an advertisement and marketing executive who had a lot of vices and did a lot of horrible things such as cheat on his wife and treat almost every women and colleagues like crap.

Dexter Morgan - Dexter

While Dexter might seem like the serial-killer killer, there are a lot of things about him which are unadmirable. He gaslights those he is close to so that they could get off his back, obstructs evidence pointing out to him, captures those who didn’t even fit his victims like Doakes and caused the deaths of LaGuerta, Rita and finally his sister Debra. Yeah I think you should stay away from him.

Walter White - Breaking Bad

Aaah..the worst of the worst. Walter White is the protagonist of the series Breaking Bad. He first starts off as a pushover high school teacher who isn’t respected by anyone. When he gets diagnosed with Lung Cancer, he gets into the meth business so that he could support his family, but we all know that it’s not true. He relishes on the power and glory from being a drug dealer and then kingpin and because of that he ends up abusing both Jesse and Skyler, emotionally abusing and selling out the former to the sadistic Nazis and raping the latter several times. He is so petty and spiteful that he kills anyone insulting his ego, just ask Mike. And even after all this, he still claims that it’s all for his family. Like what?

[saby-chan]

Why the ATLA comics fail when it comes to Zuko and his family

To whom ever took their time to actually stop and read this post, thank you in advance for not skipping my post and willing to stay and read my humble opinion! I hope I won’t disappoint you!

As a relatively newcomer to the ATLA fanbase since 2020, I’ve come across a lot of interesting debates, comments and rants about the show, characters and fandom in general, but nothing has captivated me as much as the dumpster-on-fire that are the ATLA comics, more specifically: The Promise and The Search. 

On one hand we have the hardcore fans who want them to be animated or serialized into the Netflix live action, praising the comics for the new views and subject matters they’ve brought into the show’s lore, while on the other hand we have the furious Azula fandom who is really angry for the fact that best girl didn’t get the redemption arc she rightfully deserved so much after the painful event that was the Last Agni Kai and the even more angry fans of the Urzai ship (yeah, the people who actually ship Zuko’s parents unironically) who hated the retconning of the show’s cannon since the comics basically took a huge fat dump on what was previously established as official cannon, when the Search entered the scene, but between these two sides, who has the more valid point? In the end, are the comics good cannon or bad written fanfiction?

Well... Here are my two cents on this matter since I myself happen to be an Azula and Zuko fan and had huge expectations from these comics (since I wanted more from my fave hot-headed fiery siblings duo) but ended up disappointed: the comics are indeed a huge mess and actually bad written fanfiction when it comes to Zuko and his family! Don’t click off yet, because I actually documented the reasons why exactly the comics fail in this area:

1. The author of these comics is not part of the BryKe duo

Yes, I would like to start with the fact that if you actually take a second to look up who in the heck took the time to write these two books, you won’t find Bryan, nor Mike, but a fellow man named Gene Yang. This is important because while the wiki of both The Promise and The Search state BryKe as the creators, that doesn’t mean that they were the actual minds behind these comics, but rather because ATLA is their “baby” and these comics involve their characters, over which they have copyright. Mr. Yang here is the actual brain behind the plot, as the main writer, which explains why we find huuuuge inconsistencies between the show lore and the comics, especially Zuko wise.

My main issue with Mr. Yang isn’t that he isn’t BryKe specifically, but because he did an unforgivable mistake in his writing process: He projected himself into Zuko’s character, based on the relationship Zuko had with his father. This is a documented fact from an interview in which he explains that he sees himself and his dad’s relationship into Zuko and Ozai and used that when writing their interactions and built Zuko’s character in the comics. And this is wrong because when you have an already very developed and complex character such as Zuko, you can’t just come in and be like “Oh, I was an angsty teen just like him in my teenage years, fighting with my dad and whatnot, so he must have the same thought process as me!”. NO! This is bad fanfiction writer behavior! Zuko has his own personality and philosophy, which he developed over the course of 3 seasons and is not defined by only 1 unfortunate aspect of his past, so you can’t just base his whole mindset and actions off of your own personal experience just because you had the same daddy issues he had!

2. The whole “Promise that you will kill me if I turn out like my dad!” nonsense in The Promise

Reason number 2 why these comics fail and go under the category of “bad fanfiction” is because they fail to convey the core essence of the source material. The whole point of Zuko’s redemption was that he realized the wrongdoings of his ancestors and his own mistakes. He outgrew his desire of gaining his father’s acknowledgement in favor of choosing his own destiny. Having him worry that he’ll turn into his father is utter nonsense and feels like poor angsty drama material for the sake of angst. At this point in time, Zuko has overcame that obstacle in his life a long time ago and should be at the level where he himself is the “Uncle Iroh” for other people and in no way someone concerned of becoming their own worst enemy!

Not only that, but the whole point of Aang’s journey and the story of the show as a whole was to teach us, the viewers, the importance of forgiveness, empathy and love in life. Aang didn’t spare Ozai, aka “the ultimate evil” just to flex in front of his pals or because he is a “ 12 y/o vegan pacifist monk kid”, but because he knew that killing someone, no matter of what they did or wanted to do, wouldn’t restore balance into the Universe, on the contrary, him killing the villain would have meant perpetuating the “endless cycle of hate” that plagued the world. So having Aang promise to kill his best friend in case “they turned into an evil maniac like their dad” contradicts Aang’s whole character and it’s a nonsense that throws into the trash what we’ve learnt throughout the entire TV series.

3. Azula deserved (and was supposed) to have a redemption ark

This might still be pure speculation, but I count it as a documented reason because I’ve heard quite a few people saying that there should’ve been a book 4 in the show, aka “Book 4: Air”, and no, it wasn’t The Search, but actually Zuko and Azula’s journey as Zuko helps his younger sister heal her broken mind by being her very own “Uncle Iroh”. Sure, they prolly were going to end up looking for Ursa, but the journey should’ve ended with them actually being happy and a family again and not the bs we got in The Search where a still very unstable Azula runs away and becomes the “Next Joker”! The only problem is that M. Night had to pop up and curse the world with his movie, which forced BryKe to delay the project (and eventually abandoned it in favor of Korra).

All in all, either if BryKe had this preplanned or not, it made sense for Azula to get a redemption ark, she deserved it because she was just a broken 14 y/o child! If Katara’s mom’s murderer deserved to be forgiven, so did this poor child who had no fault for what happened to her since she had a dysfunctional family! What Gene Yang did in his poorly written fanfiction was to just antagonize a broken child, turning her into a monster for the sake of friggin angst!

4. The Search is the worst of the two, being flat af character wise

And finally, getting to the point that I personally find the most annoying about these comics: The Search. This one... This one is a mess on a hella lot many levels, and just to list a few: characters are flat as fudge, being either black as vanta black (like Ozai and Azula) or pure white like Gene’s Gary Stue OC, Mr Ikem (or how I like to call him, IKEA man) and his ‘victim’ rendition of Ursa, Azula gets to suffer more for no reason (see reason number 3 to why I find this as a no no), Ursa’s whole character sucks ass (man, I could write a whole thesis on why Yang’s version of her is terrible and doesn’t match the strong woman we got in the show) and Zuko does morally wrong stuff (my man literally used his unstable sister to bribe their dad into spitting info about Ursa... Show Zuko would never do that!;-;)

Oh boy, as a person who’s seen a ton of anime and other media and read many books, I can’t begin on how much I despise this type of writing: flat characters are the worst!

 ATLA characters in the show are nothing close to being flat! What I mean by that is that none of them fall perfectly into pure white (aka goodest of good characters with no imperfections) or vanta black (aka lowest and darkest twisted monsters out there), each of them are various shades of grey (like Aang who is a very light grey because despite being a very kind and nice character, he still isn’t a “perfect hero” since he ran away from his duties, practiced tax fraud with Toph, had insecurities and even threatened to kill people on ocassions like with the sand benders who took Appa) and this is a good choice because that prevents them from becoming what’s globally known as Mary Sues and Gary Stues (aka those either “perfect” characters with no flaws and/or unlimited power, or the twisted monsters full of flaws).

And the other reason why many other people hate The Search: it literally negates previously established cannon. And here comes my short essay on why this comic fails Zuko’s family (since we’ve already talked enough about Zuko himself).

In cannon and even interviews with BryKe, it was clearly stated that Zuko’s family was “once happy”. Where is this “once happy” family in The Search? All I see is pain, deception, lies and betrayal, nothing close to anything that resembles happiness. Okay, some of you might come in and say that “It’s because it was never the case! It was only lies and Zuko trying to convince himself that he didn’t live in hell forever!” and here is WHERE YOU WERE ALL WRONG! And why? Because, my dear fella, where were depicted the flashbacks of Zuko’s “happy family” in The Beach? Ember Island. And what do we know and had been even quoted in the show?  "Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand, Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you." (direct quote from the show). Exactly, no matter who you are or how hard you try, you can’t hide your true self when you are on the Ember Island, best example being Azula, who’s impenetrable though shell cracked and revealed the true vulnerable child that was underneath. If Azula couldn’t resist the “spell of the island”, no one can. So this means that Zuko’s family was indeed happy once and yes, Ozai wasn’t always the douchebag we got to know in Season 3 (I have a whole nother essay on my theories regarding what could be his real past story and why he’s actually the “Zuko” of his generation, based on stuff I gathered from old wiki entries and character analyses I made, but that’s for another time, lemme know if ya’ll are interested).

And what I guess is the biggest proof why The Search did this family’s past trash is comics Ursa herself. My dude, if this woman were indeed the victim of years of endless abuse and never loved her husband, I guarantee you that she would’ve been closer to what we saw in Todoroki’s mom from BNHA and Zuko would’ve gotten that scar or even worse long before the Agni Kai, not from his “daddy dearest”, but from “mommy dearest” herself, because no sane woman would be soo affectionate and attached to a child that’s the perfect copy of their abuser, sepecially appearance wise (again see Todoroki’s mom’s case from BNHA because the stories are really similar) and in no way would’ve she been willing to sacrifice her life for said child’s sake. With this ocassion, I remind ya’ll folks that according to the ancient ATLA cannon wikis on Nick’s site, Ozai was designed with Zuko’s appearance in mind, being meant to be like a “grown up scarless version” of Zuko. So yeah, remember this with a grain of salt that whenever you simp over grown up Zuko, you involuntary simp for Ozai too.

So yeah, I guess this kinda concludes my “not so short” rant about why the comics fail and are bad fanfiction. Lemme hear your thoughts in the comments and if you agree, feel free to leave a like and even reblog.

Bye bye and remember that Momo is the true strongest character of the show!

 Saby out.