#you don't need to self-insert into existing characters

[ludcake]

sometimes i think some of you need to throw up your hands and just go do some asoiaf discord oc rp in private. it's fine. nobody will shame you for it. you can have your cool au and your weird characters and your unique dynamics and your personal headcanons. not everything that comes from asoiaf needs to be canon. you're not forced to stay to canon. go have some fun. go write a weird dragongender targaryen or a fucked up bolton. you're not a slave to canon you don't need to rage against it daenaera velaryon isn't re-

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

if any of my fanfics get published at least i can rest assured that i didn't post any of the original versions so nobody can know 100% sure for real just what my original intent was 😇

[meowse]

That AMA marks the end of Dragon Age.

In my opinion.

I'll start by saying that I have played all 3 of the previous games repeatedly, I've loved the series for 15 years, more than half my life. These games inspired me to become a writer and they've shaped a lot of my tastes and interests in shows and writing -- to say they were formative is kind of an understatement. Don't want to go on and on about how much I loved them, that's not the point here.

I didn't care for Veilguard for pretty much all of the reasons people have already discussed at length on Reddit and Tumblr. The writing is comprehensively bad, the romances are easily the worst Bioware has written by pure virtue of having the most cookie-cutter pacing and shallow characterization I've seen across their games, the lore has been shafted in every direction, and the nuanced storytelling and roleplay I came to expect from the series has been taken out back and shot in the head.

All, apparently, in the name of a "clean slate". It seems to me that, rather than familiarizing himself with the existing lore of the game he took the creative reins on, Epler clearly had a vision for Dragon Age (or perhaps a different IP entirely) in his head that he decided to transplant into the game (and possibly Trick? But they've said so little beyond defending their work that I can hardly theorize what direction they were coming from). That being a sanitized, wildly self-contradicting, morally absolute shitshow focused on distancing itself from the previous games as much as possible. Now, I know it's unrealistic to blame one person entirely, and I don't blame him entirely. Corinne was there. Trick was there.

But if it wasn't already evident from the numerous interviews Epler's given on the game as well as his participation in the Q&A's (while the actual lead writer of the game has been completely absent in not just the marketing, but in most fan-related interaction pre and post-launch outside of BSKY), this AMA seems to have confirmed, more than anything else, that Epler doesn't understand the game nor does he understand its audience. Neither does Corinne Busche, who despite being Game Director for only the last two years of development, has been answering lore questions a) like she has any fucking clue and b) like she thinks Dragon Age is a cozy-gamer IP, meant to appeal to people that want uplifting stories with uncontroversial characters, morally upright heroes, and unquestionably evil villains.

So as of today's AMA, I think I've finally had enough. We're just outright retconning the lore in Reddit AMA's now, I guess. Among other things. I'll provide a few examples, just so we're all on the same page.

This was part of Epler's response to why Solas didn't have his cult following in the game (insert "We Kind of Forgot" meme here):

Solas' experience leading the rebellion against the Evanuris turned him against the idea of being a leader. You see it in the memories - the entire experience of being in charge ate at him and, ultimately, convinced him he needed to do this on his own. And his own motivations were very different from the motivations of those who wanted to follow him - he had no real regard for their lives or their goals. So at some point between Trespasser and DATV, he severed that connection with his 'followers' and went back to being a lone wolf.

The fact that this (the not caring bit) directly contradicts the writing in the actual game is absolutely INSANE to me, moreso than the lack of Solas's spy network (which he apparently carried with him for 10 years only to conveniently drop right before the ritual? Because he clearly had them research Rook?). But in regards to the not caring -- here's a line from Solas's memory of killing Mythal in Veilguard, which. I'll get to Mythal in a minute:

Why should I not tear down the Veil, and bring back immortality to all the elven people? They deserve it!

Which is it? Does Solas care about the people he's saving (the venn diagram of people he's saving vs. the people following him is surely a circle, i.e. elves) or not? Does he even care about the spirits trapped behind the Veil anymore or is it just convenient to abandon them and have him only care about elves, now? What happened to saving The People? What happened to him not identifying as an elf in his conversations with a Dalish Inquisitor? And what the absolute fuck happened to him wanting to bring back the magical marvels (that the ancient elves did in fact achieve) that were greater than anything we see in Thedas today? Here's what Epler has to say about elven magic, now:

I do agree that the elves have had their place in the sun at this point. [...] The thing about the Evanuris is that, ultimately, they were able to take a very specific type of magic and shape it into doing what they wanted. But even their understanding of magic was only skin deep [...] Even the magic that Tevinter wields, the magic of the Southern mages, is different from what the Evanuris used. The magic of the Evanuris is powerful but it's sterile, and it's constrained. So while the Evanuris have made magic work in a way that's more predictable and understandable, it's not the only kind of magic out there, and even then, I'd say they understood it at a very surface level. People were confidently describing how the natural world worked back in the 16th century. Very few of them were right.

First of all, Tevinter has been stated in previous games to have clumsily adapted ancient elven magic for their own, but they did adapt it. To the point where even Solas is surprised that Corypheus achieved effective immortality -- by binding himself to a dragon the same way the Evanuris did. So, cool, more contradicting the lore here. "They understood it at a very surface level" you mean when all of the magic of the Fade wasn't locked behind the Veil? You mean when magic flowed freely through the world? What do you mean, Surface Fucking Level? The entire point of the Dalish elf culture is what they lost; this wasn't the ancient elves thinking the sun revolved around the earth, the Veil was their fucking Library of Alexandria burning. Oh my god. I still cannot believe he said this.

And how have the elves had their day in the sun? I'm sorry, was Arlathan not given to... the Veil Jumpers? Instead of the Dalish? What happened to all the Dalish clans in the south, who had no infrastructure when the world was apparently blighted to hell? I guess they're just gone now! They've had their day! The story of the Dalish and the Evanuris is over (also confirmed in this AMA), and it apparently ends with the final snuff of the candle that is their culture. Congratulations, Chantry, you've won! Only took two genocides and a double blight, but we're done with the Dalish now! We get your mind-numbingly superficial factions instead!

What happened to Mythal, by the way? What happened to "She was betrayed as I was betrayed, as the world was betrayed! Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me, and I will see her avenged!" What happened to the reckoning that will shake the very heavens? John's answer to this:

People grow and change over time. Mythal's essence - and in particular, the fragment of her spirit that Morrigan carries, that she got from Flemeth - is not the same Mythal who he knew millennia ago. Centuries of living in this world and being around the kinds of people Flemeth found herself around - the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke, the Inquisitor - changed her views, and made her realize her own culpability in turning Solas into the kind of person he is now.

Oh, right, okay. So she was pissed for like a thousand years, got her big speech about the impending "reckoning" out 10 years ago, and then she just chilled out because the last 3 heroes were neat people. What a fucking joke. And yes, here is the confirmation that the Evanuris story is over --

The story of the Evanuris is done - the gods are dead (or imprisoned) and Thedas is in a state of flux and uncertainty. I imagine that whatever happens next is going to be a surprise to everyone, including the people of Thedas."

So I guess Mythal's reckoning is never coming. One of the most fascinating characters in the series, shrouded in mystery for those first 3 games, PROMISING US a blaze of glory, only to fizzle out in this one. Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, for Epler's clean fucking slate. And we've not just tied up her story, but also the Veil and the Blight:

When Solas bound himself (or, depending on your ending, was forcibly bound) to the Veil, it severed the connection that the Blight had to the waking world. The reality is that the Veil has been leaking ever since the Magisters first entered the Black City, and the dreams of the Titans gave it its terrible and awesome power. Now that the Veil is fully repaired, the Blight lacks that motive force, and being so close to the epicenter of that change has stripped the Blight in Minrathous of its vitality. It's calcified now - dead - and Bellara/Neve no longer suffer its effects. If they'd been anywhere else, further from that epicenter, it would've likely been different and they still would be looking for a cure.

So the Veil is permanently fixed now because our half-dead Dread Wolf bound himself to it (a decision I still don't understand) and that somehow fixed every single hole ever poked in it. Fully repaired. No more holes, no more "Veil is thin here" because tons of people died in the same spot, nope, we're washing our hands and leaving it (and the spirits) behind us because we've wrapped up both the series-long Veil storyline and the blight storyline in a big red bow.

And Epler tells us Solas not only bound himself to the Veil but fixed it entirely in one fell swoop, no ritual required, just a little slice to the hand. Again, all in the name of a clean slate, so any future installments or media centered around Thedas can turn away from this story.

Then there's this. What we can expect from future installments, I freaking guess. The aforementioned roleplay getting taken out back and shot:

Q: "What lead you to the decision to step away from active conversations with the companions as in previous Bioware games, where you can initiate them at any moment and ask exhaustive questions?"

John: "For us, because of tech limitations, it became a choice between exhaustive investigate conversations, or letting the companions move more freely around the Lighthouse. With the kind of experience we were going for, one where seeing the team grow around you is paramount, we felt that seeing them interact in common spaces (and in each other's rooms) made more sense."

Literally confirmed that they chose companions moving freely about the cabin over ... interacting with them outside the handful of cutscenes we got. Who in their right mind would think this was a good call in a Dragon Age game? A series that quite literally prides itself on complex character interactions and storytelling? So they could... sit in different places? Are you kidding me?

They don't see an issue with the game's reception. They don't have any interest in addressing or responding to criticism. They're either happy with their choices or EA's got a gun pointed at their heads, I'm honestly not sure anymore. I used to believe the latter was true, but looking at both Epler's and Busche's responses today, I'm inclined to believe the former.

So I think that's it for the series. Not that I thought it was going to get another game after this, but on the absolute off chance it did, what would be the point? The best stories were ruined. Anything left they have to tell is going to read a lot like Veilguard -- superficial, morally absolute, flagrantly disrespectful to the lore, and delivered in a very poorly written package.

[azulapunchedozai]

RANT #1: SHIP COMMENTS

I HATE HATE HATE how toxic sides of fandoms would pick on popular straight ships by commenting father-daughter on every other straight ship contents and had the balls to say "I'm allowed to have an opinion!🤪" like can you keep it to yourself and find contents that suits you?

Also.. father-daughter??? Seriously??? Do they even know what father-daughter relationship is like??? Or do they not have a father to know what father-daughter relationship actually is???

The straight ship apparently had

✅ Jaw dropping symbolisms

✅ Subtle flirty lines (seriously? what father daughter would flirt with each other)

✅ Treats each other like an equal and have no need for parental affection

✅ Has official crumbs from the creators

And they would be like, OMG FATHER DAUGHTER!

Don't get me started with the "siblings dynamic" they always gaslight themselves to believe in because apparently that certain straight ship gets in the way of the most sexualized/fetishized ml𝐦 ship that has no actual mlm shippers and was just created because some fans are so h0rny they want to get off by making two of the most random male characters f𝐯ck with each other and the most "obvious evidence" they could present is that the male characters are beside each other in the official art or "they give g𝐚y vibes" / one is dominant and the other is a "f𝐞mboy" self insert character.

...or maybe they're insecure about some female characters? ISTG they will always find a way to hate the most gorgeous/kind/gentle/well-written female characters especially when they're involved in a popular straight ship on which one of the characters (most of the time male) is also involved in a rival g𝐚y ship.

And when there's an actual healthy g𝐚y ship they'd act as if it doesn't exist, probably because the characters don't make them h0rny asf.

Like come on, just say you hate straight ships instead of finding the most ridiculous "evidences" to debunk them and shoehorn your headcanon to other people, ignoring the actual pieces of information presented to you because you're butt hurt from the truth and you use shipping g𝐚y characters to cope with a certain real life straight relationship trauma.

[cripplecharacters]

Does Your Scarred Character Have to Hate Themself?

[large text: Does Your Scarred Character Have to Hate Themself?]

(TLDR: No.)

A frequent topic that shows up around facial differences is the self-hatred, self-disgust, self-insert-negative-emotion that we must surely experience. I want to ask* writers without FDs - why? Why do you feel about us in such a way that that's the most common way of depicting us?

*- rhetorical question. I promise I know the answer, but I'm not sure if writers do.

It's frankly worrying to me. Is it really that common to assume that disabled people have this internal, never-ending hatred for themselves? The overwhelming majority of us don't. We hate inaccessibility, when people stare, or some symptoms when they get in the way, or how expensive being disabled is, but I find the concept of us being so completely disturbed by our own disabilities extremely strange. It’s “tragedy porn��� intersecting “most basic ableism”.

“But trauma!”

[large text: “But trauma!”]

Trauma of what! People with facial differences don't have some sort of default trauma that we come with like it’s a factory setting. We are a group of people with tens of thousands of stories and experiences.

“Trauma of experiencing ableism/disfiguremisia” - that's better, at least this means something. If you're writing a story about this, please get a sensitivity reader with a facial difference. You can assume how we feel all you want, but in my experience these assumptions are often bizarre and unrealistic. Or just end up writing the same “disability so sad” sob story that everyone has seen a billion times. If you want to write about disfiguremisia, you need to understand the nuance and have more than just the basic level knowledge (which 99% of people don’t have either). If you can’t do that, don’t write about it. Simple as that.

“Trauma of the accident” - thankfully, the accident is an event and a facial difference is a disability. If you want to connect these two like they're one and the same, you're almost surely going to demonize disability. People with traumatic spinal cord injuries, acquired amputees, people with TBI, people with acquired facial differences - we participate in our communities, we have hobbies, we date, we play with our dogs. Disability isn't a death sentence. Media who make it feel like it is certainly don't help people who do suddenly become disabled, don't you think?

Here's a post by @blindbeta about blind characters becoming blind through trauma that’s better made than anything I could hope to write here. I heavily recommend giving it a read.

And, I can't stress this enough - most of us didn't have “the accident”, most of us are born like this. "Traumatic scars" isn't the only facial difference that exists, far from it, it's only one of thousands. It's 99% of our representation and "representation". If you want to make a character with FD - please consider that we aren't a monolith. Just like not all physical disabilities are "wheelchair user with paralysis and somehow no other symptoms", not all facial differences are "traumatic scar with somehow no nerve damage".

The overrepresentation of it is incredibly telling, and sometimes - or very frequently - feels like the writer doesn’t actually even want to deal with us. They want to use our disability as a way to cheap drama, moral metaphors, tragic backstories. Not to represent us as living people who are much more similar to you than you apparently think.

Now, I do have enough awareness to know that that's a big part of the appeal. “Horrific Thing #2456 happens” and boom, instant drama. Of course, it's a reasonable response that they would hide their disability for years, avoid talking about it in any way, and magically change their personality to be mean and reclusive, or at least be constantly soooo sad about how much it sucks to be disabled, right?

Do I really need to say that having your character becoming disabled be the worst thing ever is ableism 101? We have been talking about this for so long at this point. Writing about the process of adapting to a specific disability is better left to people who have actual experience in it.

To give an example that will hopefully resonate more with Tumblr users, I will use the fact that I'm also gay. It's not perfect by any means but probably much more familiar territory.

Imagine, let's say, a character. He's gay. The story he's in is supposedly progressive, certainly not trying to be homophobic. The character has experienced an incident, maybe an act of aggression or a hate crime, that happened because he’s gay, which was traumatic. Happens IRL, sure. So of course the character starts hating being gay. He talks about how gross and disgusting it is, he never lets anyone know that he could be “one of them”, certainly not take a stance against homophobia. You can't mention him without mentioning the accident, they're seemingly fused together. No gay love, joy, even basic happiness, he would actually choose to be straight in a heartbeat if given the option to and complains that he can't. This is shown as a neutral, obvious thing that a gay man would do, no one comments on it. He stays like this the whole time, unless there’s a plot twist in the last 10 pages where the world is now magically perfect ("we fixed discrimination, yay!"). This is the only LGBT character in the story.

Keep in mind that there are people similar to this in real life, living with extreme internalized homophobia.

Reading comprehension quiz time: Is this, in your opinion, realistic and thoughtful representation? How does it feel when written by a cishet writer, versus a gay writer who is recalling his experiences? Do you think that it's reasonable for the majority of media representation to be like this, or very close to it? How would it affect younger gay people who might already be uncomfortable with being queer? Are gay men the target audience, or are they not even considered as a group of people who read books? Is this helping or damaging the general public's idea of how it is to be gay? Why or why not?

The Masterpiece

[large text: The Masterpiece]

From 13 to 19 of May, we are celebrating Face Equality week (what a coincidence!). It’s important to me in general - and I wish it was more important to abled people, but I digress - especially its theme for this year.

“My Face is a Masterpiece”

Great statement, it represents the community well, I do enjoy how bold it is. Very cool stuff, I love the work our advocates are doing.

But why do I bring this up?

Well, to very non-subtly show that we aren’t a self-hating group of people. We are a community, a community saying “our faces are beautiful, look!”, we are saying “treat us equally, and do it now!”. Our activism isn’t about self-disgust. It’s about fighting your-disgust. 

Why can’t writers keep up? Why are you still stuck decades behind?

Is this the only reason I bring it up?

The Call to Celebration

[large text: The Call to Celebration]

FEI, the org behind organizing it, asks a very simple question (emphasis mine):

“Why do we so often see stories about facial difference as a ‘tragedy’, when they should be about triumph?” “Calling all artists, allies, creatives, galleries.  You can rewrite the story to bring about #FaceEquality and celebrate the unique artistry found in every face. Your participation this #FaceEqualityWeek will help to tell the real story, that there is a masterpiece in every face.”

Here. We are calling for you to stop. Directly from the biggest international advocacy alliance group that's out there. If you create, this is for you.

The last argument to not have your character with a facial difference hate themselves? Because we don’t want this. We are tired and frustrated. For me personally, I’m also offended by this kind of assumption. We aren’t tragedies or cheap entertainment for abled people to pity or be horrified by. We are people, and if you can’t internalize that, you have no reason to write about us.

For once, celebrate us. Happy Face Equality Week!

mod Sasza

[phoenixwench]

Sad but true

Am I the only one that every time I get myself into new fandom I just sigh, knowing fully well that I just got next 20+ x reader, y/n, x Oc!whateverthefuck or just any form of self insert tags to blacklist?

[eyelessfaces]

My only Bob thought is that I need some Bob writers to look me in the eyes and say they understand that he is a grown man. He is a whole adult. Because the infantilization of him is absolutely insane work.

It's like they headcanon him as only experiencing a max of 3 basic life experiences. Or he is incapable of existing in life detached from the rest of the team. I'm not even talking about how taking care of yourself is significantly harder when you're depressed. I've read some fics where he's being babysat like a whole 10 year old.

Also, why is it impossible for him to meet/know people outside of the Watchtower? He's not Rapunzel. Why can't he have a partner in fics who is just Normal? I actually think that would be a reprieve for him to have some connection to Normal outside of the team. I get that initially, it may have been a game of watching him to ensure that Sentry (and in turn, the Void) didn't come out again, but after so many months the guy needs some fresh air. He needs to experience the New York subway. Let him meet people outside!

I kinda strayed from my original point but it still stands.

actually thank you for this because this is what I've been thinking but haven't had the guts to say because I feel like it's an endless battle to try and stop people from infantilizing mentally ill characters. I don't know if you're familiar with moon knight but they treated steven grant the same way and it kinda ruined the character for me, as sad as it is.

but to come back to bob specifically, I can only say I totally agree with you, because I've seen some people go "blah blah blah he can only hang outside the watchtower if yelena is with him" ?what the hell? this man went on a wholeass trip to malaysia alone to get more drugs. he's capable. he's not some child or some puppy who can't act on his own. that's kinda crazy. not to mention bob was literally a drug addict for years and I know from my friends experiences that it can put you in some crazy situations. he will be fine casually hanging out in new york

same thing for people saying he's shy?? he has anxiety and he's a bit awkward, okay. but he literally told john he was an asshole within a few hours of meeting him.

as for the part where you talk about him meeting people outside the watchtower, I definitely agree, but honestly I think most people write a thunderbolt self insert or make bob live within the group exclusively because it's just, for plot reasons, easier to be part of the whole landscape.

the very first fic I wrote for him barely mentioned all of this and explored outside of this as the insert was someone "outside", and now that I wrote some more, I can definitely tell you it IS easier to write him as a part of the group, so I will be defending that part, but I totally agree that he shouldn't be treated like some leashed dog that needs to be accompanied whenever he goes out because this is just ridiculous and barely makes sense

[cosmerelists]

Would These Cosmere Characters Read Fanfic?

As requested by @genderselkiera :)

I don't know if fanfiction exists in the Cosmere (has anyone asked Sanderson yet?). But if it did, here is my take on whether various Cosmere characters would be interested. [Full disclosure: I do not myself read fanfiction, despite arguably writing it. I didn't know it existed until, well, graduate school, when I read some because the girl I had a crush on wanted me to. Since then, not so much.]

(Also, cosmereplay & I did one about them reading Cosmere fanfic specifically! Link here.)

1. Jasnah: No

"If I wanted to read fanfiction," Jasnah would say, "there are certain historians I could reread." (She thinks it's frivolous.)

2. Raoden: Yes

He especially likes the ones that bring back a character who died in canon, especially through fun or unlikely means.

3. Galladon: Not often

Galladon doesn't really see the point of fanfiction; it's not like it changes what happens in canon! He will, however, sometimes read one that Raoden begs him to.

4. Vivenna: No

At first, it did not occur to Vivenna that deviations from canon existed, and when she realized that they did, her general attitude was "Huh! Anyway."

5. Yumi: Yes

At first, it did not occur to Yumi that deviations from canon existed, and when she realized that they did, her general attitude was "I WILL READ THEM ALL."

6. Ellista: Yes

Ellista the Ardent is obviously BUILT for fanfiction: writing it, reading it. If it doesn't yet exist on Roshar, she will probably invent it.

7. Dalinar: No--he only writes it

The call of the explicit self-insert fanfiction about Nohadon is too strong: How could Dalinar not write it?

8. Painter: Yes

Fanfiction for Seasons of Regret is VERY popular.

9. Elend: No

I'm not sure Elend even reads fiction?

10. Lyn: Yes

Lyn especially likes the ones that take an underdeveloped female character and make her the star.

11. Tress: Yes

Tress is out there in canon essentially writing cup fanfics in her head. She would definitely read it if she could.

12. Shallan: Yes

Shallan is out there recrafting the pasts & futures of real people through her Ideal Self drawings. I don't see why she wouldn't also like fanfiction.

13. Radiant: No

Radiant understands that Shallan likes and needs fanfiction. But Radiant feels that her time could be better spent doing other, useful things. That's all.

14. Veil: Yes

Veil is there to read the stuff that's a little too racy for Shallan.

15. Hoid: Yes

Hoid has part of his breath memory bank devoted to his favorite ones, I'm sure.

16. Syl: Yes

Especially when Syl doesn't care for the canon couple, she likes to read endless fanfiction where the guy gets the girl SHE thinks he should have.

17. Shai: Not often

Mostly, Shai finds herself getting a little bit annoyed at how little worldbuilding and planning goes into some fanfics. You can't just SAY that they work at a coffee shop now: You need to have all the details of their life exhaustively planned out to get them there!

18. Allrianne: Yes

The great thing about fanfiction is that characters can simply have the emotions you want them to have--you don't even have to work to riot them!

19. Evi: Yes

In fact, Evi thinks that fanfiction and canon are equally important parts of the experience of a book/show, an attitude that confuses almost everyone she talks to.

20. Kadash: Yes

The good thing about becoming an Ardent is that you can read all the fanfiction you want, even the soppy stuff, and no one can say anything about it. (Yes, he read Dalinar's fanfic. He didn't like it.)

21. Mraize: No

Mraize likes to hunt down fanfics that have never before been read, and then he downloads them. But he never actually reads them. It's just about the hunt.

22. Wayne: Yes

Wayne doesn't see why you'd want to read about just one version of someone's life when you could read dozens instead.

23. Dilaf: No

Canon divergence is basically heresy!

24. Hrathen: Yes

Sometimes to get a convert, you need to drop the name of a popular ship to show that you're cool. It's fine.

25. Amaram: Well...

Amaram reads fanfic. Then he uses ChatGPT to "finish" them. He doesn't see why this makes everyone SO upset.

[k3n-dyll]

maybe because not everyone has to cater to black and brown readers? if i feel excluded then talk to ur black and brown writers bc why tf would (for ex.) white writers write black readers when…when they aren’t?? yall aren’t victims write ur own shit if u care so much like idk what to tell u but not everyone has to bow down and write the way you want them too.

The fact that this is what you got from me saying that POC feel excluded from fandom is...insane.

I hesitate to even answer this because you sound stupid as hell, but since I think other people need to get this shit through their skulls as well:

If you are a writer, and you claim to be writing an "x reader" fanfic for a character you like, the general consensus is that "reader" in this situation should be neutral for the most part. Sure, there's different versions of that ( "x fem reader", "x masc reader", etc.") , but generally, the idea is that "reader" in this situation could be anyone, yes? A lot of writers on this app and others, write "reader" as if tiny white women are the default.

And you know what?

If you wanna write that way, fine, but say that. If you so desprately want to write about Abby Anderson fucking a 5ft nothing white girl with blonde hair and green eyes - write that. But don't call that shit an "x reader" when you know its a self insert meant to exclude everybody that doesnt look like you. Dont claim to be a safe place for all readers if when POC say they feel excluded from the things you write, you say stupid shit like what this anon just did. If your shit is labeled "x reader" with no other warnings, one should be able to assume that they arent going to see any specifics about body type, hair textures, skin color or eye color - but no. Thats not the case.

I swear, every time we bring this shit up you bitches act like we killed your fucking grandma. If you dont wanna write in a way that everyone can consume, fine, but dont make it seem as if petite white girls are just the default human in every scenario. Theres a content warning over every fic, if you dont want to see how problematic it is to write as if whiteness is the default then the least you could do it leave a big fat warning in that little "CW" section to let us know that you didnt write this with the existence of people that dont look like you in mind.

Oh, and I do write my own stuff btw. Don't ever come in my inbox with this bullshit again. Pissing me off first thing in the morning😒

[soratsuart]

When writing about the normal route in Deltarune I like to ignore the meta aspect of the game and treat the Soul as its own character instead of just the player's self insert because it automatically makes its relationship with Kris way more complex and nuanced. Like. We all know Kris has it bad having their autonomy taken from them and whatever shady thing they got going on with Carol and the Knight, and of course they hate having to let the Soul possess them even if they need it, but many people have pointed out that the lack of autonomy is mutual and it becomes much more interesting the second the Soul becomes a person itself and not a player that objectively isn't so affected since, you know, we are real people in the real world- Imagine this: You are a being that just recently began to exist. A mysterious voice starts talking to you and offers you a life. They offer you an existence, they help you make a body of your own that you pour all your efforts into making perfect. You are excited to begin your life and explore the world... only to have it all taken from you at the last second. Suddenly you are in a body, yes, but it's not YOUR body, it's someone else's, with their own life and personality and they don't appreciate you being here as much as you. Now you have to pretend to be this other person, because what else are you supposed to do? But it's hard, because you don't have all the memories everyone else keeps referencing and you are painfully aware you keep acting out of character, the other conscious person inside the body makes sure you are aware.

Then you get thrown into a whole adventure and become the hero of a prophecy, with new people who don't really know the body you are inhabiting so you can be more yourself. You make friends, you both make friends and it's fun! But there is a constant reminder that no matter what, you both are screwd up. The original person loves these friends too, but they don't really know them all that well because it's always you at the wheel. You love your friends, but they don't know you because you have always only ever interacted with them behind as Kris.

You want to help. You want to be useful. You don't like hurting Kris, but you also can't help resenting them as much as they resent you because everything you have is really only theirs, and they hate you because everything they have is being taken by you. They have some hidden agenda going on and seem to be working with your enemies. You want to trust them but neither of you can or are willing to communicate. If you ever give up, the world ends. You are three days old.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 2 part 3

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

surprise sunday double drop!

insert the mommy? sorry. mommy? sorry meme here

dressed for success, armor on, time to do what she does best.

the way she visibly shrinks and trembles at the salem seven watching her. this coward is so terrified of dying and having to face her wife and son.

NO THEY ARE NOT WELCOME BILLY. WE'RE GONNA KILL THEM BILLY

look at how agatha's body language changes as soon as the others arrive. she's doing the thing!

lilia hasn't eaten in three days. she's poor, okay. her bed is literally inside her wall. (jen is mirroring agatha, interesting! they're both on high alert)

"High Priestess." Immense spiritual power, unwilling or unable to use it. meanwhile, future!lilia is sitting at the tarot table, looking for her coven through time. Unwilling or unable is a funny way to describe Jen's situation, I need to think about it a bit more.

she heard the Ballad, jen. you might even say she wrote it, jen. lol all her crime scene pictures are walls and gardens and random street corners.

look at the symmetry in this shot, it's beautifully composed. alice leaning against the door, a bit shy

I can't get over how agatha takes a moment to feel the weight of what she's about to do to sharon. the girls want a green witch and rio is out of the question, so sharon has to be sacrificed in her place, simple as that. a complete innocent. agatha is about to kill her.

branded is such a violent word too. as if the people of westview were cattle.

how lonely she's been since her husband died. how thrilled and glad she is to be invited to a party. I have very strong feelings about sharon and I'm gonna destroy you with them, don't you worry.

agatha's fake smile fades the moment she's alone. and you know the recurring joke about her forgetting sharon's name and calling her mrs. hart? it's on purpose, and it's demeaning, and it's a way to distance herself from her guilt. she does that with Tommy's name too. if sharon is a joke, maybe her death won't be so wrong. as if she's hurting a caricature rather than a real person.

agatha doesn't want billy anywhere near the crossfire

sharon took her purse but forgot to take off her gardening apron

future!lilia jumps back in time for a second to let us know she doesn't appreciate elphabagatha straddling her. couldn't be me.

BILLY HAS ALWAYS BEEN LINKED TO RABBITS AND SEÑOR SCRATCHY AND NICKY. IN THIS ESSAY I WILL-

nicky's bell!

lilia always singing backup is both hilarious and in character tbh. agatha would think she deserves to be lead singer. lilia would think she's undeserving despite literally sounding like patti lupone and being the most powerful witch around

(has there been anything from the costume department about lilia's necklace and vest decorations? they look fascinating)

herb, my guy. it's time to move to eastview or smth

there is absolutely NO REASON for agatha to be that intense. she is not doing any real magic, she's playing a part and being cheesy about it as usual

yeah, sorry girls. you are all great singers and harmonize together beautifully, but like. you know. patti lupone. she's on another plane of existence. like I said perfectly in character! lilia is that bitch!! be glad she has a heart of gold and the self-confidence of a shoelace, or she would literally be ruling a couple galaxies at this point

oh, alice, sweetie. while agatha is faking emotion, alice's tears are so real and painful. what's worse, agatha's feelings about the song are just as deep and complex, but she won't let herself feel them. especially not in front of other people.

gasp! how DARE YOU ma'am! lol they were all speechless for a moment at the intimacy they just shared and now they are deflecting

oooh Agatha trying to get a rise out of them calls Lilia a coward, jen a fraud and alice a disappointment. We have our lion, scarecrow and tin man.

well someone's panicking

well well well how the turntables

lmao billy going agathaahahahahahaha

kudos for making the salem seven so creepy on zero budget tbh

agatha looks at the Road, looks at the blue magic, looks at Billy. and you know what I think? this is when she knew. right from the start. that this is Billy, Wanda's Billy, and that he created this. Her heart is still pounding in panic, she cannot believe she's still alive. She could call the kid out immediately, but she still hasn't got what she wanted: the others' powers. and she has learned the hard way how dangerous chaos magic is, so she chooses to lay low and study the situation a little more. she is always, always scheming and studying and improvising, she is bullshitting when she takes off her shoes, needs to pretend she knows what's going on.

toto we're not in kansas etc etc. dear lord these scenes are so infuriatingly dark. it's gonna be a bitch to brighten them.

and that's it for episode two! next we look at sharon's tragic demise. shoutout to @73chn1c0l0rr3v3l for always being first to like and reblog, thank you!

go to episode 3 part 1

[nebbyselfships]

I've seen some confusion on selfshipping compared to OC×Canon, so here's a post explaining things.

An OC×Canon ship is exactly that; You make an original character to ship with a canon character. A selfship is a ship in which you are being the one paired with a character. Some people choose to depict themselves as how they are in real life for their selfships. However, some selfshippers create a character to represent themselves to ship with their character of choice.

"If you aren't using your actual self for a selfship, wouldn't you just be making OC×Canon stuff? "

Yes and no. Whether doing this counts as OC×Canon depends on who you ask. Some selfshippers are completely fine acknowledging this as such. Others are less leniant, given that their characters are still an extension of them at the end of the day.

"But why would you need to make a character if it's called SELFshipping?" Again, it depends on who you ask. For a non-exhaustive list:

Some of us would prefer to keep our selfshipping seperate from any other social media prescense we might have and drawing our real life self might be a give-away

Some of us are insecure about our body image and would rather use characters to alleviate dysphoria/dysmorphia

Some of us selfship with characters from media where humans don't exist, so using your human self wouldn't make sense

Some of us don't even identify as human to begin with (otherkin, therian, alterhuman, whatever term is used) so using an insert character can help us express our nonhumanity

Selfshipping is already super indulgent so let's go all the way with the fantasy and make a self-insert who's a vampire/hellhound hybrid with fire magic as we kiss our fictional boyfriends and girlfriends and whatnot

There is no wrong way to selfship* and that includes using self-insert characters. You can make them as close to you as possible or you can make them completely new people that happen to represent you. You can make your character stick to canon as closely as possible or you can make a completely new canon to make your selfship happen.

What matters is that it makes you happy.

*Unless you are using your selfship to perpetuate harm. This shouldn't need clarity but unfortunately there's people who take things in bad faith.

[creatingblackcharacters]

hey there! so, im making a character who's Black, anddd i need help with them. badly so.

(sorry in advance bc this character isnt That developed or at least not as much as other OCs i have)

alright, they're an afab teen under the non-binary umbrella (im not sure on what gender i should give them). they're in a friend group with two other teens, one of whom found out she's trans, and that made them go like "wait maybe im not cis". they live in an extremely conservative christian town, and they're one of the few black kids there (it's an awful place to live, i make that very clear), which makes it so that they're not very connected with LGBTQ not POC communities - which is why their friend was the one who introduced queerness to them. they're the quietest of their friend group, quite autism coded but i dont think I'll really specify it, and they're a pretty normal kid all things considered (a bit of a self-insert personality wise lol)

when i first thought this character's gender arc, as the story will be very visual (animatics probably), i thought of them experimenting with gender by trying on their older brother's clothes. seeing they like how it looks, they decide to pick up a pack of scissors and cut their hair themself.

now, i remembered "oh fuck, POC usually don't like to have their hair messed with do they?" (i have read a bunch of posts abt that so im 99% certain lol-), then noticed how white the whole arc looks (i need more contact with POC i live in White Hell i have no other reference ;;), and that kinda discouraged me from writing them to the point i almost scrapped the whole character arc and even the concept- which is also why they're not as developed as they should be.

now, the actual question! how to write their transition arc, while also remaining respectful and realistic? also, have you noticed anything in this ask that's kinda fucked up, and how can i fix it if so? im doing my best to represent many groups of ppl with my OCs and i want to be accurate sorry if this ask is very long ;;

thank you so much for answering, and thank you for this blog!! you're very cool :)

So first, I deeply want to apologize for how late I am on answering this. I didn't want to answer without being informed, but I also know how much you want advice.

First, if this character is Black, say "Black" not "POC". Even in your head, start making that decision to be specific every time. We have a specific identity, we are not every man, and it's annoying to be referred to so generally when we have an identity.

For the hair part, check out this lesson. If your character decided to cut their hair off themselves, then it's not exactly an issue- it's their hair! It'd be different if it was someone they didn't know and trust touching their hair. You may feel free to refer to my entire syllabus if you want to do the reading to see if there's anything else you may have missed!

As for your question on their transition, this is the part that I was wavering on answering, because I'm currently doing the reading myself for a lesson I'm writing. So at the moment, all I can really say is to read narratives about and by Black trans people, and what that meant for them! That's a cool list I just found, I'm gonna save it for later as a reference.

It's not going to be received the same way as a white person transitioning, no; perception of gender identity and expression are going to be different depending on who's looking. For example, what does 'Black androgyny' look like to white people if they already believe that we have 'masculine' features? Thus the existence of the term 'stud'. Or how long hair is deemed feminine, but there are plenty of Black and Indigenous people whose hair growth is essential to their identity and has nothing to do with "making them girly".

I think what I plan on getting into more detail on in my lesson- and what you'll need to understand- is that following or even subverting gender "norms" is dependent upon what those cultural norms are, and how they might conflict at times. So to write a respectful narrative, you're going to have to understand what it means to live at that intersection. I hope this all made sense 😅 this is why I'm not confident in that lesson yet.

[cosmokrill]

Pressure fandom rant incoming.

Oh my GOD guys, SHUT. UP. Respect the wishes of the creators. Do you think they knew how much the game was going to blow up? Did you stop to realize that Zeal's comment about decreased Kroner for deaf mode was a stupid idea just thrown out off the top of his head before he went to sleep? Do you think the dev team was going to genuinely consider that? And if you made and felt almost intimately attached to an OC that you helped create, are you not allowed to personally feel annoyed when others ship themselves with them or give them a completely different personality than the one they have?

Get over it. Sebastian is canonically a married man. I think he looks cute with the wedding ring that he fiddles with. Zerum being his wife does not change the lore. The characters in Pressure are just OCs that have gotten stupidly popular.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who has had to deal with a person trying to force one of my characters into a romantic relationship with one of theirs, I can understand wanting to crack down. If I said that my OC Luther was my husband in his lore, his story gets popular, and people start drawing themselves dating him, I'm allowed to be mad. I'm allowed to be uncomfortable.

The devs did nothing wrong by adding the rule against posting ship art of Pressure characters in the discord server. They're not banning Pressure ships from ever existing online. Admit that your drawing of your self-insert kissing Sebastian is just not going to be liked by some people. Just enjoy the damn game.

You need to remember that these are not your characters. You do not know why a decision about a character was made until the creators tell you. You can do whatever the hell you want with Sebastian, just don't get pissy if his creators don't like it.

Apologies, I'm just very tired and angry and I need to speak my mind. I don't do that enough because I fear getting canceled over the smallest opinions in this day and age.

Have a Sebastian sketch for your troubles. Truthfully, I might delete the rant later and just keep the art.

[pluckyredhead]

I just read your analysis on why Damian is Dick's fav brother... So... Can we expect another essay as to why Dick is more so Bruce's baby than Damian is? 👀🙈 (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course. I just really enjoy your longer analysis of these characters 💕).

Ha, not nearly as long of an essay, but sure! It basically boils down to two points:

Bruce was a vastly different person when Dick was young than he is now, or even a few years ago when Damian first showed up. He was warmer, more open, more willing to be vulnerable. More affected by cuteness. The turning point is 100% Jason's death, and if Bruce has two babies it's Dick and Jason - because the Bruce who exists after Jason's death is a very different man, and his heart will never be as open as it was before. (Insert a whole 'nother essay here about how Jason comes back and loses Bruce again because the Bruce he loved doesn't exist anymore.) Even though he has a whole-ass mental breakdown over Damian's death, he is habitually not nearly as physically or verbally affectionate with Damian before or after it as he was with Dick and Jason when they were little. (And I think it's telling that he has pretty much completely gotten over Damian's death but continues to obsess over Jason's. Once Damian was back that problem was solved, but Jason's broke something in Bruce that wasn't fixed by Jason's return.)

Dick needed Bruce when he was Robin, in a very immediate and obvious way, and never pretended not to. Dick turned to Bruce for comfort and protection and guidance and validation. Damian's first words to Bruce were about what a disappointment Bruce was. ("Father. I thought you'd be taller." LEGEND.) More to the point, he arrived in Gotham determined to behave as if he didn't need anyone or anything, and Bruce pretty much took that at face value and then immediately died (except not really). Dick was the one who stepped in during Damian's grief and confusion and disappointment (well, and Alfred), and Dick remains the one Damian turns to for guidance and validation. (I'd Jon is who Damian turns to for comfort and protection, when he can bring himself to ask for those things, and I'm not even wearing my shipper hat when I say that.) Bruce sees their dynamic, and is all too aware that he is not good with Damian, and concludes that he's not needed.

Now, of course Damian needs Bruce - his desperation for Bruce's approval is painfully clear on a regular basis. But he is far too proud to say so, and Bruce is enough of an emotional coward to continue to take Damian's seeming dislike of him and self-reliance at face value, because to actually be the father Damian needs and deserves would require a level of vulnerability that I'm not sure he's genuinely capable of anymore. But at least Damian has Dick.

[madamefeu]

Hi! Here’s what your favorite Hazbin Hotel ship says about you!

Radiodust: You're an old-timer who's been around since the pilot. One off-handed joke about Angel Dust wanting to suck Alastor's dick was all it took for you to start shipping them. You always ship the two most attractive male characters together in your fandoms, even if they have no real connection

Huskerdust: I’m not going to touch this one because I’ll probably get death threats if I don’t tell the Huskerdust fandom exactly what they want to hear

Radiorose: Hello, aro-ace community! You love this because they're the closet thing to a canon queerplatonic couple that currently exists in mainstream media, and as a fellow aro-ace, I’m in the exact same boat

Chaggie: You like the idea of forbidden love, but you're not interested in handling all of the social/political ramifications of it, and would prefer to conveniently gloss over both of those things just like in the show. This ship has the flavor profile of vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips, and so does your personality

Lucifer/Lilith: You only want one thing in this life, and that is for a powerful woman to step on your neck. You are a bottom to end all bottoms

Radioapple: Daddy kink, but in a voyeuristic way. You like watching two dads doing each other, but there is no way you’d ever let them touch you, no, all you want is to watch them go at it

Rosiemilla: Mommy kink, but in a voyeuristic way

Radiohusk: Oh, you would let a man do unspeakable things to you if he was hot enough. You read dark romances and you want a dark romance to happen to you in real life

Cherrisnake: You are absolutely terrible at handling your feelings for everyone you've ever crushed on, and will try to convince yourself that you hate the object of your affections because you lack the courage needed to make a move on them. It would take a life or death situation for you to tell your crush how you really feel about them, and even then you'd be more afraid of telling them than of dying

Guitarspear: Hello, Adam simps! You binge-read workplace romances and you fantasise about dating your boss even though he's a dick 90% of the time. Strangely, the fact that he's a dick makes you even more attracted to him

Staticmoth: Your ideal ship is two horrible people who deserve each other. You want what they have, but at the same time you don't

Zestmilla: Your preferred aesthetic is old married couple core, and I respect that. You binge-read found family fics on AO3, and your favorite tag is hurt/comfort

Radiostatic: You love the idea of someone being obsessed with you when you have no interest in them. You like to laugh at their, quite frankly, pathetic attempts to get you to notice them, and you're waiting for the day when the penny will drop and they'll realise that they are nothing to you, and never will be

Arackpentious: You have never cared about canon, and you don't intend to start now. You probably simp for Sir Pentious and use Arackniss as a self-insert. We know barely any canon information about him, so it's easy for you to project yourself onto him so that you can get doubly-dicked down by the Victorian snake man

Charlastor: You're all about the aesthetic. You got into this ship because there's an abundance of gorgeous fanart for it, even if there's no chance of them being together in canon. You don't care about that, however, because they look beautiful together and that's all that matters to you

Radiomimzy: You wish that the old canon of Mimzy being Alastor's girlfriend was still canon

Royalhalo: You hate Vaggie and you think that Charlie deserves better than her, and who better than the sugary sweet angel who was the first to hear Charlie out and argue in her favor when she found out the truth about the exterminations?

Cherridust: You are aggressively heterosexual and you believe that it is impossible for a man and a woman to be friends without one or both secretly harboring feelings for the other. You binge-read friends to lovers fics on Wattpad, and if a man so much as says hi to a woman, you will ship them

Cherrimoth: You like enemies to lovers, but in a bitch eating crackers kind of way. You either have a crush on someone that you love to hate from afar, or you want to fall in love with someone who hates you from afar