A.Wells-Mouse

[iressails]

Heated Rivalry | Shane pushing Ilya

...and post. <3

[drawballa]

Sleepy boys 💤

[chimaerakitten]

So we all talk about being in fandoms for things that are charmingly bad, and being able to acknowledge that they’re charmingly bad. But of course some people are in fandoms for things that are Actually Amazing. There are people out there who write fanfiction for The Best Science Fiction Novel Of The Twentieth Century. Or who draw fanart exclusively of The Best Movie of All Time. And there are even more people who are in fandoms for things that are Actually Pretty Good, which is not quite amazing but is closer to it than to Charmingly Bad.

And sometimes, you have a string of fandoms that are Actually Pretty Good. And the danger of this—the very great danger—is that when you have a string of Actually Pretty Good and even Actually Amazing obsessions, you start to believe that maybe you have taste. Perhaps you are now immune to the indignities of losing it over something mostly bad.

And then it is shattering to discover that no, bad things can still stick a fork in your brain. 😔

[chimaerakitten]

So I understand why the “transformative fandom gathers around things that are not good because there being a problem makes people desire to fix it” model is popular. I even agree that it’s accurate in many if not most cases. However it is not what this post is about. Plenty of people do transformative and creative fandom activities for things that are very, very good. Simplified models do not encompass everything.

And frankly, it’s starting to really get on my nerves when people read “I think this thing is good. I wouldn’t change a thing about it and frankly I don’t even think there should be more canon added to it, but I am still going to write thousands of words of fic, make a cosplay, and draw fanart” and then completely misunderstand and respond with “yes I agree—I like things that are good too. But I never feel the transformative/creative fandom instinct for them because they are too good.”

Some people do not feel it. Other people do. Stop misreading me to avoid having to adjust your mental model of how fandom works.

[blessphemy]

one of the ways a Canon work can be fandom bait is by missing something that fans want to fix, i.e. "it's bad", but i think this is only one way out of multiple that something can be fandom bait.

compelling worldbuilding (invites interaction with the setting)

interesting gimmick (see: daemons, drift compatibility. subcategory of compelling worldbuilding)

shipping bait (duh)

original character bait (in-universe categories/factions and design elements that make it fun for people to create their own characters)

compelling narrative (invites interaction and tweaks to the storyline: AUs and fixits and so on)

basically anything that invites interaction and recombination. but fandom also has a sort of multiplying effect: the larger the interactive audience of fandom is, the more likely it is to generate ideas and works that draw in more participants. so:

network effect (the larger the established fandom, the more likely it has subfandoms and infrastructure that appeals to niche audiences)

[chimaerakitten]

Yes this exactly, thank you bless.

Things that have space to play in are fandom bait, but space to play in does not equal holes.

[thatdisasterauthor]

Listening to the local fire department radios as they rescue a cat in a sewer. Here's how it's going:

FD: We can see the cat. Do you have an ETA on animal control?

Dispatch: Twenty minutes.

FD: Alright, we think we can get the cat.

Dispatch: Copy, we'll let animal control know.

FD several minutes later: We've got the cat.

Dispatch: Copy, do you still want--

FD, interrupting: Update, the cat DOES NOT like us.

Dispatch: ...so you do still want animal control, then?"

FD: Yes. Tell them the cat is in the engine.

Dispatch: ...are you also in the engine?

FD: Not anymore, no.

[asmuchasidliketo]

[amongthecreatures]

I've legitimately never been so interested in a recurring character as I am Tommy. And a lot of that is thanks to Lou. I am so invested in this man, far outside of his relationship with Buck. Every scene with Tommy makes me want another scene with him, learning his history, the way he was raised, who hurt him, and how many times. I need to know it all. You can see it in his face, his eyes, the way he carries himself. He doesn't have to say a word and my heart fucking breaks because you know he's hurting. You know this is a man who thinks so little of himself, and there's a story behind that. He is a man with reinforced walls built all around him, and he's bitchy and sarcastic, and he tries to hide how he feels, and he's not good at communicating when it comes to his needs. He wants to take care of Buck any chance he gets. Acts of service is how he shows love, but you can tell it was something he never really got himself. People never cared for him. People left him behind. People hurt him and he's scared. And Lou somehow conveys all of that with a look, or a single word. The man may be a recurring character, but he's got main character potential, and I hope we get to see a fraction of it before 911 ends.

[moss-indie]

[Project Hail Mary spoilers]

Eva Stratt who insisted on being the first to be tested for the comatose gene

Eva Stratt who made sure the ship computer knew the crew's exact coffee orders, even Grace, down to the most precise measurements

Eva Stratt who illegally acquired thousands of video games for the hail mary crew, despite the fact they'd be in a coma for the majority of the trip

Eva Stratt who sent a school teacher into space because she knew he was a fundamentally good man

Eva Stratt who would betray the closest thing she had to a friend because she knew there was no other choice

Eva Stratt who would do anything to save the Earth, no matter the cost

Eva Stratt who desperately wished she could be the one to make the sacrifice instead

Eva Stratt who couldn't, no matter how much she wanted to

Eva Stratt who studied history, and had seen the way the world would become

Eva Stratt who was terrified by it

Eva Stratt who knew she would would go without credit

Eva Stratt who knew no statues would be built of her

Eva Stratt who knew she would never be a hero

Eva Stratt who did it all anyway

Eva Stratt who had to

[palamedeez-nuts]

"the most unrealistic thing about project hail mary is that a woman is in charge" WRONG look up the glass cliff. women are much more likely to be promoted to positions of power when things are going poorly and people need a woman to blame. she refers to herself as the "world's whipping boy." the person put in the position to have to commit ecological and humanitarian crimes of that scale in order to save the earth would only ever be a woman.

[rovermcfly]

rocky's crew dying from radiation exposure, something humans go to great lengths to prevent and are very scared of and ryland's crew dying in their "sleep" with nobody watching, something eridians go to great lengths to prevent and are very scared of. cool book that is easy to read through your tears.

[ongoing-catastrophe]

Its actually so important to me that Ryland Grace is a teacher. Not a professor, not someone at the top of their field teaching the smartest people, but a middle school science teacher. Of course he figured out how to communicate with an alien in under a day. His main expertise is explaining complex subjects to a group that doesnt have the vocabulary or context to fully understand them. He knows exactly how to simplify things down to its core principles without sacrificing any of the scientific logic. And he knows how to do it without having to throw around hyperspecific terminology.

[a-w-mouse]

He also knows how to make shit up as he goes and create something from the random junk you have around you - peak teacher skills.

[littleannoyingbluebird]

One of the reasons people headcanon Grace as aromantic is the unfortunately realistic scene where they go "you don't have a family or a loved one" as if that's enough of a justification to send him on a suicide mission. As if not having a family makes Grace inherently less valuable and means he should be more willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Grace wasn't sad and lonely, he was happy, he had a good life, he very much did not want to die. They have to do a looney tunes chase sequence and drug him because Grace was *very* unwilling to be the sacrificial lamb. Humanity's savior was dragged kicking and screaming into the role and called selfish for daring to be a coward, as if most of us wouldn't be.

And then he befriends Rocky, who never demands a sacrifice from him, who willingly prolongs his journey home so Grace can go back to his. Rocky has a mate back home and his species depends on his return, and still risks his life to save his squishy human friend. And Grace returns the favor.

And thus the power of friendship saves two planets.

[somebodytolove31]

The problem with playing smash or pass is that there's a lot of characters which I'm not sexually attracted to but I would fuck in a heartbeat out of sheer curiosity and ego, like I don't find Mickey Mouse attractive at all but if he approached me at a bar and went "Hey sexy, want me to show you my mouseketool?" I would say yes because then I get to tell my friends I fucked Mickey Mouse

[hobgoblinhero]

Smash Or Pass should never be about attraction, that's what Hear Me Out is for. A Smash on Mickey Mouse is understandable, even respectable. A Hear Me Out on Mickey Mouse however, that requires a lab dissection

[inber]

hate it when you see something in media that has great kink potential so you skedoodle post-haste to ao3 only to discover there's none fic left beef and then you have to sit there going oh I see I'M the pervert weirdo I'M the problem with society and everyone else in the world is going to heaven with a hundred innocence dollars preloaded onto their ole fashioned wholesome funtimes themepark fast pass card like fuckin oath man

[nikuttek]

Uh oh, I've got bad news for you, Grace

instagram | tiktok

[destiel-news-network]

(Source)

This happened at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner where the President dines with the journalists ostensibly covering the White House.

Currently, no injuries have been reported. Here is a funny video of Trump falling down when they try to evacuate him, because he is old and infirm.

[a-w-mouse]

I fixed it...

[keydekyie]

"It would have been easier if you'd just said yes."

original

[femme--deer-deactivated20260430]

Picture from the Photographer Kalynn Youngblood, in her series Staged Portraiture and Documenting daily Black Life.

This is all I need in my life.

[cowboystokes]

in my world they’re in the same universe and people are experiencing a generational run of vlogs from men abandoned in space