Wait. . .what?

Tegan, 35+, she/they, nerdy and bi as heck

[artfulusername]

One of the most disappointing things in life is realizing that, according to Jupiter Ascending logic, I'm not secret royalty because I got stung by a bee in elementary school.

[gay-mormon-wizard]

maybe orpheus always looks back because his very effort to reverse death means that he can't look forward. if he could look forward, he could accept eurydice's death, grieve, and keep moving in life. his refusal to accept her death is looking back. his going down to the underworld, asking hades and persephone for her life, trying to lead her out... it's all 'looking back'. he does nothing for the entire story except look back. orpheus! looks! back! it's his entire thing! the story ends the same way it begins: orpheus looked back.

[binturong-of-the-day]

The binturong of waking up from a nap but feeling more tired than before

[nicoliputski]

A fleeting moment at the surface with his beloved before the Styx takes him back ✨

A little gift for @smtorama, thank you for your friendship and introducing me to your wonderful friends in the lil corner of the thanzag fandom 💗

[runcibility]

Due to budget cuts, we are eliminating the benefit of the doubt. If it looks like a fascist dog whistle, then it just fucking is. We regret the delusions of normalcy that this may have removed for you, but believe this will lead to a stronger country.

[thorsbaratitty-blog]

“Just because you are different does not mean that you have to be rejected.” - Eartha Kitt

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

[andatsea]

Twenty summers past.

--

Twitter / Bsky / Shop / INPRNT / Patreon

[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.

[batsandboba]

“scientists don’t want you know” is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know

[stuckinapril]

I think part of getting better is complete ego death. Like you’re not above setting a timer for 5 minutes and focusing on a task. You’re not above doing a very simple 3 minute workout to start. You’re not above reading for 10 minutes a day when you first get out of your reading slump, even if you used to read for hours. You’re not above starting slow and then building up to where you want to be/where you once were. What you are above is total inertia. Doing something really is better than doing nothing. Radically accept where you are, radically accept your limits, and go from there. Don’t let your ego get in the way.

[probuccalfat]

i still believe we should let kesha gut dr luke on stage with a longsword or a greatsword whichever one she prefers

[lasagnaforem]

The real solution to MB needing at least one thing on its public id

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[yvesdot]

I have seen a young lady with her table loaded with volumes loaded of fictitious trash, poring day after day and night after night over highly wrought scenes and skillfully portrayed pictures of romance, until her cheeks grew pale, her eyes became wild and reckless, and her mind wandered and was lost — the light of intelligence passed behind a cloud, and her soul was forever benighted. She was insane, incurably insane from reading novels.

-- an anonymous pastor in 1864, on the greatest threat to young women

[abyssalbloom]

People complaining about the current romance book trends ruining women

[annekelleyart]

"Star of the sea,

star of the morning,

inaccessible queen... "

-Charles Peguy

Mermay '26 prompt "Iridescent" ✨

Check out my links!

[thunderwhenhepurrs]

Clark Kent has almost every medicial and crisis certification a layperson can get.

He’s CPR and AED certified. He’s taken all the necessary courses to become an EMT. He’s taken multiple types of training on mental crisis management. He has Medication Administration Training and a Phlebotomist Certification for good measure. He was a volunteer firefighter over the summers while he was in college. He somehow got into hazardous material training courses he definitely doesn’t have the background to get into and no one is sure how. He’s almost always taking some course on some safety or healthcare related subject in his nonexistent spare time.

So it’s really weird that whenenever trouble comes to town, Clark turns tail and disappears.

In completely unrelated news, Superman was recently praised by medical professionals due to his very accurate use of a defibrillator.