MsFenriss

It looks like this is going to be a catch-all for my absurdly diverse list of obsessions, passions, and causes. Updates as events warrant.

[fernthewhimsical]

Hopepunk Primer pt. 1

"It's like in the great stories, Mr Frodo," Sam says. "Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the Sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

"What are we holding on to, Sam?" Frodo asks.

"That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo… and it's worth fighting for," Sam replies. [1]

Origins of Hopepunk

In 2017 author Alexandra Rowland (@ariaste) made a post on Tumblr saying: "The opposite of grimdark is hopepunk. Pass it on." [2] From Wikipedia: "Grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent. The term is inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40,000: "In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war."" Other examples of grimdark are A Song of Ice and Fire, Breaking Bad, the darker Batman worlds, and the Walking Dead. [3] 2016 was a rough year, with an even bleaker outlook (although now writing this in 2024 we knew nothing, lol). People were growing weary of the grimdark worlds in media when the world around us was already so dark and left us feeling hopeless. It was time for a change, which Alexandra Rowland brought with her one, according to her own words, off the cuff post on Tumblr. A few hours later, people were reblogging it and hopepunk found it's way to the people. Now, it's a literary genre, an aesthetic, and a philosophy that inspires people all over the globe.

[1] The Two Towers movie, based on the LOTR by J.R.R. Tolkien [2] Original tumblr post [3] Wikipedia page for Grimdark

Part 1: Intro and history Part 2: Philosophy of Hopepunk Part 3: How to practice hopepunk and further reading Part 4: Extra! Hopepunk and magic

[fanlore-wiki]

Femslash February!

[ID: A graphic of the words 'Femslash February' on top of a pastel blue and pink bouquet of lilies, the word 'femslash' intertwined with the petals of the flowers. The Fanlore logo is on the corner, but the traditional OTW red is replaced by the pink and orange lesbian flag, the background is the word 'yuri' in Japanese. /End ID]

February is upon us once again, and it's time for all the femslash lovers to unite and celebrate Femslash February!

Femslash is genre of fanworks about two (or more) women in a romantic or sexual relationship. Femslash February is an annual challenge to create fanworks for these pairings. Fanlore will be spending the month highlighting various articles about femslash fandom.

In addition to the article spotlights, we would love to have your help in improving the femslash related pages on Fanlore. Not sure where to start? Check out our femslash fandom category.

We hope you’ll join us for this year’s month of sapphic appreciation!

----

We value every contribution to our shared fandom history. If you’re new to editing Fanlore or wikis in general, visit our New Visitor Portal to get started or ask us questions here!

[msfenriss]

Operation Bridgehead

I’ve been asked what I can recall about Operation Bridgehead. I think it must have been 2006, and at that time there were still active text forums as well as the growing community who met in Second Life. SL was a real bandwidth hog at the time, and few girls had systems that could run it at a tolerable frame rate, so much of the conversation was still in text.

There was already an Embassy established in SL when the Operation Bridgehead announcement appeared on the forum. It may have been the Blue Camellia Club, but my memory is a sieve, and I could be wrong. I remember that the accompanying graphic was a screenshot from SL of a military brunette avatar silhouetted in front of the flag of the Empire. The gist of it was that Operation Bridgehead was a formal declaration that the community of Aristasians who existed in Elektraspace were a protectorate of the Empress.

I know I am making a hash of this. I can’t recall the language, or even how the scope of it was defined. As far as I can tell, the Embassy in SL was considered the center of operations, but all girls who identified as Aristasians-in-Telluria and had some means of connecting with us should be considered under this protection, SL account or no. I wish there were someone I could ask to correct me if I have this wrong. There seemed to always be a philosophy that what truly made an Aristasian was her sincere desire to be one, and little else mattered. That inclusivity is why I spent so much time with them. And it’s a bit ironic, now that I think of it. They always seemed to pride themselves on their elitism, but when it came to interacting with any person who identified as a girl, and wanted to visit and learn what it was all about, there could never have been warmer, more pleasant hostesses.

I say “they,” and I should clarify. It was often noted that Aristasia-in-Telluria consisted of concentric rings, and most girls never made it very far into the center, which was perfectly ok. The great majority of girls, myself included, had no wish to live full time Aristasian lives. I felt that I was a part of the outermost ring. So collective pronouns may vary.

I think it can’t have been very long after this announcement that there was strife of some kind. I know that there were disagreements among core members of the group, but as you can imagine, they were very private about conflict, and I do not know specifics. I think my memories of that time are happier without that knowledge. I do know that a few individuals seemed not to be around anymore, even as the population of new girls seemed to be burgeoning.

The school established for newcomers may have been called Sai Thame. Again, atrocious memory, but given that Janya’s purview it tracks. It didn’t exist for very long I’m sad to say, but the time I got to spend there was pure fun and pleasure for me. I loved feeling so safe from the disturbing content you sometimes run across in virtual worlds. The wooden desks lined up in the classroom felt strangely comforting. I got giddy little flushes of gender euphoria from standing to let a blonde sit. The tea garden was full of the sort of flowers you’d find in an English cottage garden, and there were always butterflies, and it was all the wonderful parts of Virtualia without the ugly parts. I’m forever grateful for that.

[msfenriss]

Rayati, honored readers

When I was a baby lesbian in the 80s I frequented the legendary bookstore Lambda Rising, which was located in the rather upscale gayborhood of DuPont Circle in DC. My favorite part of that store was the rack of zines made by queers of all kinds for various queer niches. I picked one up called Artemis, which purported to be for women who like women who look like women. I thought “that kind of sounds like me,” and I avidly read and reread it. It was clear that the community who made this zine were UK-based, and I was a pretty miserable teenager on the east coast of the US, struggling with more than my own share of stuff, so nothing more came of it.

About 10 years later, it was the mid-90s and I was using gopher to read Usenet. I kid you not! That is how ancient I am. I confess that I was poking around a number of groups at that time that fell into the “alt.sex” category. One day there appeared a message on the femdom group about a Feminine Empire where only girls were allowed, and that I must jump through the “shimmering portal” quickly as it would close in short order. There was a URL, which was a thing of which I had only become aware within a year or so of that fateful afternoon.

The site was called Femmeworld, and it was an absolute delight! I won’t go into any detail here about that site, as several very intelligent and competent blogesses here on Tumblr have done that. I learned about blondes and brunettes, and I was struck with a bolt of revelation that I was a brunette, and that explained me! I made sense! Of course I understood that this was all within a fantasy world and that there was no such thing as an Aristasian brunette, but it revealed to me that other women had these feelings and experiences, and had thought about and discussed it enough to invent a fictional designation.

To cut to the chase, here were these women, some of whom were enby, but also female essentialist. They were anti-patriarchal, but anti-feminist. Advocates of complete state welfare (see the “colleges” that girls can choose to live in) but entirely anti-socialist, and in fact monarchical. And of course one can’t hear about “blondes and brunettes” without immediately detecting at least a bit of racism. When questioned about that, they always insisted that in lands where girls were dark-skinned, the blondes simply had hair of silver or white, and honestly it’s a trivial point, and could I please drop the subject?

I won’t go into an extensive discussion of the implications here, but I am sensitive to them. I was raised in an actively anti-racist white family. I always strive to be aware of racism and white supremacy wherever I go in the real world and the virtual. I can only tell you that because all of my interactions were virtual, it would be hard for me to absolve the Aristasians of any such allegations, but I can say that the welcoming, vulnerable, friendly nature of these ladies suggests that hate of any kind would be quite alien to them. There were a couple of girls in Second Life whose avatars appeared to be Black, and they were accepted with as much joy and enthusiasm as all other girls present. More than that I can’t say.

For another 10 years, I popped in and out of Aristasian spaces. I contributed to forums, and even took part for a short time in an online schoolgirl RP by email. Some time in the mid aughts, it was announced that an Aristasian Embassy would be established in the virtual world of Second Life. I immediately started an SL account so I could go there (and how I spent the next 15 or so years in SL is a whoooole other narrative that isn’t particularly relevant.) I attended a couple of balls at the Embassy, and was very graciously complimented on my gown. I was present for Operation Bridgehead, but was privy to very little inside information about the disagreements that ensued. If I knew anything about that, I would not share it here. Despite any philosophical differences with these ladies, I have great respect and affection for them, and would be unwilling to air their dirty laundry, so to speak.

I was privileged to get to know Sushuri Madonna, who was at that time the undisputed leader, at least of the contingent that could be found in SL. She was entirely delightful, intelligent, and kind, and had an extremely delicate nature. Despite my best efforts not to offend, I am sure my most carefully curated speech had to seem terribly coarse to her. We exchanged some email, and she was kind enough to offer editorial assistance with a few bits of Aristasian fiction I was toying with. What little I learned about her personally, I will of course not disclose, but I felt that we were friends, and I cared for her very much. I hope she is still alive and well, and that the demise of the persona called Cure Dolly does not indicate her real life death.

Thank you for reading, and I would very much welcome discussion on the topic from anyone interested.

[msfenriss]

Hello Ms Fenriss! I’m the girl who runs the Aristasian research blog. Last week you mentioned you planned on doing a little write up about your time interacting with them, I’m giving you a little message to say I hope I didn’t miss you posting it somewhere. I feel like I only get notifications *sometimes* if I’m tagged in stuff, or comments are left, here on Tumblr.

Good morning, Misstarry. I hope you'll forgive the lateness of this reply! I don't seem to get notifications either, and I confess I've been very lax about checking my activity here on Tumblr. I only just now saw this. I haven't yet posted my little story about my Aristasian experiences. I don't know if it will really be of much interest to anyone, but if you'd like I'd be happy to tag you when I do post it. I'm very grateful to you for all your work preserving Aristasian history and culture!

[hopepunk-humanity]

What is Hopepunk?

Wild laughter from ragged throats

Flowers growing choked from crumbling asphalt

A warm bed after a long, hard journey

Your partner’s hand cupped in your own

Bright graffiti on cracked tunnel walls

The chains falling loose to the stone floor

A glint of silver beneath a century of tarnish

A long rain after a blistering wildfire

Just one more step, and then another

A single candle flame joining the stars against the night

A loved ones voice calling your name after hours lost in an unfamiliar place

A hand taking yours, just when you’d given up on reaching out

Smiling, laughing again, when you thought you’d forgotten how

Knowing, despite everything, that humans are inherently good

It’s not simply blind optimism, or naivety. It’s choice. It’s taking the human race by the hand and saying, “I will love you, because I am you”. It’s facing a world dripping with cynicism and fashionable hopelessness and saying, “no, I will not give in”. It’s putting kindness out into the world, knowing you might not get it back, knowing you may be scorned for it, knowing it might not change anything, but with a certainty that kindness is what the world needs the most.

It is choosing hope

[trekkiesagainstchastity]

Trekkies against replicators /j

[trekkiesagainstchastity]

[tinakolesnik-deactivated2022073]

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[kurosmind]

Beyond the veil 

I don’t know how the dnd afterlife works and I don’t care, they are going to meet again and Caleb is going to get to introduce Essek to his parents :) 

[tpolisher]

[carnivalseb]

When did 'book nook' go from meaning 'an alcove in your house where you store books & also have a cosy spot to read' to meaning 'a landscape sculpture that fits between your books for whimsical decoration'?

[somuchanxietysolittletime]

When Boomers destroyed the economy so badly that having a designated reading space in your house is more fictional than a mini-forest in your bookshelf.

[carnivalseb]

Ah. Yeah, that tracks. :(

[itsrightcat]

[NSFW] [Beau] [Yasha]‘Fresh Spice’ by Babs Tarr

[new-anon]

🌟My full piece for Untold Stories!🌟

I thought it would’ve been fun to discover what would happen if two completely unrelated side characters ever crossed paths 🍻

[spockslash]

Star Trek grandma

[ceruleanteacup]

Betcha Grandma was writing original k/s slashfic decades before you kiddies were born.

[spockslash]

Yes @ceruleanteacup , Grandma was

[squareallworthy]

Do kids today even understand why podcasts are called podcasts?

[squareallworthy]

Well, you see, kids, almost twenty years ago Apple produced a portable audio player called – wait, I need to go back further.

[squareallworthy]

Okay, so in the 20th century, the new inventions of radio and television were known as broadcast media – no, wait, that’s not really the start either –

[squareallworthy]

Broadcasting originally refers to throwing, or casting, handfuls of seeds onto prepared ground, typically used with grain crops, which, uh –

[squareallworthy]

– the Agrucultural Revoution, which begain circa 10,000 BC in the Levant, was when humans began preserving seeds for replanting –

[ki1l-claudio]

im thinking about professor widogast, in a tweed coat with patched elbows, grading papers with a cat on his lap, his door always open to any student who needs it.

about a living room cluttered with books and paper and all manner of components, two wizards passed out on top of each other on an old sofa after finally cracking that one arcane equation.

about essek’s disguises subtly showing age, mirroring caleb’s, so they can still walk together arm in arm through the city.

I’m thinking about a ship’s wedding, tables piled high with sweets, and orly officiating. A green cloaked figure appears in the back, and later guests argue over whether it was really there at all.

about the home for orphans they build in nicodranas, which takes in, loves, and protects every child who comes through its doors, so none of them ever feel disposable.

about how the stories of captain tusktooth spread, and turn to legend, and every version includes the blue skinned she-devil who loved and fought by his side.

im thinking about a new baby on Veth’s hip, dark skinned and curly haired, and the proud, frantic message to Caleb after Yeza walks in on her magically making the flame of a candle dance.

about a family apothecary, underneath a large apartment, which almost blows up about once a week until someone (Yeza) decides they need somewhere else for their experiments, and they invest in a warehouse down by the docks.

about Grandma Veth in a rocking chair, brown braids now grey, delighting small children with exciting, gory tales of daring adventure, which she will tell at any opportunity.

im thinking about a cottage somewhere beautiful, which always smells like fresh baking because Yasha is learning. Before too long, her bugcakes become legend for miles around.

about nights that arent so good, when Beau comes home late after a frustrating day or Yasha wakes from a nightmare, breathing heavy, and how one of them will hold the other close until they wake in the morning to a new day that doesn’t feel nearly as hopeless, because they know they have eachother.

about a wedding in the blooming grove officiated by caduceus, and decorated in wildflowers. As soon as the ceremony ends, the sky goes grey, and everyone runs inside except for the brides, who stand kissing in the pouring rain.

im thinking about a caduceus who spends his days doing what he loves the most, tending the earth and occasionally exploring the world, splitting time between his two families.

about an old pirate king who ventures inland as he feels himself dying, asking the Clays if he can be buried in the blooming grove, because he trusts them not to let anyone mess with his body, and, besides, he wants to be buried among friends.

about the graves that slowly fill, each in their time. Generations of Clays know to keep the ninth one empty until, centuries later, an old elf takes his place.

i’m thinking about the Nein, the Nine, and how their journey all together may have come to a close, but the rest of their lives are still to come, and those lives are bright.

i’m thinking about how each of them, in their own ways, will leave the world better than they found it.

[sheridans-dynamos]

This is killing me

[fishyandclintbarton]

How beautiful is this?!