Ramblings of a news junkie

Hi, I'm star. Xiexie Sar @ Sargatanas (FFXIV) | @GamingBricaBrac on Twitter/Bluesky | xieathe on AO3

[spacefarer]

Getting so very very tired of people moralizing fictional romance preferences. Reading is not an ethical or unethical action. Liking the nastiest, most disgusting shit in fiction does not hurt another living, breathing person. And having Booklist label shit as "ethical" - and by extension labeling anything outside of that sphere "unethical" - is fucking exhausting.

editing in a screenshot in case they change it

"Ethical Romantasy: All of the Swoon, None of the Ick.

By Maren Flessen. BLOG. First published July 16, 2026 (Booklist Online).

[image of a woman and a man standing among large potted plants. one of the plants is growing around the two, supposedly due to magic.]

We all love a good romantasy, but even the staunchest fans among us can admit that some depict problematic relationships. While dynamics like emotional manipulation or toxic “protectiveness” can usually be explained away by a desperate circumstance or a restrictive, medieval-coded setting, you might find patrons longing for modern sensibilities in their fae castles. For those yearning for green flags like explicit consent, mature grounded characters, and equal power dynamics, look no further. Below are thoroughly-vetted romantasy tales that deliver all of the swoon, with none of the ick."

[most-adoptable-fellas-contest]

Most Adoptable Grown Man Contest - Round 8, Poll 1 [SEMIFINALS]

Which grown man is more adoptable?

Martin Blackwood - The Magnus Archives

Crimzon Ruze - Holostars EN

Voting ended onJul 15

With only two rounds left, I finally got a better image for Ruze because I looked for two more seconds lmao

[fforsythiaaa]

Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.

[berlynn-wohl]

plot 150 words bed-sharing 200 words smut 800 words projecting my fears, insecurities, and anxieties onto a fictional character 9,356 words fluff 150 words someone who is good at fan fiction please help me budget my WIP, my family is dying

[sunken-standard]

150 words of plot seems excessive.

[berlynn-wohl]

thank you for the reasonable advice

[therapatical]

how it feels being on the internet as a leftist in 2026

[dragon-in-a-fez]

keep thinking about how I wrote in my dissertation about how every time a new form of public/social space emerges it's immediately popular with kids and teenagers who see it as a chance at freedom and then adults colonise it and kick them out. this happened with malls in the 80s and diners in the 50s and pool halls in the 20s. my dad was doing research on this trend in like 1975. and I was like "yeah so this is going to happen to the internet" and then five years later every government suddenly decided to ban kids from everywhere online. I hate being right especially when I don't even get paid for it

[spacefarer]

There are no more third spaces. Society deprives kids of safe environments to grow and learn and then blames those same kids for getting into trouble or doing what they aren't supposed to do when everything that used to be available to them is no longer an option

[spacefarer]

Me (at the post office): the weather today is gorgeous, especially after yesterday Post Officer: It's supposed to snow Sunday Me: Jesus did not die for this Post Officer: He apparently came back for it though

[spacefarer]

can't wait to see how many "we're making our video game series into a VN/dating sim tee-hee" posts we're gonna get over the next couple days

and by "can't wait" I mean "I dread"

[burasto]

"Give my regards to your god"

These past few weeks I played RE2, RE3, RE4 (and watched RE9 because I'm a huge coward) and I feel in love with it! I updated my store with a new print of Leon and a sticker sheet!

[thecutegirlkisser]

"incest/rape/stalking etc depicted as romantic in fiction is gross because it's romanticizing crimes!!" everyone romanticizes crimes in fiction dipshit it came free with your innate desire to explore taboos from a safe distance

[jordanbolton]

To The Substitute Art Teacher - Jordan Bolton

[carduelis-carduelis]

Fandom PSAs

Dont’ Like, Don’t Read

or DL; DR

You are responsible for curating your own online experience.

If something upsets you, makes you angry or queasy or triggers you, stop reading/looking at it. Avoid things that might make you feel that way.

Learn to use the Sort and Filter function on AO3, especially the Exclude tools.

On social media, block and mute accounts / tags / words when necessary.

If you hated something, you don’t need to tell that to the creator or start pointing fingers at them publicly.

The Back button is free. Use it.

Addendum:

Yes, for this to work, creators need to tag their works accordingly, so that people know what sort of content they are about to engage with and can nope out if necessary.

I will probably make another PSA about the importance of proper tagging later.

Ship And Let Ship

or SALS

You are allowed to ship whatever you want.

Everyone else is also allowed to ship whatever they want.

You are entitled to dislike or even hate a ship. If you want to do this online, in public, don’t use the ship tags for hate posts.

If you see someone posting about a ship they like and you don’t, there is no need for you to start arguing with them in their replies / comments / QRTs / reblogs. Don’t throw your hate in their face.

Do not harass fan creators or fans for shipping something you disapprove.

All of this also applies to liking / disliking an individual character.

Addendum:

”I agree with this, except when…”

No, then you are NOT agreeing with this.

Let me make this VERY clear. There are NO exceptions. None.

You don’t EVER harass real people over pixels.

If you disagree with this, kindly block and move on.

Your Kink Is Not My Kink

or YKINMK / YKINMKATO

The longer version is ”Your Kink Is Not My Kink And That’s Okay”.

People have different tastes. Not everything is for everybody.

Even if you don’t like a specific kink, other people are still allowed to use it in their creations.

You are entitled to dislike kinky content and think that it’s ”weird”.

Don’t kink shame or judge people based on their kinks.

This goes both ways: your kink is not someone else’s kink, so don’t push it onto those who are not into it.

Be Kind

or Don’t Be An Asshole

Focus on the things you like instead of the things you hate.

Create and unite instead of destroying and dividing.

Don’t harass real people over fictional things.

Stop stirring up petty drama just to get some attention on social media.

Stop trying to ”win”. Fandom is not a competition.

Remember that your own experiences aren’t universally shared. Your perception of things can differ from someone else’s, but that doesn’t mean either of you is necessarily wrong.

[spacefarer]

for science

do you all put your butter in the fridge or do you leave it out on the counter like a normal person?

fridge

counter

a secret third option explained in the comments

Voting ended onDec 7, 2025

[spacefarer]

In the face of overwhelming evil, be kind. Be brave. Carry hope for the folks who are too downtrodden to hold it themselves.

[our-lady-of-haymakers]

I love how Westerners will be like, "Japanese VNs are filled with one-dimensional fantasy Anime Waifus who have no depth and are all homogenous- even a 30 hour visual novel with multiple branching routes where you have to delve deep into the trauma and secrets and insecurities of a character is just Wish Fulfillment Slop! Check out my quirky subversive Queer visual novel that spans two hours, has characters that fit neatly into clear boxes of gender identity across an arbitrarily defined list of categories as advertised in the trailer, provides realistic and authentic romance wherein characters joke that this isn't a dating sim and recite their backstories to you in a coffee shop after 1.5 conversations, and provides Cutting Social Critique like, "Damn dude, Capitalism Sucks, but I guess we Still Gotta Love".

[autistichalsin]

Periodic rent-lowering-gunshots:

Fiction is not reality.

You can enjoy things in fiction that would be awful in the real world. Like playing a murderhobo in a game! In the real world, being or supporting a murderer-thief would be pretty damn awful, while in the game it's just good fun. Same with anything else you choose to do with the pixels on the screen, like kinks that don't affect anyone real, so they're okay in fiction, but would be pretty damn bad in real life.

No one else is responsible for your online experience. They are required not to harass you, but they are not and never will be obligated to not post about ships, kinks, or tropes you dislike just to avoid you seeing them. It's up to you to blacklist words or phrases, block tags, or even block users as needed to avoid seeing content that upsets you.

No one can force you to read anything against your consent. Any content you don't like seeing can be instantly avoided by closing out of the offending post/fic.

You are not owed an online experience free of discomfort.

Nothing that happens in your imagination can ever make you a bad person. Words you write or read about fictional characters will never make you a bad person.

The claim that media consumption influences real-life behavior is intellectually dishonest and serves only to excuse the behavior of real offenders.

Fiction is a safe way to explore horrifying or confusing concepts. Therapists agree that fiction, even (or especially) about taboo topics is a good coping mechanism, especially, but not exclusively, for trauma survivors. Fiction is to adults what play therapy is to children. This doesn't stop being true if the work in question is of a sexual nature.

Sex isn't an inherently worse or better motivation than anything else. A work written to create feelings of arousal isn't dirty, shameful, or in any way less pure than works written to entertain, provoke moral questions, or for other reasons. And worth noting is that multiple purposes can exist in the same story, especially fanfiction.

You aren't entitled to an explanation for why someone reads, writes, or otherwise enjoys certain works, kinks, tropes, ships, etc.

[liarsblade]

Honestly I think it's super embarrassing that that right's too-online crackpots are way way better at identifying when politicians are looking into the camera and winking directly at them than ours are.

[liarsblade]

Respectable bipartisan creep who is funded by the heritage foundation: I don't support "project 2025". I will not ban abortion or start "mass deportations", as the looney left would have you believe. However I support religious freedom in healthcare and will work tirelessly to support sweeping reforms to our broken immigration system. The founding fathers were Christian, and so am I. :)

Guy who plays with Aryan Wojack jpegs like dolls: oh this is awesome. This is totally in support of mass deportation and banning abortion, just like me.

Self identified socialist running as a socialist candidate in New York City backed by an org that has used the phrase "defund the police" in official statements multiple times and has an official abolition working group: if elected I will not "defund the police". Instead I will invest in evidence based policies that deliver safety, and more support for social and mental health workers, which will help the police in allowing them to do their actual jobs :)

Guy with Marx & Engels yaoi pfp: I cannot wait to put you in front of a firing squad. Traitor.