hello!!! welcome to my humble mcyt sideblog. I made this because I fear my irls may have found my main
I'm spring and/or amaranth :)
she/him pronouns
insane raging lesbian with a heavy touch of nebulous aroace-ism
adult
audhd with the most horrible persistent minecraft special interest since it came out on xbox
also neurodivergent about linguistics & language, especially french
massive botany fan, #women in stem
my ao3 is the same as my url
my main is @bed-of-ashes , I interact from there!
i do not give a flying gaf about which cc said what about which fictional characters I can think about in relationships. sorry I think I stopped caring when I got student loans
on that note I am a firm believer in fandom not being for ccs, dont like dont read, and ship & let ship. if there's something I don't like I will simply not interact with it
The mcyt hyperfixation timeline
Aphmau... fml
Minecraft story mode
Life series/hermitcraft
default skins (??)
Outsiders smp
Pirates smp (esp acho's)
lifesteal
kww collab
The Realm specifically from owen's pov
Vampires smp
No dice (it. counts)
I'm also in the kabsmp, unstable universe, empires, whitepine, the flight, & searching for a minecraft world that doesnt exist fandoms, sans adhd influence :]
I have some minecraft sonas and one day I will post their skins... in the meantime feel free to ask about them !!
I do drabble requests and writing trades if it tickles my fancy
One of the most common reasons given for boundaries (and subsequent boundary policing) is the idea that cc's see themselves as their characters and it makes them uncomfortable in some way. Sometimes this is made explicit (such as luanne + kyleff) and other times it's the clear background implication (pyro). There's a term in broader rp space for this concept called "character bleed" (<- blog post describing it w/ some academic articles) and its usage in the context of boundaries is complete bs
I think graecie (in her discussion on stream and on tumblr) unpacks the idea that managing bleed is on the audience really well! I also think it's a shame that, despite this, she's never used as a "good example" when talking about boundaries. So, I'm talking about her and why other people should too
Here are some quotes from when graecie clarified about her post further on stream:
"When I bring up character bleed or how our brains differentiate- or-or. Our brains are unable to differentiate fake emotions from roleplay to real emotions in real life and how, like, your brain treats those emotions that you feel the same way. I don't ever want that to be misconstrued as I'm putting that responsibility on the community to prevent us from getting character bleed, or prevent us from struggling with those things. That's not it." (22:40)
(Small note that the use of "us" is super notable here! This is something that (should) apply to all creators, not just graecie)
"When I brought [character bleed] up in the past I think it might've been misconstrued as me blaming the community or, not blaming the community but expecting the community to be responsible for preventing that and that's never what I mean. Whenever I bring it up it it just, I think it's something creators in the mcr space— in the mcrp space are unaware of, um, because it is so new. Safety tools, uh, self-care in roleplay, all of that is relatively new to the mcrp space, uh, and I don't think a lot of creators understand the impact that playing a character live non-stop can have on their mental. And like, how they— how they view that character as more of themselves." (23:45)
"It-it can be stressful to navigate but that's also, it's on me to navigate, which is what I've been doing. Um, it's not on anyone who engages with my media to navigate for me." (25:10)
This is already (somehow) leagues above every other creator who thinks it's on their (mostly underage) fanbase to regulate their own emotions! What's most interesting to me in this stream + graecie's subsequent posts is that she's clearly interested in spreading this idea outside herself. In a recent(ish) tumblr post she detailed some of the consent/safety tools she introduced on the flight and on stream she mentioned:
"I've been slowly trying to introduce more dnd safety tools into the mcrp space. I did a character, uh, like safety and consent checklist form for the flight for everyone to fill out... it's absolutely, it's on the other people you play with and the gamemasters but it's not, I-I would say it's not on the community who is consuming the content you create to be aware of and prevent [character bleed]." (25:30)
"And, I'm there for my friends if they're going through it, I've got resources for that." (27:09)
You'll notice that it didn't take some huge controversy for graecie to change her opinion, just some self-reflecting and actually listening to the community. Here's her establishing a dni tag and talking about it on stream
That other people (the ones ppl usually point to as good examples) had such a public turn-around and have done nothing to actually change the culture which encourages boundaries brings their motives into question. It's an issue that "changed" creators get to respond to their co-workers insane boundaries by saying "I do respect other creators boundaries cause its their preference" and get uncritical praise. The only reason we see boundary discourse come up so often is bc ppl who are "okay about boundaries" aren't willing to challenge the overall culture in mcyt that endorses that behavior. An unwillingness to challenge even basic ideas such as "the rules that inspire harassment are good" and "my emotional regulation is the job of the audience" makes me wonder if opinions have actually changed or if creators are just searching for fandom brownie points. If creators who "figured it out" were interested in more than just themselves I don't think this discourse would be happening every other month
I mainly just think there are better examples of "boundaries done right" than the names ppl usually throw around. Especially when graecie's a marginalized creator who (lbr) probably deals w/ a lot more fandom weirdness than the (mostly cis and het) men that ppl talk about :). That she didn't require some explosive discourse also proves this is a topic of discussion because these mindsets are so normalized
sorry about my yapping your atla rambles have me hooked (in a good way)
-the rambler
NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR RAMBLING it is a beautiful part of nature and it brings me much joy <33
coincidentally I opened tumblr and saw these while I was rewatching Legend of Korra LMAO (I am really sad bc I just finished reading all the past Avatar novels. my tragedy)
Ferre could be assigned to hunt down Clown and bring him back (being the assassin you talked about)
-the rambler
anon rambler I am a fool I accidentally answered this in ur last ask om so sorry have some more
Ferre trying to bring Clown back to finish his firebending training so he doesnt learn the other elements too quickly and become ""corrupted"" and disrupt the normal cycle of things
he'd absolutely be saying shit like "remember your home nation" and "Fire Avatars are FIRE Avatars" but like Clown is shit at rules
Maybe FerreMC or MinuteTech could fit the place of the non-bender. Ferre could teach Clown how to fight without bending so when he gets jumped by Chi-blockers they get the experience of learning that Clown can fight without the elements.
MinuteTech could be the resident normal and level-headed guy. A strategist, if you will.
-the rambler
I LIKE MINUTE FOR THIS.... Ferre is very firebender to me, i think he could've been Clown's firebending master for sure. he might have even taught him how to wield a sword for that exact scenario you described :0
I cant decide if Minute should be Fire National or Earth Citizen... on the one hand he for sure has the pride of the Fire Nation but on the other hand so do most members of ls. he's absolutely got the level-headedness and calm of the Earth Kingdom tho. I like him being a nonbender since he's always joining servers just to collect custom weapons lol, he would absolutely have an awesome weapon collection he rotates between instead of relying on bending
Ferre assassin oh my GOD youre genius. Fire Avatars are known for struggling with national identity vs their global responsibilities and I think Clown may have strayed too far from Fire Nation ideals (Roku style) and Ferre was sent to return him (Beifong parents style). this probably occurred via him running away with Rek before he was deemed ready
ty for the ask eeeehee I love rambling and ideating :D
my roommate and I are going to a con sometime soon and he's going as rendog à la 3rd life and I cannot decide whether to go as pearl, false, or cleo aghfhdh any opinion is welcome PLEASE
More tribute announcements for the 77th Hunger Games!
Today we're excited to present our two tributes from District 9! Please give a standing ovation to Amaranth Fisk (@mccat-art-and-etc) and Artos Springs (@FakeTexas)!
We're sure they'll do their district very proud and we wish them all the best! Happy Hunger Games to them!
[completely misunderstood the story] I always interpreted it as a sort of found family narrative myself. Like the frog is the scorpion's baby and she loves him very much :)
whatever does anyone else ever think about how roshambo's instinct is to protect everything, preserve everything, keep everything exactly the damn same whereas mapicc's instinct is to break everything down, destroy to its base components, reveal the skeleton of it all? do you think about roshambo clinging to their relationship and doesnt acknowledge how it's falling apart while mapicc strikes the final blow by killing him?do you think they are an ouroborous chasing its own tail
was revealed as avatar on his 16th birthday but many of his peers already suspected it was him because he was so good at firebending
comes from a middling clan, not too important but not too small. Kaboodle is in the same clan as him, making them semi distant relatives. Their close age and proximity means everyone thinks they're siblings. Both attended the Fire Academy but were separated due to gender
has been in a lot of petty Agni Kais but very rarely instigated them. most of the time people would challenge him over small stuff as an excuse to prove they could beat him (they couldnt)
Hannah and Ferre are also Fire Nationals, both from higher ranking clans than Clown's
for some reason he has to leave home in a hurry and ends up with impromptu bending masters that never would've been approved by the sages. with that I bring you: team avatar :)
Air is the first element Fire Avatars must learn, so he enlists the help of a rogue airbender that has been banished from the temples for violations of ideologies. The airbender, a boy Clown's age, has his arrow tattoos but has grown his hair in since leaving the temples. His name is Rek and he has a flying bison named Two that he uses to travel the world on, now with Clown in tow
the two of them go on to the Earth Kingdom, since the Air Temples are unavailable to Rek and the Fire Nation is currently unsafe. While visiting Ba Sing Se undercover, they meet another boy their age in the Middle Ring who supports himself with engineering odd jobs for the merchants and workers on that level of the city. He uses his earthbending to construct complex mechanisms in a fraction of the time, and he has a theory that metal could be bent with the right technique, if only he could figure out how. His name is Branzy, and from the first time he sees Clown's face, he's trailing after the two like a stray cat hoping for a home. They take him in and he fits like the perfect third piece to Clown and Rek's friendship, even if he's a blushing mess around the avatar
The heat from the Fire Nation follows them to Ba Sing Se - maybe an assassin or something on their tail - and they flee on Two towards Omashu. On the way, they run into a young woman named Ros heading the same direction and offer her a ride. They run into some sort of problem with the spirits that forces Ros to reveal her waterbending, and when she explains that she's been studying architecture in the Earth Kingdom so as to improve her method of freezing water into new buildings in the Northern Water Tribe, the team immediately takes her on. She's proven smart, strong, and capable of healing with waterbending, making her the perfect master for Clown to learn from
because I like homestuck ass ship names my code word for driftsey (doc name, playlist name) has been natural decay and I thought tumblr might like that one because god i do
I wish I were the kind of author that could write quick throwaway oneshots but no. that would be too easy. I have to come up with insane lore and worldbuilding for what I intend to be a 3k standalone work. and I know in my heart it will not remain a 3k standalone work. fml
The core problem with basically every single instance of boundaries discourse I see is that nobody seems to know what the word "boundary" actually means.
Boundaries are personal and social. They are based on mutual respect. Boundaries are not orders, they are requests, intended to establish a cause and effect: if you do this thing, I will do this other thing. "If you show me ship fic, I will block you" is a boundary. "You are not allowed to make ship fic at all" is not a boundary, that is a rule.
Rules are not boundaries. Rules are based on power and control - they are imposed upon you. This is not necessarily bad, but it must come with understanding of where they can be applied. Rules only apply where the rulemaker has control of what is allowed. And these are how many creators seem to approach what they call "boundaries". Again, this is not necessarily bad - their own twitch chats, discords, and maintags on social media ARE spaces in which they have control (some spaces more than others - maintags are shakier since creators don't have moderation power there, but that can be alleviated by creating a dni tag and asking people to place content there instead), and are therefore places where they can make rules about what they do or do not want to be shown. This is fine. Creators have the right to moderate their own spaces how they wish.
Where the problems emerge is that many creators seem to assume that they have the power to apply their rules (in the guise of "boundaries") in places that are not their own. Non-main tags on social media, archive of our own, private discords - these are locations in which the application (or lack thereof) of boundaries is no longer the choice of a creator. They do not have power; thus, any choices made by individuals in those spaces must necessarily be based only on the social agreement between fan and creator, an inherently parasocial construction. And in this case, the parasocial agreement that actually exists is not "this thing must never be created", it is "this thing should not be created or shared in my spaces".
I would argue that the primary issue in how "boundaries" are approached is a misunderstanding of how all of this works. Boundaries cannot be enforced in private spaces because there is no power relationship there. They can only be requested. As a result, when creators attempt to enforce boundaries in spaces that are not their own, what will actually happen is a series of barely-controlled harassment campaigns aimed towards people who are, by and large, following the social contract of boundaries but not the power-enforced contract of rules. And that harassment is far more of a problem than any person in a private discord writing something against boundaries. One might make someone uncomfortable.
The other gets people hurt. And that's where the line is crossed.
