Like his first version of yearning, after he asks Sophie to be his mistress and she doesn't respond is "Agony" from Into the Woods. It is so unserious and so vapid and not self aware. Like Christ almighty.
And then his second version of yearning, when Sophie decides to leave is "Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the Park with George. Like it is so much about being left behind and not feeling understood by someone you feel like maybe should have.
Anyways I'll never stop yelling about the fact that season 4 was just a whole bunch of musicals in a trench coat.
Initial discourse around the edits to the Dregs editions of SOC and CK was not something I felt like getting involved in, because fair enough, it caught us all by surprise and some people are having big feelings about the changes. I certainly raised an eyebrow when it came to my attention, although I feel strongly about reserving my ultimate judgment on the matter until we receive some kind of formal statement regarding the edits, because there have been way too many people jumping to conclusions which are spreading like god's honest truth. I don't love that, but that's not what's gotten under my skin.
I'm going to ignore all good sense and say what I have to say under the cut, because fuck it, someone should and it may as well be me.
The problem I'm having, far beyond watching this discourse evolve into a dangerous mob mentality, is that it's become a platform for some awful and even harmful opinions. The first one that struck me is about Matthias, and some in the fandom declaring that if canon has been edited to where he doesn't leave the Drüskelle until he's an adult, then Matthias is no longer a redeemable character, because turning 18 means you awaken to the fact that you were brainwashed and groomed into hatred your entire life and, oh, you failed to realize that before the last day you were 17? Well, it's too late. An adult can't change or grow in a way that matters. They certainly can't reject the truths they were born into once they're old enough that they're able to leave that realm of influence and discover a new view of the world.
Or well, maybe they can, but it's not as meaningful anymore. It's not as inspirational. They're not as good of a person as they would have been if they had had an epiphany of understanding and acceptance at 15 years old and decided to pack up their lunchbox and run away.
Matthias' story is absolutely incredible, no matter what age he is when it happens. Maybe you can't relate to it. Maybe you were born into a progressive family and there was very little you had to unlearn as you grew into adulthood. That's not the case for everyone. Some of us grew up in ways that echo Matthias' story, and some of us did realize certain wrongs in childhood, but were unable to leave those who enforced those wrongs as right. Some of us were able to leave young. Some of us were stuck in it until years past legal adulthood. Some people have not yet had the realization that they want to be better and do better, but they will. As long as they're alive, it can happen... at any age. And when it does, it will MATTER that they changed, and it is something that we should celebrate with them.
It is completely fine to be attached to Matthias' story unfolding with him as a teenager. That story still exists. Whatever your feelings are about the Crows' present days ages being obscured (and presumed older) in the new text without an announcement, please don't claim that Matthias' story has been cheapened for it. Please don't call him irredeemable on the basis of an alternate timeline where it takes him longer to unlearn the hatred he was born into. Think about what that statement really means, because I promise you, it's speaking to more than a fictional character. It's speaking to more than just his story...
And that brings me to the second issue I've seen rearing an ugly head in the fandom, which is just straight up ageism. Let me put this very plainly: your golden years aren't high school. Your life doesn't end at 20. You're not a senior citizen at 30. If you're attached to the Crows as teenagers in their story, that is completely fine. It's the original text, and maybe even the text you read as a teenager, yourself, which can only make it feel more significant. That's not at all the problem...
The problem is watching a tendril of this discourse evolving into people "joking" that the Crows being ambiguously aged up by the edits into, realistically, early 20s at the most constitutes them being "middle aged." This inspiring a mockery of the upcoming novella over the idea that the Crows might be written as, essentially, "old people."
The poison of ageism in our society making it so even people who are actively in their own early 20s are nodding along to such mockery is something that should give us all pause. But as well as that, a friend of mine (who will remain anonymous) made a good point, which I will paraphrase: in thinking about the Crows getting older, why aren't we celebrating the idea of a future in which they haven't succumbed to the brutality of the world or their dangerous lifestyles? Would you seriously enjoy the novella less if it explored our favourite band of criminals heisting as actual middle aged folk, or even geriatrics?
Stop putting an expiration date on living. Death is coming for all of us at some point. Let's not make a certain birthday the day we expect everyone to go sit in the Reaper's lobby and take a damn number.
It is, in fact, possible to express your shock and even frustration about the edits without losing the plot so badly that you become poison in your own beloved fandom. Stop filling the tags with hate. Stop encouraging people to bully Leigh for a statement about this. Stop painting the idea of the Crows dying young and leaving behind beautiful corpses as the end of the story we should want for them.
Pick up the original books. Your teenage Crows are still there. They never left, and they can't be taken from you. If you're upset about the new editions not having been marketed as being edited (which 100% I agree would have been nice to know), I would suggest looking up how you can contact Henry Holt and Company, the publishers.
That's all. This is so much more than I wanted to say in the first place, but I'm so tired of sitting by and watching this discourse explode into something that will only hurt the fandom and anyone peeking in at it.
Your passion can be so much better directed without the pitchfork.
About to give Yelena Belova a whole harem after my Thunderbolts rewatch because some of y'all behave like cops and puritans more than you behave as fans.
Since so many of you antis love to lurk in the main ship tags as well : go hydrate and heal. Your fanon is not canon. Comics canon isn’t MCU canon either, and no one will stop shipping anything because you said so in a world where a multiverse is established.
Block me or prepare to continue being sick of the Yelena shipping anyway because the gifsets and fics and edits are still coming babes 💖
Hi, this is the anon who asked about your story. I really regret that things escalated the way they did, and I apologize if what I asked actually bothered you. Again, I really like your story a lot and I was just curious to know. There was no bad intention behind my words. I don’t usually interact much with creators out of fear of saying something wrong that could easily be misunderstood by both sides, so I really apologize if you were having a bad day and it got worse because of a dumb question I asked.
That said, your response made me reflect because before all the extra debate that happened, I was left with the feeling that I had asked a wrong or tasteless question, and I even ended up debating with a classmate about it, and his response helped me understand the matter better. They said, "Well, if it didn’t give you the vibes of this or that, maybe it’s because in the first place it’s not even that relevant for the story, especially if you’re enjoying it so much."
I have to say that I did grow up with the way ship names were arranged (I've been in the shipping culture for almost 20 years) depending on who would be the top and bottom, which is why it makes sense to me that Jaydick and Dickjay exist. However, I recognize that assuming it's like that for everyone, or that their dynamics or positions in intimacy are relevant and/or crucial to storytelling, is very immature on my part.
I don't want to make this message too long, but I do want to finish by saying that I really like your story and I will keep reading it. Again, sorry for the whole situation :((
I’ll be looking forward to the next update 🫶
Please, don't think you did anything wrong by asking. Everyone, always, has the right to ask about any future content in a story that they think will impact their ability to continue reading it, and I'll always do my best to answer if I can. 💜
I can't give you any solid answer on what happens in Bark, because the variables on how that goes are woven into Dick's reactions to his past trauma and Jason's attempts not to get caught out as who he is, and where in the story it might end up actually happening will change those variables and probably the acts that happen, too. I don't think I'll have a solid answer until I reach the point at which the 'first contact' is happening, so to speak, and even then I wouldn't expect that first contact to get as far as penetrative sex (at least that's how I'm leaning right now). So in the context of Bark, where any sexual activity that may happen is so dependent on the larger story and character dynamics, and the sex itself's purpose would be to continue character growth/change, it does not feel particularly useful to me to try and classify the potential sex acts as being as simple as 'top or bottom'.
It does sting, some, to have crafted a story that someone has said they really enjoy, but to be left with the implication that they'll stop reading it based on how the sex is written. I recognize that this is likely at least partially because I'm asexual, but it's difficult for me to imagine caring enough about the direction of slot/tab to drop a story I otherwise really like because of it. I know you didn't mean it this way, but talking about "it has happened to me lately that authors don’t tag that information and it’s a bit annoying" makes it feel a bit like the only thing that matters is what direction that eventual sex scene takes, as opposed to the rest of the journey and story around it. And yeah, as the writer of said story that feeling kind of sucks.
I've said a lot in the debate over on the other ask about my experiences with the top/bottom tags and characterization stuff, so I won't repeat any of that here. If you would like to know anything else, or you have any other questions, please feel free. Absolutely no apologies necessary.💜
Hi Vee, sorry for bothering you, you don’t have to post this. I just wanted to let you know because I thought you should. I But I saw someone, a grown ass adult btw vague-posting about you in the ZaDr tag. Basically they were mad at you because of how you’re vocally anti-proship. 💀 Anyway, I’m sorry that you constantly have to deal with this bullshit, especially from grown ass adults. Who for some reason think it’s okay to vague-post about and be shitty towards minors. I’m sorry about how you constantly get shit from other ZaDr shippers for rightfully being anti-proship, as a fellow anti-proship teenage ZaDr fan myself. I hope they leave you alone! sending virtual hugs! 🫂
im at my partner's house and he literally just typed in "zadr" in the Tumblr search bar on his account and found the post immediately😭😭
don't worry, it looks like they reblogged one of my posts(?)(and at this current time still have it reblogged?? idk man), and then vagueposted and blocked me, so hopefully they won't bother me ol
from the looks of it, they reblogged that post and then saw the tags and felt inclined to vaguepost about it, so I doubt they bothered to check my intro post(or anything else on my blog) to see how old I was. shrug
but thank you for the concern! virtual hugs and head pats to you as well!! there are ups and downs but im trying to stop wishing for leniency from people who will never forgive me for my perspective, im workin on gettin better !! ( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ )
(DISCLAIMER PLEASE DON'T GO HARASS THIS PERSON EITHER!! DON'T COMMENT ON THEIR VAGUEPOST OR SEND THEM ASKS OR ANYTHING!!)
The whole Proship vs Anti thing just corrupted people, plus add the social isolation and social media addiction caused by the pandemic and you get an absolute shitshow.
The word ‘Proship’ is thrown around so fucking uselessly and the word has lost it’s meaning to me, people are now saying ‘Dead Dove Do not Eat’ is Proship when Dead Dove has an entirely different fucking meaning. Dead Dove is a ao3 tag (it can also count as a content warning, but it’s mainly used on ao3, ff.net, etc) that literally means ‘hey this thing you’re about to read basically describes and goes into detail about what was warned about in the description/tags by the author, so you can’t go ‘Well I didn’t know that was going to happen’ when you open the book and stumble upon that specific subject’
like people have gotten stupider and it’s fucking infuriating, like if you see a ship you don’t like just block and move on, you have better things to do and worry about compared to two fictional characters kissing
