#fandom wankery

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Why do YA authors always seem to be such drama llamas? You're supposed to be writing books for high school kids, not acting like them!

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Hilariously, I don't even like "abusive" Angbang, but I'll go to bat for the "abusive" Angbang shippers any day of the week, because quite honestly, they're not the ones I see throwing massive tantrums about people not agreeing with their headcanons any time I venture into the tag.

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Nice* to see the rest of the internet catching up with the fact that RTD is just an arrogant hack.

*for a certain value of "nice".

[chiclet-go-boom]

oh no. apparently Somebody Is Wrong On The Internet Again. why does nobody tag their incensed cries for social justice with #fandom wankery anymore? or #how dare somebody have opinions that are not mine? which could even be abbreviated to #hdshotanm in a pinch.

i process this at 3:49am because i woke up wayyyy too early and i had to scroll in a slightly aggrieved manner past a bunch of untagged wankery.

[verecunda]

I do love how Tolkien could write down the actual words "Morgoth cursed Húrin and Morwen and their offspring, and set a doom upon them" and folks in this fandom will still go "...nah, I don't think there's really a curse." 🧐🧐🧐

[verecunda]

Choose violence: 1, 7, 8, 12, 16, 20, 22. You choose the fandom(s)

Hee! Thank you so much for these, m'dear. <3 I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to answer it - I got stuck on one of them. X'D

the character everyone gets wrong

Beren is actually very cool and funny and excellent, thank you for coming to my talk.

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Fucking Glorfindel. I didn't care about him much beyond going "oh he's kinda cool" when I read the book, but the fact that to this day you still come across people BAWWWing because Arwen took his place in the film, and now I also have to deal with people going "omg will Glorfindel be in ROP????" oh my GOD STOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

The general acceptance of Sauron as a fire elemental spirit seems misplaced to me. Yes, there are various associations, literally and figuratively, but I don't think the narrative inextricably connects him with fire in the same way as, say, the Balrogs. I think, really, if he was to be bound to any element, being a follower of Aulë, it should probably be the earth. But I also think fandom can be a bit too laser-focused on trying to assign elements to the Maiar. Some definitely have a strong elemental link, like Uinen or Arien, but then you've got ones like Melian or Olórin, who don't. And I think trying to shoehorn a character as chameleonic as Sauron into a single elemental box, it seems quite... limiting.

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I already answered Thingol for this one before, but I'm going to take the opportunity to pimp for another and say Meleth. She's not unpopular in the sense that she's disliked, but I just see hardly anything about her (maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places). But I think she deserves more love! This is wee!Eärendil's nurse who told him that if he was naughty, Morgoth would come and get him. Woman is out there equating Melkor, He Who Arises in Might, the Great Foe, the Marrer of Arda, to Randall from Monsters, Inc.!! She's brilliant. XD

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

So I ranted in a previous post about the trend of making clever characters stupid, so I'll spare you all that one again. (Seriously, though. WHY?)

Apart from that? Omegaverse. With just about anything else out there I can think "okay, it's not my thing, but I think I can see what its fans enjoy." With that, though, I genuinely do not see the appeal.

part of canon you found tedious or boring

I have been stuck on this question for days, because out of all my fandoms, I genuinely couldn't think of any stand-out bit of tedium. Fuck it, I even stan "Of Beleriand and its Realms." XD There must be something, but my brain is empty.

So I'm going to have to say that all the overlong action sequences in the second two Hobbit films do leave me extremely cold, and are a big part of the reason why I only watch them occasionally, but that's a fairly common opinion, and not exactly choosing violence. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

The incredible brot3 that is Maedhros, Bór and Azaghâl! Mostly because this fandom forgets that Maedhros interacts with anyone other than fucking Fingon, BUT I DIGRESS. Again, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places, but c'mon!!! Think of the shenanigans!!!

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[verecunda]

for the choose violence asks (omg this sounds GREAT), 6, 12 and 24 please! :D :D :D

Still creeping my way through these. 😅 But eheheh, thanks! <3

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Does this mean which particular ship has the most annoying fans? Because in that case, I think the lunatic fringe of the Johnlock fandom will always carry away the dubious trophy for that one. Though I think they went beyond "annoying" and into "genuinely insane"...

But in the sense of "which species of ship fans" - well, that'll always be the ones who get so laser-focused on their ship that they forget that the canon is not actually The Saga of A/B's Epic Love, and that their headcanons are not, in fact, the actual story, then go and lose their absolute shit when canon does something else (bonus points if that something else was clearly telegraphed from the outset).

Did I overthink the wording of this one? Possibly.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Thingol. Because he's a complex character, who does do bad things but also good things - often as a result of having learned his lesson from doing the bad things. But mostly because he can crack a stupid joke, and appreciate stupid jokes made by others. How can you not like him for that?

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

In Tolkien fandom generally, the question of what happens when a female character is in opposition to the male fandom faves. It makes me want to hit people over the head with a copy of Vindication of the Rights of Women.

When it comes to ROP in particular, the presence of characters with skin darker than the average Milky Bar. Holy shit, the Tolkien fandom really revealed its grotty underbelly with that one.

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

[verecunda]

choose violence asks: 10, 13, and 18, please?

Thanks! :D

10. worst part of fanon

ahahahaaaaaa, how am I meant to choose? 😭😭

I think, in the main, the kind of fanon that drives me most bonkers is the kind that goes directly against what is explicitly depicted in canon. I'm not talking about things that are up for interpretation, I'm talking things that are there in black and white.

To use a particularly annoying case: Maeglin being this poor, neglected outcast in Gondolin. That is the absolute opposite of what we have in canon. The book goes out of its way to tell us that he's held in high favour by Turgon and that he has charisma and expertise that allows him to amass followers of his own... but he still goes and does all of that. There are two different kinds of tragedy being mixed up here, but only one of them is actually what's in the book. And it's annoying because it gets in the way of actually discussing the book. I want to talk about the Silmarillion! Not this random woobie story you've made up.

13. worst blorboficiation

Toss-up between Melkor and Sauron - and that's speaking as someone who loves both characters. The himbofication and imbecilification of Melkor is such a monumental pain in the arse and I've ranted about it many a time, because I DO NOT UNDERSTAND why people love to make characters stupid. Especially when they're portrayed as clever and cunning. WHY? WHAT IS THE POINT?

But I think I feel the woobification of Sauron on a more personal level. Like, no. He's my fave precisely because he's a horror and he's having the time of his life! HE WORKED HARD ON HIS EVILTUDE, dammit. Why are you trying to take that away from him????? YOU DON'T LOVE HIM LIKE I DO.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

The glorious potential of Celebrimbor/Finrod as a ship. You'll see!!! One day, you'll all see!!!!! *maniacal laughter*

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥