#consuming AND creating!

[whalesfall]

btw. your search for the most morally upright and ethical piece of media that has the most correct “representation” will destroy your ability to find the most profound and beautiful and human of stories. and may even destroy the stories themselves before they are created. if you even care.

#the search for the Ideal Representation is both unattainable and soul-crushing. childrens cartoons moral codes are not #the best way to judge a piece of media #and the stories created by the very people in the communities that are most silenced are always the first ones to be #targeted for their Problematic Factors #as if any story can properly encapsulate the breadth of every complex human experience in one go #something isn't inherently deserving of being reduced to Irredeemable Media status just because you cannot personally relate to it #on the other hand approaching every single story as if its only value is its Shipping Status and how you can #incorporate it into your identity (and stake your Moral Uprightness based on how Ethically you consume said media) #is not necessarily any better. but different post is needed. #aughhhh bite bite chomp kill

[rollercoasterwords]

the tiktokification of ao3

or: some of you fundamentally misunderstand ao3 and it really, really shows

i was talking about this with a friend a few days ago and since then i've seen multiple posts of various sorts that have just made me think about it more, so. here is me breaking down a disconnect i see particularly with younger members of the marauders fandom (i say marauders specifically just bc that's the only one i'm plugged into):

okay, so i've seen many (usually younger) marauders fans either talking online about how they wish ao3 was more like social media (specifically regarding algorithms) OR talking about ao3/fanfiction/fanfic writers as if they are operating under the same etiquette/guidelines/assumptions they would bring into social media platforms. this ranges from being mildly irritating to genuinely harmful, and i want to talk abt why.

first - you have to understand that social media, in this day and age, exists in a profit economy. and when i say social media here, i'm referring to platforms like tiktok, twitter, instagram, etc. all of these platforms exist in a profit economy where content is a product that can be monetized. this leads to a few important distinctions:

people posting on these social media platforms are generally posting with the intent to get their content seen by as many people as possible, as quickly as possible

they post with this intent because once their content is consumed by enough people, it becomes a product that they can monetize

therefore, if that content gets popular enough, these people can become influencers, where content creation is an actual job and their audience are, in a sort of vague and obscured way, similar to consumers purchasing a product

because of the profit economy surrounding social media, there are certain assumptions + forms of interaction that bleed across almost all social media platforms. the ones relevant to this little essay include:

operating under the assumption that anyone posting anything on the internet wants to go viral, ie. be seen by as many people as possible as quickly as possible in order to grow an "audience"

these influencers are creating content for us, their audience, so they should want to please us. they should also be trying to appeal to the broadest possible audience. therefore, if we dislike their content, we have a right to make that very, very clear.

in that same vein, we have a general right to critique content creators, as they are making a profit and we are the consumers purchasing their product--much like you might feel entitled to a certain standard of service in a restaurant where you are paying for the food.

when you carry these assumptions over to a platform like ao3, it creates problems. why? in a nutshell: because ao3 exists outside the profit economy

ao3 is a non-profit. it does not have an algorithm because it is not trying to sell you anything. this means that the writers posting their work on ao3 are not making a profit. we are not influencers. we are not creating monetized content to sell to a consumer-audience. where consuming content on other social media platforms might be comparable to eating at a restaurant, reading fanfiction on ao3 is more like coming over to someone's house and eating cookies that they made for free. you are in their house. the cookies are free, given as a gift. so what happens when those assumptions outlined above start to bleed over from other social media?

assuming that anyone posting fanfiction online wants their work to go viral -- i've seen this with popular fic writers getting questions like, "are you worried x isn't going to be as popular as y?" those questions are usually not ill-intended, but they demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about why writers post work on ao3. it's not to go viral. it's not to build any sort of online following. most of us who post on ao3 have jobs or schoolwork or other commitments, and writing fanfiction is something done for fun, out of a love for writing. those sharing their work online might be seeking community, but that is fundamentally different from seeking an audience, and in no way involves internet virality. if someone is posting fanfic on ao3 with the hope that it'll "go viral," then they likely either won't continue writing fanfic for long or will reach a point where they have to re-evalute their motivations, because seeking joy and validation by turning your art into a product for consumption just isn't very sustainable.

influencers are creating content for us, so we have a right to let them know if we don't like it -- nope!! fic writers are not influencers. yes, even the popular ones. no matter how much other people might blow their work up on social media, fic writers are still outside the profit economy. they are not creating content for an audience. they are not creating content for you. they are writing because they love it, and they are generously sharing it. if you don't like it, don't interact with it. you are never entitled to loudly and publicly proclaim how much you dislike a fic. i talk about this more here

we have a general right to critique fic writers, the same way we do with content creators/influencers -- again, no. you should not be treating fic writers the way you would treat an influencer on another social media platform, no matter how popular they may be. this is not to say fic writers are beyond all reproach; rather, it is a call-in to check your entitlement. fic writers are not little jesters entertaining in your court. they are not subject to your whims. they do not have to do things for you. they do not have to write things you like. in that post i linked on point 2, i talk about what etiquette might look like if you're really concerned that a fic writer is doing something harmful, but that is not what i'm talking about here. i am talking about the proliferation of negativity i have seen, especially on twitter and tiktok, where people essentially just talk shit about fics or fic writers as though they are entitled to have those fic writers working to please them. this is gross, and it needs to stop. you wouldn't go over to someone's house, eat the cookies they baked to share, and then spit those cookies back in their face and start shouting about what a shitty baker they are. or maybe you would--in which case, congratulations! you are Not A Good Person.

anyway, at the end of the day, a lot of this can be boiled down to: Because ao3 exists outside the profit economy, fic writers are not influencers, and you should never be treating them as though they are. i think i see this disconnect largely with younger people just because they've maybe only ever really understood social media within this sort of influencer-consumer-culture economy, and genuinely don't understand how to interact differently with the internet. so, consider this post a call-in to reevaluate the way you interact with fic writers and the etiquette you use when it comes to engaging with fanfic on ao3! i promise that ao3 being different from social media is a very, very good thing, and also a very, very rare thing, so let's treasure it and focus on fostering community rather than trying to morph it to fit the mould of influencer-audience dynamics that we see almost everywhere else <3

#tldr: fic writers aren't influencers #stop acting like they are #it only creates problems!!!! #anyway if you have engaged in some of these behaviors that doesn't make u a bad person #it just means u should maybe shift ur perspective moving forward #capitalism is a lifeless desert that grows every day and ao3 is a little oasis #let's all enjoy it while we can #instead of trying to place it within a consumer economy #ranting and raving #txt

[marisatomay]

i’m so sick of writers who proudly proclaim that they don’t read and directors and actors and other filmmakers who smugly say that they rarely watch movies or any artist who acts like an audience is stupid for connecting with their work like what the fuck is wrong with you that you hold such contempt such derision for the art that you have chosen to make the art that so many people dream of the opportunity to make the art that brings meaning and connection to people’s lives it’s unbelievably disrespectful to both your audience and the art-form and if you can’t muster basic respect for either your art-form or your audience then kindly fuck off and do something else

#i hate how rare it is to have an actor be like ‘yeah i just really love movies and going to the movies it’s the best i love what i do’ #to the point where when an actor or director IS like that people are like ‘wow what a freak…they’re faking it for attention’ like!! no!! #that’s what it’s SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE!! you WANT creators who are obsessed with their medium!!! #and what gets me about the people who don’t feel that way is the clear Pride they feel like they’re Better for not caring #that uk ya author adapting the odyssey and admitting that they’ve never read the odyssey or the iliad #that writer on twitter saying that telling writers to read is ableist #the russo brothers saying that the theatrical experience is elitist and auteurism should bow to the disney/netflix model #christain bale and any number of other actors who proudly announce that they don’t watch movies #sam levinson who talks about tv like it’s a long movie because he can’t hack it as a filmmaker like his dad but he doesn’t actually LIKE tv #like i get not wanting to consume your own work after it’s released unless it’s for research or self reflection purposes #but you do not exist or create in a vacuum and it’s SO disrespectful and arrogant to act like you do

[dollopheadedmerlin]

If you ever feel unproductive creatively because you keep reading instead of writing, keep watching shows and movies instead of making your own, keep consuming art instead of creating it, just remember that you are awarding someone else's creativity! You are putting worth into your fellow artist's productivity! There is no waste in that!

#mine #you can always finish yoir wip later #and consuming art of the same type as what you create #can help you brainstorm #i remember when i felt like my writing states to sound meh #and i was like whyyyy??? #and then i realized i hadn't read anything by anyone else in months #and after reading a bit it went back to my usual quality! #which i think is good so hopefully it is lol

[mxtxfanatic]

Ever think about how the author of PIDW transmigrated into his most nothing character who only existed to push the protagonist on the “right” path to popularity before dying? Ever think about how he transmigrated into that character from their birth, completely deleting that person from existence, while his own existence as the creator of the world he now inhabits is so thoroughly erased that we readers only know his “real name” as the character’s name? How the only name he carries over from his first life is a shortened version of his innuendo pen name? As if his existence as a person is nothing next to being the author, which is only marginally less nothing by virtue of the job’s one purpose: to make sure a story is following the “right” path to popularity before dying to enshrine that fame/infamy amongst readers?

No? Just me? Ok…

#svsss #human metas mxtx #something something the complete lack of regard for creators of famous works #where in some people’s minds they only exist to create content to be consumed #but are not themselves real people #just a name on a page with no meaning or significance #something something #people get on the fact that sy takes ‘too well’ to pidw #but we know the man’s original name #we know the makeup of his family #we know his class status and that he didn’t go to college #we don’t even know sqh’s name #I don’t think HE knows his original name anymore

[m0th-g0th0]

I have another piece of translation trivia for you pathologic nutsos

In English, on the night of day 3, Artemy can mention to Lara that he "Served as a medic for a while", refering to his brief military service.

*extremely incorrect loud buzzer*

He doesn't say "medic", or even "combat medic" in Russian. He uses the word Фельдшер, or Feldsher, which is a very specific thing.

A Feldsher is (or rather was) a mid-level (that is, without university education) medical practitioner. They don't have the same authority as doctors, but can perform certain operations or diagnostics. Historically, it was a non-combative position in the Russian Army and fleet. They even made a labor union in 1905!

It gives historical context to the entire setting, because Feldshers are mostly assossiated with the late 19th to early 20th century - the term is anachronistic (I guess that's why it was omitted in English) Edit: The term is still generally used in Russia, as pointed out in the comments, though the current and historical meaning are slightly different. We still have some Feldshers in Poland, as the only country in the EU where that position is legally recognized.

It also makes so much sense, given Artemy's situation - he never finished university but did have some prior knowlegde, so it would be reasonable for him to serve, as it was a common practice back then.

#pathologic #pathologic 2 #artemy burakh #мор утопия #evey day means more hatered towards the english translation of this game #but its also so fun to discover all that #by discover i mean doing the bare minimum of consuming art as it was intended by the creator #without filtering it through the lense of a different language #which creates a completely new and often wrong understanding of the source material #girls when they learn a new language just to experience art in its purest form

[dimeadozencows]

I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before

I put my lips to the hands of the man who killed my son

#deltarune #gaster #deltarune player #i love still headcanoning gaster as sans and papyrus's dad despite knowing that he saw everything that happened in undertale (including #the no mercy route) and seeing how friendly he is with us in deltarune #you would think he'd hate us and want do nothing to do with us or to hurt us but. he wants to create a new future with us. #he thinks that our search for him is a wonderful thing. he thinks we created a wonderful form. hes thankful for our time. #knowing this while still believing he's the father of characters we've killed makes him such an interesting character #we know he's tied to undertale so regardless of if he's actually their dad or not we have hurt people he knows #and he still treats us with so much care #i love this guy. i wanna know him already #this was fully inspired by a gorgeous drawing by WolfyTheWitch on twitter #of. actual priam jskdjdk #this was drawn using my poor poor pilot pens during classes over three days. i need to buy new ones now lol #i need to use this technique more often #its super time consuming but it looks so cool. and the paper has such an interesting texture now :]]] #i also LOVE drawing gasters hands all melting and barely even like hands #and brown paper packages tied up with string #my art #*i edited this a bit in digital i forgot to mention that gdjdjfk

[millennialgrandma]

stop!! referring!! to everything!! as CONTENT!!

#i fucking hate it #oh my god i hate it so goddamn fucking much #call it media call it art call it by its goddamn name #but stop calling fanworks content #stop calling fanart content #stop calling things that are clearly created for enjoyment and enrichment fucking 'content' #they are meant to be enjoyed not consumed

[spif-lol]

Reasons why the simpsons hit and run stream is jerma's best stream

it's ELEVEN HOURS LONG

you get to witness his slow descent into madness as he insists on playing the whole game in one sitting

I can watch it when i replay the game, would recommend makes it way more enjoyable

he spends too much time doing really bad impressions trying to copy voice lines for the game and yelling "HIRE ME IM AVAILABLE"

He decides to confess half an hour in that he knows nothing about the simpsons and has only seen like one or two episodes

this is ten minutes after he references a specific episode, and then proceeds to get told off for 'spoiling' an episode of the simpsons (from like 1995) by chat

Chat also somehow manages to convince him that ten year old boy Bart Simpson's famous catchphrase from everyone's favourite family animated tv show is 'eat ass'

In general it switches between him refusing to believe things people tell him about the game despite being true and falling for obvious lies

he starts the game going 'lol wouldnt it be funny if you could run over simpsons characters' and then jokingly drives towards civillians thinking they'll jump out of the way. they go flying. he is so confused

the dissonance between early and later parts of the stream are palpable. It turns from a cheerful and lighthearted exploration of a funny simpsons game that he refuses to take seriously or accept that it could genuinely make him angry, and transforms into a desperate race against time, his computer and his own hubris as he seeks simply to finish the game so he can sleep. This stream destroys him.

the way the stream highlights are named on his youtube is hilarious. "Jerma will not get angry at the simpson's hit and run" -> "Jerma might get a bit angry at the simpson's hit and run" -> "d'oh"

it's extremely funny how many time he's convinced he's in the last level of the game, only to be wrong. the first time he thinks that is in the first section and hour of the stream

easily his most rewatchable stream (this is gonna cover a lot of dot points)

the amount of tragic irony and foreshadowing in this stream is almost cinematic.

at the very start of the game he complains about the music being too loud and monologues about sounds and over stimulation of game music bothers him, which of course will be very funny in the finale

he also comments a few time at the start about how annoying homer's random voice lines are, and says 'oh god he's gonna repeat that a thousand times before the end of this game'. he's right, and it nearly drives him crazy by the final mission

speaking of the final mission(s), the second time he has to transport the toxic sludge from power plant to the school he like pauses the game and very seriously addresses chat like 'alright tell me right now are the next three levels also me driving the nuclear waste to the school that cant be possible right'. and then just accepting in defeat that that is in fact how this incredibly stupid and difficult children's game finishes

when he first races against the malibu stacy car and gets destroyed he gets mad and says he wishes he could drive that car. then when he gets to drive it in later levels he quickly decides its his favourite and maintains that until the end of the game

on rewatch... you hear him audibly crack open a can that chat demands he prove to them is soft drink and not alcohol like A WHOLE HOUR before The Incident and it's a little like watching a disaster movie where you see the characters laughing and having fun little knowing how they are being hastened towards their own doom... like chat keeps bugging him about it, he keeps making excuses, he keeps sipping the drink. they bring attention to it so much and you listen to it just knowing the pain that is yet to come. dramatic irony at its finest and most heartache inducing

15. ohmyfucking gaaaawd no! no... god... ICANDOITINAJUMP! ..... BART. WHERE IS HE??? BAAART!!!! AAAUUGH

16. actually fr there's a lot of memorable jerma lines in this stream, rewatching it is like watching a jerma funny moment compilation

17. the final couple of levels where he is getting steadily more overwhelmed to the point of ferality, and then he says he has an idea and goes to the sound menu and turns everything off. voice lines. music. sound effects. and then we watch him play the level in complete silence. and it actually helps him focus its really funny

18. the whole tragic sequence where he is in the FINAL LEVEL. he has played it so many times and just missed it by a few seconds. he is tired. he is hungry. he just wants to get off stream and eat a BURGER. he is focussing as hard as he can. he is almost there. he runs over too many things and the police are after him. but its okay. he's doing it! he's gonna make it!!! he gets to the school with time to spare and is sucked up into the end of the game beam. it's over. except then the police get sucked into the beam as well. he gets arrested in the beam. which teleports him and the car out of the beam. WHICH MEANS THE TIMER RUNS OUT AND HE LOSES. so he has to do it all over again. it's actually so so so funny and also something i think i personally wouldn't survive if i was in jerma's position in that moment

19. okay we have to talk about The Incident. bc i already alluded to it and bc like, i couldn't not talk about it. as stated above Jerma cracks open a can so you can hear it and chat immediately accuses him of being an alcoholic. he adamantly insists that it is a soft drink not a beer but they refuse to believe him unless he proves it by showing camera. he's playing on a modded ps2 pc port or whatever of the simpsons so it's a complicated setup and he explains that it would be too hard and also he's shirtless so they will just have to believe without seeing. chat continues to harass him while he goes on to play the game, specifically most of the lisa level. he laughs it off but eventually caves, gets up and get a blanket to cover himself and then alt tabs, holds his can up to the camera and says 'alright you satisfied? that might have just fucked up the game'. so then he tries to tab back into the game and it. crashes. hard. so hard that the game won't actually turn back on. so jerma's cursing and fiddling with the controls and saying its over. then it finally reboots and the game works and he's so relieved and it loads and he realises that he has lost SO MUCH PROGRESS. he's back at the start of the lisa section. this is truly the turning point of the game where it goes from being a fun experience to a nightmare gauntlet

20. on a related note: jerma waiting with bated breath *sound of simpsons game booting back up after refusing to for far too long* jerma: yeeeAAAAAH

21. im watching it right now as i replay, which is why im thinking about it obv. so i will almost certainly have more to add to this

#jerma #obviously jerma dollhouse and so on streams are probably the most iconic but simpsons hit and run is like #wonderful in a completely unplanned way #I'm also partial to his house flipper streams #if just for the bits and being a space for jerma to create the most insane things imaginable with only the slightest prompting from chat #vaguely unrelated: when my housemate got home and saw me playing simpsons hit and run while #rewatching jerma's stream at the same time they said that think if someone analysed my brain #and exposed a different brain to my content consuming process their brain would explode #so mean.... #i was also listening to one of the jay eazy megaman remixes at the same time. my awesome mind

[thespectral-wolf]

Hello PLA fandom, I'm probably late by a year and also never played a single Pokemon game in my life, but I decided that that won't stop me from drawing stuff

#pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon rei #trainer rei #rowlet #hisuian decidueye #pla #my works #so yeah even though my only experience with this game is watching two let's plays #and consuming whatever the fandom created #it has been taking up my thoughts for the past year or so #and I've been too self conscious about posting drawings bc I've been sticking to one fandom for so long #but going to get out of that mentality this is my blog I can post whatever

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage

#kingdom hearts 0.2 birth by sleep a fragmentary passage #kh0.2 #darkside #heartless #realm of darkness #my gif #i really do wish to learn more about these heartless #they're huge and intimidating although never particularly strong yet they still feel so significant #i'd like to think they're more than what they seem and are not just a reoccurring boss #waiting for the possibility to learn info on a very specific thing for an ongoing 20+ year old game series... agonizing #the fact that only this kind of heartless can create a giant evil ball of energy in the sky that consumes worlds means SOMETHING right? #whenever we have to fight one the camera always zooms out through the empty heart shaped chest cavity and i want that to Mean Something

[barblaz-arts]

Vega saying this is not the time for your passionate declarations of love to wednesday makes me wonder what all she has witnessed and if wednesday and enid really did become as bad as gomez and morticia

No, not really.

Other people's interpretation that Wednesday becomes as physically intimate as her parents are great and I enjoy seeing them as the viewer/reader, but I personally dont like to characterize Wednesday all too similarly to Gomez or Morticia when it comes to love. It always comes down to what Wednesday would do for me, and for me Wednesday wouldn't be shamelessly making out with Enid in public like Gorticia do 💀

And what with how insufferable it made Wednesday feel and how similar Vega is to herself, Wednesday doesn't let the physical stuff get too heavy when Vega's there to see it either. They kiss of course and all that jazz, but nothing less than wholesome if they can help it. Stuff like that are reserved for when there's no one else to see.

What Wednesday does not hold back on, however, is her words. My characterization of canon(or close to canon) age Wednesday is that she's an absolute tsundere, but as the years pass and Wednesday comes to accept that she's actually capable of love and desires to be good at loving, she no longer, ahem, poisoncoats her words. She will express her love for Enid when the need or feeling arises and, as a writer, she has many words in her arsenal for it. She will not be misunderstood, and her love for Enid would never be something she wants doubted by anyone.

#asks #sorry i feel ive often expressed deviating from most of fandom's interpretations #and i have to clarify that this does not mean that i want others to stop how they do their characterizations #i enjoy them as a consumer #i just prefer things a certain way #when it comes to content i myself create

[multiverse-of-multifandoms]

#well the rhaenicent brainrot has consumed me #mind body and soul #and now has forced me to create fpr the first time #alicent hightower #rhaenyra targaryen #rhaenicent #house of the dragon

[i-have-zero-chill]

this fandom will really take some innocuous thing that Ryan said in an interview and absolutely run with it as evidence that Eddie is gonna call Buck his brother and buddie will be ruined forever with a single line of dialogue that we don’t even know exists yet. my god have y’all tried just enjoying things? or like have you ever tried being chill?

#buddie #911 abc #mine #I’m not here to police the way people consume content but Jesus #how can you have any fun under these conditions you’ve created?

[rhiannons-bird]

I made some ChoT memes

#there’s people who do this better than me but I ran out of content to consume so I had to create my own #chain of thorns #chot #chain of thorns spoilers #chot spoilers #the last hours #meme #james herondale #jesse blackthorn #rupert blackthorn #christopher lightwood #Thomastair #cordelia carstairs #matthew fairchild #alastair carstairs #thomas lightwood #tsc memes

[nubimera]

Me, waiting patiently for new content about Ezra

#I admit I'm the worst kind of fan because I have no talent and therefore can't participate in creating new content #so I consume every ff and fan art I find but don't do anything else #but I swear I love every writer and artist in this fandom so please give me anything you have on ezra Bridger #and I will give you a kiss #ezra bridger #ezra Bridger sw #ahsoka #star wars #sw #ezra Bridger x reader #mor #sabine wren #ahsoka spoilers