#tenet fan fiction

[ossidae-passeridae]

4. What’s the worst part of fanon? 😈

Question from here

That'd be the implicit racism thanks for asking!

A non snappy response, aka to explain what I mean by that:

A lot of fanon tropes implicitly reinforce a very white, America-centric POV, and in a universe like the GFFA which lies somewhere between heavily Asian-inspired and gloriously multicultural, that really rubs me the wrong way. (To clarify upfront: it is not racist or whatever to enjoy these tropes or to write them, but it worries me when people don't even seem to realise it)

An obvious, innocuous-seeming example is the tendency to use 'Ben' instead of Obi-Wan's actual name in AUs — especially when others' names (Anakin, Mace, Cody, etc) aren't changed as well. The biggest difference between those names and Obi-Wan's is that Obi-Wan's is obviously Asian inspired, and theirs aren't. It's not something I expect most people even think about! But it always leaves a sinking feeling in my chest.

(Obviously if, like in canon, Obi-Wan is using Ben as a pseudonym while in hiding that's a very different kettle of fish.)

A larger example is how incredibly common it is to cast the Jedi as space-Christians — some common examples being focus on tenets (the Jedi Code, which is a meditation mantra, not a rulebook), the pervasive Catholic Guilt which is very explicitly Christian in nature, the emphasis on worship as ritual rather than a state to work towards, the generalised "all organised religion must be Bad" sentiments that feel very specifically ex-Christian in nature.

Thinking about one's own religion and expressing thoughts through fiction/art isn't an issue in and of itself.

The thing is, the Jedi are explicitly based on Asian Buddhists. Not just in set dressing, but from the ground up, from their beliefs and the way they act, to their clothing to the structure of their temple — to strip that away is to remove what makes the Jedi the Jedi. It's to remove the Asian-ness and replace it with something predominantly white. It implies that Asian influence shouldn't or can't exist in the GFFA, or that there's something inferior or wrong about Buddhism that needs to be "fixed".

Again this isn't something where I think that fan authors are sitting there going "muhahaha I'm going to be RACIST today", I know that's not what's happening. But when so much Jedi-centric content being produced minimises the Asian influence and pushes a western one, it starts to say "there's something wrong with this group, we're trying to erase it because there shouldn't be representation at all" — an issue of scale, at its core.

(Then ofc there's all the "the Jedi steal babies" and "the Jedi ban emotions" and "the Jedi need to be destroyed" which, entirely separate from the above, if you replace 'Jedi' with 'Buddhists' I'm kind of starting to wonder why you hate Asian people/Asian religions, you know?)

I won't even get into the fanon surrounding the clones, because that'd require me to talk about KT far more than I'd like to on any day, but especially today 🤣

(All opinions expressed above are solely those of pass e. ridae and do not express the views or opinions of any affiliates or associates, passerine or otherwise)

#dae asks #star wars #jedi order #racism #as always a single person doing x is not the issue #it's the fandom as a whole doing the thing that can make it more :/ #I don't think people can't or shouldn't write what they like #I just ask that they think about it first! I sure do every time I start a new fic

[creature-wizard]

The deal with New Age, in a nutshell

New Age, neopaganism, and witchcraft are neither synonymous nor mutually inclusive. Anyone who says they are either hasn’t done their research, or is lying to you.

New Age comes from Theosophy, a movement started by Helena Blavatsky, a white woman whose mission was ostensibly to seek out the perennial philosophy in the world’s religions. However, plenty of evidence points to Blavatsky being less than honest.

Helena Blavatsky was racist as fuck. She presumed to know what the traditions of non-white people were about better than they did themselves. She also wasn’t shy about referring to POC as s*v*ges. Some of her fans claim that she wasn’t actually racist because she had positive things to say about some POC, but she was basically painting them as pure and uncorrupted by civilization, so... still racist.

She was also into that gender essentialism that TERFs love oh so much - for example, she claimed that the goats of Thor’s chariot represented male power, while the reins that held them in place represented the female principle. Because, you know, women are passive yet restrain men from running absolutely wild.

Seriously if you have any doubt that this woman’s mind was full of rancid garbage, just flip through Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine for yourself; they’re literally free online.

The term “New Age” refers to what Helena Blavatsky called the Fifth Round (supposedly, we’re currently in the Fourth Round). Basically she believed that humanity is on a path of spiritual evolution, and that we’re about to enter a new phase in our evolution. This right here is the core tenet of New Age belief.

Entering the Fifth Round basically entails most of humanity dying off, leaving behind those enlightened (particularly by Blavatsky’s teachings) enough to become the fifth root race; IE, the progenitors of the next wave of humanity.

This is literally spiritual eugenics.

Helena Blavatsky didn’t invent Nazism but boy howdy did Nazis love her ideas, which should tell you a lot about what she peddled.

Like any other religious movement, New Age has evolved over time and not all members believe the exact same things. However, they pretty much all believe that getting on the spiritual evolution train means following their practices and subscribing to their beliefs.

Modern New Agers still perpetuate colonialism by presuming to understand what other people’s religious traditions are about better than they do.

Modern New Agers are huge fans of the ancient aliens hypothesis, which has always been racist bullshit.

So yeah, it’s still spiritual eugenics, and it’s still racist as hell.

They are constantly spiritualizing health conditions. Like being tired and sad all the time is supposedly an “ascension symptom.” Tinnitus is supposedly the universe trying to communicate with you. Symptoms of autism and ADHD supposedly mean you’re a starseed, indigo child, crystal child, or whatever else.

Starseeds, supposedly, are alien beings who have incarnated into human bodies in order to help Earth ascend by spreading New Age teachings. Basically, they’re missionaries from space.

New Agers claim starseeds were attested in many ancient traditions (especially Egyptian and Mesoamerican), but not a single one of them can produce a single scrap of evidence to substantiate this. (Literally the oldest text I’ve ever been able to locate that contains anything resembling a starseed is The Martian, an 1898 fiction novel.)

See how the racism just keeps compounding?

New Age is deeply tied into right wing conspiracy theories. The New Age to alt right pipeline is well-documented phenomena.

New Agers push spiritual bypassing and toxic positivity like whoa nelly. Some of them are worse about it than others, but it’s an extremely common thing.

A lot of them believe in what’s in The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean (not to be confused with The Emerald Tablet), a text that popped up in the early 20th century and claims a guy from Atlantis took over Egypt and taught them Atlantean spirituality. (This is very much in contradiction to what Plato said about Atlantis and Egypt, btw.)

New Agers are deeply into the Law of Attraction, which derives from New Thought, which is basically what happens when a bunch of rich fucks who don’t understand economics decide to spiritualize wealth.

And of course, there are the SCAMS. New Age is absolutely rife with scams, from people selling chunks of glass as powerful crystals for hundreds of dollars (the so-called “Andara crystals”), to people claiming to have “ancient wisdom” or “Native wisdom” they just made up, to all kinds of medical scams.

So yeah, no, there’s no good reason to respect New Age beliefs, because they are rancid.

#new age #new agers #helena blavatsky #aliens #ancient aliens #extraterrestrials #starseeds #spiritual eugenics #atlantis #religion #spirituality #mysticism #perennial philosophy

[agnesmontague]

new rule in my house: regardless of your physical age if your carrd or bio contains shit pertaining to grassless online fiction discourse like proship dni or [x character fans] dni or anything indicating you're invested in that wank as like. a bonafide political stance or core tenet of your beliefs you are automatically banished to the kids table. no adult conversations for you before you shed that shit like a phase. i never again want to see some 23 year old minor running their mouth about eugenics in north korea while believing someone reading wincest on ao3 is disintegrating the fabric of our society 

#rambles

[al-the-remix]

Years pass but people still remain gross about WAGs. And now they dress it up with “intellectual” terms like industrial complex and post-colonial supremacist whatchamacallit. Give me the messy puck bunny blogs at least they’re open about hating WAGs.

Yeah, I can't say I have many complex things to say on the topic, except that that dialogue has been in this fandom forever (all fandoms forever; tumblr, the birthplace of the 'not-like-other-girls-girl') but it's especially bad in rpf and I'm exhausted of reading the same tired iterations on "well, I could NEVER understand how another woman could live like that--" STOP. Just stop it, it's not your life, and it's likely never going to be your life, for all the aforementioned unfair reasons. You don't have to compare yourselves to them constantly. It doesn't make you lesser or them better for being (presumably) born into a more privileged circumstance and it doesn't make them lesser and you better for achieving some enlightened pearl of knowledge.

The puck bunny blogs irk me just as much, and if you find one better than the other I guess it's more a question of what rolls your stomach more: spite or smugness. But in my opinion, calling Kathy an ageing escort that Sid pitty dates is just as nauseating as talking down your nose about her like she's some ignorant waif that cant make her own decisions about her life or her relationship.

Yes, the NHL is an intrinsically racist, misogynistic, homophobic, capitalist, fatphobic--and all the other bad terrible things--nightmare creature whose ailment runs all the way up to the giant sucking malignancy attached to its heart that is Garry Bettman and Bill Dayley, and further, to the executives that they shill for, and even further back to the time period, tenets, and culture that the sport was founded on. Remember, this is the same organization whose administrative and players (retired and current) repeatedly spit in the face of their teammates who've suffered chronic and debilitating injuries, and continue to mock journalists and veterans who try to bring those issues to the forefront, stating that the injury is worth it to win -- (or that the possibility of injury is worth it, considering these comments so often come from players that are still relatively hale).

Hmmm, sounds incredibly familiar to the position the NHL takes on another rampant issue in the sport: sexual assault.

There's a reason why the NHL is falling behind in popularity (and in value) compared to other sports organisations and it's because they cling to their archaic values and methods and flat-out refuse to let them go -- and thus attract players and administrative and fans who find all that entails appealing. It's not everyone in the sport obviously but it's a large enough faction to keep things stagnant -- just go take a look at Ian Kenedy's twitter page and start scrolling through the replies to his tweets if you want a taste of what we're up against here.

If you want to do anything, ANYTHING AT ALL to help improve the hockey culture, there are multiple avenues to explore that might actually make a difference --first of all getting involved in your community not just the internet community-- in chipping away at who this game attracts, how they see themselves, how they see others, how they see hockey players, and how those hockey players see themselves and others. Those avenues do not include dunking on wags. I get it, they all look the same, haha. it's weird, their children and husbands can't tell them apart, hahaha. There, I said it too and now I never have to hear that fucking joke again. Move ON.

I understand that the lines between reality and fiction can blur easily when it comes to rpf, but making actually, completely serious judgements on other people's private emotional lives and relationships is completely out of the realm of reality. You can't know, you can never know completely. It can be difficult enough to identify these things when it comes to a friend or a family member how are you possibly going to make a pronouncement that someone's relationship is stale or without intimacy or connection when literally have no idea who they really are? I've been stalked and I've had people write fanfiction about me and I can 100% say that what they gleamed of who I was and what my life was like from the outside did not run true.

Analyzing those aspects and their intersexuality is worthwhile -- if anyone has an actual interest in these topics I suggest reading: Wille O'ree's biography, Bern Saunder's biography, Fred Sasakamoose's Call Me Indian, Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes by Darril and George Frosy, On Account of Darkness by Ian Kennedy, Why I didn't say anything by Sheldon Kennedy, Crossing The Line by Laura Robinson, Major Misconduct by Jeremy Allingham, Finding Murph by Rick Westhead -- There are more than that if you're willing to dig for them ... but especially after the back to back Kyle Beach and Hockey Cannada lawsuits I've just had it to up to here with the takes about the ~uwu poor hockey men~~ and their repressed homosexual longings and lack of overall male intimacy and companionship --- who do you think is doing said repressing?? THE HORRIBLE UWU MEN. (Said in exaggeration and jest but also not fucking really.) They are victims unto themselves. 99% refuse to speak up or do anything about the inequality, harassment, and overall intrinsic issues in the sport, the ones who bravely do are shunned by the others who refuse to help themselves or others. They don't see themselves as emotionally underdeveloped manchildren stranded on the frigid island of masculine solitude and arrested development. They like their lives, they don't care about what kind of impact that lifestyle has on other people (or on the environment or on the economy). They like their cookie-cutter world, conservative sandbox and comfortable wealthy liberalism... and most of all they like their hot blond skinny wives and they don't care what sort of social constructs have led to them pursuing a very specific type of woman. The vast majority of them have zero interest in having their eyes opened to a more complex and diverse worldview and it's not the fault of anyone but themselves, least of all the women who get pulled along in their wake.

#no offence to the ghost of andrea dworkin but I feel her possess me every time I'm forced to here a take like this #not that i claim to be in her league in literally anything only that the wags would benefit from living together all together in a lesbian #commune away from the internet experiencing bliss and many orgasms while the men are doomed to play out a pantomime of heterosexual sex #on the ice penetrating each other with their skate blades and sticks and shins and elbows night after night forever all the while grinning #and proclaiming it's all for the love of the game #im sure this is filled with spelling errors and mistakes but im tired and i tap out #ill be back when i have saved up enough energy for my next rant or someone posts a new picture of steve yzerman in the tag

[robins-egg-bindery]

Renegade Publishing & The Realities of Anti-Censorship

DISCLAIMER: I can only speak for myself and my own thoughts and opinions; I do not speak for Renegade, ASH, or anyone else. I am attempting to come at this from an objective viewpoint, insofar as any human is able to manage. No part of this is meant as an attack, but rather an open dialogue about community values.

We are a not-for-profit guild of fanbinders — publishing in extremely limited edition fannish works, including fanfiction, meta, original fic, zines, and other works. We are a transformative community connected by shared values, shared goals, shared work, and shared stories. We value fanfiction and fanwork in all its forms, and our fannish culture’s infinite diversity in infinite combinations.

-Excerpt from “Renegade Publishing Manifesto”

Renegade was founded by ArmoredSuperHeavy in 2020, following a viral post titled “I am a Guerrilla Publisher.” This post, along with his document “How To Make A Book”, found its way to like minded folks, spawned a community, and incited the modern fanbinding movement as it is seen today.

This community has since grown exponentially. It can be difficult to see Renegade as a whole, and by extension how vast it is, but here are some statistics to put it into perspective:

SNAPSHOT OF A YEAR (2022)

Typesetting/Binding Exchange: 33 typesetting participants, 41 bound fic participants, more than doubled from the previous year.

FFWAD (Fan Fiction Writer Appreciation Day): 34 books sent to 9 countries

Binderary: 156 books created in 2022. This year, 2023, we had 729 books created from 117 different fandoms.

Additionally, we have Renegade members on every continent (barring Antarctica). The Discord has risen to over 2,000 people, with the Renegade Publishing membership nearing 200. We are a guild of artists shaped by shared community values surrounding the ethos of fanbinding as a craft. Renegade as an organization is run by a volunteer group 40+ strong, with a code of conduct and rules written collectively; no one member or person holds any superior power over the group as a whole. Generalizations on a community this wide and this deep are misplaced and misrepresented.

I myself have been heavily involved in many of these volunteer efforts and events, in a mission to make Renegade’s resources visible and accessible to all, because I believe fanbinding on the whole will be richer and more fulfilling, the more people who are empowered to bind for themselves.

We bind for the following reasons:

To stand against censorship in any of its forms. Most of the books contain subject matter some people may find objectionable on various grounds. Some binders deliberately seek out works that authors and artists were persecuted online for creating.

-Excerpt from “Renegade Publishing Manifesto”

Renegade was founded on an anti-censorship tenet; it has been in our manifesto, our code of conduct, and the server rules since the community’s inception. What content any member chooses to bind is separate from Renegade, and solely their personal choice. Renegade does not content police, or pass any kind of official judgment on the content that anyone chooses to bind. If this sounds familiar, (and it should):

You understand that using the Archive may expose you to material that is offensive, triggering, erroneous, sexually explicit, indecent, blasphemous, objectionable, grammatically incorrect, or badly spelled.

You recognize that the OTW does not endorse Content on the Archive in any way, except when material appears as an official statement of the OTW. No committee members, officers, or directors of the OTW are acting in an official capacity when they post fanworks, commentary, or other Content of the type generally provided by site users.

This is a direct quote from the Terms of Service page for AO3. The Archive does not screen content; there is no content policing on AO3 and there never has been, never will be. The Archive was created specifically so there wouldn’t be any content policing, and was founded on the principle of protecting all fan works - and yes, this does include the content you may think shouldn’t exist, why would somebody write that, etc. If you find any content on AO3 unacceptable, for any reason (you find it offensive, triggering, disgusting, morally reprehensible, etc)...I’m sorry to tell you that it is indeed permitted on the Archive. Renegade is exactly, 100% the same in regards to this issue.

AO3 and Renegade take fandom as a whole - the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly. At the end of the day, it’s important to recognize that the Archive and Renegade both deliberately chose to keep their content open to all, even while knowing that doing so would essentially be opening Pandora’s Box.

If you disagree with this ethos, that is absolutely fine, as everyone should cultivate and curate their own experiences and spaces. The reality for me is that, whether or not I personally do/do not engage with or condemn/endorse certain content, I believe in the tenet of anti-censorship. I do not feel like it is my place to tell anyone what they can and cannot write, read, or bind, and the Renegade community, like AO3, upholds that belief impartially and unequivocally.

Regardless, just like AO3, it is up to you to curate your own experience. I, personally, do not look into binds of content that I do not wish to engage with; your feed is your own to curate. I have intentionally withheld any kind of personal judgment in this discussion, as it has no bearing on analyzing Renegade’s position and tenet of anti-censorship.

To quote Evelyn Hall:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

-The Friends of Voltaire, Evelyn Hall

I want to reiterate that I can only speak for myself and my personal analysis and understanding of Renegade’s rules; any official response from Renegade will need to come from an official Renegade page, and any response from ASH will come from his personal pages. We are an organization, just like AO3, and I encourage everyone to explore our informational pages for full context on the above excerpts, if you feel compelled.

#renegadepublishing #these are my personal thoughts and I hope this helps clear up any confusion on Renegade's ruleset #as I understand it #fanbinding

[levitatingbiscuits]

saw someone write that luke didn't "deserve" din because he needs din to teach him that attachments are supposed to be good and i rolled my eyes. like we're really doing this again?

i don't care about shipping but it's annoying and predictable how these kind of posts come from people in the fandom who don't understand attachments at all. for fans who think they know enough to write analysis on star wars, they sure prove that they don't. they also act like luke (and by extension the "strict jedi") were such bullies to grogu while conveniently ignoring the times din showed careless parenting or brought an infant into battle. the hypocrisy from mando fandom is just embarrassing at this point.

OH my god. if anyone doesn't deserve anyone, din doesn't deserve luke! luke is the literal savior of the entire galaxy and din is a bounty hunter who trafficked a child in exchange for beskar and still wears that beskar proudly.

not to hate on din too much, but i hope his stans read this and realize exactly how obnoxious they sound when they shit talk motherfucking LUKE SKYWALKER, the kindest person in the galaxy who saved it via selfless love, the polar fucking opposite of attachment. anakin fucked the entire galaxy because of his attachments!! "attachments are supposed to be good" shut up shut up shut UUUUUUUPPPPPP george lucas is literally buddhist these people need to stop talking shit about buddhist tenets for the sake of fucking ship discourse!!

honestly this is a reason why i quit the mandalorian after season 2. pedro pascal stans annoy me so much. we all know that they prefer x reader fics and that's probably more of a motivating factor behind them hating on absolutely everyone that din is shipped with than any of them want to admit. i still remember how misogynistic and racist many of them were to omera. if anything, they're being nicer to luke because he's a white guy, but they're still going out of their way to shit on buddhism.

hot take: if you disrespect a real religion's beliefs for the sake of fandom discourse, i don't respect any of your opinions on anything ever. these people have more respect for a FICTIONAL RELIGION that WORSHIPS VIOLENCE than they do Buddhism, a real religion that preaches peace and non-violence practiced by 535 million people.

#fandom discourse #fandom racism #anonymous #din djarin critical #fandom wank

[orangepanic]

I gotta say, thank you for going off about the ages of characters being used to gatekeep. So many people never seem to use age (canon or otherwise) as an interesting way to delve into certain characters' psychology; it's always just as an "ew, gross" kinda thing.

Not to be mean, but I feel like Tiktôk and similar social media platforms have really ruined fandom, especially when it comes to young fans. (Which makes me want to laugh, sadly, since I'm honestly not that much older than these kids.) All these young fans know is what's legal vs illegal, or what should be censored vs uncensored, and never seem to understand that fandom and fanfiction revolve around one main thing--fiction. "Don't like, don't read" is a main tenet of this! (Of course, there are ways to criticize fiction in a meaningful, scholarly way, but deciding what you can and can't ship based on age is not one of them.) Why can't people just stick to the things in fandom that they're comfortable with and leave the rest of us alone?

Anyways, sorry for rambling! I just really liked the way you summed up this problem in that one Iroh II's age reblog, and then felt the need to get this off my chest, lol.

Thank you.

If nothing else, I wish everyone in fandom to exercise and retain their critical thinking skills, and if they like something to think about why they like it (and not just because others like it or they think they'll find approval for liking it) and if they don't like something to think about why they don't like it (and not just because others don't like it or they think they'll be judge for liking it). The older you get, the more important it is to know yourself and be yourself independent of the approval of others. Loving your blorbo or ship for your own reasons is a great way to start asserting that independence.

[fic-history]

Filing Off the Serial Numbers: Professionally Published FIcs

While texts that we might call fanfiction in the most basic sense of the term have been published in the past (think Wide Sargasso Sea), modern fanfictions have only started to go pro in the past few decades. Fanfiction authors will pull all their fic from the internet, change the character names and other ties to the source media, and publish their works as original fiction. This is a process known in the fannish community as “filing off the serial numbers,” and it’s generated a lot of controversy as more and more fan writers take their work to the professional publishing stage. In this iteration of Fic History, we’re going to explore three of the most well known professionally published fanfictions.

The Mortal Instruments

Cassandra Clare is a household name to any fantasy or YA fiction lover, but you may not know that she also used to be a household name in the Harry Potter fandom. Then writing as Cassandra Claire (peep the i), Clare was a Big Name Fan who was revered in fandom circles for writing The Draco Trilogy, among other fics, which helped to shape how the fandom characterized Draco. She pulled all of her fics from the internet prior to the publishing of City of Bones, but the name of the series that City of Bones belongs to, The Mortal Instruments, shares a name with a Ron/Ginny (yes, incest) fic Clare penned in 2004. 

I want to clarify that The Mortal Instruments is not officially a published fanfiction, but fans have noticed similarities between main characters Clary and Jace and Clare’s characterizations of Ginny and Draco, and a passage from one of her Draco fics appears verbatim in City of Bones, save for a few name edits. Due to the popularity of the series and Clare’s past as a fan writer, I chose to include the series here.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Starting in 2009, an author going by the screen name Snowqueens Icedragon began publishing a Twilight BDSM AU fic titled Master of the Universe. It was deleted from the internet in 2011, and in early 2012, Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James was published to international acclaim and revilement. These two texts are the same story by the same author. While Fifty Shades generated a lot of stir in the media for being a doctored fanfiction (something many people had never heard of before), it generated a lot of stir in fandom spaces for a few reasons. One, many beta readers had worked on the story when it was a fanfiction, and those readers received none of the profit (Jamison 2013). Two, the book was now essentially mainstream media’s only perception of fanfiction, and given that it was being heavily criticized for being a poorly written inaccurate (in terms of the BDSM stuff) smut-fest, it gave fanfiction a bad name. 

The After Series

The most notable and recent example of filing off the serial numbers I can think of is the After series by Anna Todd, known to the internet originally as Imaginator1D. You may know the series now as a best-selling set of novels featuring college students Tessa Young and Hardin Scott that received a set of movie adaptations starting in 2019, but the original iteration of After was a college AU that starred characters Tessa Young and Harry Styles of One Direction fame. Harry’s then bandmates were featured as friends and stepbrothers of Styles, while Tessa is an original character. The After series also received/receives a lot of flak from fannish communities for not being a very high quality example of fanfiction, as well as glorifying what many viewed as an abusive relationship between the two leads.

Publishing your fanfic is forever going to be a touchy subject in fannish communities. Some are completely fine with it, and some fans see it as the ultimate fan sin. As Anne Jamison wrote in Fic (see Bibliography page),

“The fan culture tenet that ‘thou shalt not profit from fanworks’ has been, depending on who you talk to, an almost sacred and inviolate, wholly necessary founding principle of fandom. To others within the same community, it’s only been a necessary evil.”

She also notes that the fact that the term fanfiction doesn’t have one solid definition, and doesn’t actually clarify how close the story is to the material it was based off of. This doesn’t even bring into question the ethical dilemma surrounding profiting off of a fic that beta readers worked on for no cost. All in all, filing off the serial numbers will always be hot button issue in fandom, and I’d love to hear what thoughts y’all might have on it!

Happy reading,

KP

Further Reading:

#mortal instruments #the mortal instruments #cassandra clare #anna todd #after #fifty shades of grey #50 shades of grey #e l james #fanfiction #fanfic #fan fiction #fanfiction history

[notalostcausejustyet]

Text wall incoming.

Happy New Years fan fam. We made it another trip around the sun. And some of those days were made of light and laughter, and some of them were gritted teeth and grief. But we made it. So it’s time to talk about what happens in a year.

What happens when the fundamental understanding of who you are and what you need as a person undergoes a seismic shift? When the edifice of all your understanding has been shaken to rubble around you, and you’re forced to finally reckon with the cracked foundations of who you are?

This was that year for me. To be clear, the buildup had been coming for a long, long time. The methodology I had used to construct my life was unsustainable at best, and deliberate self martyrdom at worst. And of course, this is where learning through the lens of fandom comes in. I have waxed (less than) poetic here before about how fictional media is the gestalt through which so many of us begin to process our trauma. The fulcrum that allows us to lift the weight of what we carry and look deeper into it. That fulcrum this year, for me, was Good Omens. More specifically, it was this glorious and beautiful fandom’s unflinching and enthusiastic willingness to take the narratives offered there and parse the deeper meanings within them. And what are those meanings? What lens has been provided that finally allowed me to see things within myself that desperately needed to be brought into the light of day?

It begins here. Self denial. The act of burying oneself and one’s deepest desires and fundamental needs beneath the asceticism of “I should have/be”. The heart of this for many of us, myself included, lies in religious upbringing that is further complicated by neurodivergence and queerness. What does that mean? It means that you start out at a remove from the rest of humanity. You do not speak the same language, you do not know the steps of this dance. You are a stranger in a strange land. When you compound that with the church informing you that you are a fundamentally broken and unworthy creature during all of your developmental years…well.

All of us need human connection. It is a fact of our biology and evolution to crave community and acceptance. So you begin to whittle yourself away. You nip and tuck and shave and hide everything that may stand in the way of communion. You accept that who you are fundamentally is unworthy of love. You take it into yourself and it becomes a core tenet of who you are. So the foundation is laid and you begin to build a life upon it. Which leads us to our protagonists.

Crowley has stepped away from the idea that you must be “perfect”. He accepts who he is, even as he still holds onto his anger for the rejection that this has caused. “Unforgivable, that’s what I am!” He says. He is hurt and he is furious, but he knows himself. He places the blame squarely where it belongs. With the institution that rejected him, not with his inability to fit into their narrow ideas of who he should be. He doesn’t play the self denial game or go in for martyrdom. He does what he has to do to get by and remains true to himself and his core beliefs. He continues to ask his questions without apology and he continues to seek truth and attempt to share that understanding with others. He decided the rules were shite, so he stopped playing by them.

Aziraphale. Oh Angel. Az as a character exemplifies self denial. He doesn’t fit in within the parameters of the institution, so he tries to make himself less so that he can belong. He ties his concept of self worth to that institution and his acceptance within it, all while knowing it is impossible for him to be accepted as he is. So he denies his own nature. His fundamental needs. He doesn’t sit comfortably within his own skin AT ALL. He is angry, but doesn’t allow himself to embrace it. He has the questions, but won’t ask them. He feels (and is) rejected, but doesn’t allow himself to acknowledge it. (As an aside here, we see this difference in how Crowley refers to himself as a former demon, but Az still refers to himself as an angel). So he doesn’t allow himself to feel, or to have the things that he wants and needs. He keeps thinking that if he sacrifices enough of himself, he will get the community and acceptance he longs for. In the end it leads him to lose the things and people he cares about most. And he hurts himself and them in the process. He is still trying to play by the shite rules.

What did I learn from this? Self denial and martyrdom ends in tragedy. In the end you hurt, not only yourself, but the people you care about. You cannot move through life paring yourself down to pieces for other people. Every time you remove a block from the foundation of who you are, in order to try and gain acceptance and community, you create a wound that doesn’t close. You are slowly bleeding out. When you don’t acknowledge the anger and the questions and your need to BE, those wounds fester. You wind up rejecting the people who want to care for you, even as you reject yourself in service of those who don’t deserve the care you’ve given them.

So. This was the year of realizing that I needed to stop playing by the shite rules. This was the year of realizing that my foundations needed rebuilt. This was the year of realizing that it’s ok for me to be angry and ask questions and realize that I am enough as I am. I don’t need to be less. I don’t need acceptance from people who want me to be less. All of the years I spent denying myself and prostrating myself on the altar of other’s expectations have gained me nothing. And strange as it may seem, I have one angel, one demon and an entire fandom to thank for that insight. Here’s to the next year friends. As @neil-gaiman says. Bravery. And joy.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #let me just drag out my soapbox and start yelling about religion #i’m not saying that neil and terry unwittingly created the single most important religious trauma deconstructtion tool ever devised… #but I am saying that #heeeeeey religious trauma kids say what #former fundie here and this is as close to religion specific trauma therapy as i’ve ever found #religious trauma #good omens meta

[creepypastaessays]

Tim Sutton essay, redone

The internet has opened up a myriad of ways for media houses and fans alike to interact with their favourite characters from films, TV series and YouTube productions. One area that keeps raising eyebrows is the casual, often regressive sexualisation of characters. One such character subjected to this alarming trend is Tim Sutton from the YouTube series "Marble Hornets". This essay intends to argue why Tim Sutton should not be sexualised in fan media.

"Marble Hornets" is an eerie, captivating series, centred on the experiences of characters in the hands of a strange, supernatural being. Tim Sutton, albeit mentally unstable due to his battles with the Operator (the series' antagonist), remains an admirable character whose complexities add depth to the series. However, a worrying trend has been observed in fandom culture: the sexualisation of this character, which displays a lack of understanding of his character arc, and, more importantly, trivialises the serious nature of his mental illness.

Firstly, it's essential to understand the character of Tim Sutton. He’s presented in the series as a mentally unstable individual, tormented by the Operator. The sexualisation of Sutton in fan artwork and fiction erodes his complex character. It simplifies him to a sexual object, reducing his struggle with mental instability to mere side notes. This variation not only betrays the original character design but also detracts from the purpose of introducing such a character in the series.

Let's delve deeper. The series impeccably portrays the struggles associated with mental instability. By subjecting Sutton to constant psychological torment, the show paints a vivid picture of the mental health struggles many people face. Therefore, the sexualisation of Sutton is not only wrong; it implicitly trivialises mental illness. And in a society where mental health is a pressing issue, such behaviour could lead to an erosion of the right perception towards mental health.

Moreover, a character’s sexualisation sends wrong signals to the younger audience. The Marble Hornets’ fan base comprises a significant number of adolescents who may not comprehend the implications of mischaracterising a person suffering from mental issues. The sexualisation of Sutton risks glorifying the suffering he undergoes, negating all the pain and challenges people with mental disorders endure daily.

Additionally, the overt sexualisation of Sutton contributes to the objectification of men in the media. Although more prevalent towards women, male objectification remains a persisting issue that needs to be addressed. Subjecting Sutton to sexual objectification perpetuates the problem and desensitises people to its presence. It also reduces appreciation for commendable acting and high-quality storytelling, focusing only on the physical tenets of the character.

Furthermore, it is pertinent to point out that Sutton has consistently struggled with dissociative identity disorder. By sexualising his character, fans unknowingly stereotype people dealing with similar conditions, even implicating that their struggles are inexplicably linked to their sex appeal. This paints a harmful narrative that hinders efforts to remove the stigma around mental health.

In conclusion, the sexualisation of Tim Sutton from Marble Hornets in fan media discounts the fundamental essence of his character, inadvertently undermines the importance of addressing mental health issues, and continues the cycle of gendered objectification in media.

As fans or creators, it is essential to appreciate characters like Tim Sutton for their contribution to the plot and the vital issues they represent. As we enjoy our freedom to imagine and reinterpret, we must recognize the potential impact of our interpretations on those watching and learning. Let's be more considerate on how we choose to portray characters, especially those depicting mental health issues, to avoid perpetuating harmful narratives and stereotypes.

The real beauty of a character like Tim Sutton lies in his complexity — his struggle, his strength, and his vulnerability. Therefore, let's strive to uphold that, and not his physique or sexuality, as the essence of his character.

#marble hornets #tim sutton #masky marble hornets #creepypasta #hoodie #brian thomas

[beesmygod]

My bad on SA being mean thing then, going to my corner now.

lmfao no its ok. it came off snarky in text but it was like a legit lol at the idea of it. i think sa has like one of the most deranged histories in the universe and should not be emulated outside of basic tenets like "ban liberally", "keep out the lowest common demoninator/spambots" (charging even a small amount would likely deter most if not all spam bots and roaming lunatics) and "if you make a new account to get around a ban, but you post so that no one knows its you (as in, posting better), you wont get banned for evasion". but the website's moral compass spins wildly based on admin+moderator court intrigue. despite the admin team insisting you can heckle losers freely, they can't or won't commit to it because the loudest voices in the room are screaming at them about how owned they are

i was thinking like. the very small bad fan fiction forum i was on that had very little drama or problems outside of a weird web admin orchestrated event thats a whole other kettle of fish. several trolls were kept around because, even though they were obnoxious and disruptive, they added a little spice to a community that had a tendency to fly up its own ass. we needed someone who found us annoying but was united with us in our shared uhh hobby? to keep us humble lol

[duckprintspress]

Contributor Spotlights: Lucy K. R. and Tevye J. Schmidt

Welcome to She Wears the Midnight Crown and He Bears the Cape of Stars, two brand-new anthologies that share a common theme – masquerades – but tell different types of stories – wlw in She Wears the Midnight Crown and mlm in He Bears the Cape of Stars. These collections are the latest titles from Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher founded by fans to publish original works by fan creators, and they’re crowdfunding NOW, only on Seed & Spark!

Curious about the collections? Well, here’s a sneak peek of the works of two of our creators!

She Wears the Midnight Crown Contributor Spotlight: Lucy K. R.

Biography:

Exhibit Depicting: Lucy K.R.

Born: North Georgia (United States), Summer of 19XX

Died: Nova Scotia (Canada), Winter of Not Yet

Role: Author, waitress, enthusiast

Eager for a change after a decade of waitressing, Lucy K.R. took the chance in March of 2021 to make her first steps into the world of published work. Prior to the success of Nicht Deine Götter, the largely fabricated German translation of the short-story found in this collection, she was best known for her work on Mageling: Rise of the Ancient Ones and in the second anthology of Duck Prints Press: And Seek (Not) to Alter Me.

She was often seen in the company of what ancient texts describe as “weirdos,” and had a particularly deep connection with an entity known as Tomo, which she appeared to worship. While some historians theorize that Tomo was a type of deity known as a GalPal, newly unearthed records have identified them simply as wives.

Though largely described as a gentle and quiet person in her daily interactions, there can be no doubt that Lucy K. R.’s true legacy lives on in her stories: a legacy of terror, bewilderment, and an enduring love of humanity.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Twitter

Story Title: The Hollow Mass

Teaser:

“Do you dance?” Sage whirls in a ruffle of fabric.

Under the lanterns, I can see her for the first time. The fullness of her lips, and the sparkle of her dark eyes. Her skin is deep brown under her Spanish-moss lace sleeves, only a shade paler than mine. Her driftwood mask twists together as if the tree grew its branches in that pattern just for her.

“I’ll try?” is all I can give her.

The ground is stable here, and the space is ringed in ragged old trees, twisted and grown as if hundreds of years ago they all turned their backs on this circle and have grown around it ever since.

One of Sage’s arms slips around my waist, drawing me close against her. Our bodies press, our clothes still wet. I fear for a moment that she intends to lead me in some complex step pattern, but instead she just starts… turning.

She holds me, stepping quick and light. She turns us faster and faster snickering as I stumble to keep up. Her arm keeps me on my feet even as we whirl.

He Bears the Cape of Stars Contributor Spotlight: Tevye J. Schmidt

Biography: Tevye has been published as an undergrad while interning at the Linden Gold at Lindenwood University, and also had a fiction piece accepted into the Arrow Rock Literary Journal at the same school. While at Lindenwood he was also invited to present the novella he wrote as his Senior Capstone at the Student Academic Showcase. He hails from northeast Missouri and spent much of his childhood pestering his parents into visiting Six Flags St. Louis, the Arch, and the St. Louis Science Center. He’s passionate about learning and creating, and is currently branching out into writing fiction in his second language, Spanish. Tevye is Jewish, and his works all contain themes inherent to the tenets of his identity and his faith. His goal in future publications is to create science fiction and fantasy that are welcoming to those who exist outside of the dominant culture of Christianity.

Story Title: In Plain Sight

Teaser:

“No way.” 

“I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else. You’ve rubbed too many people the wrong way. It’s either take a leave of absence–”

Aaron let out a loud scoff, which the admiral ignored.

“–or you take on the trip to…” the Admiral trailed off, glancing down at the tablet in front of him. “Epsilon 55/G.” His fingers hovered, unmoving, above the tablet’s surface. Aaron met his eyes briefly, and then his gaze skittered away. Admiral Jeffries smiled and pressed down on a button labelled “Assign.” Lightning flashed on cue with the assignment, and then thunder clapped and reverberated through the building. The cool fluorescents overhead flickered off and then, a moment later, the backup lights kicked on. Aaron’s warm-brown skin now appeared a deep red, and Admiral Jeffries smiled wryly. “It’s storm season here.” They both watched the cars speeding through the air past the window as rain began to pour down. The Admiral cleared his throat. “Your orders have been sent. You’ll pick up Dr. Nichols on the Ganymede satellite, just outside Jupiter station.” 

“I’ll pass by Old Earth?” 

*

Intrigued? You should be! But, if you want to read the rest of these stories you’ll need to back our campaign, running now through July 14th, 2022!

Learn all the Campaign Details Now!

#duck prints press #our titles #crowdfunding #mlm #wlw #queer authors #queer creators #support queer fiction #support queer creators

[gabriel-gabdiel]

【Draft】 Rurouni Yahiko Chapter 60: The Curtain Falls

We now discuss the aftermath of another assassination attempt by the infamous Brigands Guild.

The Seiryu Clan are now gathering to protect their masters, the hatamoto-class samurai family of the Minakatas, like it's the Tokugawa Era all over again.

As the final daimyo of Shimabara, Tadachika Matsudaira of the Matsudaira Clan pledged his allegiance to Emperor Meiji.

As a show of good will towards the tenets of "Sonno Joi" of the new administration, Matsudaira allowed the new Meiji Government to hunt the Hidden Christians down and eventually crush the new Shimabara Rebellion of Nidaime Amakusa Shiro Tokisada (Shiro Tokisada Amakusa the Second).

Soon afterwards, the Shimabara Domain was abolished in 1871 and it became part of Nagasaki.

To avenge the death of his master (the blind swordsman Hyoue Nishida) at the hands of Hyoue's nephew Shogo Amakusa (at the time known as Shiro Amakusa the Second), Kinta Minakata agreed to infiltrate the ranks of the Kakure Kirishitan (Hidden Christian) cult to destroy it from within on behalf of the Meiji Government.

With his skill with the sword, the former Mimawarigumi Battousai learned to become Amakusa's Kagemusha (literally "Shadow Warrior" but figuratively "Body Double") and master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as they continued their insurrection, treason, assassinations, and terrorism of Japan.  

Only for Minakata to double-cross the Christians and defeat their cult leader Shiro Amakusa (real name Shogo Muto) in mortal combat. He became their literal Judas Iscariot.

Nevertheless, successfully deploying Kinta's Nisshoku (Solar Eclipse) against a formidable supersonic technique like Shogo's Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash)wasn't possible to do with just the Aoitsuki O Tsuki Nari (Blue Moon Slash).

The Blue Moon Slash—actually a Double Full Moon Slash done at the fraction of a fraction of a second—might be able to match the Hirameki in speed, but not in power.

Especially since the Amakakeru's left-footed torque gave it enough centrifugal force to create a vacuum or vortex of empty air, thus doubling the impact of the second strike.

Instead of creating a second Full Moon Slash, Kinta used his great skill and timing to reverse the direction of his circular slash from an upwards slash to a downwards one, moving the flipped blade on the same trajectory as before but backwards.

Reversing his momentum gave his sword the torque it needed to match the strength or even surpass the speed of the Hirameki's second slash, thus enabling him to do the Solar Eclipse counter on Shogo's ultimate technique. 

Like a reverse-direction Blue Moon Slash that slashed at the same empty space he'd already slashed through previously before the air could fill it up again, resulting in a frictionless strike that perfectly transferred its total energy without any wind resistance.

That was the Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return). This was the ultimate hidden skill taught to Kinta by Amakusa's Uncle Hyoue.

The same one that the black sheep of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu discovered when he hesitated to deliver the killing blow to his own master, Seijuro Hiko XII.

A reverse-momentum riposte after missing with initial the battoujutsu or iaijutsu slash that sliced faster than the Blue Moon Slash and struck as hard as the second Hirameki slash.

***

Rurouni Yahiko

A Rurouni Kenshin Continuation Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Take a bow. The night is over. The Brigands Guild latest assassination attempt has been foiled by Yahiko Myojin, the Sanada Ninjas, and Kinta Minakata… for now.

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfic (save some others) are the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallup, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 60: The Curtain Falls

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

It was finally over.

"Ugh, NOOOOO! DAMMIT!" cried out Lucas Grant into the darkness, a velvet cloth of his own blood draping over his consciousness like a curtain over a theater stage, the light from his eyes fading.

He had him. Well, he almost had him. But he had him. He was so close. But he tripped at the finish line and underestimated him.

Or maybe Luke gave Kinta too much respect because his estranged brother truly was a saint among sinners when compared to the rest of his… their scumbag family.

Faster than even a Blue Moon Slash, he got sliced open from hip to shoulder. What just happened? What hit him exactly as he strode on the verge of victory?

"What was that technique?" Luke demanded to know, his body shaking like a leaf, his blood pooling below him.

"The Tsubame Gaeshi," answered Kinta while brushing away his matted hair in between belabored breaths, his face as pale as a ghost's.

While the bloody Lucas steamed with rage, high-blood pressure, and disbelief, Kinta exuded cold sweats, alabaster skin, and a dropping blood pressure.

The Prodigal Son then heard the self-proclaimed Fuuma Ninja Kai Hidaka scream something about getting over there.

Luke's head snapped into attention and stared to his side, only to see Kai engaged in battle with a tall blonde woman wielding a naginata.

His vision blurring, Luke had a brief dream of himself practicing the art of kenjutsu with his elder brother Kinta and that same European(?) girl he just saw like they were old childhood friends.

As if his delirium had taken over.

Only for the fantasy to shatter with the reality of him living in squalor as one of the forgotten burakumin (untouchables) of Japan, after the Minakata Family forsook him and his mother.

Only to see a vision of the Minakata’s disowned daughter working in the Red Light District of Yoshiwara to make ends meet for them, which roused him from his dead faint.

As he understood it, they quietly sent her away to preserve the dignity of the Minakata name, whatever that meant.

Tetsuo Akahori revealed the truth about him and the traitorous Minakatas who disowned his mother for having an affair with a foreign dignitary during the heightening tensions and growing anti-foreigner sentiment of Japan at the dawn of the Bakumatsu.

The single mother and her son became collateral damage against the hostility between the kowtowed shogunate, the restless samurai, and the gaijin who forced to open Japan's borders by force, revealing how backwards and primitive the country had become thanks to its isolationism.

No, wait. This was far from over.

 ***

Many years ago, before Niitsu Kakunoshin became the disciple of Hiko Seijuro XII…

A young, non-blind Hyoue Nishida faced a dilemma.

The deeply religious man needed to kill his beloved (if strict and no-nonsense) Master Hiko to learn the succession technique of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and become the newest inheritor of the swordsmanship school. However, doing so was at odds with his beliefs.

What was he supposed to do? He really needed to complete his training to protect the Hidden Christians from exposure and persecution from the Shogunate.

He'd heard of the horror stories of how the government tortured anyone they caught practicing this forbidden "foreign" religion, such as nearly drowning them by dunking them upside-down into a well or putting long carpentry nails into their fingertips until they recanted their faith.

Some Christians even had their fingernails plucked right out of their bed. Or they were outright crucified like their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fearing how Western nations used Christianity to colonize other countries, the Tokugawa Government had a zero-tolerance policy against any citizen converting to Christianity.

This was the reason why the Hidden Christians remained hidden in plain sight, with their churches located inside caves and their statues of Jesus or Mother Mary as well as the cross put under lock and key in secret compartments.

The pacifistic swordsman Nishida wished to have the power to protect these persecuted faithful without spilling any bloodshed. He wanted to practice the Sword of Life the same way he followed the gospel or the Word of Life.

He wished to use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as his Sword of Life to wield for the sake of others and to protect people. His people. The Hidden Christians of Shimabara.

He wanted to do so through the same sword that defeated entire armies and saved whole villages during the Sengoku Era.

Those wielding the Sword of Life were absolutely not allowed to kill or to lose. To lose would not only spell their doom but also the doom of the ones they were trying to protect.

If his only options were to kill his master to succeed him or get killed himself, then he'd find a third option to save them both, so that everyone could end up happy. So he wouldn’t break one of the Ten Commandments.

After praying over and over again to God for guidance, the Christian peacemaker found his answer.

'God is great. Praise be to God,' Nishida had taught at the time. 'I leave my fate in your hands, oh Lord Jesus. I trust in You. Thy will be done.'

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

Kai Hidaka couldn't believe his eyes. The damage sponge and unstoppable juggernaut known as Lucas Grant had finally fallen against the hands of the so-called Kagemusha in a single exchange.

At the same time, he heard the righteous indignation from the voice of the blonde bombshell known as Satsuki Sakaguchi (also known as May Brooks) for good measure, with her charging forward with her trusty naginata (polearm blade) in tow.

"Keep your mitts away from Kyoko-chan and Mr. Sakaguchi!" screamed Satsuki at him.

Hidaka, her opponent, also currently looked like a dagger pincushion thanks to the efforts of Zan of the Sanada Demons.

Man, today just wasn't their day, was it? By "them", he meant the Brigands Guild.

Cursing under his breath, Kai charged, ignoring the agony of his body that served as a knife holder to Zan's daggers.

As for May's part, she saw red as soon as she got a look at the state of Kyoko Sakaguchi and her father Satoru. She didn't even have time to register that Kinta Minakata himself faced his own death match just a few yards away.

Like a purebred mare with blinders on, she focused solely on the ninja with the destroyed gas mask. A traitorous Japanese or East Asian man on the side of gaijin assassins.

He'd touch not one hair on either of them. Her Grandpa Sakaguchi's family. No, her family.

Something weird then happened. Kai found himself in the same predicament as before with Zan. Satsuki could reach and slash at him with Old or Young Moon Slashes at will with an insane reach.

Like she had an infinite supply of throwing knives that she used to suppress Hidaka from getting anywhere near Satoru and Kyoko Sakaguchi. Except it was a blade on a stick so she recycled her throwing knives by stabbing the same blade every time.

After struggling against a strange centipede version of the lion dance mascot with reinforced steel carapaces, razor-sharp limbs, and experienced Chinese kung-fu experts serving as its puppeteers earlier, she could finally let off some steam against one of the brigands.

She intended to defeat Kai like she did the gigantic human centipede mascot: By controlling the distance and taking him apart piece-by-piece, like her taking down those martial artist hooligans one-by-one. Thusly, that was what happened.

The already exhausted Fuuma Clan Ninja couldn't even touch the Caucasian martial artist, her naginata's slashing and stabbing range as far as that of a thrown projectile. Or, ironically, one of Hidaka's rope hooks and darts.

She unloaded on him like a Gatling gun onto an advancing army. Or even a Maxim gun. Every time Kai tried to get near her, it felt like he just dove face-first into a cactus patch. Or a shower of flesh-rending broken glass.

***

Many years ago, before Niitsu Kakunoshin became the disciple of Hiko Seijuro XII…

Hyoue Nishida found a way to master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and learn the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki without murdering his beloved master over it, and it rooted from him hearing about tales of the inimitable Kojiro Sasaki battling against Musashi Miyamoto.

Hyoue had never seen Kojiro's signature technique before, but he heard stories about how the riposte moved so quick it allowed Sasaki to cut apart a sparrow or swallow (hence its name) in mid-flight. 

He had been secretly practicing the Swallow Return over and over ever behind his master's back since he first heard about its legend leading up to his confrontation with his master.

He tried to figure out its mechanics from merely hearing about how it worked. To reverse-engineer a move he'd only heard about from rumors, legends, and folktales.

Hyoue threw caution to the wind and let his fate in the hands of his Christian God, the Almighty Yahweh. If he died in his attempt to spare his master's life, then so be it.

That was the kind of man Hyoue Nishida was.

And so the day of him learning the succession technique arrived. He was able to do the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki but intentionally missed with his first strike.

His master blocked then did the Kuzu Ryu Sen (Nine-Headed Dragon Flash) to force him to do the even stronger second follow-up strike. A surefire killing blow with any normal katana (as opposed to the sakabatou).

However, Hyoue refused to do the second strike that would've finished Seijuro Hiko XII off.

Instead, he did an imperfect version of the Swallow Return, resulting in him getting blown back by Master Hiko's Kuzu Ryu Sen.

A miracle then happened during the fateful duel between master and student.

Hyoue ended up slipping off the cliff he and his master fought on, dropping into the waterfall below after getting lacerated all over by his master's multi-hit move.

However, he avoided death from his refusal to do the succession technique properly because the Tsubame Gaeshi managed to shatter Seijuro's sword in turn, so his cuts ultimately ended up shallow and non-fatal.

Later on, after recovering from his wounds, he'd thank God for helping him learn not one but two new skills—the Hirameki and the Tsubame Gaeshi—while keeping his master from dying by his hands in order to learn them.

***

Back at the front yard of the Minakata moneychanger office…

Kai Hidaka had enough of Satsuki Sakaguchi's "Death by a Thousand Cuts" nonsense and pulled one of the daggers on (or in) his person to throw it at the wobbly and spent Kinta to complete their assassination mission.

Predictably, this made Satsuki charge and attack up close, deflecting the dagger before it could even reach Kinta's back. With her moving right into Kai's range so that he didn't need to close the distance between them.

"That's right. GET OVER HERE!" screamed the Fuuma shinobi.

At such a close range, her long-ranged polearm was rendered moot while Kai Hidaka could move freely with his sword daggers and entangle her with his rope darts.

"Satsuki-neechan, watch out!" cried out Kyoko as she covered her face by reflex yet peeked out of her open fingers to see what happened next.

'Ha. Women are so emotional and predictable,' thought Kai as he withstood May’s flesh-cutting slashes and dodged the stabbing attempt that would've run him through.

May Brooks smirked. For the last few weeks, she'd been sparring with Yahiko Myojin to learn how to dodge and defend herself from close-range, knowing that was her previous weak point.

'What the hell…!?' thought Hidaka as Brooks shortened her grip on her polearm and held it closer to the blade, like a regular sword.

This allowed her to parry his quicker, shorter swords with her blade or even use the freed up space on her pole to deflect his attacks from there, with her gripping it like a sword with an extra-long handle.

"MIKAZUKI O TSUKU NARI (CRESCENT MOON SLASH)!"

She could throw Crescent and Quarter Moon Slashes at that midrange as well. Whether it was from the Waxing or Waning Stance.

And, when Kai attempted to escape from her close-quarter rampage to regroup, she merely gripped her naginata normally by its base to slash at him from mid-range to long-range. He couldn't escape from her at all.

The bloody Kai dodged those slashes regardless and moved in even closer, intending to grapple with the tall woman, grab her from behind, and then slit her throat.

The adopted Sakaguchi daughter merely stepped back and responded with a, "HANGETSU O TSUKU NARI (HALF MOON SLASH)!" that, lucky for Kai, hit him by the blunt pole end instead of the sharp bladed end.

Kai dropped to his side like a bag of hammers. Fortunately, he avoided having the knives in his person stab him any worse than before.

***

After Hyoue Nishida spared himself and his master Hiko Seijuro XII from needing to kill each other to master Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu...

Nishida would later become one of the founding fathers of Musou Madden Ryu, the swordsmanship school Kinta would eventually master.

The Seiryu Clan helped him develop his own swordsmanship skills divorced from Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, which in turn allowed him to protect the Hidden Christians from harm and discovery against the Tokugawa Shogunate.

He became the bane of many an officer of the law, samurai, or local authorities in Shimabara, hiding under the masked identity of Kirisaki of the Hidden Christians. Their divine protector from persecution and death.

Notably, Kirisaki the Christian freed jailed and tortured Christians or helped them find refuge among other Hidden Christians while never taking the life of their enemies.

The ruling shogunate also tolerated Kirisaki’s presence because on top of rescuing rogue Christians, he also helped catch criminals for them.

As though exchanging the lives of the criminals for the Christians he saved.

Kirisaki became an asset to the government it defied, so they turned a blind eye on its treasonous activities of hiding and rescuing essentially fugitives of the law in exchange for his vigilantism.

Like Morihei Ueshiba with the development of Aikido, the Christian swordsman considered Musou Madden Ryu as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs.

It combined everything Nishida learned from Sengoku Era Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and old-school battoujutsu with Hasegawa Eishin Ryu, an iaijutsu koryu from the 16th Century founded by Chikaranosuke Eishin Hasegawa.

By the way, the Sakaguchis previously studied under Hasegawa Eishin Ryu prior to the development of Musou Madden Ryu.

From under this school did Hyoue, the Sakaguchis, and several others derive their take on modern iaijutsu or iaido before and after the Bakumatsu commenced in earnest.

Some students followed Hyoue's pacifistic "Sword of Life" lessons. Nishida and Ueshiba shared the same goal of creating a martial art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from harm.

Others insisted in continuing to go the path of the "Sword of Death" or old-school kenjutsu and iaijutsu because in reality, kenjutsu was the art of killing and katanas were weapons used for murder.

They merely used "Sword of Life" as a safe way to practice and temper their deadly skills. Like doing no-contact sparring and kata drills before engaging in "the real deal".

However, as Japan went to civil war and heads of state rolled in Shimabara, the old officers that tolerated Kirisaki and his protection of Hidden Christians died out.

The "Sonno Joi" movement also led to renewed hatred of everything foreign, including Christians who followed the religion of foreigners. They got hunted down like stray dogs in times of famine soon after.

Years after Hyoue rescued his young nephew and niece from being purged for being Hidden Christians, he'd later get blinded by a teenaged Shogo Amakusa because he wanted revenge against the new government.

Hyoue would later train how to use the "Sword of Life" while blind, using his other sharpened senses to deal with people safely in battle, with him only using violence as a last resort.

All this time, even during the middle of the Bakumatsu, Nishida never took a life. He wasn't a pure pacifist. He was willing to draw swords and do battle when push came to shove. However, like Kenshin as a rurouni, he followed a non-killing vow.

And his nephew Shogo bitterly blamed this vow for the deaths of their people.

In the end, the Swallow Return was also the last technique Nishida used before dying in the hands of his nephew, the self-proclaimed Second Coming of Shiro Amakusa, Shogo Muto.

That was the blind swordsman's last-ditch effort to keep his nephew Shogo from going the dark path of cult leader and domestic terrorist.

Hyoue remained defiant to the end, unwilling to compromise on his Christian beliefs and unwillingness to take a life even at the cost of his own.

***

Like a newborn fawn, Lucas stood and wobbled on shaky legs, his clicky knees knocking together like the Shinsengumi knocking on your door, thinking you were harboring an Ishin Shishi fugitive.

By sheer force of will, he trudged forward.

Despite everything, the wheezing Kinta also sacrificed himself to land that last attack when by the tail end of their protracted battle, no Full Moon Slash or Double Full Moon Slash could land on Lucas.

Doing a Full Moon Slash iaijutsu from the start subjected the swordsman’s body to muscle-tearing or even bone-crushing centrifugal forces, especially one involving a reverse-momentum riposte like the Swallow Return!

It was hard to imagine the damage he was doing to his body, but surely it was enough to push him over his own limits!

Kinta's gasping mouth went agape as his little bastard brother marched towards him. Like an unkillable zombie. Like the Ochimusha the Minakatas were allegedly descended from.

What did it take for Luke to go down? How was he still standing?!

What did he go through all those years after he and his mother were banished from the Minakata Family that pushed him beyond his human limits?

Kinta himself sheathed his sword and hobbled in anticipation of his bastard brother's final attack, his scratchy throat withholding a bloody cough.

The Prodigal Son of the Minakatas had every right to wipe out their sinful clan.

However, it remained Kinta's duty as the grandson, nephew, and son of the family to protect his uncles and grandmother.

Lucas then leaped towards his unlucky brother as soon as his body gave in and he coughed, blood spraying from his mouth.

At the side of the entrance, both Yahiko Myojin and Sho Kojima—who accompanied Tatsuya Minakata back to the office to rescue Kinta —ran as fast as they could towards the Prodigal Son as soon as they spotted him attacking a coughing and defenseless Kinta.

Alas, they were too far away to make it.

Ditto with May Brooks, who'd just made short work of the injured Kai Hidaka.

She ran blindly at Lucas Grant, unaware of his connection with Kinta Minakata, but stopped short from running him through in spite of herself.

After years of living in Japan as the only other "gaijin", it was the first time she'd seen someone who was Caucasian like her, which sent a shock to her system for about a second.

A second was all the time Luke needed to finish off the huge wall that kept him from enacting revenge at the evil Minakata Family.

A flying kunai not unlike those wielded by Zan of the Sanada Demons flew in between Grant's eyes.

 "Who…!?" a frothing Lucas demanded as used his sword's handle to deflect the weapon, his one second of opportunity to assassinate Kinta now gone.

Did that damn persistent Zan revive and get in his way again? No, it was the dagger of the other ninja bodyguard who was also from the Sanada Ninja Clan. Their young master, Kaita.

Luke swiped at Kinta regardless, blindly hitting the invisible ninja instead as his crossed short blades broke under the weight of the heavy bastard sword.

The Prodigal Son then turned and blocked a sudden naginata slash with his blade, leaving him open to a number of other incoming attacks. Turning the full-rotation Full Moon Slash into a Half Moon Slash.

"Get the hell away from Kinta-sama…!" screamed Satsuki Sakaguchi, who remembered who she was now.

Or rather, who she became: A devoted student of Musou Madden Ryu and the adopted granddaughter of the Sakaguchis, who in turn loyally served under the Minakata Family since the olden times of the Shogunate.

It was Luke’s turn to wonder where he was and why he was fighting a blue-eyed blonde Caucasian warrior woman in full martial artist garb wielding a Japanese glaive, his brain unable to process what he saw.  

Lucas then noticed the incoming attacks of his other hindrances.

The charging Yahiko's temple then got clipped by a hook punch from the struggling Luke, but as he fell to the ground, he pushed forward and did the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Tsuka no Gedan—Hiza Hijiki knee strike that made the Prodigal Son buckle.

Finally, Sho unsheathed his sword and let its handle fly into Luke's gut, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop his sword in wincing pain, which embedded itself to the ground.

This was another form of the Lunar Eclipse: A half-drawn blade with the handle aimed at the opponent's gut before either could fully draw their blades.

Like a rampaging gorilla, Luke punched, kicked, elbowed, and threw the people nearest him, his eyes solely focused on his half-brother Kinta, who had already recovered from his coughing fit.

Yahiko shook his head in disbelief. What did it take to put this man down? He seemed as strong as Sanosuke, if not stronger…!

Soon, a dogpile occurred. Multiple coppers were called into the Yokohama Chinatown to seize the assassin. They became messy entanglemen of limbs, sai, wooden swords, and rope.

The police finally arrived along with Chizuru Raikouji and Abelia La Cerca.

The dead-tired Yahiko surveyed the carnage. Blood spilled everywhere. Several people were injured. Multiple bodyguards were killed inside and outside the moneychanger building.

Regardless, the Brigands Guild's invasion in Chinatown had ended, at long last.

***

The Yokohama Police was busy that night, arresting criminals working with foreign invader mercenaries left and right, most of which were Chinese nationals in the local Chinatown criminal syndicate.

However, only Lucas Grant ended up getting arrested. Somehow, someway, while they were all distracted by Luke's last-ditch attempt at taking out his half-brother Kinta, Kai Hidaka disappeared.

The aching Yahiko suspected that The Faceless had something to do with it. He probably fetched his fellow Brigands Guild member in the middle of the chaos.

He almost had him too during their duel, but the strange masked brigand had more tricks up his sleeve like the experienced mercenary that he was. Like he changed personalities and styles depending on the mask he wore.

‘Now who does that remind me of?’ the teenaged samurai thought with a smirk.

However, their boss had now been caught by the authorities. Will they still continue with their mission of taking out the wealthy and influential Minakata Family?

Meanwhile, little Abelia attended to the gasping and wheezing Kinta after applying first-aid on Satoru Sakaguchi and his daughter Kyoko along with the other medics on the scene looking for other survivors.

Bandages and salves were also handed off to Yahiko Myojin and Satsuki Sakaguchi.

The two sparring mates grinned at one another and crossed their weapons together. Their lengthy training sessions at the Sakaguchi Dojo had paid dividends tonight.

"Good work, Joshua-kun!"

"You too, Satsuki!"

Chizuru herself pinched one of Yahiko's ear and scolded him for not being careful and needlessly involving himself with other people's business to the point of risking his life. Like she didn't know better by now.

Yahiko, Gan, and Minoe had actually met in the middle of him, Kojima, and Kinta's uncle returning to the moneychanger office.

Minoe ended up helping out with the mission but was unwilling to join Yahiko any further.

The ninja turned towards Yahiko, who almost flinched and turned away, but willed himself to stare at him eye-to-eye.

"I had no idea Takae was your father," Yahiko said honestly. "I'm sorry for your loss. He was an honorable fighter who saved my life in the end."

"What is your name, Yojimbo?" asked Kaita.

"Myojin Yahiko," said Yahiko Myojin. "The son of Tokyo Samurai."

"Fine. Myojin Yahiko," Kaita Takae pointed his kunai at the teenaged swordsman. "Until I kill you, make sure no one else kills you."

From there, the son of Masahiro Takae who inherited all of his tricks disappeared in the blink of an eye, his silhouette fading from the light and merging back into the shadows.

***

"It's been 17, almost 18 years since the Meiji Era started. There's no reason for you to be trapped into a master-servant relationship with our family," said Kinta to the Sakaguchis.

Lieutenant Satoru Sakaguchi then said, "Don't be silly. Just because of the administration's edicts, we're going to throw away hundreds of years of gratitude? Don't be a stranger, Kinta-sama."

"It's a stupid old tradition," insisted Kinta.

"Come on, don't make me say it, Kinta-sama." Satoru grinned. "The bonds between our families run deeper than mere traditions and classes. We Sakaguchis are loyal to you because we choose to! We’re bound by fate at this point."

***

Yahiko then overheard the police chatting with the "Sword of Life" swordsman and drunkard who seemed to have finally sobered up after using his mix of the Drunken Fist and Musou Madden Ryu swordsmanship at The Faceless.

Something about them apprehending three of five known Brigands Guild members.

One had been jailed already—someone who almost killed a squad of Yokohama Policemen had they not been saved in time by that other foreigner girl the size of a ten year old who knew all about western medicine and drugs.

They also put in chains a swarthy hairy giant of a muscular man who wielded a huge ax like it weighed as much as an ordinary sword. They arrested him back in one of the Minakata Family’s many mansions.

And now they actually caught the mastermind of the mercenaries with a direct link to the Minakatas, Lucas Grant. Right on time too, before he could murder one member of their family.

However, it was at the risk and cost of the lives of many of Yokohama’s Finest and their hired private bodyguards, one of whom Lucas impersonated in order to get close to the family.

***

To Be Continued...

Yes. I combined elements of the Shimabara Arc and the Black Knights arc together for this fanfic's continuity. In light of that, you can consider this fanfic an "Elseworlds" type of story that happens directly after "Yahiko's Sakabatou".

It hinges on the alternative universe premise of "Had the Kenshingumi never met their filler villains (because Kenshin was too busy dealing with Enishi), what would've happened to them?"

It follows portions of the 1996 anime and the manga's Iinchu Arc but skips the filler episode seasons altogether. I do think that characters like Shogo Amakusa were wasted potential, especially since he was supposed to be more skilled than Kenshin and has his own signature move.

Shogo's Uncle Hyoue also fascinated me, particularly his motivation for learning Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu as a Hidden Christian.

Danke, Abdiel

#rurouni kenshin #rurouni yahiko #yahiko myojin #fanfiction.net #るろうに剣心 #brigands guild #seiryu clan

[kelyon]

Mahonia! =D

 what place, thing, activity inspires you most and how do you express yourself when it does?

I feel like there's a fine line between inspiration and depression. The gap between what could be, what I want to do, and what I'm actually capable of, what I have the time and energy and resources to accomplish... It can be very discouraging.

Like, sometimes I go into a Target or a craft store or a Barnes and Noble and I'm like, "Ah, yes! If only I buy enough Product, I will become a complete different and much better person!" I consider it a good thing that I know this won't really work, so I don't buy Product, but that also means I'm denying myself the comforting delusion that sort of experience gives some people.

In terms of useful inspiration--stuff that actually motivates me to do something--I find it's good to have a problem that needs solving. I mean, that's one of the core tenets of fan fiction: How do I make this better?

Once I start actually a project, I find that the process of writing is nothing but solving problems: What are the characters going to talk about? How do I convey this mood? What is this minor character doing in the background? Can I make this sex scene hotter? Those are the sorts of tiny steps that get me to the finish line of a fic. It's much easier than burning my whole life to the ground and starting over from scratch.

#tmi tuesday #on a wednesday

[denimbex1986]

'As of today, director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a member of the $700 million club at the worldwide box office. And in the next few days, it’ll break a couple more Nolan-centric records. First, Oppenheimer will pass Interstellar’s lifetime global haul, and then, it’ll overtake the lifetime domestic haul of Inception to become his third-biggest film. By Sunday, Oppenheimer is expected to hit $286 million in North America, and around $432 million in international markets, for a global total of $718 million. This would put it $3 million ahead of Interstellar’s lifetime haul of $715 million, which includes the $40-odd million that it has generated through re-releases.

The epic science-fiction film, which was released in 2014, grossed $677 million in its initial theatrical run. Oppenheimer is an anomaly because, unlike most of Nolan’s earlier movies, it's aimed at a decidedly older audience. It’s also rated R, has a run time of three hours, and has a dense, dialogue-heavy tone that doesn’t leave much room for the sort of spectacle that the filmmaker’s fans have come to expect. Although between its non-linear narrative, Nolan delivers one of his career’s most arresting set-pieces: the Trinity test sequence.

Oppenheimer is based on the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, best known as the father of the atomic bomb. A psychological thriller about the intense guilt that Oppenheimer experienced in the aftermath of World War II, which effectively ended when the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the movie also devotes a significant amount of screen time to the witch hunt that he was subjected to by his government. After spearheading the creation of the world’s first atomic bombs, Oppenheimer became a strong advocate for the regulation of nuclear energy, which was seen as an impediment to the U.S.'s strategy during the Cold War.

Can Oppenheimer Challenge Inception's Lifetime Global Haul?

While Nolan’s films have always been known to tackle dark subjects, Oppenheimer has been described as his most mature movie. It has already overtaken the likes of Dunkirk and Tenet at the box office, and has a solid chance of coming close to the lifetime global haul of Inception, which stands at $870 million. It won’t, however, be able to challenge the global hauls of his two billion-dollar blockbusters, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

But few would have expected the film to have done as well as it has. Oppeneheimer debuted alongside fellow blockbuster Barbie last month, in what has come to be known as the “Barbenheimer” event. It also marks the filmmaker’s first collaboration with Universal, after he had a public falling-out with home studio Warner Bros. over its controversial 2021 release strategy that favored streaming over theatrical. Starring Cillian Murphy in the lead role, Oppenheimer also features Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Florence Pugh in supporting roles...'

#Oppenheimer #Barbenheimer #Barbie #Christopher Nolan #Interstellar #Inception #Dunkirk #Tenet #Cillian Murphy #Emily Blunt #Robert Downey Jr. #Matt Damon #Florence Pugh #The Dark Knight #The Dark Knight Rises

[amoveablejake]

Pulp Fiction

No, not that one.

With the release of 'Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny' and it reportedly being Doctor Jones' last outing cinema is seeing the end of one of its greatest heroes but alongside that, another nail in the coffin of pulp fiction. No, not Tarantino's 1994 film which is, you know, okay I suppose (I hope you can feel the wink) but rather the pulp style fiction that existed in days gone by. Indiana Jones himself is an homage to the sorts of adventure, explorer characters born out of serialised pulp stories and those sorts of adventure stories seem to be going. There are ofcourse still stories that will have at one point been inspired by pulp ideas and character templates but as a whole cinema has moved away from these ideas, themes and archetypes. The stories that we see on screen now are often more developed than classic pulp stories and that can often be to these films detriment. Yes, there is ofcourse a space for the 'Inception's and 'Tenet's of the cinema world, Nolan I am really sorry for picking two of your films there to single out, but sometimes movie goers want a film with a clear beginning middle and end. One where you are cheering for the main character and really, even though they do get themselves into all sorts of scrapes you know that they will somehow find a way to make it out okay and to ride off into the sunset. The days of these films have been numbered for some time and 'Dial of Destiny' is a much needed reminder of why they are so special.

There are many types of pulp stories and it perhaps would not be feasible to cover them all today so instead as I have mentioned Indiana I will look at the adventurer, explorer pulp ideas. There is a desire for these sorts of stories because not only have there been 'Indiana Jones' imitations on the silver screen, 'The Mummy', but one of video games' biggest hits both critically and with fans the 'Uncharted' series is one big love letter to George Lucas' creation. And if we take 'Uncharted' as an example, it is a series of games that does not shy away from its love for Indiana Jones and adventure stories in general as its main character Nathan Drake often finds himself searching for lost gold in forgotten kingdoms as he travels all over the world. The stories that arise from these games are wonderful because they are just that, stories.Sure, they touch on different emotions and are at times vehicles to examine other feelings and themes but at their core level they are adventures and human ones at that. This is not humankind venturing out into the stars but instead exploring every corner of this world and as a result, even though when we engage with these stories we are not in the same lands that the main characters are we can feel most definitely that we are as we can take the same steps that they do or run away from the same boulders if the need arises.

The question is, have pulp stories died off or have they simply evolved. As I mentioned a moment ago we do still get the pulp adventure stories even if they are more few and far between. Furthermore, what is a pulp story. Can superhero films be classed as an evolution of pulp. Many people would say that they are and with the amount of super hero films it certainly seems that they are. For me though, I think the most pulp like stories out there on the silver screen at the moment, not including Mr Tarantino's work ofcourse, are the 'Mission Impossible' films. What Tom Cruise (lets face it, its Tom) has done is managed to create the sort of spy, espionage films that I think cinema needed once again. Yes, there have been a fair few 'Mission Impossible' films but each one does try something new and whilst they have the same core elements as each entry into the series they are all their own thing. At their hearts, all pulp stories should be able to exist on their own and 'Mission Impossible' certainly does fit the brief even if it is better for both the over arching narrative and your personal enjoyment that you watch them all. I think that really when it comes down to it, what I'm looking for in the films that I like the most is a character that I can really get behind and feel true excitement to see everytime they're on the screen and whilst I do feel it for Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, there is no one I feel it more for than Indiana Jones and any adventure that he goes on, I will be there.

-Jake, a man thinking about a very lovely weekend out in the forest, 16/07/2023