#yes also the ofmd fandom is annoying but so is every fandom who cares | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

palavapeite · 10 months

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WOOHOO! 1, 4, 7, 8 and 16 for choose violence please! :D :D :D

I'm gonna go with ofmd for these because that's the one I have most opinions about right now (jsamn unfortunately populated only by impeccable content and delightful people, BOOOH).

This is also not going to be very bitchy, I apologise.

the character everyone gets wrong

Izzy, hands down see what i did there ehehehee, in particular the Izzy-Ed dynamic in a lot of fic. And I'm really not talking about stories where Izzy is a background asshole in an Ed/Stede romance and basically just a plot point; those are fine. But particularly in Izzy-centric and/or Calicohands fic I have actually had to filter out fic that had Ed in it on occasion because wow, have I seen some hot garbage there. I get that Izzy is a polarising character in general, but I really balk at fic that has to somehow paint him as Ed’s victim to make him worthy of sympathy? Excuse you, the man is a cunt, he’s insecure, cruel, and he is largely the architect of his own downfall at every turn, both because it’s a comedy and because it’s also baked into his insecurity complex. And I find that compelling, actually. I don’t need a fic explaining to me that, actually, Izzy has done nothing wrong and really, Ed is the cruel and manipulative control freak (???) to feel like Izzy deserves my sympathy as a reader. (And to be fair, the other side of the big Izzy-shaped chasm in the fandom isn’t much better because blegh, I get that you need a villain, but with the fervour with which some people out there are driving home the point that they think he’s The Worst Ever, they’re making Ed look like a hapless idiot in comparison, at the cost of plot and world-internal logic. And that is also BAD and I just can’t with that.)

Admittedly, some people have also gotten it deliciously right. So it’s not like everyone does it, but… you know.

(Conveniently, I have avoided writing that dynamic in detail altogether. Peace out. [Exit stage left atop high horse.])

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I haven’t actually ever blocked anyone for fandom reasons that I remember. The worst I’ve done in any fandom was unfollow people, and the spiciest reason I ever did that for was that they were reblogging a bit too much (read: any) discourse onto my dash.

I have one (1) person muted on AO3 though because they were clogging up a very dear tag with their content that was decidedly Not For Me. And I’m purposely not saying which fandom/tag it was because that tag isn’t busy and I’m not trying to start shit, so… yeah. Sorry, I’m very boring on that front. :P No, I promise it’s not you. That person will never see this post.

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

I think I’ve gotten pretty lucky with the (corners of) fandoms I’ve been in? idk. There’s always waves and trends of interpretation with characters and some are more my thing and some I grow tired of really fast, but I don’t think it’s ever affected my view or enjoyment of a character as such. But without trying to belabour the Izzy point above, I took several steps back from both writing and reading about him after being subjected to an avalanche of hot takes that just kind of killed the fun and the irreverent spirit of shaking the gremlin man for a good while for me.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Idk about “common” fandom opinion, but it makes no sense for Ed to have a praise kink. His whole life consists of people telling him how great he is, and it doesn’t do anything for him? That being said, have I read and enjoyed fic in which Ed has a praise kink? Yes. Yes I have. Several. Repeatedly. And it will happen again.

Also, while we’re here: Stede is not a good parent. I get that it’s comfortable and tempting to make him into a father who cares deeply, especially in AUs, and it’s not like I actually mind it in fic either (I have the daddy issues too, ok), but canonically, he’s the kind of occasional fun dad who does zero actual parenting and is never there. And by the same token he and Mary wouldn’t be great friends after their divorce, either, because they’re still fundamentally different people who have nothing in common,. That’s not magically going to change just because they’re no longer married. And again: I have absolutely enjoyed fics where these things were front and center, but as a fandom, I think we’re a bit too prone to sand down Stede’s edges when it comes to his family.

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

The problem with this question is that I can understand why people like something most of the time, regardless of whether I agree, lmao.

BUT: I have stuck my nose and sniffed around in a lot of nooks and crannies of the ofmd fandom, but I remain benevolently baffled by Stede/Izzy (without Ed). (again, “so many people” in a fandom of this size is… maybe a bit generous, but I’ve seen it often enough by now to have paused to go “???” at it, so I’m counting it.)

Thank you! <3 I'm sorry I couldn't be more ranty. I swear, I'm usually a huge bitch about things.

#ask memes

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