Art by Raja Nandepu

This scene broke me. Look at Harklight and Lemrina’s expressions. They both know what’s going to happen. They truely care about Slaine. I wish he would see that there are people that truely care about him, aside from Asseylum, and that he deserves it. And I’m pretty sure these two care more about him and know him better than Asseylum ever will. 

021918 Because everybody asked about them, I have this little something for you :3

Not forgetting the larger problems of her support for Reinhard's self-serving autocracy, and delusion of dictatorship as a viable option for human government...but these are the story's problems, not Hilde's. In a society where women can only 'hold power' by marrying an important man, she works hard and intelligently to fulfil his dream of conquering the universe because of sister issues. She does her best within a corrupt system, that she could have left at any time by defecting to the Alliance, but no big whoop, and certainly, as you say, no big whoop for execution of character development.

Hilde is certainly a better 'strong woman's than Frederica Greenhill, supposedly from an egalitarian society, who managed nothing but serving coffee and cowering in fear before marrying an important man. Which follows the anti-feminist lies that women don't really want careers and independence; that influence over important men is a valid substitute for human rights, and patriarchal subjugation a natural, healthy state of affairs. The only non-fascist female leader in the story, Cornelia Windsor, is an absolute charicature. The problem isn't only that the writer doesn't care enough to unpack Hilde or Frederica's sacrifices, but his not believing that they would be unhappy, or have any right to be.

Of course, Frederica isn't a tea lady by choice, and Hilde's lack of choice is not due to the year she lives in; all of it stems from the assumptions and aspirations of the writers. Hilde is only an image of a woman, literally a drawing, and certainly shouldn't be blamed for a male writer's failings.

See I do disagree that Hilda “goes downhill.” She got pregnant. Pregnancy is work. You could say that that continued to make her the most important person in the empire after Reinhard. To avoid trouble she stepped back from having an active role in politics but we see behind closed doors that Reinhard continues to consult w her and he leaves governance to her on his death, too. Comments like the above feel ppl projecting their own modern ideas about gender on to a work, more than actual feminist criticism. The way Hilda is written is very in line w the powerful women of history. I thought it worked. Her story is still within a patriarchal context, and the fact that that is never unpacked is more of the issue.

パーティーに参加するも警戒を怠らないドレスミヤコ by eko

Comments appear when anyone with something to say about the story reads it, whether that's ten years later or never. There's nothing unnatural going on if everyone with something to say has said it, or if tastes change, which they do. I'm not breaking out a violin over a story with 900 kudos, which presumably came from writing on such a subject as a large number of people wanted to read about.

I noticed that an amazing fic I read with over 60k words and over 900 kudos...didn't receive a single comment in 2022.

There were some comments in 2021, then a gap, then a few comments from this year. That is insane.

Ao3 is not built like Wattpad, it is not meant to be treated like the 'latest hits' page where you only read the new works, or where you only click on sort by number of kudos. It doesn't matter if the fic you like is not wip anymore - if you really like the story, comment. A simple heart will do. The author won't think you're annoying, in fact they'll probably be incredibly happy.

Fic authors don't deserve to have their work just disappear with no engament after few weeks pass. The fics don't deserve it either

Chun-Li by @kmc_nt

Chun-Li by To-ru

Chun-Li by @poderdohokuto

Chun-Li by Cy_Art

Chun-Li by @JuaagAcgy

Digicember 2016: Beers and ramen. Wanted to draw a cozy scene, inspired by my Shadowrun: Hong Kong run.

Alternatively, the figleaf-shaped false modesty that writers too frequently use to make the wish fulfilment hero at the centre of their world a little less absurd. It isn't wrong if the hero of the story is the hero of their own story. However, toxic male fantasies like Goblin Slayer and Naofumi, who moan when they breath about being so tragic, lonely, and burdened with obscene harems, ought to actually suffer for once, or more than once.

i really love when a character, calmly and completely earnestly, is like i’m not important, i’m no one really, just a blade that people use and throw away. no one remembers me for long after i leave their life. and then you look at the evidence and it turns out that every person who meets them becomes permanently obsessed with them, for better and for worse, and the character has somehow completely missed this fact

genuinely, honestly, I wish fandom could move past "depiction isn't endorsement".

because it's really meant to be sort of the baby beginner step to media literacy but in fandom spaces it usually acts like a trump card to shut down critical discussions. it's one of the thought terminating cliches of fandom that discourages learning how to interrogate the text beyond "fiction isn't reality, dummy".

yes, the popular whump fic in your fandom isn't endorsing torture, but also, can you tell when the canon for your fandom is endorsing a message? how do you then choose to interact with that canon, and do you get defensive when people are critical of the source material?

depiction isn't endorsement, but can you tell when fandom trends are misogynistic or racist? can you see how killing off a black female character to "punish" her in fanfiction with the framing that she deserves it, and the popular narrative in a certain fandom that a heroic black man is a possessive liar and a white villain is a good man deserving redemption, is endorsing a message in fanfic? do you argue that it's "just fiction" when people get very understandably upset at misogyny and racism in fandom spaces?

yeah, depiction isn't endorsement, but do you think this is where it starts and stops as the only thing you really need to know? do you think people who are critical of things aren't engaging with it properly, or being mean, because they've forgotten the golden fandom rule of "fiction isn't reality"?

nbc hannibal isn't endorsing cannibalism as a dietary choice, but top gun maverick and call of duty: modern warfare were quite literally sponsored by the us military as propaganda for recruitment.

I'm not saying don't enjoy the ip that's making you happy or calling for moral purity in your media habits or whatever. just saying that there's a lot to media literacy beyond the feel good affirmations that periodically circulate fandom, and those affirmation posts both lack necessary nuance and discourage people from engaging with said nuance.

There are few books that should be legally banned, but many more books and shows that any humane and reasonable person should be absolutely unwilling to consume or support.

‼️ Fiction cannot cause physical harm to someone.

‼️ The only person who should have the power to decide if a piece of fiction is harming you emotionally or psychologically is you.

‼️ Any fiction you feel like you are being harmed by you can stop reading/watching/creating it at any time.

‼️ You are always in control when you are consuming or creating fiction.

‼️ Do not surrender the power to decide what fictional ideas might cause you emotional or psychological harm to other people.

‼️ No one will ever know better than you what ideas are harmful to you personally.

‼️ You cannot decide what is psychologically or emotionally harmful to another person.

‼️ Attempting to restrict the kind of fiction that people create or consume because you think it might cause them emotional or psychological harm is authoritarian.

‼️ It is safe to explore any ideas and themes in fiction. Fiction does not and cannot cause physical harm to any person. You are always in control of the fiction you are creating or consuming.