the way teenagers are treated these days is wild. when i was a teenager we were all watching porn, jerking off, and going to horror movies with 3000 gallons of blood. Nowadays they make kids get a permission slip to watch anything darker than Barney the Dinosaur. Insane.

Every year we infantilize teenagers more and more and act surprised when they grow up to be terrified, angry, emotionally stunted adults.

& then for some reason people fixate more on "ugh these teenagers just want to be treated like babies!!! teenagers are to blame for the rise in puritanism!!!!!" than how this is a very obvious example of ageism and the increased control over a socially vulnerable and exploited group

I think a commonly overlooked part of this coddling is that it teaches kids and teenagers to be afraid of things they don't need to be afraid of, which is exactly how they end up as "puriteens". I remember as a child being terrified to change the channel on the tv because I had ended up with the impression that seeing even seconds of an R rated movie or tv show would give me nightmares. And then as a tween every time I saw swearing I felt sick to my stomach because I had been taught such a thing is bad and harmful. I think I would have suffered less if I hadn't been raised with everyone around me acting like mature media was so bad. By the time I was a teenager I had figured out this was bunk, but understandably a lot of people don't. By making this whole system worse and stronger you have teens who have been told that seeing explicit or dark media Will Harm Them, and so they act in ways that would be appropriate if it really was the info-hazard it's implied to be.

^^ never heard anybody specifically talk about this but yeah. parents acting like sexual or any "dark" content in a story or show was going to put bad things in my head that were going to be there permanently just gave me a deeply distressing sort of contamination anxiety

Watching the reckless ben logo situation really hammers home the point that the reason we have legal recorse is so wronged individuals don't take justice into thier own hands

We have some union protection because even company owners would rather have a union than I violent mob. We have defamation laws because it's better than duels in the streets..

When we take legal recorse and a straight forward path twards justice away from people then we leave them no other recorded but thier own creativity.

I'm not saying that I aprove of all Reckless Ben's actions. I think it fair to discribe them as harassment. However, Ben keeps harrassing the owners of Bricks and Minifig in hopes of escalating the original theft to the police and/or serving court documents.

If the justice system worked as intended Reckless Ben and Co would have no need to harrass bricks and minifig.

Vigilant justice isn't just shooting people in the streets, sometimes it's about youtube videos

i mean. what he's doing is attempting to serve them court documents. he's gotten arrested for attempting to serve them court documents. none of what he does, on camera, can reasonably be called harrassement save for the sign at most.

as per utah state law:

as reckless ben has not threatened. anything except to serve a lawsuit. which is not a felony. none of what he's done can be qualified as harassment in utah.

section 76-1-101.5 is a list of definitions used in the rest of the section, to define what is an actor, etc.

another definition from cornwell, though im not sure it applies to utah, as they proceed to cite new york state law.

as reckless ben has a legitimate purpose (to serve them court papers and to report a crime and to get paid after a won lawsuit), this definition does not apply either.

of course, we only see what he shows us in the video. but what we do see straight up does not qualify for the legal definition of harassment.

Not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing (drift compatible)

i think everyone would majorly benefit from swapping "im just a girl" with "im literally nice"

"wattpad doesn't ban smut or taboo contents, they just ban smut without plot and taboo contents that glorify or romanticize taboo things" I know. and I also know that it IS still censorship. no censorship means nothing is censored. doesn't matter how it's written. doesn't matter if I also personally find some certain topics disgusting. no censorship means (fictional) things I hate are allowed to exist.

ao3 is against censorship, thus it allows smut without plot and taboo contents that are written in ways that glorify and/or romanticize the taboo things. that is also why people love ao3.

and no, people who love ao3 don't necessarily love the platform because they love smut or taboo contents. people who love ao3 have things ao3 allows that are triggering to them. they love the platform because they understand that censorship is a fascist tool and fiction is not reality. people are able to curate their own internet experience by filtering out things they personally find disgusting/triggering, things they don't want to see. but writers and artists should also have the rights and the freedom to create whatever they want, HOWEVER they want. ao3 gives writers these rights and freedom. as long as nobody in real life is harmed or affected. no authorities should be able to control what fictional things people create and/or consume.

Also, AO3 allowing those things actually makes it easier to avoid them! Some number of people will write about anything in a large enough community. AO3 allowing those and creating a space for them, making it so they don't need to hide it, makes it easier to avoid.

For example, I don't like omegaverse fics. With AO3, I can filter out omegaverse-related tags, double-check the tags of any work I want to read, and fairly easily avoid it.

In a space as large as Wattpad that bans omegaverse fics, or fics about non-con situations, or pwps, it'll still exist -- it'll just be harder to avoid.

having a woman oc you put in the blender every day will change ur life and if ur not already doing this you must start

PLEASE. PLEASE. (x)

DO ANY YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS, A PUPPETEER AND VOICE ACTOR IS ELIGIBLE FOR AN OSCAR FOR PUPPETEERING AND VOICE ACTING. THIS TO MY KNOWLEDGE NEVER EVEN HAPPENED TO JIM HENSON, THIS MEANS SO MUCH FOR THE PUPPETEERING COMMUNITY.

they should invent a disproportionate emotional response that goes away when you understand it's disproportionate. they should invent a way to logic yourself out of emotions

I get it, unless you've experienced the issue firsthand it can look like itd be a real easy solution. When it comes to WFA (at this point im just talking about ao3 because i find it interesting), the reason for the tag's existance is that AO3 has a general tag for DC Comics, and then has a separate fandom tag for every canonical run. Even really obscure comic tags would get canonized if nominated 3 times. The issue with nominating Batman Fanon is that the line for it would be a nightmare for tag wranglers to wrangle, and it also would not be able to be applied to any fics retroactively unless people actively went and did it. It'd also be a bit of a nightmare to sync all of the tags under it -- for exemple, the tag "Sad Tim Drake" would have to potentially be split in two, with various syncing issues.

This really is just meant to be informative because i like how ao3 works and i've witnessed a vaguely similar situation before, please don't take this as tearing down your idea thats absolutely not the intention

At what point can we start a petition to make ‘Batfamily — Fanon’ an actual fandom tag on AO3? Because there’s always soooo many fanon/WFA-inspired fics under the comics-specific fandom tag, and it’s gotten to the point that finding a fic in which the characters you love actually read like the characters you love feels like finding the holy grail, as opposed to just being pretty standard as in every other fandom

I’m not saying that fanon has no place in the fandom, and I acknowledge that the reason fanfic exists is to tell stories a little differently and share them with other fans BUT ao3 has such an amazing tagging/filtering system, it just seems a shame not to make more use of it, as I’m sure the fanon-only fans aren’t looking for the same fics I am, anyway

So this post has apparently made its way to DC TikTok and WOW are they mad! So I thought I’d do a little FAQ based on the comments I’ve seen on TikTok!

Nope! 'Fanon' is a portmanteau of 'fan' and 'canon'; literally, it is 'fan canon'. Whilst there isn't yet an official, dictionary definition of fanon, it is largely understood in fan spaces as a series of widely accepted headcanons which exist together to create something separate from mainline canon. The obvious example is, of course, the Marauders Fandom, which is very different than what exists in the Harry Potter books; fanon takes on a life of its own until it essentially becomes its own AU. However, that, crucially is not canon.

Not all fans or fanfics subscribe to this set of widely accepted headcanons. Those fics which aren't part of this fanon might be AUs (your standard university AUs, no powers, canon divergence (aka taking a point in canon and changing the outcome), etc), or they might be inspired by canon: essentially, playing with the characters in the same way that the actual writers at DC do and creating your own stories with them.

Some fics are even canon-compliant, which means that they can be slotted into existing canon (e.g. missing scenes, post-canon, etc).

All of these fics, which base their characterisation and plots on what is found in canon, and therefore do not exist within the alternate universe of widely accepted headcanons, are therefore not fanon.

And when I read fics, maybe I'm not looking for something which lines up with these popular headcanons (fanon) OR a retelling of the comics I’ve already read (canon-compliant)... maybe I do want a fun canon-divergent AU which explores other possibilities, but within the realm of what is realistic and familiar of the character as they appear on the page. And I can't get that in the comics; just because I don't want to see Tim punched into a wall by his mom aged six doesn't mean, I also don't want to explore something outside of the realm of what is explicitly on the page. Hence why I still read fanfiction. People can write and enjoy fics which don’t fit into popular headcanon, and they can write and read fics which aren’t just an exact retelling of the stories already told in actual DC titles.

Yeah, and that's kinda the problem: damn near everything is "fanon", and that's not what a lot of people want to read. DC is infamous as a fandom for having a lot of fans who have not, and have no intention of, interacting with the source material. I’m not here to judge them on their preferences, but this does mean that they write fanfics based on fanfics, and as such, only consume fanon works, and thus think that these forms of the characters which only exist in headcanon are the only forms of the characters. And for many readers, that's quite annoying. And because it's such a widespread phenomenon in the DC fandom, it almost becomes an echo-chamber wherein it's quite normalised, whilst in other fandoms, these variations of the character would be readily distinguished by the authors as being OOC or based on fanon, whilst this is rarely the case in the DC fandom. But because people don't realise that their versions of the characters are, in fact, OOC, they feed into the Comics tag (which should, as according to fandom etiquette, be based upon what we see in the comics, not in fanfic or other Batman media) to the point wherein it's difficult to find something which isn't fanon.

Imagine you're a fan of Charles Dickens’ works and you want to read a fic about Scrooge and Marley, but the only fics you can find are where Marley is Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Christmas Carol. That's how many comic-reading Batman fans feel when they simply cannot find a fic wherein Cassandra Cain has the ability to speak, despite this being a very big part of her character for years. Even if it's a widely accepted headcanon, it is still just a headcanon and a major divergence from canon, as should be tagged as such.

I'm not saying that fanon doesn't have its place in fandom and AO3, etc. I'm just saying that we should adhere to fandom etiquette and consider using tags to indicate which form of the character we are writing about. If something is canon divergent, or OOC, or fanon-inspired, say that! There's no shame in it! But it's simply good manners to make sure that your fics are properly tagged.

Nope, what you do is use the absolutely phenomenal filter system which AO3 has... except that doesn't work because people don't tag their fics as fanon. Hope this helps!

Dude, I wish. Unfortunately, the very FIRST fic you see when you go through the Batman tag and add 'canon compliant' is a Batlantern fic with trans Tim Drake... which is just not canon-compliant. Like I say, the Batman fandom has a realllllll problem with tagging.

The other issue is that maybe I’m not actually looking for a canon compliant fic. Maybe I want a fun historical AU or a ‘what if?’ scenario or a non-canon ship. That’s not canon compliant in any way, so cannot be tagged as such. But fics in which Damian is a stabby psychopath aren’t canon either, and, just like people would tag their historical AUs, should be tagged as OOC. Canon-compliancy is a spectrum.

Unfortunately, it's not a small minority who don't use it; it is the majority. Maybe some of the reason behind the lack of appropriate tagging is due to authors who haven’t actually read the comics not understanding that it's not OOC, maybe some is because it's just not common practice in the Batman fandom. But, unfortunately, filtering OOC does very little. Filtering ‘DC stands for Disregard Canon’ does a bit more, but this tag is more commonly used for signalling a canon-divergent AU as opposed to referring to characterisation, so even then, that also filters out the AUs which aren’t canon-compliant but does use “canon-typical”/“canon-familiar”/“canon-recognisable” characterisation, so doesn’t really help in the long run.

I feel like people need to acknowledge there's a difference between policing and streamlining. I am in no way saying that you can't write or enjoy fanon fics. I'm just asking that people either use the pre-existing tag system which most other fandoms have a really solid grasp on, or create a new tag to specifically appeal to the fanon fans. Good tagging has been the cornerstone of fanfiction for decades, and is one of the greatest developments in enhancing the fandom experience. But for many fans of the actual comics, it’s so hard to ‘go interact with’ fics which centre around recognisable forms of the characters we love. So what’s the harm in encouraging good fandom etiquette and tagging, as so many other fandoms do? That way, everyone can find exactly what they’re looking for (no policing here) in an efficient manner — tags can only be wrangled if they’re there!

And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record: there's a difference between fanon and canon-divergent, and canon and canon-divergent. I'm reading fics because I want to see more of these characters in different situations… that doesn’t mean I want the characters to be unrecognisable. There is a reason I like them. And if we all just use proper tagging, there’s no reason why the fanon and canon-characterisation fans can’t both enjoy exactly what they’re looking for.

I sure hope so! It’d be really boring to just read a word-for-word replication of the comics I’ve already read. Why would I read any fic if nothing’s different? The whole point of fan fiction is that we can all read more of the characters we love! But to do that, I’d quite like to read more about the characters I love in a way that I recognise: that means seeing Bruce try his best but not always get it right; Dick not being overly cheery or overly parentified or dumbed down; letting Cassandra use her fucking words and exist outside of Hong Kong; Jason being allowed to be intelligent and take ownership of his actions instead of getting lost in the haze of Pit madness and then adopting Tim; Tim having a pretty solid home-life, since his mom’s death, and social life outside of vigilantism (to the point that he struggles to maintain the balance sometimes); Duke existing, and Damian being empathetic and kind, and having relationships other than just “his akhi”.

People in the Percy Jackson fandom wouldn’t like it if 99% of fics massively dumbed down Annabeth into a dumb blonde stereotype, because then it’s no longer Annabeth, but a different character with Annabeth’s name. How is my preference for fics which accurately characterise Dick Grayson as a genius detective, as opposed to a golden retriever himbo, any different?

I can still hope to read AUs which are popular in fanon, like ‘Jason and Damian meet in the League of Assassins’, but I shouldn’t have to ALWAYS sacrifice the recognisable characters I love to do so.

To use a metaphor, imagine you’re a coffee drinker and you go to a coffee shop. It’s 7am, you’re super tired, and just need something which will wake you up. There’s loads of exciting looking speciality teas and coffees available, which look good, but right now you just want a simple, plain coffee, maybe with a bit of milk for flavour. So you go up and order an Americano with a splash of milk. But when you pick up your drink, you find it’s covered in caramel drizzle and whipped cream. So you ask the barista why your Americano came with all this stuff when just wanted a white coffee, and they tell you that at this particular coffee shop they make all of their coffees with caramel sauce and whipped cream; they just don’t say that on the menu. So you go to the coffee shop next door and ask, ‘do you make just plain Americanos with espresso and water?’ and they reply that they do, so you order one… but it comes out as a decaf. So you ask the barista about it and they tell you that it’s a normal Americano, but you can clearly see that it’s decaf, and you explain that, but then the barista tells you that they don’t know what caffeine is, and it’s a bit weird that you want caffeinated coffee because they only like decaf, so why should they tell you it’s decaf because they like it? That’s why you should tag your fics properly, people. Not everyone wants caramel and decaf. Sometimes we just want a familiar coffee.

THERE IS A PLACE FOR BOTH CANON AND FANON FANS IN THIS FANDOM, BUT EFFICIENT TAGGING WILL JUST LET US ENJOY IT MORE.

if i met a genie and fixed the world and all its ills with my first two wishes, my third wish would be that sabrina carpenter would get gradually taller. she'd be in on it and think it was hilarious. we'd have a strong cap at 7 feet here, maybe an inch a week so people have time to theorize--let's not be ridiculous. but she'd still keep up the "ooh! im so little and small!" schtick. but shed be gradually getting taller. she'd be like 6'1" and still jumping for the microphone. and she'd never say anything about it. and if anyone asked shed act like she had no idea what they were talking about. and shed cheekily play into it a little bit but mostly still keep up the "ooh im so little and small" schtick. do you see my vision. do you get it

ok and so if i met a genie and fixed the world and all its ills in one wish i would do the sabrina carpenter thing second and third i would wish for all evidence of one random taylor swift song to disappear from the world once every month or so. taylor would have no memory of it. her fans would remember it and there would be an outcry over where it went (it's not even in concert videos anymore!) but taylor would have no memory of it

instead, all her brainspace spent on that song would be replaced with the vivid memories of roman gladiator, taylaurius velox. she's able to hide this at first, but her music begins to take on a gradually romaner and romaner tint. at first, people are like "damn, she's getting REALLY conservative, huh" and other people are like "wow, she's so deep, she knows what a rubicon is" but eventually travis kelce leaves her out of nowhere (he wasn't sure if dating someone possessed by a roman gladiator made him gay or not and anyway he was getting sick of being like "we're going to play the lions" and taylor being like "LIONS? WHERE?") and taylor publishes an entire brutus themed album about this betrayal and it's beginning to weird people out

and so eventually travis kelce is getting like, bomb threats sent to his family for leaving taylor and eventually he's like "okay, okay, i left her because she kept having all these vivid nightmares of gladatorial combat and she kept saying that football was giving her the ick because we never actually killed anybody for the glory of rome" and then he just gets more bomb threats because he left a struggling woman during a mental health crisis

and eventually taylor is writing music about her forbidden roman senator lover and her fanbase is either whittled WAY down or WAY up because people want to watch this trainwreck happen (or maybe she influences culture so hard that we're just all really into rome now) but she's being super cagey about the name of this roman senator. until. and now here's the twist:

weird al has been getting all of the same vivid memories of taylaurius velox. and he still has all his memories of her old songs. so he's writing all these detailed song parodies of taylor swift songs that don't exist anymore including specific details about their shared gladiatorial reality that taylor has never shared with anybody else. including that her lover's name was publius, and she's been calling him Poob for short

at this point a lot of original swifties are leaving. they could do the brutus stuff, but they really can't survive poob. taylor makes a clapping back at the haters song including the lyric "these bitches don't know publius" and it ends up all over all sorts of merch. there's a renewed archaeological interest in roman gladatorial combat

most importantly, the internet discourse is the best it's ever been. does this make taylor swift transmasc? is travis kelce problematic for leaving his fiancee while she gradually morphs into a roman gladiator? is this good queer representation? if taylaurius velox was a gay man, does that mean the gaylors were technically correct? is weird al morally wrong for capitalizing off of her music if she cant remember it anymore? was weird al sent by god to torment taylor swift?

anyway thats what id do if i met a genie

on hockeytwt there was this tweet that went viral that was something along the lines of 'what if the first nhl to come out is a guy i hate?' and that's how i feel about eddie being queer

when i was younger some wires got crossed so now a fistfight and sex are one and the same to me