life's too short, bisexualize everything

I honestly think a cigarette would save him

what i've learned from my attempts to be more active in discords and other online communities is you just have to show up and participate in conversation and even if youre a little annoying or awkward eventually people will grow a fondness to you out of familiarity alone

been a year since i made this post and I wanna say the same also rings true from the other side. sometimes new people show up and they annoy me at first but after a while the rapport and familiarity takes over.

The annoyance is probably more "you're here and the equilibrium changed, now we have to recalibrate the social salts" and not "you as a specific individual person are annoying and should leave"

This probably goes all the way back to when we were barely tubes floating in the Precambrian ocean

So I scrolled through the reblogs and I think what needs to be mentioned is that on every server there are people who would rather you avoid their salty puddle so they can circle jerk each other into oblivion, but you don't have to participate in that ritual to find yourself a community.

No matter how small your fandom is, you will always find cool, like-minded people who will accept you. Fandom is not a middle school cafeteria, despite how much some people would like it to be.

Thinking about what someone said that Mass Effect fandom is full of opinions that could have only been conceived during the years that the games were released and not in the years since, and I think that's not mutually exclusive with my thoughts on it, which is "There are opinions in this fandom held by people for over a decade, that could easily be changed or refuted if they just played the games again and made slightly different choices or actually paid attention to certain parts"

Very true, all of this, but can I add that there are a huge number of people who have only recently played these games, but the moment they entered the fandom they immediately embraced the opinions that were questionable even 10 years ago, simply because those opinions completely dominate the fandom space, and even trying to re-evaluate them sometimes means incurring the wrath of fans who fully subscribe to those opinions, or massive fandom creators?

This year alone, I've seen at least three people in the main tag who started out with neutral positive posts, then fell into a particular romance option, and after a month or so, lo and behold, they start posting the same unfunny memes we all know and love, and repeating the same hateful arguments about certain characters we've seen so many times before.

Can we call it fandom conditioning? I guess we can.

Reaper loafing. You live in the Mass Effect universe, post-Synthesis ending and this is a very common sight for you.

I'm pretty sure it's a very common sight for people in the post-Control ending universe as well, because…have you not seen Shep doing Puss in Boots eyes???

For @average-mako-enjoyer

# Book in one hand, coffee in the other, Kaidan had just allowed himself to relax and sink deeper into the chair when his omni-tool pinged. And it wasn't a friendly ping, of course, when he glared at it. No, it was an official one, screaming Alliance formality, that had been field escalated up the chain of command to him. 

Setting the book aside, he closed his eyes for a moment and savoured a last sip of the coffee. 

The reaper was parked in the middle of the roadworks it had been helping construct. All of its arms were tucked in underneath it in the position people were beginning to call loafing. 

Something so enormous and terrifying should not be able to reduce itself to a puppy-like state, Kaidan mused as he stepped out of the shuttle. But here they were, again. Tiny biotic human walking up to argue with giant mechanical beast.

"Hi," he said. The air prickled in that particular way that said he had its attention. "You're in the way."

No reaction. 

"We've talked about this - you are entitled to rest breaks, the same as any workers, but you can't just stop and park yourself in the middle of things."

Reapers didn't breathe, but this one definitely inhaled in a huff. 

Kaidan sighed. "It would help if you'd evolve some eyes, so we could at least tell if you're paying attention." Most people couldn't tell one reaper from another, but Kaidan was fairly certain this was the one he'd dubbed Stormaggedon. For whatever reason, it seemed to stick close to Alliance Command, lending its aid to the rebuilding efforts in Vancouver. 

It rocked from side to side, sending swirls of dust through the air. 

"Do I need to get one of the others to move you?" He folded his arms across his chest. 

If anything, it sank lower to the ground. The earth beneath Kaidan's feet vibrated for a few seconds.

"C'mon, Stormy. These people have a schedule to stick to. Loaf somewhere else."

For a moment, he thought it worked. Giant legs started to uncurl. But then it settled back again as if it had only needed to rearrange its paws.

God help me. It's not a puppy. 

Kaidan ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. A quick glance around reassured him that no one else was within hearing range. He still took a step forward. This was crazy. But working alongside reapers was crazy. And sometimes, you just had to follow your gut.

"Shepard. Please. Move."

Stormy wagged its tail. Kaidan stared. No, there was no other description for it. The tip of the reaper's body wiggled back and forth like a dog wagging its tail. 

And then it unfolded, stretching its long thin arms to their full extent and giving itself a full body shake. Delicately, it picked its way across the landscape to a point beyond the construction zone. It settled again, and Kaidan was suddenly very glad it hadn't decided it had to turn around three times before assuming the loaf position. 

"Thank you," he muttered. 

He pretended not to feel the contented sigh of energy that washed over him as he walked away. But he couldn't help but smile a little. 

sorry

AT with @everybery

каша какая-то вышла

Reaper loafing. You live in the Mass Effect universe, post-Synthesis ending and this is a very common sight for you.

I'm pretty sure it's a very common sight for people in the post-Control ending universe as well, because…have you not seen Shep doing Puss in Boots eyes???

reblog if your inbox is always open for new members of the fandom who may be a little shy or intimidated. doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a “popular blog”; everyone here is equal and if you’re reading this as a new person/someone considering entering the fandom, we will not turn you away!!!! talk to us!! make friends!! i more than understand being shy but trust me this fandom is chill come join us in this hellhole

and what if i say he's a work of art

thinking two characters have had sex does not equal shipping at all… i dont have to like it i just know it happened

im sorry but this is the funniest fucking tag i could have seen

Tell him, king!

While I absolutely agree with the position that sometimes it's healthier not to give a crap about canon, I have to say that in the case of this particular ship, and many, many other ships in other fandoms, the complete disregard for canon is partly to blame for the kind of behavior we're discussing here.

I've seen many, many people excuse their hatred of Hankcon with arguments like "Connor is supposed to be an 18-year-old! He looks like one!" And I think it's pretty obvious that these people have never really bothered to interact with the canon. They've read fanfiction, they've seen animated gifs, they've probably seen a shitload of art, and you know what, I only know one artist in this fandom who consistently draws Connor with his deep forehead lines and receding hairline... But it's not even really about his looks, it's more about the fact that everyone, shippers and non-shippers alike, infantilize Connor.

So of course some part of the fandom would latch onto that and use it as a reason why hankcon is bad and all hankcon shippers are evil perverts who don't let "normal fans" (aka people who don't ship an old man with a literal child) live in peace. Especially considering that the biggest anderfam creator is the biggest drama queen in existence.

What I'm saying is that if we're going to point fingers, we need to point them at ourselves as well.

Chapter 6. This one gave me trouble but it’s finally done