sauntering vaguely downwards

everyone say thank you ao3 volunteers you're the best ao3 volunteers ily ao3 volunteers

I hate that the "x reader" or "x Y/N" style of fanfic has become sooooo popular, partially because it's just not for me and partially because they clog general non-fic related tags and those authors seem allergic to the "read more" function on this website, but ALSO because I believe that you should have to go through the trouble of creating an absolutely batshit self-insert character, with a backstory that makes no sense and a name that doesn't really gel with the aesthetics of the universe. Legolas and Aragorn should be in a love triangle with Kylie, the angsty sixteen year old half-human half-elf and inexplicable tenth member of the Fellowship. Do the WORK. If everyone was doing "Y/N" nonsense back in the day, there would be no Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, or probably Bella Swan. These are important women. They deserve to be named, confusingly and with no regard for the fictional world they inhabit.

These photos surfacing from Dashcon 2 look exactly like how I imagine Dashcon 1 was supposed to look. It's straight up like seeing visions from an alternate reality where Dashcon actually happened properly and wasn't a behind-the-scenes disaster, except it's real life and it's happening right now in 2025. The Muppet Joker is dead. The Ballpit is unpeed in. Nature is healing. Long live Dashcon.