#halfagone replies

but if there's anything I want people to remember about my thoughts on the whole issue, it's this: I get it. I understand how annoying it can be. There are fandoms I follow here on Tumblr where I can't read 90% of their posts because it's all "x reader" or "self-insert" or "yandere" drabbles and prompt submissions. I have all those tags blocked, so I will just see filtered post after filtered post, and yeah. it's annoying as fuck.

but that's how tags work here on Tumblr. there will always be people who tag every character even mentioned in a post, hoping it'll get more reach. I've seen it in dp-only posts too. this is not a symptom of some "disease" because yes, I've seen some posts with some very unflattering language.

this is just how Tumblr works. this is how Tumblr has always worked. and maybe we're all just starting to realize that this isn't as sustainable as we thought it'd be. I know I've fallen out of love with the fandom community here on Tumblr. because I'm just not built for this space anymore.

and for the longest time, I thought maybe if I pushed back hard enough, the space would change. but it doesn't. it never does. it doesn't matter how many followers you have or how many notes on a post you receive. that's just how the community works now.

and I get that dp has built such a long history in this space. and it's frustrating to feel like you have to leave it to find some peace. but we've had so many concerns with Tumblr shutting down over the years that one day we might have to leave this space anyways!

and I have seen so many beloved creators leave the community, as is, because of attitudes like these. even now, I constantly debate with myself if it's worth it to stay. I've seen so many dp-only fans complain that the crossover is killing this fandom, but that exact attitude is exactly why I may never write a dp-only fic again.

I have so many WIPs that have nothing to do with the crossover, that will likely never see the light of day because of the hostility. so many of these posts take it so deeply personal, and lash out accordingly, that now I feel like I have to protect myself in response. why would I expose myself to that level of vitriol in a comment section when I can just... write for another fandom.

and I'm sure there are a lot of fans that feel that way. I've met so many lovely readers who fell in love with dp through dpxdc crossovers, and now they probably read more dp-only fics than I do!

every day I find another fic deleted or hidden in a collection because of hostility and hate across every fandom. once upon a time dp prided itself on being a welcoming space for people new to fandom community and creation. and nowadays, when I see someone say that in a post, I have to laugh. because I have not felt that welcoming space since the day someone told me to kill myself over a fanfic.

I know I've just said a lot for someone who has no solution, but quite frankly, there is no solution. nothing will ever make everyone happy. sometimes even you won't be happy, no matter what decision or compromise you make. that's where I am right now, I understand.

Digress, please?

I will warn you now, you have just opened up the floodgates. To start, I have many opinions about their friendship. While I do go into some detail about what frustrates me about it in the set of tags you screenshotted this from, there is much more material to work with. Which is in part why, in the last few years, I don't really think of Sam and Tucker's behavior in Phantom Planet as very out of character? Their group switches between hot-and-cold pretty often. Of course some of this is for plot convenience, but that plot is our canon so. This is why we have fanfiction.

Speaking of fanfiction. This could just be my corner of the DP fandom, but I see a lot of conversation and hcs around this idea that Danny, Sam, and Tucker have trauma bonded over the Accident and their newfound responsibility. Obviously, this is not the case. I also have my own opinions about how unhealthy relationships based on trauma-bonding are but. That's a rant for another day.

But with this idea of a trauma bond, I see so many push how inseparable the three are. How they would do everything together, how they would go to the same university, move into the same apartment, chat over the phone constantly if they're not with each other in person. There's just this pressure and expectation that their friendship is set in stone.

The first episode of the series literally sets up the shaky ground their friendship rests on. In "Mystery Meat", Sam and Tucker create opposing protests and demand Danny choose a side. In "What You Want", Tucker becomes jealous of Danny's powers and, thanks to a wish from Desiree, gains some of his own. (He also does some rather concerning things with those powers, mind you, but that is also a rant for another day.) And more annoying is that, at the end of "What You Want" Danny apologized for 'showing off'? ...anyways!

This is not about the tags.

The anti-dpxdc fans can claim they do not care, that we can enjoy whatever we want. Except their acceptance is contingent on how well we adhere to their strict standards.

We are allowed in "their space", so long as we make ourselves as unobtrusive and palatable as possible. To them, we are outsiders. To them, we do not belong here. To them, we are parasites invading the sanctity of their precious Tumblr.

And I use "sanctity" because I have seen anti-dpxdc fans use the term "pure". As if we are a disease that needs to be cleansed.

Pay attention to that language. Think about that language. Remember where else we see such language.

This is not about the tags.

If it was about the tags, then they wouldn't criticize how we write, or what tropes we use, or what characters we prefer. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the moment they started using that opinion as a reason to push dpxdc out of their spaces, it detracted from their argument. Now it's no longer about organization. It's no longer about giving fans a chance to find "buried" posts. Now it's about how we are wrong, and they are right.

Does this mean I like every trope in dpxdc? Hell fucking no. I could go on a three-hour seminar about everything that infuriates me about dp, dpxdc, and dc. But do you see me using that as a reason to push dp to use a #dponly tag? No. Because I know that I do not own this space. I do not control this space.

This is not about the tags.

If it were about the tags, they would not be criticizing fans that do use dpxdc or dcxdp only. I know myself and many others migrated to these crossovers tags after backlash previously, and yet still we face their scrutiny and are constantly demanded to move. Move where? Where else is left?

Because still, to this day, I see DP-only fans who refuse to curate their own spaces and block dpxdc fans. And I get it. No one wants to be blocked. But it's better for your peace of mind, and clearly that's what bothers these antis most of all. They don't want to see it, and would rather have us do all the work then put in the effort themselves.

You do not get to cry for a solution, when you are part of the solution and are not participating.

So you know what. Maybe we should do the work. Maybe we should block them so they'll never have to see a single dpxdc post again. I know I felt irritated by certain posts and reblogs. And do you know what I did? I unfollowed that blog! And guess what?

My page is free of filtered posts. No more little gray boxes for me.

That's what they want, right? At the end of the day? They do not care about isolating a community because they already feel isolated themselves.

Would that fix the problem? Not in the fucking slightest.

Because there is no solution to this problem. There is nothing that will make everyone happy.

And get this: do you know why blogs don't want to block dpxdc accounts? It's because they still want the engagement. Because they don't want to lose the fans who also interact with DP-only posts.

They do not care about you. They do not care how their remarks make you self-conscious, make you second-guess, make you wonder if you belong here. They only care about your numbers, your notes, the stats.

So please. Do not give them a platform. Please take care of yourselves. Give yourselves space. And if you need to block and unfollow me too, then I'll understand. Because no fandom comes before your peace of mind.

Hey, so. It's been real. I know it's been a long wait, and I know sometimes you just want to check in if you hadn't heard anything in a while and like. Okay. Okay! It's sweet that you want to just poke your head in and see what the progress has been, but there are so many ways to do that which do not require you to royally piss off the author.

I've had to change the description to the "lex luthor's guide" series so that it no longer includes LL's Ascent. I do not want it there. I want to pretend like it doesn't even exist. This series has now caused me so many mental health problems that the only reason I haven't deleted it yet is because I've committed nearly three years to this fucker.

I did not care at first. Ask your questions! I'll answer them or I'll direct you to a place where you can read the answer yourself. But then it didn't stop at the questions. It became demands, it became liberties. It came to the point where I've had to block people. And if you're one of these people, I'm sorry you have no patience. Take this as a lesson to you.

I am tired. I am fed up. I am about to start medical school. I do not have time for your temper tantrum.

You will wait. Or you will have nothing.

Damian is the heir. He serves a function within the family. His presence is a necessity. Effort must be pushed into him to ensure that he doesn't fail. His actions are judged based on what is necessary for the next in line to be the demon's head.

This frees up room for Danyal to be the favorite grandchild. He can't be heir. Meaning he's not judged to the standard of being heir.

Yesssss it definitely gives me the same vibes as Displacement / Replacement I just love it when most friction between Danny and Damian in Demon Twins AUs are centered around their own crippling inferiority complexes. We have a Damian who overachieves in his duties as Heir because he's desperate for the attention and validation Danny receives and thinks there must be something fundamentally wrong with him when he doesn't receive that love, and then on the flipside we have Danny who tries so hard to be better and match his brother because clearly there must be something wrong with him if he's still not good enough to be Heir.

Obviously Danny is still held to a high standard, but it's not the same level of scrutiny as Damian. In the same way that Talia is still expected to be exceptionally skilled and perform well, even though Ra's is an asshole who refuses to accept a female Heir. And then in turn Talia also overachieved because she thought she could prove her gender was not a weakness.

It's about the generational trauma 🤌

I can't really explain why I like the idea of Danny being the favorite/preferred grandchild other than how ironic it is post-Accident when Danny is also immortal or quasi-immortal. Just—hey, Ra's, you remember your grandson? No, not that one, the other one. The one you projected on. Yeah, now he's your rival. Have fun with that.

It's just so tasty.

It's also ironic because Damian disappoints Ra's and yet if Ra's just lowered his standards, Damian would go above and beyond, and yet the blame is still pinned on a child and not the adult in power. Abusive relationships!

Again, and I think I explored this a little in all of this is temporary, this is all manufactured by Ra's. In the fic referenced, Damian represents Ra's' power, and Danny represents Ra's' mercy. Those are roles they play at Ra's' behest. In other settings, it would have been so easy for the roles to have been reversed, for Damian to be the child with no heirship, who instead finds himself favored by his grandfather. Because their roles are decided young, so young they cannot possibly know who has more potential.

And it must drive Damian up a wall. No doubt made worse when he goes on to live with the Waynes. He probably feels like he will never escape his perceived inadequacy.

I'm just so not normal about Demon Twins. People may say it's overdone but it will never be over for me ✊️😔

...apologies if you expected a drabble or something and not the mad ramblings of an ill, semi-conscious fool. I just think there is so much you can do with Demon Twins and WAIT IF WE COMBINE THIS WITH DANNY GOES BACK IN TIME AND MEETS RA'S IN THE PAST THAT COULD ALSO EXPLAIN WHY RA'S FAVORS DANNY OVER DAMIAN but then why would he not want Danny to be Heir... Ra's may be sentimental but he believes the best way to protect people is to arm them, how would that work—

I think we can agree that these edits have taken much longer than we ever anticipated. I know I expected to have the edits, if not the few chapter rewrites, finished a long time ago. Obviously that has not been the case.

TL;DR: I hated the fic for like a year and then I had to relearn how to like it again but we ball. I don't know when the edits will be done, but I no longer want to delete the fic permanently so that's good news! I appreciate your patience and the love you've shown this story. Thank you for never giving up on it. It taught me not to give up either.

[Check below for the long explanation.]

hello!! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed lex luthor's ascent!! I hope you slept well... hopefully you have slept lol idk once upon a time I could stay up until 4am to finish a fanfic.

sometimes I will randomly post about my progress with the edits. I'm pretty sure a little while ago I whined about how I messed up my wrist trying to fix coding (and I did it again today RIP me I never learn) but there's no real rhyme or reason to it.

my current plan is to post a new chapter at the same time the fic is released back into the wild again. so for those that were subscribed, they should get an email about it! and for those that had it bookmarked, if they check through "Date Updated" it will show up at the top of the list! ...whenever it gets updated.

I also post links to new chapters/fics here on Tumblr, and I use a tag for lex luthor's ascent with each of those updates. so if you're around, hopefully you'll see it quickly! if not, it'll still be there waiting whenever you get the chance.

since you did mention progress though...

a little something silly for you lol

I used so many memes throughout this fic's ANs and summaries. I was baffled. I am baffled.

While we're here, how do you feel about that region being nicknamed "Pennsyltucky"?

hello! happy to see you here, and thank you so much! I'm glad you've been enjoying my fics!

I hope this doesn't come off too strongly but I am kissing you on the forehead (platonically) because yes, you are absolutely right that it's specifically western PA, that's amazing. I discuss it more in depth in this post (that includes a counterpoint for Michigan lol) but TLDR; there's this shot of Amity Park in the show that reminded me of Pittsburgh, PA and I ran with it. Also mentioned in the post is my headcanon that, with Metropolis in Delaware, across the bay from Gotham City in New Jersey, Danny in Pennsylvania makes a triangle of three states and three major heroes. Why is that so important to me? I don't know, but it is.

I also want a little more variety than Illinois on occasion. It might not be in Pennsylvania every time, but I am trying to drift away from Illinois as the standard destination. A lot of that is just because I have a complex about how long it takes the Fentons to get from Amity Park to Vlad's house in Wisconsin, but enough about that.

I have never heard the term "Pennsyltucky" before, and now I need to know everything. And how Danny might take advantage of the word play.

I have now looked up what that word means and I am more convinced than ever that Amity Park was meant to be in Pennsylvania.