Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

And while I loved being part of the fanfic community, I left because I started feeling uncomfortable.  There was one particular person and incident that made me feel uncomfortable, and all I feel comfortable about saying about this is that she insisted we do daddy/son porn when we wrote or role played together, and it ended up spiraling out of control.  (Not writing wise, or theme wise, but in a real life sort of way.)

Even before this particular kink started making me uncomfortable*, I'd been struggling with using characters who were based on real people: I understood that tie-ins were done, and since I think it's sensible that most actors now understand this is at least a possibility, I figure it's part of being something popular.   Furthermore, there are some types of checks: even if not quite in character, they aren't sleeping around, and certainly aren't doing most of, if not all of, the kink found in fandom.   I can see someone being creeped out that they suddenly find themselves staring in kink fantasies shared with the world, and this is, at least, not a concern with official novels. 

That being said, this happened: 

To us, Ms. Marvel - the Kamala Kahn Ms. Marvel - has no actor tied to her.   She's not real, not even in a way that characters originally in shows and movies are.   She has no real person portraying her.  Same for animated characters, or CGI characters, at least for me.   Everyone has their lines. 

The problem was I was attracted, and attached to, fandoms that had at least some human characters, played by human people, and I started feeling less and less comfortable.  I laughed uncomfortably when I read this scene, because this, this, was my growing fear years ago, something I've never really talked about, at least not in this great detail. 

This book nailed it!

Also, I should note that this scene is part of a bookend; it starts the book and Kamala getting to talk to BadMachine1999 was the end.   It was shocking, not just who BadMachine was - and yes, it's revealed - but how he reacted to her concerns.   It also has the potential to be another story in and of itself, and I kind of hope it's explored. 

I really didn't see who ROFLCopter, the mediator, was, although it makes sense, and I feel like I should have seen that coming. 

Most of the stories that come while Kamala is waiting to speak to BadMachine are funny, although they're all fanfic stories that Kamala reads about her or her teammates, sometimes both.  One was about the misogyny in fanfic, and her comments on that were priceless.   One was just terribad, and this panel is a microcosm of that story:

Once again, Kamal's commentary just makes this story.   It all ties together nicely: it's framed in a way that multiple stories make sense, as does the bookend type of narrative. So overall, done well, and in a way that I didn't even think of the narrative until I'd finished, and went, 'that gets increasingly neat the more I think about it!'

Another story is wish fulfillment, and this was really bizarre, because I see it all the time in fanfiction.  It's kinda weird that the authors know we're writing this and seeing it shown here was just... yeah, a little uncomfortable, but in a way that made me think about fanfiction, fanfiction writers, how they use it, and how it's seen by others outside of the fanfic community.   

I think one of my favorite things was the credits, though: 

Internet Randos!   That is, by the way, the bookend of this all - While the creators aren't credited at the end, they do two shorter scenes before and after the stories themselves.   I really enjoyed this: as an annual, it took the opportunity to do something different, meaningful, and fun.   

*Only because I was being pressured into writing it: I have no problem with the kink existing, nor with people who indulge themselves.  I was not happy writing this, and I didn't have the courage to say so at the time.