Yet another poll for our Heihua enthusiasts

Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you again for filling out our feedback form from a few months ago. We've seen all your comments and suggestions we'll be keeping them in mind to improve how we run the events in the future! This is a small event for a small fandom and although @thatlittlemouse is our only hardcore heihua-ist in the mod team, we all want everyone who participates to have a good time!

Several responses in our feedback form expressed a dislike for the anonymity period, which we must confess the mods are also not super fond of and have been thinking of eliminating completely or shortening (per someone's suggestion) from the beginning. However, eventually we decided run the exchange for the first time as it was being run before the way we got it from the previous organizers, since we were unsure of how receptive potential participants would be to such a big change.

The DMBJ fandom is full of Gift Exchanges - in fact, with a cursory glance our events appear to be almost exclusively Gift Exchanges (with small variations, like eg prompt weeks or the LNY Exchange). Our initiative isn't meant to be criticism to any exchange, but, in the interest of making our fandom experience even more fun, we'd like to introduce some variation to our fandom events based on other kinds of fandom events we (as the mod team) like participating in and would like to participate in as active members of the DMBJ fandom. And it seems like such a change of format/structure might not be such a bad idea after all!

The mods brainstormed several ideas about how to work out the proposed shortening or elimination of the anon period/creator reveals, and we've come to the decision that it might be fun to test out different event formats/structures for future fests! So, seeing as we're planning to continue this exchange until otherwise requested, we've come up with several alternative events that we could run instead of a Gift Exchange, and decided to try them out for 2026 - and here's where we need your feedback.

TL/DR: in 2026, we will run a Heihua-centric event as scheduled, but it will not be a Gift Exchange.

Your next question would naturally be: well, what kind of event will it be?

There are certainly more kinds of events and formats than we could possibly include in our small DMBJ fandom here on tumblr. However, the matter of Gift Exchanges vs a different kind of event is one that has been brought up here and in the Yucun Discord Server (the largest and most active DMBJ fandom hub) and a lot of people have noted their preference for Exchanges as opposed to Prompt Weeks specifically due to the existence of a pressing deadline that looms and forces us to complete our gift.

Relatable. We (of the mod team) also feel that way.

To this purpose, we have selected a few specific event formats we feel could be alternatives to a gift exchange based on that expressed preference. We have opted to introduce only events with: A) a long and specific time-frame for the creation period (the same as the 2025 Heihua Exchange, or longer, if that becomes necessary), and B) a clear deadline for the created work. As a bonus, we feel that some of the proposed exchanges would also strengthen the feeling of being in a community and making new friends, as they require some teamwork and collaboration with other participants more directly than a gift exchange allows.

Having said that, we'd also like to disclose the reason this post is being made:

Without further ado, here is the poll with format options we'd like you to choose from, based on what you feel would be fun and also possible for you to participate in. For any clarification on what an event is/what it would look like, you can click below the cut for a more detailed description of what the specific event would entail, or ask us to clarify!

So, let's vote!

The Myth of “Fans Killing Shows”: Here’s the thing I fundamentally disagree with. It wasn’t the fans who “killed the shows.” It was the writers who killed it.

I came across this Tumblr post and here's why people blaming the fans for the writers fatal flaw is just wrong.

I know this take circulates a lot: “The fans killed Veronica Mars. If they hadn’t reacted so strongly to Season 4, we’d have gotten more.”

But after watching this happen over and over, across shows I love, shows that shaped me, shows that built entirely new corners of fandom culture. I just don’t buy it.

Fans aren’t killing shows. Writers are breaking the emotional contract, torching the narrative spine, and then blaming the audience for the smoke.

And if Veronica Mars were the only example, maybe we could write it off. But this specific heartbreak, this implosion of trust, has now happened on too many shows, in too many fandoms, with too similar a pattern to chalk up to “one overreacting audience.”

It didn’t start with Season 4. It didn’t start with Logan Echolls. And it didn’t end there.

It’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s Game of Thrones. It’s The 100. And on and on.

This is a cultural pattern. A breaking point between audiences and creators, and VM is just the case study where people still argue about who struck the match.

The pattern is the same every time: the writers kill the relationship they spent years telling us mattered most.

This is the part critics pretend not to understand.

Fandom doesn’t melt down because a character dies. Characters die constantly in television, and people grieve them, yell about them, move on. They melt down when a character dies in a way that breaks the story’s thesis. Let's take a deeper look:

Veronica Mars: Logan Echolls

Years of storytelling, marketing, PR, revival hype, and arc-building told us:

Season 4 then kills him in the last 90 seconds as a plot device. Not a turning point, not a thematic evolution, just a twist that contradicts everything the show told us about her healing.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Nick Blaine

Four seasons of narrative work (and two books) told us:

Then Seasons 5 and 6 decide:

Actually, punish him. Actually, flatten him. Actually, the story is about motherhood, not womanhood or desire. Actually, June belongs with the safe man.

That isn’t a character arc. That’s an ideological pivot.

Game of Thrones: Daenerys Targaryen

Eight seasons told us:

The final three episodes say:

Forget that. She snaps because… trauma? lineage? vibes? The woman who liberated millions is actually a tyrant.

A series that built itself on emotional logic ends on plot logic. The single most disorienting pivot a story can make.

When the ending contradicts what the story was, fans don’t feel shocked. They feel gaslit.

Killing the love interest isn’t the issue. Killing the thesis is.

This is the part nobody wants to talk about, because it forces a reckoning with the power and legitimacy of fandom interpretation.

Logan wasn’t just Veronica’s boyfriend. Nick wasn’t just June’s romantic partner. Daenerys wasn’t just another lead.

These characters were:

You don’t just rip those out. Not without re-breaking everything around them. It’s like pulling the keystone from a bridge and then blaming drivers for falling into the river.

Why does this keep happening? Because TV writers mistake cynicism for prestige.

This is the actual disease that keeps killing fan-beloved shows:

It’s a worldview that sees romance arcs, emotional continuity, loyal love interests, or morally gray partners as “cheap,” “fan service,” or “too soapy.” And because of that mindset, writers keep doing one of two things:

1. They kill the love interest to seem edgy or surprising.

2. They rewrite the protagonist or their partner beyond recognition.

And sometimes both. Either way, the show loses the very thing that made it groundbreaking. The fans didn’t kill Veronica Mars. They mourned what the creator killed first. If a fandom was powerful enough to:

…then maybe, just maybe, they had a point about the story’s emotional core.

People didn’t walk away because Logan died. They walked away because his death dismantled the show’s moral vocabulary.

Just like:

This isn’t “toxicity.” This is narrative literacy.

Fans understood the assignment better than the people writing the final chapters. The truth is this: fans don’t kill shows. Shows kill themselves when they decide the audience was wrong about what mattered.

And here's the irony that never gets talked about: Writers taught us what mattered.

They built these love stories. They crafted these arcs. They centered these relationships. They marketed these dynamics. They put these characters in promos, posters, finales, interviews, season-long narratives. They told us these bonds mattered.

So when they then turn around and say:

Actually, wrong. Actually, silly of you to care. Actually, this was never the point.

Of course people walk.

It’s not immaturity. It’s not entitlement. It’s not “fandom killing the show.”

It’s the audience refusing to be told that the story they meaningfully engaged with for years was a mistake.

another exciting and bountiful day for the noble forces of Psychologically Overwhelming Peer Pressure!

SHE COLLAPSED FROM THE EMOTIONAL BURDEN OF IT ALL 😭

Woman Collapsing Under The Psychological Strain of 2025

Pingxie Exchange, Early Question

(...I'll fix the banner properly once at my computer, I promise.)

In an effort to be more timely and not spring this on everyone last minute... Here we go?

One thing that has been an issue for me every year is that the reveal date falls at EXACTLY the wrong time for me, which is very unfortunate given the significance of the reveal date of August 17th. So I wanted to get out there early and ask...

@dmbjexchange *peeks* *waves*

Rarepair Pinch-Hitters Needed

Three pinch-hitters are needed for Rarepair assignments - if you are willing/able to pinch-hit, please ping me here or on Discord and I will send you the assignments that need pinch-hitters for you to see if you're able to fill any of them.

Thank you!

I always have to start the New Years with this picture.

This is so fucking embarrassing. This is one of the most embarrassing business quips I have ever seen in my entire vile career.

coat bath

tag yourselves i'm the GREAT ROOM beside the GOURMET KITCHEN

i remade it in the sims 4

Magneto was Right, X-Men: The Last Stand

Holy crap.

WELP, that ends my account.

Qobuz is the most ethical alternative to spotify and even tidal (tidal is just pandora radio in a different font; you can't curate playlists, which i absolutely fucking hate, but you can curate playlists on qobuz, and the royalties they pay to their artists are far larger than spotify) that i've been able to find, thanks to this post on instagram by singer-songwriter laura burhenn. the post also lists other alternatives, including tidal, but qobuz is by far the best of the lot. they even have a free feature called soundiiz where you can transfer all of your playlists from spotify to qobuz!

Worth a reblog for this great info.

Trump Embarrassing the United States in Asia and Tariff Round Up: Published 11/1/25

Mike Johnson has already announced a sixth week of paid vacation for the US House of Representatives as part of his scheme to steal health care from 15-20 million American workers and to cover up CSA, so don't hold your breath.

Still, it might be worth while calling your Congress Critter anyway in case Mike Johnson ever ends his vacation, and has anyway blocked voting on the illegal tariffs until March because he is in favour of destroying the Us Economy long term as are most republican politicians.

If any of these are your Senator, please call to thank them for voting to stop the tariffs as it's important to reward good behavior: Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

If you can’t safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Heidi Klum dressing as Medusa for Halloween is. God. Okay. There's something there - and I can't explain this thought - that sounds like a horror story you'd read in an old comic book.

You are a supermodel. You are a very famous supermodel, and for years you've hosted a Halloween party for the celebrities of New York where you've gone above and beyond to make the most iconic costume you can. Fiona from Shrek. The goddess Kali. One year you dressed as a peacock and hired performers from Cirque du Soleil to be your tail feathers. The next year you were a worm.

You live to be the spectacle. And this year you want to go above and beyond. You want to be Medusa. You work with the best makeup artists and prosthetic artists to craft your costume. You spend hours preparing for your reveal, the moment that will make you the most talked about name around. You cover your face, slither out onto the red carpet. The camera lights blaze. You uncover your face.

Within seconds the paparazzi of New York are turned to gravel.

(source 1) (source 2) (source 3)

Adding my own previous tags:

I’d sincerely appreciate it if non-Brazilians reblogged this. Media outlets all over the world (and especially in my homeland) will try to sweep this under the rug but the horror has spread nationwide. We call it chacina for a reason.

It would be of great help if other countries and their citizens held Brazilian politicians/figures of authority accountable. Or, at least, acknowledge very publicly that there's an ongoing effort by the Brazilian police force to exterminate black and brown people, especially in Rio.

Incredibly important further context provided by @ch4o7ix (agradeço imensamente companheirx)