#(and from what I've seen - most people do! there's a reason why he became popular. and most ppl ARE normal)

[daz4i]

why can't ppl be normal abt kids having fun on the internet. like. a kid goes mildly viral bc they upload genuinely funny content and immediately a bunch of actual adults have to start making fun of how they look or sound or w/e. man if you're so bothered by their videos keep scrolling?? 😭😭😭

[rileyglas]

Hello! Can I request Alastor x Fem!Trust Issues!Reader? I've seen quite a few fanfictions and requests where Readers were wary of Alastor, but strangely quickly began to trust him. Therefore, it seemed to me that it would be funny to see a Reader who is so distrustful of people in principle that with Alastor’s reputation this distrust reaches the point of absurdity. And when Alastor really sincerely wants to gain the Reader's trust (romantically or platonically, it doesn't matter), then it becomes a really difficult task. For example, he offers help with some little thing and the Reader immediately “what do you want from me.” Or when Alastor brings the Reader tea/coffee, she waits for him to drink first (she would probably insist that he pour it from the same ?teapot?). The other residents of the Hotel find this hilarious.

This is such a fun prompt, especially under the assumption Alastor loves nothing more than a good chase during a hunt. 😉

Like Glass (Alastor x Fem!TrustIssues!Reader)

Four months. That’s how long it took for you to finally take Charlie up on her offer of the possibility of redemption. The chance to get to Heaven seemed like a pipe dream but after a few very long talks and persuasions, you now held a key to your own room in the hotel. 

You try to keep to yourself and most seem to respect that. You’re left alone unless something is needed for one of Charlie’s exercises. You even specifically requested that Nifty didn’t bother coming to your room to clean. The less people in your space the better. 

Charlie has such a big heart but that leads to her choosing to trust even the most despicable characters. She has even trusted and allowed the Radio Demon to live under the same roof. You’ve heard all the stories, all the theories of why he was really there under the ruse of “helping” her. You didn’t buy it one bit. 

Just the other day you were trying to hang some banners the crew had made during an activity. Your ladder was rickety but unfortunately it was the only way to reach the beams. Pained grunts filled the room from you trying to stand on your tiptoes while maintaining some sense of balance. “Allow me to help, dear. Would hate to see you fall.” A staticky voice called from below you. “No thank you - I….am almost…done - shit!” the ladder shifted and almost threw you off. Alastor stabilized it with ease. “See, it is a good thing I’m here!” he yelled smugly. At this point you would rather fall than allow him to hold your life in his hands. “You’re a busy man Alastor. Hey Husk? Mind helping -”

“Nope, looks like Al has it covered.” he teased from behind the bar, relishing in your uneasy tone. You shot daggers, both angry and begging for the cat to just help you instead of Alastor. You made the last tie in the banner and swiftly came down to more solid ground. “Thanks I guess. I had it though.” you said through gritted teeth, avoiding making eye contact and rushing out of the room. Had you looked back you would have seen Husk laughing at how irate Alastor suddenly became.

Now tonight, Nifty was kind enough to serve everyone one of her more popular dinners. It was a simple dish yet as usual, you waited for everyone to nearly clear their plates before digging into it yourself. You might have been starving but you could never be too careful. We are all in Hell for a reason. Could anyone be truly trusted?

“My dear, dig in! Before it gets cold!” Alastor’s voice chirped from across the table. You glare at the toothy grinned demon, “I just like to ensure everyone is enjoying before digging in myself. Appreciate the concern though.” You try to seem pleasant but your voice always seems to drip with disdain when speaking to him, “Why are you so worried? Did you help in preparing the meal?” 

He chuckles, “I try to keep out of the kitchen when Nifty cooks but she did require a few extra hands -” You involuntarily choke and spit out the bite you had just taken. Angel and Husk also choke though it’s to hold back laughter. You sneer at their amusement. Alastor’s face twists with confusion, “Is everything alright?” “Oh uhm I’m suddenly not that hungry. Must be coming down with something. Excuse me.” You excuse yourself from the table and make your way to the library. Reading was always something that could busy your mind and right now you needed a distraction from both your growling stomach and Alastor’s attempt to help once again. He’d been making an uncomfortable effort to help you in any way he could and in your mind, that could only mean he wanted something from you.

Not many residents used the hotel library which was great for you. But of course, there was always someone who enjoyed breaking your solitude. The sound of footsteps pulls your eyes off your current page, “What do I owe the visit?” you snap over your book. 

Alastor strides over with a serving tray carrying a tea set. “Well I saw just how horrible you looked at dinner and figured some peppermint tea might help whatever ailment you’re suffering from.” He sets the tray on the table in front of you but you don’t move a muscle. “Since when do you care if someone isn’t feeling well?” you cock an eyebrow at him. 

He hums as he pours two cups of tea, taking one for himself and offering you the other, “What? Can I not offer a fellow resident a nice cup of tea?” “Nope. What do you want?” you continue to stare at the cup in his hand. His eye twitches, trying to hold back his annoyance, “Why do you insist on rejecting any of my pleasantries?”

You slam your book closed, “You’re wondering why I do not want help of any sort from one of Hell’s most vile Overlords?” He sets down your cup and sits across from you. You didn’t want company but it's too late now. “Ms. Morningstar trusts me with ensuring the safety of this hotel yet you cannot even take a cup of tea you’ve watched me both pour and drink myself. Other than what stories you’ve heard, what have I done to you to make you so cold towards me?” His eyes burn into you, eager for an answer. Although with his tone, you could only assume he knew exactly why you didn’t trust him. 

You sigh as you pick up the cup he offered. You swirl it in an attempt to examine if it looks or smells odd before hesitantly taking a small sip for yourself. “Have you ever been betrayed Alastor? By a friend? By someone you loved? Because I have. It’s how I died and how I ended up here.” 

His smile falters slightly, corners curving down before returning to their usual wide grin, “Trust is like glass, once broken it isn’t easy to fix nor will ever be the same. I admire how guarded you try to be.”

You scoff, “If it is so admirable then why bother trying so hard to earn my trust? Unless it just kills your ego that someone can see you for who you truly are -” The cup he holds suddenly shatters under his tightening grip, “Watch your tone, dear. I’ve been nothing but amicable with you. I expect the same in return.” his voice drops with static filling the air. You can’t help but smirk at how quickly you’ve managed to get under his skin. “Ooooh so it is an ego thing? Duly noted.” you bite and finish off your cup. As you stand you see Alastor’s eyes shift to black dials, his mind clearly spiraling. On your way to the door you brush a teasing hand across his shoulder, “Tea was wonderful by the way. I’m feeling better already!” Your coy laughter echoes through the library as you leave but the sounds of Alastor’s demon form drown it out. He snarls over his shoulder to you, “Don’t act so smug darling. I’ll get you to trust me one day.”

“Good luck!” You chirp walking out the door, unaware of the challenge you just put into place for the Radio Demon.  He was going to have you one way or another. It was only a matter of time and patience, two things he had plenty of when it came to getting what he wanted. You.

[baejax-the-great]

Absolutely reeling.

So I knew that the origin of "Hector was a great man, moral, noble, better than all of the Greeks" began as Roman propaganda that somehow has made it to now, the year 2023, and is still taught to high school students.

What I did not know was why scholars shit on Achilles as vehemently as they did (and still do).

My copy of Fagles' translation of the Iliad has a preface by a different scholar who I'm not going to bother to name because he's an idiot (and idk probably dead at this point). I read the entire thing, absolutely baffled, because he would cite a part of the text (that I admittedly had not read yet! at all!), quote it, and then come to the most batshit interpretation based on that quote I had ever seen in my life. His general take was that Achilles was a sociopath who had no feelings for anyone other than himself and his own pride, and every action he took (until welcoming Priam into his hut) was done in service of that pride. To support this, he decided that Achilles did not see Patroclus as a person, but rather as an extension of himself, and thus someone injuring Patroclus was them injuring Achilles, and so he did not care about Patroclus, he only cared about his wounded pride.

Yeah.

That sounded wrong before reading the book, and while reading the book all i could think was, "Did we read the same fucking thing???" Put in context, those quotations still did not support his conclusions whatsoever.

But i cracked open Caroline Alexander's "The War That Killed Achilles" last night, and she solves this mystery of "Hector good, Achilles bad" for me right out the gate (which is good because so far I've only read the preface).

Western Europeans by and large learned about the Trojan war from Roman stories, which became fairly popular, and not the Iliad, which was not translated into French or English until centuries later. As mentioned, these were propaganda that cast the Trojans in a much better light than the Greeks because the Romans believed they were descended from Trojan refugees. This starts a trend that is still going on in scholarly circles as casting the Iliad as a war between "barbaric Greeks living in a shitty, lawless camp" vs "civilized, educated, weaving, real-wife-having Trojans," making the Iliad a tragedy in which Homer for some reason skewers his own people and their warlike culture as barbaric while propping up a dead, foreign city-state. This interpretation is still extant and was the postscript to another copy of the Iliad I have.

According to Alexander, scholars closer to Homer's time saw the entire war as a tragedy--both the destruction of Troy AND the destruction of the Greek army. While this is not covered in the Iliad, very few Greeks actually made it home after Troy. Some that did were then outcast (Teucer for example), some were murdered (bye, Agamemnon), some went on to create new kingdoms in other places (Diomedes), but by and large, there was no going home from that war. There was no great victory with all their loot. The entire thing was a disaster for both sides, spurred on by fickle gods.

Back to the more recent European interpretations of this story, one reason Hector ended up cast in such a "good" light, despite being a dumbass who wants to dishonor dead people just as badly as Achilles ever did, was in order to make Achilles look worse. Why was it important that Achilles becomes a villain in this story in which he is very much not a villain? Because Europeans were involved in so much war with each other and the rest of the world that a young, insubordinate man who criticizes his idiot of a commander, decides his life isn't worth throwing away for this war, and refuses to fight to sack a city was an affront to their values. Young men were to be obedient, follow their commanding officers, and colonize the world for queen and country. Achilles suggesting losing his life is not worth it to prop up Agamemnon's war is a dangerous precedent for all the good little soldiers needed to make their nations wealthy.

It's almost funny that these analyses propping up Troy as a beacon of civilization were made by people living in countries so bent on colonizing the world. They identified with the city being sacked and not the greedy sackers of said city, who they were much closer to. And Achilles, educated, morally rigid, emotional Achilles, is recast as a sociopathic asshole who doesn't care about anyone other than himself, unlike all of those other beacons of selflessness among the Greek leadership.

The tragedy of the Iliad is that Achilles is right, the war is pointless, Agamemnon did dishonor the shit out of him, and it doesn't matter because he's going to die in it anyway.

Frankly, given how badly his character has been interpreted for so long, I think the muses owe him an apology.

[theotherseapancakes]

Psssst. You mentioned no one cares about Philemon, but now I'm curious if you have any thoughts about his role in the games after he disappeared. And for sillies sake, does he have anything to do with the Dance games?

I have been waiting my entire life for this. Anon do you realize how verbose I'm going to get. DO YOU REALIZE? I hope you like read mores. Let me preface this with I am aware and have seen some popular theories, so I'm going to sidestep a lot of them and present one I've built since... well, I became a Persona fan as a teenager. MAJOR PERSONA SERIES SPOILERS LIKE THE ENTIRE THING OK? OK. yes even royal.

The P2 PSP additional scenario is so incredibly important and I think everyone missed the point of it. THE PERSONA 2 PSP ADDITIONAL TATSUYA SCENARIO!!!! It's beyond important, because it reveals to us Philemon can have more than one Avatar we know about, just like Nyarly. (Casual reminder he's like half the shopkeeps in P2. Time Count, anyone? Why was the Time Count so hot. Anyway.) Disclaimer: I'm just a casual fan who has played a LOT of Persona and SMT. I haven't gotten around to all of them, but I've played/finished both paths of 1, 2, 3 (and p3p) as well as 4 and 5. Didn't manage to get my hands on Golden but I've seen enough of it. (It's funny you ask about the dance games, they're the only ones I don't have right now! But my roommate does, and will be gone for a few months soon, perhaps I will take the time to start with p4DAN. I'm atrocious at rhythm games though so more than likely I'll find a video. Anyway.) WHAT is Philemon? If we can't define that, we can't talk about The Positivity Guy Ever.

So let's talk about Phil. He's a fascinating character. His Persona is just a form of Himself, But Cooler. And he seems to HAVE no set shape, not unlike Nyarlathotep. People have various theories about Shadows and their origins etc., but Phil is more like that vote of confidence in people. I think, personally, that after the end of Innocent Sin, Phil's been pretty weak. We see in Eternal Punishment he's fading pretty roughly, and has a hard time talking to the party. Presumably ending Nyarly might to some degree fix things when Deja-vu Boy goes home, but... the problem is, we don't know how fixed they truly ended up being, or the full depth of how much he could/did expend!

In fact, the first time we even see Phil without the dumb mask is when Tatsuya decks him. Pay close attention to that fact. To the mask motifs here. I want you to really soak in Phil's everything. He's a leader. A kind soul. He's the good of people. He wants to believe the best.

Anyway, most of these things overlook what I find really interesting as we've gotten more games worth of lore: he and Nyarly aren't the only eldritch entities walking around like that. Yes, Nyx is one too. Yes, it's probable she may even be their 'mom'. It's possible they all came from Nyx initially, but it's also possible (and should be considered) they too may have been outsiders at one point. We need to ask ourselves how far the human collective unsconsciousness can go. Is that sea infinite? Could it affect other worlds? Think about Aion in Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 2. Yes, I am asking you to think about Soul Hackers 2. Deal with it, I don't care. They're sister series. They share many things. SO! Did the shape of the human mind change a bunch of eldritch creatures and make them interact with us even more after Nyx smacked the moon a gazillion years ago? Is there multiple worlds? Weird bullshit? Just the two? Hmm. Well... I, personally, think so. I think he was touched by humanity just like Nyarlathotep, but in the other way. The reason I bring this up is two-fold. The first is Nodens. Now, we don't know much about the actual Nodens, unfortunately, just some speculation. Which is a shame. (If anyone has more info I'd love to have it, ngl. As a pagan this shit fascinates me.) But what we do get on him in Lovecraftian lore can provide us some intriguing possibilities about Phil's everything, which the games love to keep really rather vague. (And this is putting aside that his human Persona is based off the obviously bogus Jungian Spirit Guide, but we love an old guy in a mask anyway. He probably felt that was more 'friendly' for humans, hah.) I believe that Nodens, and Phil by extension, are just as responsible for nurturing and keeping the collective unconsciousness alive and positive. We see the butterfly symbol everywhere. We see it with Lavenza, too. "This is truly an unjust game." So was the bet Phil made with Nyarly, a game he rigged. Phil made the mistake of thinking the Crawling Chaos wouldn't cheat, a mistake he is never making again, I assume, if he can help it. Shit, you could view his boss fight in P2EP as him trying to train the EP crew to beat the snot out of Nyarly, even. But off topic. If Nyarly is basically the father of all Shadows, and they and Personas are the same coin, it makes me wonder a lot of things. The two have always been portrayed as simultaneously diametrically opposed, but also not? They have identical halls in P2. They have similar powers and talents... I think after Persona 3, Phil's remnants sank into the Collective Unconsciousness, to attempt to rehabilitate humanity from what it lost, from what he himself lost. I think Igor took over the room, because he took a backseat to recover. It would go a long, long way towards explaining why only SOME characters have the tier of the Wild Card, which is similar to the 'original' Persona power. (Having multiple.) He was took weak to remain in his Spirit Guide (Philemon) form, and had to abandon it to return to the depths as Nodens... So. Let me go back to Nodens and make some notes about design.

Nodens, as seen here, sort of resembles an iron maiden. It really brings to mind the idea of maybe Tatsuya or someone's humanoid form sleeping within it, doesn't it? Fitting for an aspect of Philemon! ... You probably can see where I'm going with this, but let me pull up some screens to finish the point:

That's right! It's Azathoth, Baby! I believe that unlike mythology, he's yet another aspect of Philemon. Eldritch positivity, in too much force, could be used for accidental bad, too. (Reasons Maruki is my favorite Law Hero, haha.) Let me explain. I think Philemon always existed in... let's call it parts. Azathoth is said to be a dreaming god in whom's universe we all just happen to be alive inside, right? "Dream of butterfly" (Philemon) "Or is life a dream? Don't wanna wake up. Cuz I'm happy here." That sure is thematic to what Maki goes through in Persona 1, and what Maruki's beloved suffers, isn't it? ISN'T IT. The "true reality" he creates... would help Maruki create in the additional Semester--would be something most humans would never pass the muster to even try to control. But we have seen Phil test a few people and find them worth passing before! However, that seems like ages ago. Why has he been so quiet? I think because he was spending time conserving his energy. He believed in humanity enough to give Makoto a push when it was needed in p3 (or femc, if you play her), but otherwise trusted Igor while he restored what needed it. But in Persona 5 Royal, he hand-picked Maruki, didn't he? At first, when I played Persona 5 Royal, I really thought it was some part of Nyarly, but I no longer believe this to be the case. The coloration and symbolism in the background (the golds, the whole garden of eden themes, the way his Palace was laid out), the whole sea of soul motifs in P3Re later... mmm. I have a lot of thoughts about this, but this post is already way too long for one simple ask. So let's wrap up by going one step further and looking finally at Nodens' dialogue to the party in the Extra Scenario in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP). The following is a transcript, you can find a video here:

Nodens: This is the memory of the lost child whom you all seek. Nodens: Memory occasionally brings about much distress and suffering, but it is absolutely vital to distinguish oneself from others and manufacture one's own psyche. Nodens: Ever since it began, life's memory has accumulated unbroken, passing through individual experiences and spanning several generations. Nodens: And so it has given shape to Kadath and the Collective Unconsciousness, thereby becoming a foundation for the next generation. Nodens: Even if the roots of the world are directed by fear and anxiety, never forget that the true essence of life is brimming with joy. Nodens: You must not stop seeking the answer for why life was born in a cosmos progressing towards absurdity and chaos. Nodens: Life brims with joy, bringing about balance in a universe predestined to heat death, and that allows the world to live a long time.

So to answer your question, I think he's taken a much subtler role. I think he's influencing people by pretending to be a Persona for Maruki, because he believes it will help them grow. I don't think he was intending a forever-control vice grip, but rather to prove a point. No matter what, the primordial chaos of humanity will rise up for chaotic good, lawful good, whatever "good" is needed. Azathoth is... interesting. Adam Kadmon is also interesting. But mostly I HIGHLY suspect we may see him again in Persona 6, or at least I'm hoping so. It's my personal pet theory by then he'll be less faded and come back to us in a new form of some kind. He's never had a set one, after all. Now for funsies about the dancing game, well, he's a positive guy, he wanted to just make sure everyone had their fitness regimen checked off. Obviously. (This is a joke.) Did the devs intend this? I'm honestly not sure? Like there's a lot of nods to older Personas in 5 and now 3RE especially, but it's definitely worth chewing on. I could go on and on about things I think he's connected to, but ultimately they have the final say lol. I'm just a crackpot conspiracy theorist on tumblr who really likes Philemon. He and the Room are my favorites. :) Ask me about attendants for additional dumb, sometime, I guess lol.

[aydaptic]

I imagine that being a Gavin fan when the dbh fandom was in its early stages must have been exhausting. I've been scrolling through dbh blogs, just to catch up on what I've missed out on and occasionally I'll come across posts like "if you like Gavin you're [insert stupid insult here]" or "Gavin is the personification of evil and if you even watch a single scene with him in it without feeling hatred, then you're [insert another stupid insult here]"

Following you, I've realised that Gavin is honestly not a bad guy. Yeah, he's not the most positive/friendly guy in the world but that doesn't make him evil. The only time we've seen him in a bad light is when he's interacting with something he does not like ex. androids, hank (both of which he has valid reasons for not liking). When he's not with either of them, he's pretty alright. Even Neil has said that if you met Gavin in a bar or something, he, at the very least, would be polite to you.

I know it's been said before but people can dislike Gavin (everyone is entitled to disliking who they want) but looking back, I believe that the hatred he received was so unnecessary.

If any of those people could have just looked beyond "he hurt my fave/disliking him for moral points", they would have seen that too.

This is why I'm happy that reed900 became so popular. Not only because it showed that there were people who wanted to delve deeper into Gavin's character but it also created a huge headache for everyone who hated him.

As someone who has been a Gav fan since launch day -- May 25th, 2018 -- I can confirm that it was indeed exhausting. I admit I'm biased, though. It was worse for me for reasons I'll get into down below.

There's still a lot of undeserved vitriol towards him posted on the regular, but my having muted 90% of the fandom makes it not nearly as noticeable. Ofc I can't avoid them all bc the amount of shit he gets always slips through the net. His haters are that obsessed with him (...which is not only pathetic but hilarious as well.)

Several ppl have told me that I was the one who made them see the layers involved when it comes to Gav. Hearing that warms my heart. It makes me feel like I'm doing something useful in this fandom.

As for my personal bias, I've been told multiple times by multiple ppl that I remind them of Gav. It made me realize that's one of the main reasons why I defend the guy. If you don't like Gav, you wouldn't like me, so I -- in the beginning -- took the hatred for him personally. Thus it was extra exhausting to have negativity constantly aimed at me (in theory) as an individual.

I feel the same way he does. I'm pissed at Hank and wouldn't stay quiet knowing that he gets special treatment from Fowler. I dislike Con and would try to stop him in The Interrogation/Last Chance, Connor. I dislike AI. I wouldn't believe androids were alive. I'm terrified of losing my livelihood, etc. I could make a list with dozens of things he and I have in common (even the smallest/unusual things like being unable to wink with one eye bc I can't do that either, lol.)

I share your amusement on his haters having to deal with not only Gav's popularity, but also Reed900. I'd say that's karma.

[flowerbritts]

So, I'm going to be the one that makes the post on Payneland and parallels to other couples/relationships, aren't I?

Sigh...I guess here we go. Spoilers, obviously. So if you haven't watched Dead Boy Detectives, go watch it and return to this post!

Believe it or not, there is more than one relationship to which I can compare the Edwin/Charles dynamic.

These couples include Destiel (Supernatural), Malec (Shadowhunters), and Solangelo (PJO).

So let's start with the Charles parallels.

We are introduced in Episodes 3 & 4 to the fact that Charles went through some serious physical abuse. His father had high expectations for him, and when he didn't match those expectations, he took his anger out on Charles. This gives reason as to why Charles's anger comes out in the form of protection because he was never protected from that abuse, and he doesn't want anyone else to experience the same type of hurt he did.

Not only does this remind me of Dean Winchester, but of Magnus Bane. Both were raised by men who were quite angry and abusive in their own ways. Yet these characters are known for their care and love of other people. Dean's entire job is saving people, Magnus' job is helping people with his magic abilities, and we already know Charles's job of helping ghosts solve their mysteries to cross over. All these characters wish to be better (while holding themselves to very high standards) and care more for everyone else than themselves.

So where do the Edwin parallels come into these pairings?

When Edwin was alive, we see that he was a loner, often ridiculed and ostracized by his peers for being a 'Mary Anne'. This puts us into the discussion of how and why it takes a cat king and a crow to help him figure out his sexuality; he merely doesn't realize his feelings because they were never needed during both his time alive and in hell. I'm going to assume that he didn't keep up with politics and popular culture once he got out, so he really was just unaware of what society became, and that's why Niko had to tell him.

This very much fits my comparison to Castiel, his brethren looking down on him because he had 'too much heart'; he began to care more heavily once he was introduced to Dean, but everyone believed he 'came off the line with a crack in his chassis'. I've always thought this was heavily queer-coded. Edwin and Castiel have the similarities of being adorably clueless when it comes to human modern-day communication and needing help in navigating relationships. The comparison I'll make to Alec is that he was also raised in quite a hostile environment. He was forgotten, and looked at as a second choice to his brother Jace before Magnus took notice of him. Alec is another character who goes through a self-discovery journey in which he's adamant that he doesn't need a relationship or feelings to do what needs to be done; he rather be all work.

Now let's get to Solangelo parallels.

Edwin and Nico are both placed out of time, stuck in places for decades until the world has changed around them so drastically they don't recognize it anymore. They both go to Hell/Tartarus and have to find their own ways out. They are both ultimately kind even though they have been hurt by the world, again ostracized and seen as outsiders. They do what must be done to save that which they care about most and, ultimately, torture themselves over their feelings.

Charles and Will are the blinding light that leads their respective partner out of the darkness in more ways than one. They make the choice to stick around their person even though Edwin/Nico thinks they are better off on their own, but Charles/Will pushes to stay with them, not out of duty but because they want to. They try to get their partners out of their comfort zone and remind them to not take everything so seriously all the time.

Now the Hell parallels. One partner always goes to Hell, and the other follows; it does not always perfectly align but stay with me.

Dean goes to Hell, and Castiel fetches him and brings him back to Earth, but Castiel is the one who is more changed by the experience. "When Castiel first laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost." This could also parallel Edwin and Charles meeting for the first time. Castiel and Charles both choose to stay with the person who changed/was kind to them.

Again, the parallels don't perfectly align with Malec but Edwin goes to hell, as Magnus goes to Edom, albeit Magnus goes willingly, he can’t escape. Charles follows, as does Alec. And neither leave without their other half.

Same with Solangelo, Nico goes into Tartarus, and Will follows because he isn't going to let Nico experience it by himself for a second time.

My point to this post is that these are common tropes that go along the lines of 'Do not go where I can not follow'. Both people in the relationship are so devoted to each other that they are broken when they are apart and are willing to go to the ends of the earth to get them back.

If there are any other parallels/things I missed, please add to this post!

[yallemagne]

This year, I'm not doing Dr*cula D*ily

Or any other substack but DD is the biggest. I have numerous reasons for this decision that none of y'all are gonna particularly care for, but ya know, just so we got our expectations in order: I'm not gonna participate in DD this year (maybe never again), I'm probably not gonna reblog many posts related to it (doing so would be counterintuitive), but I am holding myself to finishing Orice (at LEAST the base fic).

Now, why?

TL;DR: Mental health crisis brought on by internet harassment and overprioritizing social media. It's not fun anymore, folks.

DD just... it completely ruined the novel for me.

It was a nice phenomenon, but it took a wrecking ball to my mental health and self-worth. Now, I'm not saying DD's creator personally did something to spite me (or maybe I am, he knows what he did /j), but this whole thing? It wasn't good for me. It was never good. It was sometimes fun, but most of the time it made me want to end it because of thumblr notes.

That's fucking stupid. My life is not worth internet validation. My art is not worthless just because my numbers are not as big as the biggest big shots in the fandom. I'm not a horrible person when other people handle personal disagreements regarding headcanon with defaming rumours and impersonation. But hell! My view of reality was horribly skewed.

A while back, I unfollowed all the gothlit tags I previously followed because 1) Some people (active and popular members of the fandom, mind you, not bots or trolls) were posting honest-to-god name-dropping harassment in the tag because "it's a popular tag so more people will see my callout post" and 2) I reached a point where seeing anything related to the novel on my dash just set me off. It didn't even need to be drama-related anymore. Mentions of the characters, mentions of popular AUs, just the very content of this book became triggering to me, and I really didn't miss the content when it was gone, as sad as that is.

And the kicker? I've come to realize that I probably dislike more things about the novel than I actually like about it. Not only is it tied to some of my darkest moments in recent memory, but it's also just... a book with many flaws that I could go on and on and on about. Sometimes, it straight-up made me furious, like seething mad, and I think I'd rather just be happy. But even when I would try to channel that energy into being happy, I always felt I had to over-clarify or else I’d get bombarded with anonymous messages. If you’ve seen any of my posts from during that time… chances are there is a passive aggressive “btw people can have opposing opinions from you about an old book and it doesn’t give you leave to stone them” or several tags of “#this is a joke #a jooooooke #for the love of god #if y’all don’t stop”. I bet it was as annoying for y’all as it was for me.

P.S. Mutuals/friends, do not worry. Y'all keep doing y'all. I can and will block tags if seeing your posts triggers me. So, I suppose my only request is to properly tag, but I've been saying that from the very start.

I just want to move on to other things.

I took a break for Lent. I needed it terribly. And... not gonna lie? I almost didn't want to return. I never got an itching to just log on and "check in". I very successfully avoided tumb altogether. I came back because "I gotta come back eventually" and also like, this is my main hub where I update when I've written a fic, and ya know... I'm not gonna let toxic fandom bs rule my shit.

During my break, I got back into gaming. More specifically, I started playing Hades again. And listening to Epic the Musical. Aaaand boyyy did that bring me back to my Greek mythology phase. I have a Greek mythos/Hades sideblog btw: @areopagusimp. It's cringe, if you can't tell by the blog name.

Back when I was into Hades game and general Greek mythos, my expectations were so much smaller, but yet, my goals and will to create seemed so much bigger. I made art that no one gave a single solitary shit about (except for my friend), but I was happy. Maybe I'm wearing rose-tinted glasses, but... even if I wasn't as happy then as I remember being... haha at least I wasn't receiving threats and insults in my inbox back then :))). That was the most fun thing about the gothlit fandom. I hope every single chickenhearted angry anon is proud of their behaviour.

But yeah, whatever I end up doing, I’m striving to not let it run me into the ground.

But... What do I do now?

I have so many WIPs (art and writing) for the novel, and it's very disappointing that I didn't get to finish them before it all turned sour. Hopefully, I can still finish them, it just won't be with the same distress I worked with before. Hopefully, I can post that stuff and fully manage my expectations, not crash and burn when only a few people like it. Because hell! A few people liking my stuff? That's amazing, really. I shouldn't take that for granted. At the same time, I'm setting a boundary for myself. Placing my self-worth into the hands of people who I don't know, who don't know me, and who aren't even paying for the art? I need to stop that. Who the hell is that gonna serve? Absolutely no one.

My number one goal is to finish Orice. It is somehow untouched by my aversion to the novel; it is my safe space. I want to honour it and honour the longtime readers who have stuck with me. It's gonna be hard, but it's gonna be worth it for me.

This feels attention-seeking, and it kinda is. I'm not tagging the main subject and I'm not allowing reblogs because I want this to stay isolated (and hopefully prevent backlash/misunderstandings), but ya know, no matter how much I try to keep this small, I'm still posting it online. But I just feel like I needed to get this off my chest. I don't really owe everyone an explanation, but I want there to be one for my own sake... also it's much easier to generalize and make a post than contact each of my friends/mutuals on here and unload stuff onto them that I'm not sure is too personal or not.

For those of you who are reading: I love y'all. I love the good people I've met through all this mess. I want to keep the good apples, not throw out the whole harvest, alright? Dunno how much you'll care for my art when the subject is different, but... eh. If y'all are willing to try?

[lazaruspiss]

So, I'm writing a long fanfic based around the characterizations of the various Bats in the 80s-00s time frame, and Nightwing is gonna be important but I don't have a good grasp of his personality yet. I'm currently reading through The Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul, but that and a few of the 2016 issues are all I've got to go off of right now.

Do you have any comics you'd recommend for getting a good grasp of his personality and general vibes?

I'd also be happy to read any kind of ramble about his personality/appeal you feel like writing. Having read your fanfiction I feel like (sincere compliment:) you are the exact kind of unhinged I want to get character opinions from.

(Also you mentioned Dick being in the mob which sounds Very Fun and I wanna know what titles so I can read that)

-redhoodinternaldialectical on anon cause sideblog

ok first of all. im flattered. i feel so powerful rn.

and second of all... my 'to read' list is embarrassingly long, and dick's been around and in a lot of comics so i have a lot of trouble keeping up ;-; but i will try my best!!

The New Teen Titans gets recommended a lot as a starting point for Dick as Nightwing, and while i havent read much of it, the stuff i have read has been pretty solid and i get why its so popular.

Nightwing 1996 is my personal go to comic for Dick, mainly bc it was his first real solo run. (it's often listed as "volume 2" of nightwing, but volume 1 aka Nightwing 1995 was really more of a test drive just to see if they should make a Nightwing solo series) It's also where Dick joins the mob! although that came off the tail end of a lot of different plot points.

(This is a bit unrelated, but in general I think knowing a bit of irl context to certain comic events is important. Like, at one point Bludhaven is nuked off the map. It doesn't make sense, and it was most likely due to some higher up DC nonsense. And Nightwing 1996's second annual is written by a man. etc etc.)

... I actually have a guide I've been working on, main reasons being quick reference for what happens where, and that writing these things down helps me remember them better

as you can probably tell, I still have a ways to go. looking at this now i'm starting to realize that i am really down bad for him lol

Mobbed Up (where Dick gets adopted by a random mob boss who took one look at his depressed mug as he was getting fired from the police force and said "new son?") is issues #107-111

I feel like I should get back to character thoughts.

Dick on his own is deeply serious, he has a job to do and it's incredibly important that he does it right. In the beginning this serves as an invaluable asset, but as he loses more people it starts to turn into more destructive. A trait that is morphed by his traumas into obsessiveness.

Dick when Tim comes to visit (or just when he's around people he cares about) is a bit softer, it's subtle, but it shows that he's aware of/cares for the people around him.

Dick with Bruce around seems to worry so much about proving himself, about being seen as a respectable peer, that it backfires into making him come off more insecure and as a bit of a "rebellious teen". (which is exactly what he's trying to avoid when he strikes out on his own) I've read various arcs and issues but I haven't actually read any focused on Dick and Bruce aside from the ones towards the beginning, so I'm sure their relationship must change, but this is how they were when Dick had first moved to Blud.

I feel like Bludhaven is also important to talk about. It's very much meant to be "Gotham, but worse". It's a place that even Batman wouldn't bother with, a place beyond saving. I'm... kind of breaking my own heart, thinking about how much Dick put into this city, only to. To fail? In a sense? A hero's home city isn't usually obliterated like that. The only other example that comes to mind is Hal Jordan's, and Hal literally went insane and became a space terrorist to bring it back. Dick is just... forced to move on.

And Dick goes back to NYC. Nightwing patrolling Gotham with any regularity feels very modern. He shows up when there's a major event and DC wants to capitalize on having a bunch of names in the same series, and he shows up when something drastic changes (like a new robin, or a death). Dick has however spent a lot of time in NYC, either because of the Titans or because. yknow. home go boom.

Anyways. Arc recs. Unironically I need you to read Brothers in Blood. Get past the initial gross out factor of Tentatodd and it's a great look at Jason and Dick's relationship. This is #118-122 and right after Bludhaven gets nuked. Dick has just experienced the lowest lows that one could low. Jason seems to know all about it, and tries to help in the worst way possible. Jason is right and blunt and convoluted and so so insecure about where he stands with Dick. Dick doesn't know where he stands with Jason either, on account of all the murder, and his tactless approach to trying to confront Dick on the copious amounts of trauma that Dick is dealing with. BiB is my Jaydick bible.

I'd also say to just give the first few arcs a shot. Beginnings are meant for introductions! It gives a good sense of who Dick is, why he's here, and what his goals are. Exposition baby! And I'm once again thinking about how ultimately Dick kind of fails said goals. I love him but he makes me so emo. Blockbuster has also been his main villain since the beginning, up until. Yknow. He became deader than his namesake. There's also a few fear toxin based issues that are good for. well. understanding what his fears are. There's also a fear toxin scene in Batman: Orphans, but i'll just reblog the post i made of it so u don't have to read that one. The art is fun, the story is weird and just kinda. meh.

#60 is when Dick joins the force. The beginning of the end, so to speak, but we don't meet Catalina until #71.

#93 is That Issue. The infamous rape scene. The thing about his time with Catalina is that it was almost definitely meant to be explored for what it was- an abusive relationship. But DC wanted Nightwing in an event. It doesn't have any satisfactory end, Bruce (DC) calls Dick to fight in Gotham. He does. His story falls to the wayside for the bigger title. The worst thing that can happen to a DC character IMO is getting a Batman crossover. There was supposed to be an entire arc dedicated to what would happen to Dick in this abusive relationship. But we got 2 issues. And War Games. It pisses me off to absolutely no end. DC needed more mouths to kiss the ground that Batman walks on. They don't give a damn about the stories that exist outside their cash cow.

After all that, eventually Dick is back to his utterly depressing life. He joins the mob, finds a family, bad things happen to said family. (Mobbed Up, #107-111) He wants to protect the daughter, Sophia Tevis, and then Slade holds Sophia hostage to get Dick to teach his daughter Rose how to fight. He does, but he also teaches Rose how to question authority (aka her dad). Slade is not happy about that, and nukes Bludhaven. (Renegade, #112-117) See my earlier note about IRL reasons for dumbass plot points.

Nightwing 1996 has 2 annual issues (despite running for much longer than 2 years). The first annual is a fun murder mystery and i think a good look into how Dick handles relationships. He also reads as very aromantic/demiromantic who doesn't know it yet, but maybe that's just me, lol. the second annual is dog shit. Mark Andreyko can get bent, it sucked total ass and isn't worth reading.

[raayllum]

you don’t have to answer this if its too discoursey but i’m too afraid to say it off anon cause I don’t wanna get yelled at, but I am not the biggest fan of emperor/king Callum fics, mainly since it feels out of character for me (since he feels more connected to magic than he does royalty as a whole, he’s only the crown prince because he & Ez don’t have any family left to take up that role)

and also because to me, as a black person, it feels really weird that it just sidelines Ezran, they always just kill him off for no reason except to put the white person in a position of power

Its okay as a concept, i suppose, say Ezran feels like he can’t bear the responsibility at his age, so Callum takes up the mantle, but it just feels Weird to me, and maybe I’m reaching but it does feel like there’s a hint of racism going on even if its not exactly the author’s intention

So back in like 2020 in the months following S3, Regent Amaya became a popular headcanon in the Janaya corner of the fandom (because they wanted to have to interact Politically with Janai rather than just personally? I don't know) and it never sat right with me for similar reasons. (Cue people complaining in S4 that Janay's plotline was more Janai centric than Amaya centric. Mmhm.)

Because here's the thing (and I've said this before) while Callum is not white (he is mixed, he's half Asian and half white) he is lighter skinned than his brother and I do understand why people think he's white at first glance (more discussion/perspectives on Callum's race in this tag) and Ezran very clearly is not, and it's also very clear how that can affect them sometimes fandom wise. Of the five like main Main characters (although that list is 100% expanding in S4), Ezran is one of two main characters of colour (bonus core protagonist points alongside his brother) and he is the only darker skinned character of colour, comparatively in the trio.

There are other reasons I think as well about why Ezran doesn't have as much fandom made about him (he's the youngest in the cast, most of the fandom is older; he's not part of a main ship, etc) but race absolutely affects a lot of the critique he (and Harrow) get as kings. I have seen people with their full chest go "I hate TDP's monarchy, they're such bad kings Viren was right" because their issue isn't at its core the monarchy, it's that their white fave's bloodline wasn't the one on the throne for once.

Also talking about race is never discoursey IMO so always feel free to drop stuff in my inbox about it. (I'll happily take getting yelled at for it, it's way easier to bear as a white person & it doesn't happen as often as a result.)

Since 2016, we've seen this mini trend of casts having one Black character, usually a boy who's a best friend of the protagonist, get routinely sidelined. Lucas had to carry Stranger Things on his back (although I think it's gotten better? Idk for sure I stopped watching the show after s2 for unrelated reasons), Finn from Star Wars deserved so much better (and I left the SW fandom bc the racism was so bad and he was my favourite after just six months), Bow from She-Ra got virtually nothing, and Gus from The Owl House actually did.

TDP, thankfully, does not fall into that trend (having more than like 1-2 Black characters in general also helps a great deal, JC) and I now no longer watch every season like a hawk to ensure that it won't, because I trust that it won't.

So. King Callum AUs. The first thing is that you're right, Callum isn't that interested in politics. While he has a mind for politics (he immediately realizes what the egg could mean globally) he's not motivated by them. In 1x06 he gets pissed & fed up because Rayla insists on giving him only the political reasonings for why she's travelling with them and not stealing the egg, and it's not enough (he wants the personal reasons). His Tales of Xadia bio reaffirms this, stating outright that he's "beholden to [his] inner circle, not some silly kingdom" in spite of being Crown Prince. I think in some ways if Callum was left alone as King, regent Amaya would be more likely, not less, even if Callum might resist out of a grief fuelled desperate "I have to do this" at first. Being King is genuinely liberating for Ezran in ways it'll just never be for his brother, thematically / personality wise

And Callum being king because Ezran died is, IMO, unnecessary and actually more restrictive for both of their characters. If you want Callum grieving but away from the throne off adventuring with Rayla in an angsty AU, you can just have him think Ez is dead and achieve the same aims. If you want Callum on the throne, you can just have him do it out of love/loyalty for his baby brother. Otherwise, Ezran actually being dead leaves Callum solely grieving and stranded away from magic (his true calling, or the temptation of dark magic). But if Callum becomes regent to try and shield his baby brother, it leaves a lot more for them to grow, disagree on and develop, etc. Just a lot more avenues. How I think this would go (honouring Ezran's role to play and how I think their dynamic would realistically develop with this addition) here.

Being aware of what does or doesn't displace a character can be tricky, but I always think of it in regards to "do you take something another character has earned and give it to another character with little consequence," killing a character off when it wouldn't change that much to keep them alive and just tweak other things (like the above), or "are you taking the challenge one character has set before them and giving it unequivocally to another".

For example I've thought about "is my theory of Callum sacrificing/handing over the Key of Aaravos for Rayla's life displacing him" but it's not, in my eyes, bc 1) all the repercussions that come from that action is still something he has to deal with, 2) he'd have a vested interest and arc in reclaiming the cube, 3) it highlights the tragedy of Callum regaining his agency from brainwashing and still being forced into Aaravos' tragedy, 4) still leaves Callum perfectly free and motivated to uncover the secrets of the key himself beforehand, it just won't end well for him. And if Callum was having big conflicts with Ezran RN, I'd probably swap in Ez as a possibility for who he'd hand the key over for too

Last but not least I do wonder if Callum will even remain his brother's High Mage. The symbolism of a brother on either side of the Border has always felt fitting to me, and I think Claudia would make a great high mage to Ez if/when she gets redeemed / she'll want to stick close to her brother. Now that Callum has Ibis' staff, I wonder if that'll also eventually include having Ibis' post, especially now that Soren has stepped up in S4 to really be Ez's protector (and Cal and Ez would still write letters all the time, of course <3 Ez checking in on him through his link with Zym).

But yeah I think if Callum did continue to be in a political role beyond high mage, he'd be best suited to be one of Ezran's top generals, and that would take its own interesting toll on Ezran's psyche

Anyway this is probs longer than you were expecting but thank you for sharing your perspective! It's something I think the bulk of the fandom has noticed and it's always good to look at areas of like, perhaps more casual than outright racism when it comes to characters of colour, and how we have a responsiblity to examine those areas when exploring things, even just in fanon

[wegonbealright-09]

https://www.tumblr.com/wegonbealright-09/731704995863494656/do-you-know-what-makes-me-really-angry-with-the?source=share

I just want to disagree with this anon in 1 small way. JK is very touchy with members like Hobi and Jin maybe even more than with Tae or Jimin (probably because of shipping though post 2021 JK started leaning into the fanservice). Meanwhile Jimin is also super touchy with all the members - like the skinship and comfort he and Hobi have is just on another level. And have we seen how Jin and Tae act on stage together sometimes? That is peak fanservice right there. Nobody tell me Bangtan don't do fanservice at all because that's a lie. But why is only Jimin being targeted by the brain dead losers of that ship?

It mostly stems from homophobia imo. Most of the people shipping tkk aren't actually all that ok with same sex relationships (a fun little experiment you can do is see how many people who ship tkk overwhelmingly come from countries where same sex couples aren't well accepted and are straight themselves) - they just don't want to see the person they're thirsting after with a woman so they'll pair him up with his band mate instead. But that 'safe' pairing gets destroyed when there's an actual queer person around and that is why Jimin is their target. Because he doesn't spend all his time posturing as some super straight d*uchbag or keeping his distance from his friends and is most probably bi, so his very existence acts like some threat to these people which is only exacerbated by the way (let's be honest) jkk act sometimes.

This story isn't unique to tkk. I'm telling you this exact storyline of the 'powers that be' keeping a secret couple apart and their girlfriends / wives being evil hired accomplices is a storyline that is copy and pasted over every crazy fandom including the 'clues' the secret couple send fans. Here it's tkk, somewhere else it's Larry, another it was the Supernatural actors, ditto for the actors from Glee, and pairings from BL dramas of course, and other KPop 'couples'. It is hilarious and sad that they repeat this same story over and over again with little variations. The variation here is that in other fandoms they channeled misogyny to target these people's real life partners and here they use homophobia to target their real life friend.

One last thing - another anon mentioned that it was these ships that was holding Jimin back from achieving his peak popularity and while it doesn't help, I'll again make the case that the root of people hating on Jimin is homophobia. The minute someone says he looks like a girl, or he's too flirty or seductive or that his voice is too high pitched - just know that's just code for I don't like queer people who don't project straight. Sometimes they'll just be more subtle - there's something about Jimin I just don't like. We all know what that something is b*tch.

And secretly I've always wondered if the reason JK was selected as the primary one they'd push inspite of Jimin being so popular is because he passes as straight (he probably is straight but I said passes because I don't want to assume). After all who is Hybe's decision makers except a bunch of old men who only care about money.

Anyway sorry that this ask became so long and rambley!

And boy did you rumble!

This whole ask picked my brain on something and I am going to make a post about it when I get my pc back I can't type long paragraph with a cellphone it's exhausting

And boy did you spill anon

[threecheersforinking]

Drama Review: Reply 1988

**spoilers ahead**

*if you haven't seen the show, read my spoiler free WYSW post first!!*

This post will continue what I started with Boys Over Flowers (where I wrote a long unsolicited dump of all my thoughts on a show I really loved). And, needless to say, I really loved this show too. I honestly haven't cried this much at a tv show in a long time, and that's saying something because I cry very often. I think I teared up at least once every episode, and don't even get me started on the final episode because I'm pretty sure I was full on crying for at least 1 hour straight.

I guess the reason I was so attached to this show, and likely the reason this show is so popular, is because it's so relatable. Even if you haven't lived in that one particular alley in Ssangmun, most people can relate to growing apart from friends, moving out of their parents' house, leaving their childhood behind, etc. I felt like I watched this at a really appropriate time in my life, and maybe that's why I was especially emotionally impacted by it.

Characters

If you've ever read my blog before you'll know that I love a large cast of characters! So I was very pleased with all the characters and the different dynamics they had in this show. As an anime fan I'm used to teenagers/young people being the focus with adult characters being kind of an afterthought, but I really loved how developed and important all the adult characters were. The parents weren't there just to be parents, they had their own goals, lives, and struggles.

Sunwoo was probably my favorite character, but it was hard to pick a favorite because they were all so great. Funnily enough, Bora was originally my least favorite character (due to how cruel she was to her siblings at the start), but I'm happy to say she really grew on me. The development she went through due to her relationship with Sunwoo made me like her a lot more. The two of them were so cute together and I really enjoyed their secret dating era in 1989.

I also loved Taek and Sunwoo's blended family, I thought it was so nice how they became brothers after being friends for so many years. The way the show handled the two boys' reactions and adjustment to their parents dating was really well done as well.

The Romance Subplot

As I've said before, I like love triangles, and this show was no exception. Coming directly off of my watch of Boys Over Flowers (in which the love triangle lowkey had me ripping my hair out), this love triangle was a breath of fresh air. Honestly I have never been so conflicted as to which love interest I'm 'rooting for' before. I think I may have been subconsciously rooting for Junghwan because that 'fake confession' episode hit me right in the gut, but I loved both Taek and Junghwan so much I genuinely didn't even care.

One of my favorite scenes in the show is how after Sunwoo explains to Taek that you can tell how someone feels about a person by how they look at them, the episode ends with Taek noticing how Junghwan is looking at Deoksun. It's a great dialogue-less moment and really sets the tone for their dynamic for the rest of the show.

While I liked this love triangle, I do think the implications of the time jump put me off a bit. As I said, I was kind of rooting for Junghwan, and the episode where he realized he lost Deoksun to Taek was heart wrenching. But as Junghwan said himself, what exactly had he been doing for the past 5 years? It was a bit hard to pity him when he had so many opportunities to ask her out and beat Taek to the punch.

Other Stuff

Honestly, I didn't love the 2015 flash-forwards too much, they were too few and far between and took me out of the immersion of the 80s/90s setting. I think the first one was ok, the others felt a little less necessary, and then it went so many episodes without a single 2015 scene that I almost forgot they were a thing. I enjoyed the 2015 scenes in the last episode after we knew who got married to who, but it still felt like the show could've done without those scenes. The most important/emotional moments in the series happened in Ssangmun anyway.

The time skip from 1989 to 1994 had me kind of displeased at first, and I didn't know why, because I've watched tons of shows with a time skip before and had no problems with it. I think it was in part because the first 17 episodes of the show took place over the span of less than a year, and then all of a sudden in the last 20 minutes of the 17th episode it jumped ahead 5 years without a warning.

But to be honest, I think my dislike of the time skip came from the fact that I really enjoyed these characters' daily lives and the regular pace the show had been going at that such a far jump ahead was making the end of the series feel more imminent.

I'm really glad I gave Reply 1988 a chance, especially because I barely knew anything about it before watching. I'm really enjoying kdramas so far and glad I've been trying to watch more of them.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Just found your tumblr and idk why but I felt like telling you that I'm finishing the second volume of the English edition of svsss and so far I feel that I won't like SJ, I don't get liushen, I don't get LBH's hairdo and too muscular body, I don't get how there are people saying SY doesn't care about LBH... and a lot of popular takes I've seen the fandom having about it.

I think the reason I felt like telling you was actually because you're one of the few people I saw maybe not agreeing with those either? So I confess I feel a little frustrated about the fandom rn, lmao

Welcome anon!

I am... rather picky, to put it mildly about the SVSSS content I consume for its fandom.

I cannot stand many of the popular fanpairs (sorry luishen and cumplane stuff, but get that away from me... or tag it so I can block and remain happy with my day without wishing you can't ever be comfortable in bed again trying to fall asleep because I will curse you myself).

As well as much of the material for fics for Bingqiu and Moshang. It relies on shaving Shen Qingqiu's personality to have undue sympathy and self-esteem issues over "Shen Jiu" and his own existence where he just doesn't CARE if he became Shen Qinqiu because he was determined not to be a vile low empathy person to save his own skin (and Binghe but that OBVIOUSLY doesn't count cause of something something protag halo). Shen Qinghua is just as well made far softer than he actually is... when he is a little scummy rat man in the rain that you don't wanna touch ever. Come ON he made a hetporn harem novel!!! He is incel nerd without thinking he was the incel shut in nerd.

However I suppose my biggest pet-peeve is the way Luo Binghe is treated by fandom itself. I find something distasteful in the way it always makes Luo Binghe either pathetic or annoying to raise up other characters when from Shen Yuan's point of view, he is exasperatingly like a teen girl crying but very endeared to this. He never once hated or felt forced to do anything in regards to his own romance with Luo Binghe as HE was the one to step forward with making what they had no longer platonic as teacher and former student. He has a student kink, Luo Binghe has a teacher kink it is what it is, and they don't exactly care what others may think anymore. Given that Shen Qingqiu states himself if Luo Binghe was really unwelcomed he would follow him wherever. That doesn't sound as anything forced upon him other than anyone that tries to make him choose, at which point his choice is Luo Binghe. Yue Qingyuan at any rate, is the only one he seems to care about that blessing from, and he got it. Luo Binghe is a victim of several abuses over the years, to me, he's all those bits, good and difficult on paper.

Art is subjective and I could care less how it looks normally since I like it or not and can scroll on with my life if I don't or reblog what pretty art I think is pretty. I find the English art inserts endearing as it's very much reminiscent of late 90's and early 00's anime aesthetics. It fits for the world as a whole that PIDW was meant to be.

People will willfully put what is not there for fandom wants, I however, choose to ignore most of it, as I am vastly content with what the author has given me to play with in the playground of canon only.

[rivertalesien]

10) The Doctor needs a new arch nemesis  The first decade of classic Who introduced the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Ice Warriors and the Master, with the Sontarans showing up in year eleven. Since then, we've gotten some memorable one-off baddies, but arguably nobody with real staying power. The closest new Who has gotten to creating an iconic new baddie is the Weeping Angels, who seem to lack a strong motivation to keep driving new stories. (What do the Weeping Angels want? It’s not always clear, but mostly they seem to like to touch people and send them back in time, which makes them more of an infestation than an army. Oh, and they want the TARDIS, but everybody wants the TARDIS.) To be sure, most of the classic series’ villains were intended as one-offs, until their popularity took everyone by surprise. (That’s why the Daleks were originally unable to leave their city, and why the Cybermen can’t survive the destruction of their planet Mondas.) The Master remains the most successful example of Who setting out on purpose to create a recurring foe, with a whole season of stories in which he terrorized the Doctor and friends — and some version of this strategy might work again, if the villain in question has enough charisma or a compelling ideology.

Was thinking about this after viewing the most recent Who episodes where RTD has once again brought in Villains of the Doctor No One Really Knows About and who aren't likely to stick around after the end of this season.

I really wish the show hadn't regenerated the Master after Missy; for reasons I've already spent a lot of time on, I think she was the best ending that character could have had. No reason to go further, least of all to bring him back just to be angry at the Doctor, again, for shit out of her control.

The Master did work, once upon a time though, sometimes, because they were the Doctor's oldest friend, sharing a childhood on Gallifrey and coming to similar conclusions about their people (though with wildly differing approaches). But that time has come and gone. The Master keeps being written as a bombastic, annoying, one-note villain who no longer has any purpose (and this assumes he is not, in fact, behind what is currently happening in the Whoverse).

The Timeless Child concept gives us the possibility of a great nemesis in one of the Doctor's other, unknown, selves (the show has plenty in its past that supports the idea: the Watcher, the Valeyard, for example), a character who is not a "time lord" but identifies as a shapeshifter, using that ability to travel and cause havoc. This character could also introduce how the TARDIS came to be: similar off-shoots of the Doctor, trapped inside a machine they have no escape from.

This is a lot to get into though, takes time to build up, and not sure the emotional trip would be worth it. The only thing that would be a solid sock in the gut would be a former companion as the new arch-nemesis.

I'm sure it's been knocked around before, but one character they could bring back who could easily fit into this mold would be Romana, who was last seen on the show back in the early 80s, choosing to remain in E-Space, while in audios and books, she returned to Gallifrey and became its president (possibly perishing in the Time War). The show hasn't followed this canon, though, so re-introducing this character, learning her world is gone, learning the Doctor's (still questionable) origins, and having her own hidden agenda? Lots of potential there, I think.

ETA: wrote this before the finale, and mostly because I really like Ncuti as the Doctor. I really hope RTD steps aside so something new can happen. This season was RTD's Greatest Hits Redux only with more money and it still didn't add up to much.

[alarrytale]

Why is there (I think it's a vocal minority) queer people who are so critical about queer media and hate to see it do well? I've seen some people so critical about RWRB and say it was made for straight women and it's not gay enough and the actors are probably straight, the actors are too good looking to be queer (really weird comment as it's insinuating that all queer people are 'ugly' or average etc. So many assumptions being made. Queer people assuming people's sexualities while hating when people do it to them. Queer people unhappy because straight people are enjoying RWRB. They were supportive of it until it became popular and this happened with CMBYN as well. Any queer movie that is successful will turn off some queer people. I imagine they're the same people who feel they NEED to be different to stand out to others. I know there are straight people who fetish gay men but so what. That's not a reason to gatekeep queer media. You can't want more representation for queer people while also gatekeeping it from straights. Isn't the whole point to make queer media more mainstream? I think some of them have victim complexes and they don't want to see successful queer media or queer people more accepted. They might preach it but they don't want it really. They want to wallow in their self pity and woe is me. I do think that's a vocal minority though. I think most queer people are happy with any kind of representation.

Hi anon,

I think it's a difficult question to answer. I don't know why people feel how they feel. If i understand you correctly, if queer people are saying that other queer people are too good looking to be queer, then that sounds like a case of internalised homophobia to me.

First of all i haven't seen for myself what you say is happening. But hearing what you are saying, i think their motivation to dislike it may differ. I have seen some gatekeeping discourse. And what i've seen is about gatekeeping queer media to not put it up for critisism and scrutiny from the gp who doesn’t understand queers and queer culture. I totally get that. I have seen some idiotic takes from straight 'journalists'. Both about rwrb and bottoms. They've been deservedly dragged for it though.

I think that some of the queers who say that the actors are straight and queerbaiting are afraid they are getting false representation (see my last asks about queerbaiting). Since nick has said he's straight and taylor hasn't said anything, that's a real and valid fear. So when it becomes popular and mainstream, it's just another movie that's become popular because it's made by straights for straights.

I think it's great that queer movies are becoming mainstream and catch the interests of the straight majority. But it does put queers in the spotlight and the homophobes will rear their ugly heads. Queers are also desperate for queer role models and representation. If the representation is false it will be a huge disappointment for a lot of people and put queer progression back a step. So some are wary. I agree with you, i think this is a minority and that most people are happy with any representation.

[muraenide]

4. which muse of yours is your all time favorite? if you stopped writing them: why?

10. what genre do you most enjoy, whether in roleplay, or fiction as a whole? (fantasy, period, superhero, etc.)

QUESTIONS FOR MUNS. // @ramshacklestar

4. which muse of yours is your all time favorite? if you stopped writing them: why?

I have a group of muses who are my all-time favorites. 1st main blorbo: Mukuro Rokudo from KHR The first main antagonist of the first season of the series, but eventually joins the main character's team. Reasons why he did so is... a bit complicated, but he is possibly my first muse and the muse that resembles Jade the most. I still love him but the fandom fell out of popularity and there were hardly any rp blogs for the fandom. I've never actually left the fandom. The fandom itself died for a while, so I simply moved on to other fandoms.

2nd main blorbo: Narsus from Arslan Senki Arslan Senki is so far my favourite fandom in terms of rp experience and content quality. It's possibly the fandom where I met most of my current friends, especially @oftwilight, @madakoka, and @corruptiongifted, and a lot of us are in different fandoms now but we still talk from time to time. Narsus is a rebellious aristocrat in ancient Persia who joined the prince in his main quest to retake his kingdom. Sybil (@oftwilight) played a great Daryun and our muses often fought and squabbled like an old married couple bc that's also their canon dynamic. The fandom had a total of 10+/- people, and we were all friends due to how small it was so everyone knew everyone. I stopped writing Narsus because I fell out of the fandom when the last light novel dropped and it was... bad. We understand that the author got tired of the series and wanted to end it quickly, but it's still a lovely series regardless and I tend to revisit it from time to time.

3rd main blorbo: Sion Astal from Denyuuden Sion is a young puppet king with a split personality and shares his present body with a demon. The light novel is written by the same creator as Owari no Seraph, but the anime covers very little of the main storyline. The interesting parts are locked behind the light novel, but Sion is probably one of the more complex muses I've written. If the main trio were to be compared with Castlevania, Sion would be the Alucard among the group. The fandom had a total of 3 rpers including me, it was funny how dead it was. I left it when the other two rpers stopped being active, but I still enjoy the fandom regardless.

4th main blorbo: Diluc Ragnvindr from Gen//shin Impact I don't remember why I love Diluc but it started on discord when a friend (Cass) dragged me into Gen//shin and loved the grape man. I got very invested in his lore in Gen///pact to the point that I would read both the CN and EN versions, have a folder for all its screenshots since we can't replay events, and even dug out possibilities of the Ragnvindr Family Tree members all the way to the first Ragnvindr Knight. I stopped writing him due to how unbearable the fandom became once people started joining and it became big. I will refrain from going into detail about this though! But Gen//pact is still a great franchise. As someone who knows quite a bit about Middle-Eastern and East-Asian mythology, Gen//pact really portrayed some aspects of the old myths that I've never seen show up in any type of media before, which is really refreshing and honestly eye-opening.

10. what genre do you most enjoy, whether in roleplay, or fiction as a whole? (fantasy, period, superhero, etc.)

I like mysteries and crimes, horror, cosmological science, fringe science, high fantasy, medieval fantasy, anything historical, supernatural, steampunk, and cyberpunk as a set up for my threads. As for themes, I'm mostly an angst and romance writer. I'm a bit picky with romance though, because I do enjoy romance as a subgenre in my fiction/rp, but never a main theme. In the sense that they start off normally and eventually develop a romantic interest in the other. If romance is the only thing my muse has in common with the other muse, I wouldn't find it as enjoyable, and eventually get bored of it.

[majorbaby]

you're right about the overwhelming whiteness in mash fandom; somebody made a post about soon-lee (an on-screen woc) not receiving as much content and attention compared to peg and there were people who seemed to a) brush it off, b) actually be bothered by it, or c) equate their experiences??? like ???? and don't even mention how much of the racism toward klinger is brushed off

exactly. i think you explained it well but lemme unpack further:

peg appears on screen twice but never in corporal form next to any of the other characters. and her appearances are marred by the fact that she exists in the narrative only in relation to BJ. as his life-line and a source of his pain. that is not my interpretation of what she should be, it's how she was written. i'm not saying she's not important or that BJ does not love her and I'm not commenting even on the state of their marriage right now, i'm just saying peg as a human person with thoughts, feelings, ambitions is not something that the narrative focuses on. where there is Peg, there is always BJ somewhere - either having a meltdown because he misses his life back home or reminding us that he loves his wife and child.

i never did publish my fridging essay because it was long and it became about dc comics rather than MASH but... the suggestion that the peg character is 'fridged' or otherwise 'ignored' by the fandom is funny to me because, well, the show did it first. if you want something to rally against, why not start with the dudes who actually wrote her as being a phantom limb of BJ's and then i can maybe listen to you make the connection between that and how and why fandom is the way that it is about women characters. provided you expand that argument to at least include margaret because i don't i could be convinced using just peg as an example.

i could go on and on about peg's portrayal as being the real being affront to stereotypes of 50s women on MASH as compared to like, the various nurse ables or even Margaret but that would be touching the s1-3 vs 4-11 mess for the second time today so let's move on.

soon-lee is a strong, though not perfect, departure from that. like. really strong, imo. she's got 2 hours to make an impression on us and she does. she does not exist in association to klinger. she's had a life before klinger and though she expresses her sadness around it, she's willing to give up a life with him if she has to in order to find her family. and that one line in no way does justice to soon-lee's footprint on the show, but that's another post that i will write eventually.

basically, soon-lee is the heavylift for the show wrt women AND race, which isn't exactly fair to her to have to do but i'm still grateful for soon-lee. she seems to be an intentional contribution to the western tv canon of varied representations of racialized women and they did that in 1982. we haven't done much better since then on shows that primarily center white experiences, so that's why i think she's of note.

it does both women a disservice to equate their experiences in the narrative and also their treatment in the fandom - both are uneven. peg has way less agency in the narrative than soon-lee, yet soon-lee is nowhere near as present in fanwork as peg.

why is that? lots of reasons i think: peg being closely associated to BJ and BJ being the most popular character in fandom (next to hawkeye but i'm starting to wonder if he actually eclipses hawkeye) gets peg some points. people feeling out of their depth with what exactly to do with klinger and soon-lee's relationship bc it's pretty well resolved by the end - there are absolutely opportunities for future conflict with them being like, a mixed korean-lebanese couple in post-police-action korea but i admit even for me, someone who might be interested in writing something about that, i'd feel a certain responsibility to do my homework.

then again i've seen (and done) all manner and depth of academic research conducted by fanartists to write slowburn white m/m slash or even m/f fic so i'm not taking the race out of the picture completely. and that's the last, important, uncomfortable difference between peg and soon-lee - peg is white and soon-lee is not. i respect and appreciate the goal of any call to diversify the space (provided it doesn't come with any sort of weird guilt trip, which is a line i try to toe all the time) but we have to be careful that in doing that we're not denying racialized people their experiences. or at least acknowledging that there are different ways to move through the world.