#Group Vocals

[yapoholics-anonymous]

"women, if you don't include every group in your struggle against oppression, then you are no better than the men that oppress you" bffr

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Thank you all for voting in the poll to decide who was going to be the leader of the band! It turned out to be such a close race!

[chanpotei]

twitter redraw meme from some time ago

[bortmcjorts]

[ID: a drawing of pye from outer wilds, standing with her writing staff. she's wearing an orange nomai space suit without the helmet, and she has a light brown face with curly darker brown fur. end ID]

figuring out how i want to draw the nomai, so here's a pye since i am obsessed with her !!!

[raddixisntanartist]

BAKKA BAKKA BAKKA!!

[singonavine71]

[haveyouheardthisband]

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[glfry]

Their synchronised "Yaayy!!" fucking slays me

[mouseoho]

ONEUS ♧ KICK IT (Road to Kingdom 2)

[faunandfloraas]

anytime i watch male idols do girl group dances super halfheartedly- i'm talking limp, not putting their hips into it, not putting their ass into it, not putting anything into i'm always so disappointed... Seo Changbin would never have let me down like this.

[silly-guy-tendencies]

Jimmy is like, SO dead 😒🙄

[sbrown82]

The way Michael used to carry this whole damn group! 🥴🤣

[lasbiarez]

I find it very interesting that Tsukasa has all the potential to be the "main character" of wansho but he's just... never framed as such. I'd argue that title goes to Emu with how she's the one to start wansho and ends the arc with her dreams being reached.

Tsukasa is the leader of wansho and—compared to the other leaders, aside from Kanade—takes on that role more literally than the others. This is not to say that Minori, Ichika, and Kohane doesn't deserve that title because I won't deny that they're the catalyst of each group's creation, but compared to the three Tsukasa is in charge of the group itself and has been acknowledged to be the leader of wansho multiple times by other characters.

Tsukasa's biggest title or dream is being a star; the centre of attention and basically what would be associated to being a 'main character'. He's the sole creator of wansho's SEKAI and song to access it before deciding to share it with wansho at the end of the main story. He's loud and all encompassing, Kaito has specifically mentioned that people simply gravitate towards him. This all leads to the potential of wansho's storyline to surround him and his dreams.

And yet, and yet, and yet.

Tsukasa has always been framed as having a supporting role. The only reason he stayed at Wonder Stage is because of Emu's dream of saving Pheniland, and to reach that dream he needs to bring wansho together and lead them, advancing his skills was just another way to support that dream.

His first focus event wasn't even about himself but about how he helped wansho and the staff of Phoeniland orcestrate Project Wonder, how important his leadership is to rally people for a cause. In the the Scramble Fan Fes event Tsukasa's card isn't about him performing or anything of the sorts, but he's encouraging Minori and guiding her through her stage fright before her performance. His entire dream of becoming a star is spurred on by his desire to bring smiles to Saki and supoort her through her hardships, later Toya too, and then that desire spreads even more to everyone.

Tenma Tsukasa is defined by the people around him, by how much he's able to bring joy to his family and his friends and in turn their happiness becomes his happiness.

And he's so natural at in the way that Emu recognises it the first time she sees him and asks him to join Wonder Stage, in the way that Rui is allowed to change because of the chance Tsukasa gave him, in the way that Nene feels inspired by his exponential growth that she pushes herself forward too. Tsukasa is so important to Toya and Saki for the same reason, Rui asked him to record lines to cheer up Mizuki for the same reason, Shizuku recognises how kind of a person he is for the same reason.

TLDR; Tsukasa loves and cares for his friends and family and his character is defined by his ability to make them happy and support them despite how main character worthy he is

[yunextdoor]

[haveyouheardthisband]