#I don’t make icons for other fandoms so of course

[ashxketchum]

When I put the tag “credit is not mandatory but appreciated” on all the icons I make but people just don’t wanna pass on that appreciation despite of using the icon makes me wanna 🙃

This is one thing good about twitter tho, people there always @ in their bios with the credit.

This post is specifically made for the Digimon fandom of course 😂

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

wait fuck ok i’m back to being sad about it now

like the thing is that ed doesn’t really hang out with anyone but stede in season one, not really. and whenever he is talking to other ppl on the crew, stede is right there. the only exception to this is in episode 8 when jack brings the party energy and everyone is getting drunk and rowdy together specifically as part of jack’s efforts to exclude stede.

and as a fandom we always make jokes and theorize about what the relationship between ed and stede must look like from the outside, if they were all placing bets for when they’d finally hook up or if they had zero belief in stede’s ability to pull THEE blackbeard

but now i’m thinking about the crew’s perception of Ed Himself. of the crew’s perceptions of The Legendary Blackbeard and how that must’ve changed over the course of the first season. because when they first meet him they’re all impressed and starstruck bc yeah, duh, this is Pirate Beyoncé we’re talking about. they’re also in varying degrees “worried he’s gonna kill them.”

but they quickly see that the real pirate beyonce isn’t all leather and murder and head made of smoke. blackbeard swaps clothes with their cringefail (derogatory) boss for fun. he dresses up and goes to a fancy party just because he wants to—he’s not even trying to get anything out of it, doesn’t have an angle the way frenchie does, he genuinely just wants to go to a very un-Blackbeardy party and have fun. he tells them scary stories. he shows them some of his trade blackbeard secrets. he hypes them all up after their first fuckery (and i will never get over how cute that is exchange is, “scared the pants off me” and “i thought blackbeard didn’t feel fear” and “and i didn’t, until tonight” and the crew’s genuine excitement and pride). he goes on a treasure hunt with their cringefail (affectionate, now) boss and lets him dig in the ground to get it out of his system. they learn that ed isn’t just a scary pirate, he also can be silly and goof off and enjoy things that aren’t exactly compatible’s with the Blackbeard Brand

and beyond just not adhering 24/7 to the Brand, they learn that ed—that blackbeard—is human. is fallible. they see his first plan to escape the spanish fail, and they get to participate in the backup plan that he and stede come up with. frenchie sees ed get hurt at the fancy party in a way that he completely understands. lucius realizes that ed is just as into his cringefail boss as his cringefail boss is into ed, and over the course of giving ed a shovel talk he maybe learns that The Legendary Blackbeard might actually be nervous about a boy liking him back.

and none of this—NONE of this—makes the crew lose any respect for him. even pete never has a moment where his perception of his idol is shattered, where he’s disappointed that blackbeard isn’t all nine guns and zero mercy all the time. instead, pete expands his idea of what The Ideal Pirate (the ideal MAN) looks like.

i think by the time jack rolls around, ed is no longer on that Pirate Beyoncé pedestal to them. he’s still on a pedestal, a bit, but instead of seeing ed as this untouchable badass legend, they see him as like. the coolest guy on the ship. still a badass, still somebody they all respect and admire, but someone they can hang out with. someone they really want to hang out with. they want to impress ed because they want him to like them, they want to be his friend. and yeah, it’s played as a “your father and i are getting a divorce but we still love you very much” joke, but they really are so sad when ed leaves with jack.

and ed showing up with no beard and no stede, ed hiding in his cabin for. a day? multiple days? ed singing a song about his feelings. ed saying he no longer wants to go by blackbeard.

the crew is confused, but they’re on board. they don’t laugh at him for his (bad) singing, they don’t think less of him now that he’s sans iconic beard. ed, to them, is still The Coolest Guy On The Ship, and they want to be his friend. they’re excited to be his friend.

they want to put on a talent show.

and ed, right after getting stabbed in the back by jack and izzy, and then stede, and then izzy again—ed, who was so affected by the jeers of the rich fuckers at that fancy party, who grew up in a culture that doesn’t allow for friendship, a culture of everyone in various stages of fucking each other over—can’t see that. he’s got fresh heartbreak and fresh betrayal that are compounding on years of trauma and he hears them all chanting his name and he can’t trust this crew. he couldn’t trust his first mate, and he couldn’t trust his old shipmate, and he couldn’t trust stede. he cannot, cannot risk vulnerability with the crew. not again.

(and like, cmon, who is ed even kidding? he’s not made for things like softness and friendship and genuine camaraderie. trying to be anything other than blackbeard is like a wolf trying to fit in a sheep’s clothing, but the clothing is too small and everyone can see right through him and they’re all laughing and laughing and he’s the only one who can’t see what a joke he is. ed’s not an idiot, he knows there’s no way the crew is up their chanting his name and asking for another song because they like him. they just want the great clown pagliacci to come out and make them laugh.

so sure, ed’ll give them a show. they think ed’s funny? well he’s about to be fucking hilarious.)

EDIT: those of y’all seeing this in the ofmd tags are missing the additions where it gets even sadder

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Hermione Baddeley (Brighton Rock, Passport to Pimlico, Mary Poppins)— An absolute mainstay of British films from this period. She’s an icon who never takes shit from anyone in any of her movies, dresses for the occasion, and has the best line delivery! Also she started out in silent movies, and was a close friend of Noel Coward. In a desperate attempt to appeal to a large tumblr fandom, I will also point out that her first husband and one of her children were both called David Tennant. You like that name, don’t you tumblr??

Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins, The Court Jester)—LISTEN, I'd let that woman's voice with all its gravely hoarseness (positive) wash over me all goddamn day, but if that's not enough she managed to play the straight woman to Danny Kaye's jester, all with her cleavage so plunging it might as well have been catapulted into the ocean right after Basil Rathbone

This is round 1 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Glynis Johns propaganda:

She walks the line between sexy and cute. Her best role for me is in "The Court Jester as Maid Jean. She's fantastic as the soft but tough captain of the outlaw band and she looks stunning in every gown she wears throughout the film. And of course we can't forget her iconic turn as the suffragette mother, Mrs. Banks, in Mary Poppins! Also shoutout to her distinctive and beautiful voice, kind of smoky and husky. Extremely hot and set her apart from many of her peers."

"Listen, listen. I was raised on Mary Poppins and "Votes for women! (step in time)" single-handedly taught me how to be a feminist. Also The Court Jester is one of my favourite movies of all time and she is UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous, charismatic, funny, and clever in it. She knocks several men out. Absolute icon."

"Like Bette Davis she has eyes to die for. Unlike Bette Davis you felt comforted by them, even when she was batting her eyelashes at you. Would glady go to Downing Street with her and throw things at the Prime minister"

"She had this wonderful wit and charm to her no matter the role and the most distinctive, striking voice!"

"She was amazing in Mary Poppins (the Suffragette song is severely underrated) and apparently she was Welsh? National pride! And she advocated for arts funding in Wales, which is very cool. Also, she died recently (RIP) making her one of the last survivors of the Golden Age of Hollywood, according to Wikipedia. Also also, she just has a cheeky energy I like? And her eyes are beautiful!"

"I mean, incredibly beautiful and talented, can do drama can do comedy. And she was a mermaid."

"I love Glynis Johns. Most of the reason is The Court Jester where she's a sensible and capable foil to whatever what going on with Danny Kaye at the time. She was also the first star I based an OC on. An OC that I still have to this day! Anyway here have some YouTube links love u bye"

Mermaid clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1jUEA03mYTk

Court Jester (sharing a bed trope): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_qG9i054U

Court Jester (seducing the king): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GuqFYElKg

"VOTES FOR WOMEN! Well, votes for this woman. Please."

Hermione Baddeley propaganda:

Propaganda for both Hermione and Glynis:

[bcacstuff]

Don't you think Sam should defend her

Well, I can imagine people would think as a first reaction he should, or should say something about it. But then again, if he does, I'm sure the fans who do these stupid things, would immediately see it as him confirming some sort of relationship or something. You know how this fandom, or better said the deranged ones in it are.

He can't do right in this case, he's between a rock and a hard place. We're talking about 2 women, should he address the entire fandom for this? And with that give it perhaps unwanted and more attention then it deserves? What will be the result of that, you might ask yourself. Of course we know there's much more going on in this fandom, but it isn't reserved solely for this fandom:

I've received a link a while back, and still have this article open on one of my tabs in the browser. I had the intention to answer the Anon that sent it to me a few weeks ago, but as there were so many things going on, I didn't want it to get buried by the many other posts.

It's this article:

There are some really good parts in it that can be translated one on one for this fandom, even though the artists in this article are musicians. Already in the first paragraphs you can read:

This summer, norms of pop flipped when musicians started telling off their fans. Leading the pack was Chappell Roan, the 26-year-old breakout star of 2024. In a statement on Instagram, she outlined the “too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions” she had had with fans, including people hassling her family and friends.

An expert view on it:

“The relationship between fans and artists is a power balance,” says Dr Lucy Bennett, a lecturer in journalism, media and culture at Cardiff University. “Sometimes the power can tip back and forth.” Fandom, she explains, is a deeply emotional thing where people can feel a sense of home and belonging. It can lead to an intense connection to the music, something only heightened by the access to artists provided by social media. “But the problem that we have is how fans can forge a direct connection when they’re one among potentially millions that follow the artist. Those artists can’t reach out to every fan online. But to those who aren’t noticed, how does this make them feel? And what lengths may some fans go to get noticed?”

A former deranged fan's experience

Someone who has grappled with this themselves is Emily, a 26-year-old Taylor Swift fan from Idaho. Emily, who asked to be referred to under a pseudonym for fear of being doxed, was once a dedicated Swiftie, spending thousands of dollars on merchandise and concert tickets. During the Lover era of 2019, however, she began to see contradictions in Swift’s image and found her sudden embrace of politics inauthentic and calculated. “I was upset because it seemed the person I thought she was wasn’t real,” she says. She was also put off by the growing toxicity among a fandom that no longer felt like a community. Prior to Swift’s hit album 1989, “Taylor had said that she wasn’t going to interact with fans on social media because one fan might feel more important than the other,” she says. But Swift began doing secret live sessions for fans, found via fan accounts online. “It did exactly what she thought that might,” Emily says. “Fans were suddenly fighting with each other saying, ‘You’re not good enough because you don’t obsess with her on the level I do, or ‘You don’t have as much merch as I do and you don’t know every song like I do.’ It was kind of gross.” Emily became so distraught that she would vent to her friends about her disappointment. “When I look back it now,” she says, “it’s like, wow. I was really deranged. Taylor Swift doesn’t know who the hell I am. She doesn’t care what I think. This is actually a me problem. I needed to step back and realise that.” She cites social media and the 24/7 access to information about Swift as one reason why she became so obsessed with the singer’s life. “I had to get some hobbies outside of discussing Taylor Alison Swift.”

And again the expert's view as an end conclusion

To realign the relationship between fans and artists, Bennett believes that musicians may need to step away from sharing so much of their lives on social media. “But it’s really important that they speak up if they feel that they’re experiencing unacceptable behaviour from the fans,” she adds.

It's a really good read, so if you're interested and have a bit of time, I'd recommend reading the whole article. There is no easy answer to this phenomena or to your question Anon.

PS. To Anon sending me the link a few weeks ago, thank you 🧡. You were right, I found this interesting. I'm sorry it took so long to post it, but it deserves all the attention.

[rogues-the-fanzine]

Transcript

Catie: Do you think the henchmen need to unionize?

Cato: actually….if they HAVE to, but, I don’t think they-

Ed barges into the door with a BAM and angry footsteps 

Edward: YOU TWO HAVE DONE IT THIS TIME!! 

Catie and Cato: wait what?-

Edward: you’re going to explain to me why you’ve been in the Rogues! The Podcast fandom for HOW LONG and yet you NEVER talk about me even though I’m the main character!

Catie: have you like actually seen my content? I talk about you like exclusively 

Edward: (sticks his hand up to silence Catie) Oh we all know what happened to your “content” while you were in England. 

Edward: AND YOU…you’re a TRAITOR! You wear that symbol and color with SHAME!

Cato: Pink and Green are complementary colors, I have a brand to keep up with. 

Edward: That is NOT an excuse. The idea that you are that good at drawing Jonathan Crane is vile. And now…you’re going to make it up to me. 

Cato and Catie: Wait what? (Huh?) 

Edward: You are going to tell ME about the spectacular, well thought out plan YOU have CREATED. To apologize to ME for your atrocious lack of Riddler themed content

Edward: So what is it?? What’s that great master plan of yours? I’m listening and awaiting an answer. 

Cato and Catie fumble a bit as they try to speak on their behalf. This could be improvised between Catie and Cato while recording. 

Catie snaps her fingers at a probable solution.

Catie: The Zine!!! We have a zine. 

Cato: You are the main character in our upcoming Zine.

Catie: a big art collaboration featuring 36 fantastic artists, all drawing YOUR likeness. 

Cato: including an exclusive interview with-

Edward: wow! Don’t care, tell me the parts about ME. 

Cato: well… It features many illustrations, writings, and Comics from various moments from the hit ‘ROGUES! The Podcast’ 

Catie: it features mainly you, and plenty of background characters such as Jonathan Crane, Oswald Cobblepot, Laura Cameron, Query and Echo, and more! But it’s all just for highlighting your existence and greatness as The Riddler.

Edward: …. You’re just kissing my ass aren't you. This zine isn’t just about me! You’re lying! 

Catie: Actually statistically you’re featured in 25 pieces while Jonathan Crane for example is only in ____ pieces which is like a ___ difference.

Edward: Do I look like someone who doesn’t know basic arithmetic?

There are some strong knocks on the door

Cato: I’ll get it. 

Cato opens the door revealing Jonathan Crane

Jon: Well well well I knew I heard a narcissist and my favorite overreacter! Have any drawings of me yet? You know people go crazy when you draw me (Jon chuckle) 

Cato: (forced laughter) HAHAHAHA! I'm gonna go to the other room now. 

Catie: (forced laughter) HAHHAHAHAHA. You’re gonna sit down. HAHAHAHAHA

Cato: (forced laughter turns to defeat) OK OK. 

Edward: No no! They’re not drawing you! They have a lot of drawings of ME to catch up on since this little Zine project isn’t even centered around me!

Jon: Of course it’s not all about you Ed. It’s Rogues! The fanzine not Riddler! The fanzine

Catie and Cato: that's right!

Catie: it features almost everyone that appears in Rogues! the podcast!

Cato: including iconic scenes from all the seasons and special events like Lockup’s Lockdown and murder in the house of mystery

Captain Boomerang for some reason: am I in it?

Catie and Cato: NO

Edward: You know. This could be a good thing. More people would see how much better I am.

Jon: You are insufferable, you know that right?

Edward: And I’m in more zine pieces than you. That means some people find me charming.

Jon: you two. When is this zine thing out?

Catie: January 31st!

Cato: and it’s free so you don’t have to pay to see it

Edward: Ah, perfect. People don’t even have to pay to see Jon’s ugly mug

Jon: Oh you're funny. That was funny.

Cato: you know what would be funny? If you guys left right now.

Catie: yeah you interrupted Cato’s vampire Jon drawing time 

Jon: Vampire Jon?

Edward: And that is our cue to leave! You two need to feature me more! 

Catie/Cato: yes sir will do!

Jon and Edward leave

Cato: I’m killing you

Catie: WHAT DID I DO!?

[cleabellanov]

I do actually get insane when the actors adore the relationship between their characters. Like that’s * THE * best bonus we could ask for

I am, of course, talking about Cherik. It’s an art.

Like, we’re all aware the actors love their characters as much as their fans do. And although it’s years ago that all of it was happening, I think the release of Deadpool and Wolverine reignited some very strong flames and flashbacks in this fandom (that. end credits. montage.)

So yeah I just love it when

James and Michael talking about their characters literally raising a child together

James and Michael talk about their characters

Calling the relationship of Magneto and Proffesor X a “love story” because it is

All the times they’re just flirting with each other

(just one EARLY example)

Lines with double meanings and admitting it with no filter

This iconic interview when they talked about fanfiction and fan art like YES GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT

Casually talking about a * Cherik * (emphasis on the ship name) spin-off when they just go “around the world looking for obscure fish”.

And many more, because the chemistry between the actors (Ian and Patrick too obviously) never ceased to be there at the heart of it all.

It makes me wonder what other actors ( cough cough Tom and Owen) would say if they were allowed to, like if disney let them out of the basement for example hahah ☺️ (don’t worry I know they’re doing their best) In any case, I guess we’ll never know…?

What I know, at least, is that X-men as movies and an era are laudable thank you very much

[itsaship-literally]

𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙡𝙚𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙨: 𝘼 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮

Reposted

There are many names for the ship and friendship of the dynamic duo known simply by their names: Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz.

In the beginning, they were considered a horror-comedy icon. She is strange and unusual. She wants to die and be part of the land of the recently deceased. He is wild. A pure chaos machine who lives up to his side of the deal. He knows the ins and outs of the hereafter and wants to get the fuck out. For good.

Lo and behold! The trope of a quid pro quo marriage. He gets out. Her friends are saved from an unknown doom.

Then marketing took over. Merchandise! Toys! And ultimately a cartoon. Who would be the star of Beetlejuice: The Animated Series.

Well, Beetlejuice, of course. And why not make it friendly to the kid's world by taking the youngest character and making her more vulnerable and spooktacular? They could have carried the show without a Lydia but they chose not to do this.

They chose the one girl in the movie he tried to marry: deal or no deal. The girl was in a wedding dress and instead of making them enemies... They make them friends. Friends who share and anniversary, terms of endearments, and blatant flirtations.

Thus, the first shippers were born—a bunch of kids who saw two chaotic characters who were perfectly balanced with each other. We grew up, and so OUR IDEA of Lydia grew with us. Granted, a few of us are freaky and wanna jump the ghost, but rarely will you see a shipper want to split up the duo.

Now for the names; Beetlejuice x Lydia, Beetlyds, Beetz and Deetz, Beetz, Beej and Lyds, Beetle and Babes and now, unintentionally, Beetlebabes.

Ironically this was not the intended name for the ship. We (as in my friends and I) called ourselves Beetle Babes. As in We are the Babes. Fans, mostly ladies, who love to obsess over a ghost from an old 80’s franchise.

The second meaning came naturally because, Didn't BJ call Lydia ”Babes”? Yes, he did in almost every episode. Lyds, Babes, Lydia. Three names he uses for her his best friend.

So Beetlebabes became an easy identifyer for the crew. And it became a standard name for shippers when the new fans came in, but I bet you didn't know that some OG Beetlebabes only Friend-Ship them? And some Relation-Shippers don't like smut or sexual content of any kind.

Beetlebabes are Kids, Teens, and Adults. They are students, parents, CSA survivors, therapists, cooks, homemakers, artists, animators, and filmmakers. They are strangers on the street who don’t even know the musical came to be and only remember the deadly duo through fond memories of two close pals who, for all we knew, were living out their impromptu wedding in the only way they know how.

Now, as I update this, we have a new movie in which Beetlejuice and Lydia are once again affianced. BJ refers to her as the love of his life, bringing more shippers into the fold.

So here we are, The Beetlebabes. We ship the gal who wants death and the ghost who wants life. The balance. The dichotomy. The polar opposites.

This has been the revisit of the history of Beetlebabes. I hope you all are enjoying your time in the fandom and you all have my best wishes to stay happy, healthy, and creative.

Keep being awesome, Babes! 🖤

[legally-allowed-to-slime]

okay i think it’s time to talk about the “are we mean?” line from gem (28:16 her pov) which no one else seems to care about and it’s driving me crazy

so. if you watch the actual clip she changes her sentence from “are we th—” to “are we mean”. she also says it with the exact same inflection that cleo used. this gives me the hunch that she had cleo’s line in double life on her head since gem is pretty aware of fandom things and that’s an iconic line. at the same time though, this is a stretch so we’re gonna go ahead with the assumption that those two lines were just coincidentally similar.

at first glance it might seem like cleo’s double life line (“are we the mean girls?”) and gem’s line (“are we mean?”) are entirely similar and about similar circumstances, but if you look a little closer the similarities fall apart

in cleo’s case, they say it after the box boys had died and they were looting their stuff. pearl shows up and confronts them but the pair just laugh and say it was pearl’s fault ren and bigb died anyway. pearl doesn’t really push it either. then they steal more stuff and leave, before cleo says The line. so with this context, it’s pretty obvious what cleo’s asking is a rhetorical question. what happened immediately before would make them, objectively, the “mean girls” (both stealing and ignoring pearl’s concerns). scott is aware, which is why he immediately responds “yes”, with a smile in his voice. because to them, they might be petty villains, but because it’s funny and they’re self-aware, then they can’t be truly villainous, like dl!pearl. it’s a shared bit between the two of them that they’re being catty high school girls, and scott’s response establishes the fact that they really don’t care. they are two partners in crime, giggling after robbing the bank. top 10 i-can’t-remember-their-ship-name moment

gem on the other hand. hers comes after a long episode of telling everyone who passes by to hate impulse and pearl (soup group divorce 💔). moments later ren kills impulse, and gem thinks that it might be because of her. then she tells joel that “we’re winning by just telling other people who to kill”. but the dynamic between scott + cleo and gem + joel are very different. while scott and cleo are equally up to no good, gem is manipulating the social dynamics of the server while joel is off being angry. the difference between joel and gem is like the difference between joel and scott. so when gem asks “are we mean?”, it’s not like cleo asking scott, knowing they can have a good laugh over it. she’s testing the limits, seeing if what she’s doing can tip over into being mean. and joel, not being scott, automatically says “no, we’re not mean. he shouldn’t have been mean to us.” (insane parallels over gem and cleo saying the same thing but joel and scott having exact opposite answers btw) joel functions in a more straightforward manner: if you’re mean to me, then i can be as mean as i like to you. however, he hasn’t been here to witness gem’s social plays. it’s not like scott and cleo where they were both there to commit the crime together. it’s gem standing there with the blood on her knife and asking joel if she’s guilty. and joel, being both loyal and headstrong, denies it.

after joel says that, gem agrees with, “that’s true, he shouldn’t have been mean to us.” she pauses, turns, and then says “you’re right”. joel, who doesn’t concern himself with such mental gymnastics, has already moved onto bigger things, like a parkour course. but in the meantime gem has used her ally’s careless, uninformed response as proof to convince herself that she can’t be being mean, and that what she’s doing to impulse (and pearl) is warranted. while scott and cleo openly acknowledge their wrongdoing (and in doing so dismiss it), gem pushes it down, trying to persuade herself that she’s the good guy. because she can’t be bad, right? the bad guys are on the other side.

and this inner turmoil is obvious. she does concede before that impulse probably doesn’t deserve her slandering, in the same way that scott concedes he can be “mean”, but brushing it off because it’s so insignificant it doesn’t reflect on their actual character. because in the same way as scott, gem is chasing some objective standard of morality, and doing everything on the good side, and if she does something on the bad side then that something is now a good thing, because she’s a good person.

isn’t it crazy how i wrote this much about one line

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

Nancy Wheeler

A lot of fics will make her the ���bad guy” to help push their ship of Steve/whichever guy they’re pairing him with. Nancy deserves better than that she is a great character with a lot of depth. While she and Steve don’t have to be besties I hate it when they turn her into some homophobic or bitchy ex just there to propel the story 

Poor girl can't get a break ever

I got back into ST right after S4 came out, and I almost stepped out bc of how rude people were being to Nancy. She was called a bitch for dumping Steve (which was 2 years ago in canon and 6 years irl???) and she was blamed for Steddie (and in at least 1 post, harringgroove, which ugh) not getting together. Basically she got a lot of uncalled for hate for existing, because how dare she be so stubborn and get in Steve and the other characters way!

[scrumptiousstuffs]

How much of the truly unhinged things FK do and say do you think is mostly fanservice? I genuinely can't imagine saying half those things to a person for real. It's not that I think they don't care about each other, but I can't really believe it's that intense without them realizing it, so I have to conclude that it's made that way for fanservice. They have said they read everything we say, so they know what we respond to and what gets retweeted the most. And I know enough about other cps to know some of the fanservicy things they do - pretending to not be able to make something everyone knows they'll be at, saying stuff like "we're just naturally like this", getting "caught" cuddling. It rings less true every time I see it.

The one thing that gives me pause is how much other people tease them after being around them for five minutes. Is it all just one big in-joke? Do other cps have that same thing where their coworkers ship them and is it as universal (I think Tay and New do? I don't know I don't really pay enough attention to other cps, just enough to know most of the common fanservice)? Do other cps say things like FK say to each other? I just don't know.

I guess I just think that fanservice is supposed to be a tacit agreement between fans and cps to buy into an illusion but not take it too far. When you do that, it's fun. But sometimes FK make me want to go full delulu and then I have to slap myself a little.

Anon, I give you permission to go all delulu 😉 (I’m in it and living the best life 😌).

However, delulu aside, I don’t think FK is doing much fanservice.

I mentioned in previous asks they will try and do “extra” or hype up a little bit, usually during fanmeet/concert/events - but you can always tell 😅. They are amazing actors on-screen but off-screen, they are a pair of giggly mess whenever they try to do fanservice - be it delivery pick up lines (most recent examples inc. FK fanmeet and OF fanmeets), where the boys almost immediately break out of character or doing it exaggeratedly👇🏽 (First burst out laughing after Khaotung deliver a pick up line, while you can see Khaotung’s face…)

Or if it is an “act” of fan service (like during LOLfanfest when First stripped off his jacket) he broke out into a cheeky grin (and trying to hold off a giggle), Khao rather than “joining in the act” by I don’t know 🤷🏽‍♀️ caressing those biceps (for example), instead gets flustered and tries to quickly cover up his bestie (of course, First may just be doing it to tease his bestie and trolling us hehe)

No doubt, they are getting better (or should I say, more comfortable) with fan-service, for example, when Khaotung proudly told his bestie a fan was hitting on him (during the Bookfest earlier in 2024), First immediate response was “why are you hitting on my boyfriend?”

But, I stand by what I said in my previous ask, our boys (as a CP) are generally atrocious at fanservice 🙃.

The interactions we see of them now are just how they are -clingy, sticky besties who don’t realise that the things they say and do for each other are actually not the norm for usual best friends behaviour or even usual CPs. We are just seeing it now cause their relationship is “open” once they are officially a CP. But the boys have gone on trips together even back in 2020, do collab of their clothing lines when they were babies in GMMTV and I remember the official FC managers of both boys actually said they know FK are close even pre-CP cause if you find one, you bet you will find the other one close by (also echoed by countless of other actors/actresses who like you say in your asks - tend to tease them mercilessly about it hehe)

This ask explains FK relationship better. And I’m putting a link from a previous ask I answered re: iconic moments in FK fandom, where most of the unhinged stuffs happen unscripted.

We see them basically doing/saying unhinged things way back pre-CP. I’m sure by now, you have hopefully seen countless of other videos or read through other asks stating the same thing (with most of the videos normally captured by their friends/colleagues in gmmtv cause they just don’t realise how out of the ordinary their relationship is).

The boys share everything - from wardrobe, perfumes, accessories to credit cards. I’m sure we also have evidence floating somewhere they just packed everything in one suitcase (at one point) when they had to travel overseas together for a function.

Also, the one thing they can’t fake - is the genuine adoration they have for each other when they stare at each other (usually when the other is not watching). So many photos of these 2 just staring at each other (that fans jokingly labelled it as Thanawhipped and Kanawhipped depending on who is doing the staring). We had interviewers/photographers actually calling out to Khaotung (at one point) to stop staring at First so they could take his pictures 🤣…

Plus, I have always thought the boys as old souls and quite sensitive to emotions (especially if it pertains to each other). Jokes aside regarding the “extra” fanservice during their official fanmeets/concerts - these 2 cannot express how much they meant to each other without breaking down and turn into gooey mess (personally, I just can’t see these as being fake).

But you are absolutely right in saying CP culture, fanservice and the parasocial relationship they have with the fans should be respectful and we need to have boundaries. It’s fun to admire their relationship/friendship (or whatever it is they have - I’m still on queerplatonic team, btw 🫡) - but it shouldn’t be to the point that we cross the line.

As for other CPs, I don’t follow them closely enough to comment. I think each CP have their own take in what they want to show to their fans, but most can function independently without the other and they have friends outside the CP. FK on the other hand…yes, they have friends too but these 2 are codependent to the point they genuinely can’t seem to function 100% without the other person being close by as their support person (like the amount of time Khaotung mentioned First without prompt when he was the special host for GMMTV Live House….🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️and similarly, First will bring up tidbits about Khaotung again unprompted to fans/hosts 🤦🏻‍♀️ (eg the tidbit of him staring at Khaotung face when they woke up together in their shared bed during the Busan trip…🙂‍↕️)

Anyway, I’m going to finish up with this view of Khaotung (cause now I’m imagining this was what First saw that morning in Busan 😭😭😭 - those lucky boys!)

[lovely-oh-so-lovelyyui]

Reiji - House of Chanel

Inherently, I think this went well especially with Chanel being such a traditional fashion house but also with its very feminine undertones. In comparison to some of the others, calling Chanel Reiji’s brand was more symbolic than realistic but I’ll explain.

Chanel in all its years since 1910’s has the same iconic look, the tweed structured suits, and the armoured corset dresses with delicate but impactful embellishments. It makes sense for Reji, he has this blunt yet sophisticated personality which physically manifests in his clothes; always well put together, tailored and steamed.

His suits may change but they maintain the same composition and colour palette, to the untrained eye they don’t look different but if you look closely he pays a lot of attention to what he wears.

He’s aware even as a vampire he still has the face of an 18 year old boy, there’s still that youthfulness present in his face, he makes up for it by wearing glasses he doesn’t really need but they highlight the aristocratic cutting of his face - with his sharp upturned nose, and bright red eyes.

He doesn't have his mother’s curls or his father’s pin straight hair but rather a wavy touch to his locks, he knows how it makes him look when it’s down, younger, softer …gentle and that’s just despicable! So he carefully styles his hair with mousse slicking it back, making him look more stern.

Reiji is also a lot more sensitive ( he’s a fussy, whiny little rich brat), so he can’t stand pungent smells ( blood, guts, drugs), that doesn’t mean he makes excuses to lose his composer so he has this strong cologne that is like sandalwood and kind of fruity? Like winter berries and tea leaves or something no one expected it to smell so good but he makes it work. Not to mention his hygiene is always top tier, so he has this freshly washed cotton and minty undertone. 

So that's his main style right? So I was in between Dior and Chanel - and Chanel won of course 

Mainly I mentioned before Chanel has more feminine undertones which I think expands well with Reiji’s complex relation with his brothers; whilst the misogynistic response to his trauma is still present he almost takes on a maternal role towards his family as much of the fandom has noticed - the reasons as why he does this is quite ironic actually. In his entirety, the persona of someone being capable is important for him, if he cannot be successful in maintaining - not only his family's name and reputation through the dictatorship of his brothers - how he holds himself in public how does he expect to be King?

Yet, all the care and attention to detail he gives is almost seen as motherly. The sheer unseriousness of it is not lost on me, even with all the rampant comments on the inferiority of women within the Sakamaki Home, the most well-adjusted and competent man is seen as feminine.

In other readings of Reiji though his feminine undertones are more purposeful, they come from the fact that him and Shu are perpendicular to one another because of Shu’s immense strength being seen as this "laid back protector archetype" as intrinsically masculine so Reiji’s more mentally vulnerable, cunning, shrewd approach is seen as more feminine ;dissect that how you will. My favourite though is Reiji picking up on etiquette by copying his mother who was a figurehead for women in the vampiric society.

Also reflected in Coco Chanel who is  like, not a nice woman but she did have her moments - a cause for much scandal was her pioneering for trousers and women's athletic wear believe it or not, she was a big equestrian ( is that not the most Reiji sport ever?) and encouraged women to wear equestrian kits. 

I think this also goes really well with his character in terms of politics, the synonymous nature of being a traditionalist yet paving the way is a part of Reji. He very strongly believes in the House of Sakamaki and what it stands for but he also like his father wishes to further vampiric society from it’s barbarism; in some ways he is a cultural snob but in others he’s quite attentive to the the silver lining that maintains modernism and the old ways.

The House of Channel also does this; it has always had its roots cemented in the old ways of aristocratic luxury items, but unlike many other fashion houses it does try to adapt to the changing times sometimes successfully, others not so successfully.

On a less serious note, in general I think it suits his aesthetic as well; as I’ve mentioned the iconic Chanel suits, but also the Corsets? Like Reiji is a big corset man I don’t care what anyone says, the timeless figure of archive Chanel pieces, the monotone colour scheme of darker colours. Moreover, even the chic pieces take inspiration from old money outfits: the arranged tulle of the Victorian era, the heavy contrast, the heavy gold pieces and brooches.

In comparison to Reiji’s fashion, with his fitted suits and tiny waist with the chain of his watch fob, as well as heavy contrast colours: blacks, reds, whites and navy’s. 

Also the chunky jewellery makes sense in my head, it’s like masterfully placed so it doesn’t overwhelm him but I think the jewellery Reiji has includes: obviously the different chains for his antique watch, but also chunky rings seem more his thing than thin ones especially ones with carefully placed family jewels (rubies, emerald's, obsidians - as I said: snob) , this would do for more traditional attire too. 

His outfits in the demon world definitely include brooches, and chains and pendants to embellish his outfit, eye makeup isn’t a big thing for him because it’s so fussy but he would definitely do darker eye makeup to bring out his eyes. He’s quite theatrical, and definitely plays into the ashy white vampire skin ( this is the skin of a killer Bella).

Overall, I refuse to believe he does casual clothing- like Reiji in sweats ( esp the juicy couture ones ) is a horrendous image. So yeah Reiji is a Chanel girl!

Also I can’t believe I completely forgot this but in the beginning Coco Chanel was overlooked by the media, in terms of her designs in the beginning of career because of a little brand called Polo…owned by Ralph Lauren that was also making athletic wear but also quite good friends with Coco Chanel 

It’s almost like A certain someone who I said represented Ralph Lauren (Shu) overshadowing Chanel at first before she split off to make her own name.

[rxinbowwparadise]

Intro post

Hey! I’m fairly new to tumblr, so wanted to do an introduction post to introduce myself, and hopefully make some friends who also love Gallavich. All credit goes to @callivich for this post!

Name: Megan

Age: 25

What made you fall in love with Gallavich? I think it was the incredible chemistry between the characters, and the actors too. Noel and Cam are phenomenal in their roles! I also love their whole story, and the way they always find their way back to each other no matter what. They’re soulmates.

How long have you been a fan? I can’t remember the exact month, but it was sometime in 2014! I started off by watching Gallavich scenes on YouTube, then got hooked on the show.

Favourite Gallavich moment/scene: So so many! Ahhh. I loved the dock scene in S7, it gave me goosebumps. I also loved Mickey’s coming out scene, I sobbed. The prison reunion scene also had me crying. And of course their wedding is my absolute favourite! It was so perfect and so them.

Favourite Shameless character apart from Ian and Mickey? Definitely Kev and V! They’re iconic together and separately.

Do you write draw or make edits? I don’t write fanfics, but I do roleplay as Mickey occasionally, so I guess that’s technically writing!

Favourite type of Gallavich fics? I love canon divergence, but I’m also a sucker for AUs! I’ll read pretty much anything as long as it’s Gallavich.

Favourite Gallavich quote? Mickey: “Ian, what you and I have, makes me free.” and “Sorry I’m late.”

Ian: “I want to be where you are, Mickey.” and “I like how he smells.”

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself? I’ve been in the fandom for a long time now, but only recently joined tumblr, so I’d love to make some friends who love Gallavich as much as I do! If you want to be mutuals, or even chat in dms I’d love to and my dms are always open! 🫶🏻

[saintsenara]

1,8,18,21,22

thank you very much for the ask, @ashesandhackles. let's see how these go down...

[choose violence ask game here]

1. who is the character everyone gets wrong?

the last time i answered this question i said sirius - both fanon sirius and dark!sirius - and i stand by it, so this time, let's say... dumbledore.

and, actually, i think this for many of the same reasons which inspired my sirius answer. i really dislike dumbledore bashing, since it’s so frequently based in a complete misunderstanding of his character and the role he serves within the series’ narrative conventions - above all, the fact that the omniscient vibe he gives off in books 1-6 is not actually omniscience at all, as book 7 reveals; dumbledore doesn’t know that sirius is innocent, or that moody is barty crouch jr., or that kreacher is passing information to voldemort, because he’s just a human being. far too many criticisms of dumbledore don’t take this into account, ascribing to malice what is clearly just fallibility.

but, with this said, i dislike the anti-bashing turn in dumbledore-centric fics just as much, because many of these pair the idea that dumbledore is fallible (good and correct) with the idea that he is - for want of a better term - harry-ish. and this is just as bad a misreading of the character. dumbledore is not impulsive or reckless or radical - he holds radical views, but he does nothing to actually advance them in society (this is a man who is at the heart of the establishment for half a century, who does nothing with that power to dismantle the oppressive social structures which drive wizarding politics and prop up blood-supremacy). dumbledore is a hypocrite - he’s happy to be depended on by fudge, he is appalled that fudge might depend on lucius malfoy. dumbledore lives in an ivory tower. dumbledore projects his shame and self-loathing onto others in a way which is detrimental to their own happiness. and so on.

none of these things preclude dumbledore being courageous, but his ‘gryffindor courage’ is remarkably un-gryffindorish, and a lot of pro-dumbledore writing is surprisingly unwilling to confront this.

[also, there’s the other layer of pro-dumbledore writing i dislike - when authors make him hyper-whimsical. the man is stylish, rather than dressed like he ran into a charity shop and fell over. his sweet tooth is an incidental detail - and a trait which harry also shares - rather than his entire personality. he is not dithering and indecisive - he is a creature of inaction, but he tends to have settled on a single ‘right’ course very quickly in his mind. he is not silly. he is not a blushing fool in his relationships - all evidence is that he had just as much power over grindelwald as grindelwald had over him. he is not particularly emotionally demonstrative. he is physically strong. he is taller than voldemort. and, crucially, his mask of benign good humour is fake. all of his ‘whimsical’ traits are part of the act, the real dumbledore is ruthless and damaged and a nerd who loves reading and it’s iconic. let him be that way.]

8. what is the common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

there is no such thing as canon compliance.

by which i mean that ‘canon compliant’ is a useful tag to have on ao3 as an indicator of chronology - it’s a good shorthand for ‘the people who die in the series will die in this fic too’, ‘the main events which happen in the books will be mentioned here’, and so on. but i’m not sure that i think it goes beyond that.

and the reason for that, is that i have never seen anything which purports to be canon compliant beyond chronology - including my own work - which actually is.

there are several reasons for this:

the first is something which, if you’ve read other posts on this blog, you will know is a common refrain of mine - that the series is bound by specific genre conventions. if authors are transferring the action into a genre different from the ones the series makes use of, they are not writing something which is canon compliant, but canon coherent.

the second is that if authors are filling in gaps which are missing from the series - above all, the marauders-era or post-war-pre-epilogue timeline - they are doing something which is materially no different from writing a non-canon ship. i.e. writing exactly what they want. if your fic is crammed with original characters, or your marauders listen to cool muggle music, or you’ve spent more than twenty seconds thinking about the wizarding political or legal system then i love that for you - this is good and everyone should do it. but it’s not canon compliant. it’s canon coherent.

the third - and undoubtedly most controversial - is that you cannot write something canon compliant and hold the principle that the author is dead. because we know exactly how jkr thinks that canon should be interpreted, and this is often in ways which are - to borrow a phrase from ursula le guin - rather ethically mean-spirited. jkr’s views on fairness, violence, class, motherhood, love, and - of course - gender weave themselves into the narrative in ways which cannot simply be written off as ‘oh, it’s just harry’s perspective.’

i believe we have a moral imperative to know what she thinks and to interrogate the ways in which this appears in the canon text. i also think - obviously - that we don’t have to agree with what she thinks in order to write things which feel close to canon. and i don’t agree with her - not only when it comes to her views on trans people, which are actively harmful - but also when it comes to things like the fact that she’s clearly someone who’s rather vindictive, but who believes that this vindictiveness is really a strong sense of fairness (look, for example, at the dichotomy between how the text presents violence against people it thinks ‘deserve’ it - harry using the cruciatus curse on amycus carrow being a great example, neither harry, nor mcgonagall, nor the narrative give a fuck - and those it thinks don't). or the fact that her own experience of both motherhood and daughterhood - an experience which was clearly very traumatic for her (her mother died of multiple sclerosis, her first husband was violent towards her, she has an extremely difficult relationship with her father) - drives the series’ prioritisation of sacrificial motherhood, criticism towards mothers who don’t make their children the focus of their entire world, and certain coolness towards fathers (especially absentee ones - who will be blamed by the narrative for being murdered by their own sons). or the fact that she has extremely narrow views on cisgender women, even before her views on trans women are taken into account, which turn up again and again in how female characters we are not supposed to be sympathetic towards are written.

i am not, of course, suggesting that writing a fic which is heavily based in canon means that an author supports jkr’s views. what i am saying instead is that fics which engage with questions such as how harry understands violence against the bad guys in ways which go beyond ‘lol, lmao’ or which write lavender as a person whose fondness for stereotypical femininity doesn’t make her insubstantial or which point out that the narrative blaming merope gaunt for dying directly justifies everything voldemort believes are canon coherent.

and, actually, i think that this broader term - canon coherent - is a better one to talk about the non-chronological aspects of canon compliance. because the dividing line between canon compliant fics and canon divergent ones is incredibly arbitrary, and often doesn’t take into account how close to canon the writing in otherwise canon divergent stories often is. after all, if someone writes a story in which harry feels exactly like his canon self, except that the romantic partner he ends up with isn’t ginny, that is arguably more canon compliant than a piece of happy-ever-after hinny in which ginny is a doormat who gives up her career to be harry’s bang maid and harry speaks like he’s had twenty years of therapy. but only one of these pieces will be welcomed onto canon compliant rec-lists and into canon compliant discussion spaces.

[and it’s worth mentioning that plenty of canon compliant only spaces do allow flexibility - above all in being open to interpretations of characters such as james, harry, and hermione in which they are not white. this is good and they should continue to do this, but we can go further, especially in accepting queer interpretations of the main characters into canon compliant discussion.]

i also think - and i’m aware this may sound cruel - that thinking in terms of canon coherence, rather than compliance and divergence, would be good for everybody’s ego. i can acknowledge that plenty of people who diverge from canon can be dicks about it - and i think that the criticism people who prefer the canon endgame ships often get for being ‘boring’ (and, in the case of ships such as remadora, ‘homophobic’) is bullshit - but the canon compliant girlies (gender neutral) are, in many cases, no better. it is not harder to write something ‘canon compliant’ - not least because, as discussed, you’re not - and it is not evidence of an author engaging more seriously with the text and its themes. there is a tendency i have noticed in the fandom spaces i inhabit, many of which feature people whose preference is for the canon ships etc., for non canon pairings to be treated as - essentially - crack ships, especially in stories which are light or whimsical in tone. but when i say that writing on tomarry or snarry or snack or snapemort or drarry or riddledore or wolfstar or what have you can deliver characterisation and worldbuilding and narrative construction which feels infinitely more plausible than many ‘canon compliant’ pieces of writing, i mean this entirely seriously.

and i think it would be good if the dividing line which leads many people to say ‘i don’t read canon divergent fics’ or ‘i don’t read canon compliant fics’ was instead blended into a preference for fics which are canon coherent or otherwise. we would all learn something.

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

delphini.

another reason why canon coherence over canon compliance is valuable is it means that one can pretend the cursed child doesn’t exist.

but i would like to make a case for the fact that delphini as a concept (so, nothing like the way she’s written in that play…) makes sense and is a character i’d like to see added to more stuff. she works within both voldemort and bellatrix’s canonical arcs, she gives rodolphus something to do post-war after he spends canon being futile, imagine how funny it would be if teddy had a crush on her, george-michael and maeby style (truly les cousins dangereux), imagine how funny it would be if she is the spitting image of her muggle grandfather and her dad’s having a crisis every time he sees her, imagine her trying to parent trap voldemort and bellatrix into actually falling in love…

you can do serious things with her too - in fact, i have - but, as someone who thinks anything is improved by someone spindly and vaguely sinister, i think she’s a hoot and she deserves to turn up in more things.

21: what part of canon do you think is overhyped?

my eyes were bone dry when dobby-ex-machina died.

22: what is your favourite part of canon, which everyone else ignores?

that harry is a luxury boy. let my man buy his solid gold cauldron, hagrid, don’t be a narc.

[in general, i don't love versions of harry which show him as really abstemious or austere - he's pretty careless with his possessions and he doesn't regard the expensive things he owns as something to be unusually protective over. in his adulthood, he's 100% making sure his shed is stocked with the best brooms on the market and buying himself a little treat whenever he's feeling spenny.]

[redwiccanrobin]

I keep seeing people say the live action show is going to be bad only because Bryke is no longer involved. Now, I’m not particularly interested in the show because live action remakes just don’t do anything for me, personally. But I think y’all are giving Bryke way more credit than they deserve. Let’s discuss.

First, I think we should acknowledge the more problematic aspect of them creating the show in the first place. While I love Avatar, Bryke are two white men who took the aesthetics of many different Asian cultures to create their world. And most of the voice cast were also white. If there were Asian voice actors, they were either a background character or a villain (besides Iroh and Zuko, of course). Now, I know that some of you may have read that and thought about how the actor playing Sokka is not only white but lied about his ethnicity. Don’t worry, I’m mad at that as well and I’m beyond frustrated that Sokka has been whitewashed not once, but twice in the name of a live action interpretation.

And speaking of live action interpretations, let us not forget Bryke’s role in the 2010 movie. They announced their decision to leave this new show due to it not matching their vision. But they had no problem with the film that casted almost exclusively white actors to play characters of color. Again, if there were POC in the movie they were either background actors or villains (again, besides Iroh and Zuko). When people bring up the movie, they blame Shamalan for every aspect of it. Yes, he did not direct a good movie. But, at the end of the day, Bryke wanted this movie to happen. Everyone else, including Shamalan, wanted a season four but they were dead set on the live action movie that whitewashed most of the characters. And they were fine with that. That didn’t clash with their vision despite relying very heavily on non-white cultures to make their show.

Outside of the whitewashed movie, their creative choices are… interesting, to say the least. And we didn’t get to see those because the writers pulled their weight and tweaked the original concepts. Toph? Bryke wanted her to be a boy and be in a love triangle with Aang and Katara. It was the writers who made her a girl. Azula? Again, Bryke wanted her to be a boy and, again, the writers made her a girl. Katara fighting sexism in the Northern Water Tribe? They wanted her to be fighting for Aang, not herself. It was the writers decision to add in Katara fighting against a patriarchal system. Many of the episodes that people point to as their favorites (Zuko Alone, The Puppetmaster, The Southern Raiders) were not written by them. Yet, they get the pats on the backs from casual viewers and even some dedicated fans.

Do you know what happens when they do have creative control? At best, it’s mediocre, at worst, it’s bad. Let’s first take a look at their continuation of this universe by looking at Legend of Korra. The writers that made those iconic and beautiful episodes in ATLA? For the most part, they’re no where to be found. And it shows. LoK was a mess from the very beginning and never quite got its footing. Yes, I will acknowledge that Nickelodeon fucked them over. Yes, I do have respect for them for sticking to their guns and making Korrasami an item and giving us not one but two bisexual women of color. But besides that? It’s just a very mediocre show with mediocre writing.

But we see how truly bad things can get with the ATLA comics. Now, I do need to acknowledge that they didn’t work on that comic alone. So, like the movie, there are others to blame for the mess. But Bryke signed off on everything and wrote some of it themselves. And, boy, are they bad. A large number of the ATLA fandom do not like these comics and there’s definitely a reason why. Including out of character moments, prominent sexism with how the women are written, and just downright bizarre discussions, it’s not that much of a surprise that we don’t like to acknowledge it. In my opinion, no one got screwed over more in those comics than Katara. They make her a trophy girlfriend. A shadow to Aang rather than being her own character. That girl we watched in the show, the one who was vibrant, layered, complex, was gone. In her place, a hollow shell. And they would continue to show disrespect for their own character in LoK where she has been upgraded from trophy girlfriend to trophy wife. They didn’t even care enough about her, besides her being the wife of Aang and the mother of his children, to give her a statue! All the feminism we see in the original show? It definitely wasn’t Bryke.

I don’t know how this new live action show is going to pan out. It could be great, it could be bad. It could just be meh. But none of those outcomes have anything to do with whether or not Bryke was involved. Because they may have created ATLA, but they weren’t the ones who truly breathed life into it.

[essence-of-nothingness]

Airy's Behavior

I got bored and decided to write a doc about Airy's behavior. This is kinda a part two of "Airy is in his Mid-40s" You don't have to read that one to understand this one, but it's always there if you want to read it. One last thing this is all speculation from what I have seen in the show, basically headcanons, so have fun and enjoy.

The original doc will be linked here if you want to read it there instead and see the sources.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EPfznYB8tEg66nNoyGUxJxPvPwS2evl-0XBTvO-X2Us/edit?usp=sharing

This entire doc is about Airy’s behavior, from how smart I think he is, to his social interactions, and relationships, how the isolation affected him, and more. All of this is my headcanons about ONE on the information that is present in the show and Mini Series. I don’t mind if you have your own opinions, this is just something that I made for myself.

In the three to four years that I have spent in the fandom, I have noticed that in many characterizations Airy makes it out that Airy is an innocent baby who is unaware of his wrongdoing. As I mentioned before, I don’t mind if this is how he is characterized since everyone is entitled to how they think a character is. I’d say that Airy is aware that what he is doing is wrong. Airy’s just not entirely aware and/or he just doesn't care as long as he gets entertained or gets any form of social interaction. 

Intelligence

From what details that we do see in the show Airy is smart. When it comes to topics or things that don't relate to socializing, like survival, coding, coercing, etc. Airy can do those things well. 

Survival

For example survival, he spent around a decade in the middle of the woods with no books or anything to help him with survival. He built an entire cabin all on his own, built a campfire, and generally knew his way around the woods. This tells me that he at least had some knowledge of how to build a cabin, because from what we have seen he didn’t have a manual on how to build a cabin. Also, this early on he didn't know how to properly use the computer yet or the coding that it involved. In the miniseries, we see that Airy can see things back from his original home on Earth through the security cameras. To build a cabin you need to know how much wood you might need, how big it should be, what materials are necessary, how to put it all together, and insulation. On top of that, he also made furniture for the cabin, including a makeshift bed, a table, a stool, and probably the ax itself, maybe since we don’t see the ax in the flashback. All of this shows that Airy is smart when it comes to survival. He knows how to build a shelter, furniture, how to make a fire, etc. 

Coding

Another thing that I would like to add is the computer itself. From the few scenes that we do see of what the computer monitor looks like the information that is present is confusing. I’m not a coder myself or have any knowledge of coding but the code itself looked confusing and on top of that there were icons in the bottom left corner. Many icons depicted smiling faces and growing ones, and when Liam clicked on them they made these waving lines whatever they were. The very fact that Airy was able to figure out all of the coding for that computer by himself and he most likely had to teach himself. That takes a lot of dedication especially since some of the coding required for that computer includes some things that normal coding wouldn’t because some of the abilities that AIry had through the computer were the ability to revive the dead, teleportation, and shrinking/bigger people and items. 

Coercing

The main reason why Airy in the show seems incompetent is because of the way he communicates,  his attention is all over the place, and he doesn't seem to notice when people are in danger unless it’s right in front of him. But I feel like Airy to a certain extent is aware of how to behave when it comes to interacting with others. Of course, his socializing skills have been diminished because of the years of isolation. But I feel like he is aware that what he is doing is wrong to some small extent and also how and when it is necessary to manipulate certain situations. 

Eliminations

The entire elimination process in a way was a form of coercion, this is most prevalent with Liam/Backpack, Bryce/Soda Bottle, and most infamous of all Amelia/Scenty.

In episode 17 “You Move, I Send” we learn more about Season ONE, and to calm down the people he accidentally kidnapped he lies and tells them that they were chosen to compete in a competition. While this might have been accidental at first, I feel like later on it helped Airy to get what he wanted. By telling both the Season One and more specifically the Season Two ‘contestants’ that they were competing for a prize and that there was an audience watching, he could get them to do what he wanted and he knew that. This is important because the ‘contestants’ know people are watching and it forces them to comply more, especially to those who want to leave or want the prize. Of course, there is no audience it’s all Airy. He's the one who's choosing who gets to stay or who gets to leave. 

The elimination is more of a motivator than ever for the people who want to escape like Amelia’s/Scenty's team or Amelia herself. Throughout ONE she saw that other teams or people were getting chosen to get eliminated instead of her. Seeing all of this, Scenty knowing that the viewers don’t want her eliminated despite her cries and plead eventually causes her to not care about eliminations as much. This in addition to the 7 months absence caused Scenty to eventually not even want to go back home as seen in episode 16 “Bottle Episode” Of course the 7 months absence wasn’t planned at all but in seeing that viewers much rather choose someone else other than her, Airy was able to get Amelia to somewhat want to stay. Therefore making her more compliant in the competition. 

For Liam and Bryce, they were able to escape in time thanks to the help of Stone, but you could see this process a bit in both of them. By the time episode 9 came out Liam had gotten used to living on the Plane and with the earlier episodes Liam kept saying “There's always next time” but as the episodes passed especially with the drowning Liam began to give up a bit. 

Liam 

Some situations that included some form of coercion were shown in episode 17 and  “You Move, I Send” where you can see certain scenes where Airy did something or said something to get Liam to do what he wanted.

During the cave scene, Airy saw that Liam was about to smash the computer. Airy knew that if he didn't do something Liam would destroy his work (ONE) and he wouldn’t be able to continue it. He also knew because of Liam’s outburst that he wanted the contestants to be freed. So using this information Airy said “That computer controls everything that I do. If you destroy it, I won’t be able to send the contestants back” This statement was able to get Liam to calm down a bit and to destroy the computer. 

During the marsh scene when Airy saw that Liam had the cassette parts he ‘promised’ to send the contestants to get back the cassette tape. Airy knew that Liam wouldn’t give him the cassette if he didn’t agree to let the contestants go. Airy of course didn’t want that but just lied to get it back. Later on, while Liam is asleep we see that Airy decided to do another challenge while Liam was asleep. I think Airy knew that this was something that Liam wouldn’t like since he made the promise earlier and also because he did it on the cover of the night. In the end, he still had the cassette tape. 

In addition to not destroying the computer, Airy is the only one who knows how that computer functions. Liam needs Airy to send the contestants back whether he wants his help or not. Liam can threaten Airy all he wants or wants but if he did do something then he wouldn’t be able to help out his friends. We can see this happening in the finale, Airy died and we see Liam trying to figure out how the computer functions.

Isolation

Although I do believe that Airy was aware of some of the things he did, I also believe that he did have issues with social interaction. Since he was in isolation for a long time, a decade to be specific. In addition to that the isolation also led to some of his behavior and the way that he acted sometimes. Some of these behaviors include the way that he talks, and interacts with the ‘contestants’ and the way he views his relationship with the contestants. 

Throughout the show, we see that Airy has some difficulty talking. This includes things such as messing up his words, his monotone voice, talking slowly, etc. This makes sense because, in those ten years of isolation, he didn’t have anyone to talk to. He claimed that there was no one else in his Forest dimension, and as far as we have seen there don’t appear to be any other animals. It’s just Airy, and because of this, there was no reason for Airy to talk at all. Since he didn’t need to talk he didn’t have to worry about his tone of voice, how fast he talked, or worry if he messed up his speech. He most likely stopped talking the majority of the time and focused more of his time and attention on working on the computer’s code, building his cabin, or just surviving. All of this led to him sounding the way he does once ONE season two started.

Social and Mental Effects 

In addition to not talking to anyone, we can now talk about the isolation portion and how it affected him socially and mentally.

Being alone for so long can be detrimental to a person’s mental and social life, as we can see in Airy’s case it affected the way that he talked, the way he expressed emotions, and the way he interacted with the contestants. It is shown throughout ONE that Airy has had some difficulties when it comes to interacting with his ‘contestants’. There's a big reason for that, according to research isolation can cause a person to miss social cues, difficulties with regulation of emotions and/or feelings, emotional detachment from social interaction, cognitive decline (memory, attention, and language), and loss of identity. These are just a few examples, all of which can be seen in Airy. 

Social cues in cases whenever another character seems distressed, he doesn't seem to care or notice unless someone is dead or physically hurt. 

Difficulties with regulating emotions and feelings, most of the time when Airy is heard or seen he sounds bored, monotone, and interested. The only time we see Airy express emotion is when he makes those clouds, whenever he talks about ONE “I think I’m doing a pretty good job”, whenever he's watching the contestants, when he is in pain, about to get killed/die, or in confusion. Other than that he had a blank look on his face. 

Whenever he talks to the contestants he doesn't sound attached or whenever he talks to Liam he doesn't seem attached. Although I do argue that he was attached, I’ll explain it later on, but in simpler words, I feel like he was more attached to the idea of the contestants and having someone to interact with rather than the person themselves. 

Cognitive decline, we know due to some scenes that Airy has difficulty with his memory, attention span, language, and learning skills. Memory in the case that he can’t remember his real name, he can’t remember how to properly interact with others, most likely doesn't remember his past life, and the entire thing with giving the contestant nicknames because it was easier to remember. Attention spans in cases where even though he loves ONE and is the only thing he cares about there are times when Airy claims he didn’t see something when it did happen. Stone stuffing the sticky notes inside of Liam, Moldy team reaching the tree/bush. When Liam came to his world Airy just kept changing topics constantly. Language is obvious in the case where he speaks slowly and monotone. Everything he says sounds like a sentence when it shouldn’t. 

Lastly, I would like to add that the way you behave and act can be dedicated to the culture and society that you grew up/lived around. People are very adaptable and you can very much learn how to behave or change your behavior depending on where you are. But what happens if you don’t have anyone to base your identity on? You begin to lose your self-identity, we can see this happen in ONE with Airy he doesn't know his real name, he barely talks about his past life, and all that he identifies himself with is being the Host of ONE.

Relationships

Now that we covered how smart he can be and how the isolation has affected him. Now I can talk about how it affects his relationship with the contestants and ONE.

Contestants

Since he is the host of ONE he has to maintain a distance when it comes to forming attachments when he can to the contestants otherwise it would’ve caused a bias. Which I think happened when I came to Amelia. Why do I think this? Well in every elimination up until episode 16, every time that Amelia was put up for elimination she was never the one chosen. This was the same situation with Liam, every time he was up for elimination he was never chosen despite having a broken leg and dying. The only reason he eliminated Liam was because he was the last one on his team. 

Remember that Airy has been in isolation for a decade and hasn’t had a proper social interaction for a long time. Being with the contestants and having them talk back probably made Airy have some bias towards those who talked to him the most. Most likely because even if he didn't consciously want it he would’ve craved some form of company. Throughout ONE the only people who interacted with Airy the most, as in calling for him, calling him out on unfairness, insulting him, etc, constantly were Amelia, Liam, and Bryce. The other contestants either talk very little or not at all towards Airy. The people who stayed the longest and were brought back were those who talked to him the most. 

We can also see this with Liam when he arrives at Airy’s world. When Liam fell that waterfall or that tree crushed him when he tried to kill Airy. Airy could’ve just let Liam fall and drown or left him to rot underneath that tree that way he would’ve stayed safe or could’ve continued ONE without Liam interfering. Though Airy didn’t do that, he wanted Liam alive because he knew that Liam was and would be the only person who would be with him for who knows how long.

ONE

Imagine yourself in Airy’s shoes for a second.

You just died in a horrible car crash and the next thing you know you wake up in this weird liminal space room with two waiting room chairs, a table, and a radio. You see maybe a few other people pop in here and there but they don't notice or care about you. They all seem to focus on some invisible person off in the distance and said person running towards them into the horizon. 

Not knowing what to do, you sit down and flip through the radio. Every time you lift the antenna you get transported to a different dimension, a hostile dimension where you keep dying over and over and over and over. Each time is just as traumatizing as the last until one day you lift the antenna and end up in a tranquil forest. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of threat, it’s nice and quiet, but it’s lonely. Do you risk dying leaving this tranquil forest probably never seeing another place like this again? No, you stay.

Over the next few months, you build a cabin, a fireplace, and all the essentials you need but you can’t help but mess around with the computer in the cave, it’s the only thing of interest in that world. You also discover that you can create planets, so you decide to see if you can do anything with these two things. Then one day while messing with the computer you accidentally teleport people onto your little planet. 

You panic and lie, saying they were chosen to compete in a competition and that there was a prize at the end. Before you can finish the season, you accidentally kill all of them. Later on, while trying to make amends to those Season One contestants you begin to put more time, effort, dedication, and supplies into this show, in hopes of making a better season. At some point ONE is your entire life, everything you do now is to further progress towards ONE. 

At this point you have forgotten your entire identity, your past life gone to time, you barely remember your real name anymore, your entire identity is stripped away and all that is left behind is an empty husk of a person that was once you. So you begin identifying with the show, this show is all you have left. If you quit on this show you have nothing left to go by, your entire life is now gone.

Who Is Airy?

When you are completely isolated and stripped of everything that you once knew in life, everything that makes you gone. Of course, you're going to hold onto whatever you can. Airy by the time Season Two started having everything he knew gone. His name, home, friends, family. All he had left was his cassette tape, his cabin, and ONE. ONE was the only thing that made him happy, the only thing that motivated him to keep going. By the time that ONE started he began identifying himself by that show. His entire identity now revolves around the show, all the prepping, learning, choosing, and waiting that he did was dedicated to ONE.  He was the HOST and the thought of it being taken away from him was gone, the one thing left he had, his entire remaining identity he didn’t like. Of course, he didn’t, what was the lives of innocents to maintain your sanity, your identity? If ONE was gone, who was Airy? What did he dedicate an entire decade to? What was the point of making amends to those he killed in Season One? Giving up ONE would be like dying all over again. 

This was also the reason why he wanted the cassette tape back so badly because it was one of the only things that let him identify back to his old life. That life he barely remembered, the only thing left from that forgotten past. 

Airy didn’t want to stop the show because he was a genuinely bad guy, most of it was because he didn’t want to lose what he had left. Of course that doesn’t excuse his actions, he still needs to be held accountable. But this does explain why Airy acts the way that he does, some part of him does know that what he is doing is wrong, but if he admits that then that means that his entire identity was bad and do you think you want to identify as a bad guy? I can explain why ignores their pleas of despair and why he is disinterested in stopping ONE.

Conclusion

This was an entire doc dedicated to why I believe Airy behaves the way that he does like the coercing, how he behaves with the contestants, and his relationship with ONE. Along with his intelligence and how he is not as incompetent as he is made out to be.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Disclaimer: This is not a snarky comment.

It was interesting to read your take on what you considered jealousy and possessiveness on Louis’ behalf but didn’t consider jealousy on Lestat’s behalf. You are my favorite blogger in this fandom, but part of the reason for that is you don’t fly off the handle when someone’s opinion differs from yours and you are often open for interesting discussion. That being said, I have to agree with anon with their examples of Lestat’s jealousy. But they left off one of the most iconic scenes in the whole show “OF COURSE x 4”! But isn't that what makes Lestat an amazing dynamic character? The fact that he is petty and bitchy but loving and romantic? Call me toxic, but Loustat’s craziness, jealousy, passion, and possessiveness is their biggest selling point. Everything is so extreme when it comes to their feelings for each other! I didn’t see some things on Lestat’s list as jealousy either. Well, I did, but it is understandable why with the background and context you provided.

I also have a different opinion on some of the scenarios on Louis’s list as well. I think the scene at Antoinette’s home was peak possessiveness exerted by Louis.

Jonah I can also agree with. Louis was jealous so he responded by making Lestat jealous.

I didn’t consider “I wanted him dead, I wanted him to myself” to be jealous. I felt like Louis was acknowledging the conundrum of feelings for Lestat and the repercussions of what he was about to do.

I also didn’t consider Louis initiating the kiss in front of everyone at the ball jealousy or possessiveness either. I liked the explanation that Jam gave on the podcast for the dance and kiss about no longer hiding and no longer caring what the people in that room thought of them. In that moment, it was just the two of them and no one else in that room mattered. I think that was such a beautiful moment for their relationship that came too late.

Louis dragging Lestat off from drunken soldiers also didn't come across to me as jealousy or possession. I think he was annoyed to come home to that pettiness after the night he had. Despite the gravity of what was going on, Louis dragging his unhinged husband off was comical!

Thank you for reading my opinion that no one asked for! I just found this such a fun topic I had to jump in. We don’t get enough of those moments in the fandom without getting way too serious. And like the show, we need to balance the deep emotions and darkness with some levity and humor

Here’s to much more pettiness, jealousy, romance, and acceptance between these two for season 3 🥂!

Yes! Here's to that, and all the other emotions, too :)))

(Just as a note, not to argue, I did mention the whole Antoinette-house-scene in my possessiveness ask, so that's definitely in there^^)

And thank you for the opinion :) I think it is very much up to interpretation at times, especially since all of us come from different backgrounds, knowledge-wise and experience-wise, too. And that factors in - of course™ :))

And so the discussions without arguing are all the more important!!!

(And I hope I didn't come of as rebuffing on the other post, tbh, I was just... giving my opinion on the ask, and since you guys come on in on anon most of the time that is all I can do^^)