#I don’t mean that in a hyperbolic or fandom way

[kaxtwenty]

It really is insane to think about how foundational the original Mobile Suit Gundam is to gay literature.

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

Hello, I hope I can ask you this. I was exploring the Jp side of YouTube and watching review and discussion videos on MHA. I found a couple of popular videos on the potential future relationships of all the characters, and as expected, they were all the default m/f pairs. But the comments took me by surprise. Most of them were about “greentea,” obviously, but I could also see comments on very odd pairs like Eri and Deku, Mahoro and Bakugo, and even Eri and Mirio quite frequently! (Even typing it out is making me cringe)😭😭😭 However, I also saw a couple of comments on Bakugo and Deku, but very few, probably 1 out of 100. I’m really curious about how bkdk is perceived by the general Japanese audience, is it even taken seriously? Maybe I just couldn’t find any review videos that even considered them as a pair, but the ones I saw were kinda popular too; they had plenty of views. So yeah, I’d love to know your thoughts on this, again I hope this is ok to ask🥹

Also I just discovered you and I love all your content!😭 I’ve exhausted them haha, thank you so much for your work! Lots of love! 🩷🩷🩷

First off, I want to mention that I have a hitherto unspoken rule to not comment on ships other than bkdk. I know you are asking about bkdk specifically, but the framework of the question brings other things into the discussion, so I want to say this clearly to discourage follow-up questions from others which may be angled toward different ships or ship discourse in general. Bkdk is what I’m here for, so bkdk is what I’m going to talk about.

In regards to your actual question, I’m gonna answer by giving you some information about how fandom works in Japan.

Bkdk is the most popular mha ship in Japan in terms of fanworks, by a wide margin.

Japanese fandom is, compared to English-speaking fandom, heavily centered on fanart. Japan has frequent doujinshi (independently published comic) events where dozens or even hundreds of artists come to distribute their work, and many of these have been going on for decades. It is not hyperbole to say that some kind of doujinshi event, showcasing brand new work, is going on in at least one major city in Japan every single month, and these events are attended by hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. Sometimes there are two or more events in a single month.

To be clear, doujinshi are not only fanworks, which is why I specified “independently published comic.” Lots of doujin are original works, and many now well-known mangaka got their start, gained connections, and built their early fanbase through participating in doujin circles (collaborative groups of artists who create work under the same independent label). My point is that visual art and comics are so huge in Japan it is hard to overstate their prominence in the culture as a whole, let alone fandom culture.

So, fanart and doujin are huge, and among fans who make fanart/doujin, bkdk is wildly popular.

The thing you have to ask yourself is, does fanwork represent general readership? Drawing fanart is the most common way to show your love for a series in Japan, but that definitely doesn’t mean every reader is drawing fanart. In my opinion, fanfic is prominent in USA-centered fandom, but obviously only a fraction of the people who enjoy a series are going to write fanfic for it.

I don’t think we can really quantify the opinions of general readership this way. I mean, when you scroll through the comment section of the same kind of clickbaity, hot-topic videos about anime/manga that English-speaking audiences watch, do you feel like those comments accurately reflects what most people think? I know I don’t. There is always going to be a selection bias, because “people who comment on youtube videos” also only represent a fraction of “people who read mha.”

Japanese fandom is significantly more segmented and considerate of differing tastes than English-speaking fandom.

Japanese fandom is pretty strict with its rules of engagement. Personal privacy and respect for others are very important factors. Artists don’t want to be recognized at their day-job for their R18 doujin. Shippers don’t want their comments or cutesy fanart to be algorithmically-fed to users who have no interest in it. This is seen as polite and correct; it is respectful of the fact that people have different tastes, and not everyone will share yours.

See, Japanese fandom recognizes that the internet constitutes public view.

So fan language is coded: words are spelled slightly differently; characters, events, or ships get unique euphemistic nicknames; words or names are replaced with emojis. All of this is to prevent their stuff from being seen by someone just casually searching “Bakugou.”

You have to be in the know to know how to find stuff. You have to actively search for like-minded fans and curate your space, expanding your circle typically through word of mouth. And you have to abide by the rules, or else everyone is going to think you’re an overbearing jerk and not wanna be around you.

If you are just using google translate on social media posts or videos visibly labeled under the series title, you aren’t going to find much in regards to active shipping. Frankly, you aren’t going to see the whole scope of Japanese bkdk fan activity in any one place using any one method. This is how Japanese fandom is designed, and people work pretty hard to keep it that way.

Japanese fandom does not generally engage from the perspective that their desires will be validated by canon.

This is one of the biggest differences. In English-speaking fandom, you see people argue left and right about what’s going to be canon, who’s the endgame ship, and so on. People are very preoccupied by the idea that their ship has to be “validated,” and this validation comes from the notion that canon will reflect their personal preferences and fulfill their hopes for how the story will go.

This is just not the atmosphere in the vast majority of Japanese fan spaces. Remember how I said that jpn fandom recognizes that people have different tastes? This means people also tend to think that it is rather arrogant and demanding to think that your wishes are the only ones that should come true. It is also disrespectful of the mangaka’s artistic vision and hard-work to expect them to disregard their own desires to satisfy you personally.

So, when you ask, “are bkdk even taken seriously?” the question is built upon the idea that people who enjoy the series expect an outcome catered to their tastes.

As you said, most of the comments were for heterosexual pairings, which are the most obvious to predict considering the endings of other popular series published in Weekly Shonen Jump. Furthermore, Yashahime—sequel anime to shounen manga Inuyasha—confirmed that a character roughly ten years of age later grew up and had children with a (slowly-aging but adult) supernatural being who served as her caretaker and protector.

Maybe the video commenters were reflecting personal interest in those ships, or maybe they were just spit-balling off stuff they'd seen before. I can tell you I haven't really seen fanart for any of that, but I don't go looking for it, and m/f ship spaces will be separate from m/m ship spaces.

Still, it is important to remember that audience expectation is not directly correlated to outcome. When the online Shonen Jump+ manga Blue Flag was first published, the vast majority of readers did not expect that one of the characters in the love triangle would be gay. Hell, they expected it so little that the reveal went viral!

Audience expectation may be interesting to think about, but it is not a prediction method.

To sum it up:

Bkdk is extremely popular, but jpn fandom is very private and structured differently than English-speaking fandom.

Any metric of measurement for reader opinion will have its flaws, and audience expectation is not a foolproof way to gauge real outcome.

Personally, I think we should all take a cue from jpn fandom and just have fun.

I hope that answers your question and gives you some context, anon. Thank you for the kind comments on my work, I really appreciate it. <3

[total-feminism-takes]

Yeah yeah tdi writers when it comes to female characters could be better but can we please focus on the fandom? Y’all have no excuse as to how you treat these characters!!!

Hello some of the best written and intriguing characters are female, some of the best dynamics include females but y’all are too busy with your male characters and male ships and your internalised misogyny I mean what who said that???

But fr to go onto some of my most hated things in the fandom because I’m in a whingey mood and want to complain and this blog is great if it’s okay I’m gonna dump these here;

Courtney haters need to SHUT UPPPPPPP!!!! I don’t care if you think she’s badly written she’s not and especially not for tdi standards y’all just want to complain about an interesting female character there’s sooo much to her you can just dig into it’s delicious I love her!! And yet she’s still antagonised by the fandom??? I’m not gonna act like she did no wrong and wasn’t the villain because hello did we see action but it’s more nuanced that her being annoying and evil! Y’all just need to look at her more!!!

Svetlana is ALWAYS neglected by the tdi fandom hello she’s one of the alters we see the most yet everyone hates her!! Why!! She’s not my favourite sure I prefer Vito, Manitoba and maybe Mal maybe but come on! She’s a part of the gang too stop ignoring her!!!

People who hc male characters as misogynistic are icky stop itttttt!!! It’s not fun!!!! I have more to talk about this later but I hateee when people say that male characters are misogynistic when either they’re clearly not or they make such a deal of it cough Ezekiel. I’m fine with it being a joke once again I will make fun of Ezekiel till the day I die but when people low-key make the male characters misogynistic it’s like why! Especially when it’s male fans sorry had to be said.

Can we please not ignore platonic male and female friendships pretty please!!!!! We saw how many of the male and male friendships were fake and caved in on themselves we saw the downfall of the guys alliance why do we act like it’s only the females?? I swear the male and female friendships are the only normal ones in the show bar like Gwen and Duncan because they had to do that but hello we all love a bit of DJ and Heather why do we act like we don’t???

The way tdi fans treat the male x male relationships compared to the female x female relationships is soo gross leave them alone please! They can be just as good!!! You don’t believe me well gwourtney has just as much potential as any male x male relationship but y’all don’t want to hear that! And they’re all so fun hello?? Mkulia did more for the homosexuals than anything pride ever did (jokes). Also you can have your toxic yuri like you have your toxic yaoi y’all just can’t understand that there isn’t as critical of a difference between females and men as you like to act there is oops sorry

The way y’all treat Dawn… sighs. She’s not some cute little garden fairy especially not after tdi she definitely doxxes people on Reddit if they’ve wronged her she definitely leaked Scott’s ip address after tdi. Like yeah she’s nice and a good person and likes animals but let her have fun too please

The way roti fans treat zoey is despicable. They treat her either likes she’s the devil and evil and poor little Mike zoey is so hypocritical and evil and mean, or they treat her like she’s a two dimensional piece of cardboard. Didn’t want to say this but she had some of if not the funniest lines in roti. Yeah she sucked in AS but everyone did and im predicting people treated her like this before AS even came out.

Uh TL;DR treat the female characters like how you treat the males please they’re not that different you just hate women.

Uh take this all with a pinch of salt if you do any of this you don’t hate women im just being hyperbolic but there is clearly some issues with the way you view women if you do any of this. Sorry it’s true I’m sending anonymously because I fear this will strike a nerve.

❤️

[nerves-nebula]

I sometimes get uncomfortable around arguments about if certain characters are abusive or not- obviously I see this the most with 2012 tmnt and nobody really needs my opinion but I keep thinking about it so here’s some words to chew on.

Keep in mind I haven’t seen much of 2012 so I’ll mostly be talking about the WAY I see these discussions being had here, rather than the show itself.

I doubt the creators intended for the turtles to be abusive and I kind of just assume that everything they do is within the genre of slapstick kids show. But I also don’t think people who cringe away from the way they treat each other are reading too much into it.

I’ve seen people argue that ppl who think the brothers are abusive just don’t have siblings and that’s an insane take to me. Obviously its probably hyperbole in some instances but as someone with more siblings than most of the people I know, I 100% see the abuse reading of this series. It’s a very obvious idea to latch onto for me as someone who HAS been abused by my siblings- and who’s probably been abusive too.

The main thing that really gets under my skin is when people point out how much the turtles actually care about each other as evidence against abuse. Cause that doesn’t make any sense ??? you can abuse people you love and care about deeply.

And it really rubs me the wrong way when I see a post that’s like Raph can’t be abusive because he does X nice/cute things with Mikey or something like. That’s not how abuse works. You guys have to know that right?? Abuse isn’t just a person being mean 24/7 without pause.

A bit of a tangent coming up, but growing up, I really hated Mabel from gravity falls. not because she is inherently any more annoying or selfish or anything than other characters but because the way she treated dipper was extremely triggering for me as a child with a lot of anxiety. Like if Mabel was real and my sibling, I would’ve considered a lot of the shit she did abusive. Obviously I’m normal about her now cause I’m not 12 anymore but the biggest hurdle about watching that show when I was younger was that I would sometimes be brought to tears of frustration, imagining how scared and distressed I’d be if Mabel did that shit to me.

THE POINT of this tangent is that saying “the 2012 turtles aren’t abusive because I do that stuff with my siblings all the time/cause teenage boys are just like that” isn’t a genuine critique because abuse isn’t just about the action it’s about the relationship. Punching your sibling who’s actually ok with being punched isn’t abuse. Punching your sibling who really doesn’t want you to, and who you KNOW really doesn’t want you to, and who you KNOW would be genuinely upset by being punched? That is abuse.

And I find it annoying because I think we’re all aware that abuse was likely not the intent of the show. (Probably not even the text of the show but once again can’t say for sure) Maybe some dysfunction for drama, but probably not abuse, so you’re really just arguing against someone’s headcanon/personal interpretation of this show. And it’s like.. ok you have a different reading cool I guess.

In the show they aren’t treated as abusive, but fandoms are built around exploring different aspects of art that weren’t explored in canon. So I guess idk why this is a big deal.

Idk I think people have this idea that abusive = evil and always wrong. But abuse is just someone hurting you repeatedly and refusing to stop for whatever reason.

And with a show like 2012 where it’s all played for laughs it can be hard to tell if that’s how they are with each other because they’re ok with it or if that’s how they are cause they don’t know any other way. The turtles are kind of really mean in 2012, and wether that’s a familiarity kind of meanness or not is up to you in fandom, yknow?

Does Mikey actually consider Raph hitting him as like a fun part if their banter or is he coping with jokes about being physically abused? You decide! Like genuinely it can be either and I think that’s fun!

I mean obviously you all know what i’d pick, but that’s because I’m blissfully aware of what I want out of stories and what i want is nuanced discussions of abuse.

Personally, I acted very similarly to the 2012 turtles when living with my siblings, but I didn’t actually fucking like it. It was a defense mechanism because being genuine would only be met with ridicule. So I’m not inclined to agree that it’s fine because it’s just what they do.

Once again though, I doubt it was on purpose. And if you don’t think that they’re abusive then congrats! The show probably doesn’t either! So I just don’t see why people get super upset about it. Don’t you love that someone got a different story out of the same media??

Anyway obviously it doesn’t super matter and I don’t really have a horse in this race. I just got a bit annoyed with the way abuse is discussed and as a hobbyist Abuse Analyst I thought I’d weigh in.

I wrote this instead of going to sleep and it’s sooo late and also so much longer that I meant for it to be… y’all better not have bad takes in response or I’ll be annoyed as hell tomorrow morning, guh.

[biblioflyer]

To boldly go backwards?

Unpacking the attitudes behind people burned by Burnham. No, not those people. The other people. The ones who authentically seem to care about something other than protecting their image of Columbus as a cool dude.

This will be a series. If you’re reading this on the day it escaped my queue, the rest are queued for a 1 a day. If not, all will have the ‘Star Trek ethics’ tag in common. If I’m really on the ball, I’ll come back later and edit in links to the other chapters here.

I can see it now. Enterprise had its 1701-D cameos, Star Trek Picard had its Enterprise-G moment, and now Discovery’s finale will likely be controversial on the basis of Burnham placing the Progenitor’s technology out of reach of pretty much everyone. There will be many different ways of contemplating this, but I think you can sum it up as:

Did Discovery “give in” to techno-pessimism and in doing so undermine a core theme of Star Trek?

I don’t personally think so, but you might and I think I know why. Burnham is kind of, sort of applying a reverse Prime Directive on the Federation. She comes away believing that the Progenitor tech should not be entrusted to one person or even one civilization, and that ultimately it's unnecessary. So she “throws it away.” 

By throw it away, I mean she has it yeeted into a Black Hole where theoretically more advanced civilizations than the Federation can access it if and when it comes to it, but by that point it will likely be more of an anthropological curiosity to them rather than a new technological singularity.

Thus, the series finale of Discovery is one in which some observers might feel that a core premise of Star Trek, that of techno-optimism, is betrayed. While the grousing I think is likely to be hyperbolic, not all of it is necessarily a mask for something more nasty, feral, and likely to get a person kicked off any reasonably well moderated platform if expressed in the open.

What you think the core values of Star Trek are may actually be just that: a different understanding of what the core values are, and thus a different understanding of when they have or have not been undermined. I have my own take on those values.

For instance I despise Section 31 as a concept and storytelling device, believe it has directly attacked one of the most important core conceits of the setting: its fundamental optimism, and the damage this embrace of cynicism has done is continuing to ripple through Trek into the present day.

Yet at the same time, I also understand Trek as a set of modern fables, that the Federation is not a real place, and that it has a narrative function. That function being to model becoming aware of and confronting that which we should find repugnant and unacceptable in our own society if we were not desensitized to it.

Thus Burnham’s choice is one that can be read a few different ways, and that’s without getting into whether it was satisfying as a climax. While it is often derisively referred to as “NuTrek”, a label that both describes a worldview and a storytelling style anathema to those who prefer the more professional affectations, high regard for Classical Education, and “competency porn” of TOS & TNG or the more “neo-realist” shades of gray of DS9; Discovery is in many ways a fusion of the Treks of yesteryear. 

Sometimes it can be a lot closer to The Original Series in worldview than one might imagine in its willingness to indulge moral gray zones: “the Vulcan Hello” being a prime example. Other times it affirms the TNG obsession with personal and civilizational virtues as a thing one actively commits to upholding even when there are tremendous, even transformative benefits to be reaped by conceding. The refusal of the Progenitor tech being one of those examples.

This is something I’m going to unpack in subsequent posts in an attempt to try to sidestep some of the nastier fissures in the fandom and uncover what I think may be a genuine difference in the worldviews and orientations of some fans rather than, at best a distaste for the story structures and affectations of Discovery, and at its worst naked hostility to a crew that isn’t predominantly Anglo-European, heterosexual, and male. 

Next: What is the Kirkian ideal?

[shaunashipman]

I don’t mean this in a rude way cause everyone can have their own opinions and I’m honestly probably going to block you cause I want peace in my life I’m just honestly curious in what world do Buddie shippers only care about Buck and Eddie fucking?? Cause for one thing if that’s all they cared about they could just move on from Eddie because buck has another “hot” guy to be with?? Which I’ve seen a lot of not most bummy shippers do. Like Tommy has next to no character and on top of that if he was a girl he would be getting so so so much hate for showing up without a costume to the bachelor party. I just want an example of Buddie shippers only caring about them fucking cause as someone who’s been here for years a lot of buddie shippers actually care about the relationship. Hell my favorite moments are when they’re just soft with each other and helping each other when they need the other one. I think about them holding hands and their tattoos lining up more then I do them having sex. So I’m lost and I don’t get why your hating when you can just enjoy your ship while they last

ok look, you may not even see this if you've already blocked me and honestly I hope you have, curate your space. but I also know people who send these types of asks like to wait around obsessively for a response

I get that you think that because you've used nice words that this isn't a batshit thing to send to someone, but it is

• "i don't mean this in a rude way" proceeds to word vomit rudeness in my inbox

• "I'm honestly probably going to block you" why have you not already?

• "cause I want peace in my life" we don't know each other. I have directed nothing at anyone except the general collective of BoBs. if you feel someone having an opinion on the internet is not letting you have peace, that's something you need to work out yourself, possibly with a therapist

• "in what world do buddie shippers only care about buck and eddie fucking?" I literally had to scroll my blog to even figure out what this was about, and the answer is hyperbole. often used for dramatic and emphatic affect, to make a point

• "I just want an example of..." why? why do you require an example from someone you say you're going to block in order to justify their opinion? why are you entitled to go into their inbox and demand it?

• "I don't get why...you can't just enjoy your ship while it lasts" why can't you just enjoy your ship being fanon?

I understand fandom rots our brains, it does it to all of us, myself included, I've posted things I probably shouldn't have and wouldn't have if I had taken a step back first. but it is not normal to go into someone's inbox like this, demanding justification for opinions and making out like I have been somehow personally attacking you

now, please do block me if you haven't already, cause I'm not gonna shut up and I'm not gonna explain myself to someone who comes to condescend in my inbox and obliquely accuse me

[whiskeyswifty]

I gotta be honest I’m really impressed by how Taylor still processes her emotions regarding her father through her art and shares that with fans but that’s still something that is in a weird way so public but so private to the extent that no media outlet has ever written about it in depth before. It’s just fascinating how people see certain things but don’t see the rest. It makes you wonder what else Taylor has shared that the public doesn’t fully understand

oh yeah i mean i'm probably the best person to send this ask to in that i've been that annoying bitch screaming from the rooftop that we don't know her at all for idk 6-7 years now lmaooo. i will also say that because that still stands for me, i'm resistant to the idea that we can say with certainty that subject matter about fathers are about her father exactly. we can only read into what we want to, but i'm not the blog for you if you want to definitively talk about Knowing Things About Her. art is always hyperbolic or dissociative or retconning things through fiction or projecting hopes and dreams through fiction. Even she has said not everything in her songs is actually true and she adds things to embellish or throw people off sometimes. so i don't wanna say all of the lines about fathers are necessarily about her father, confirmed, especially since she hasn't really said that herself. and i think that's why media outlets haven't picked up on it or strayed away from it, as it's all speculation at this point.

but i do find it an interesting insight that mothers in her songs gets the most delightful, loving lines and songs about how comforted and protected she is by her mother and devastated at the thought of losing her. and while there are nice lines written about fathers like "i love your handshake, meeting my father" or "charmed my dad with self effacing jokes", those lines aren't directly about the father, but about how she's impressed when a partner gets her father's approval. those are the nicest lyrics about fathers, and the rest are quite flippant verging on damning. "leaving like a father" or "careless man's careful daughter" or the one that's top of mind from seven about a presumably aggressive and/or verbally abusive father. it's just a fascinating comparison, how she paints mothers and fathers in her songs, and glaring in a way as well considering the STARK contrast. When you compare that to how she talks about her parents in real life, it's even more interesting! When talking about her mom, the sentiments line up pretty squarely with how mothers are depicted in her music, but when talking about her father, it's like night and day. She doesn't gush about her father in the way she does about her mother, no, but she says nice, charming things about him and only ever positively talks about him. because OF COURSE she would. why would she air her family drama to the public? her parents were divorced for YEARS before it became widespread fandom knowledge and still i don't think she's ever acknowledged it. maybe once, but hardly ever if that. i just find it so fascinating, and revealing in a way, that the most impressive thing a partner can do in her songs in regards to her parents is win over her father. perhaps something that's been somewhat elusive for taylor herself as she has strived for it, however subconsciously.

and also we have that scene from miss americana where she starts crying almost instantly when arguing with her dad about speaking out about politics. a scene i personally can't really watch often because of how it's an almost one to one mirror of my own conversations with my dad, down to how i also just start crying almost right away and how flippant and stubborn he is in refusing to understand where she's coming from. the most narrow minded approaches that he has and getting super defensive when she tries to get him to hear her point of view, as if what's most important to him is that he still comes off like a good person and not his daughter literally crying because of their dispute over something so personal. i shiver just thinking about it because of how i've been in that exact situation, and i deeply sympathize with her. it's a glimpse into how perhaps it's a rocky relationship and because of that, maybe she keeps her distance and keeps it a surface level relationship. i know i do with my dad to preserve the peace and my own sanity. it's a tricky thing to navigate, having a parent who loves you but doesn't fully respect your autonomy and even clashes with you ideologically to the point of diminishing you as a person, however unintentionally. they love you, but not fully in the way you maybe want them to. having a tricky relationship with a parent like that is really hard to talk about to a fucking therapist, let alone baring that to the public in art that can be picked apart. i wouldn't blame her for a second if she's shied away from that aspect of her life in her art for the most part. it bleeds through in her general depiction of fathers, as you said, and that's one of the ways that maybe helps her cope, idk who can say. i recognize that in her art and in that scene in particular just because i have those exact experiences in my life, but that doesn't mean that what i see is actually there in the same way i'm seeing it! it could be partially my projection, but it's also not uncommon and she is not immune to having the typical Tumultuous Father/Daughter friction relationship that seems to affect 90% of the world's daughters of fathers lmao.

i'm always trying to get people to the same realization you have which is that as much as she wants people to think she's an open book, she's really not. no human being could be, that's impossible they'd go insane. we only see the tip of the iceberg that is her life, even when it comes to her romantic relationships. most of her life, the 80% of it or whatever the iceberg stat is, goes entirely unnoticed and undisclosed. we see a very specific sliver of her that she CHOOSES to share with us, that she's painted with her favorite colors and is most comfortable revealing. we are not privy to the full reality of her life, the full scope of who she is as a person and what she does and engages with every day. there are ugly parts she doesn't want us to see, and also things she just plain doesn't want to share to keep herself feeling like a human being with a life that is her own. and yes there are some things she hints at through her art like you said, perhaps some of the details of her complicated relationship with her father. but also as you pondered, yes probably a myriad of other troubles or thoughts or experiences that are so vaguely referenced, nobody has ever picked up on them. but that's the point! she doesn't want to share them in a way that they can be consumed and taken from her. i think that's great and part of why she's somewhat of a stable famous person, so it appears (or at least hasn't had a gone of the deep end spiral like many famous people used to do like clockwork). maybe one day she will feel comfortable talking about her interpersonal relationship with her father in detail, but probably not and she never has to if she doesn't want to. there's a sort of dignity preservation in that i can understand completely, and a protectiveness that comes with that sort of relationship. as much as you may have disdain for your father, the burden of the daughter is that unimpeachable love that compels you to care for them despite what they do and want to protect them. she may hate him, but according to her, only she is allowed to hate him, that sort of thing, and we don't even know how she feels about him in totality. so she may want to keep that part of her life close to her chest and die without anyone ever knowing and that's entirely her decision to make, probably the best and most healthy one if you ask me.

anyway happy fathers day from taylor who says dads ain't shit!

[pricemarshfield]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

thank you for the ask, neutral!! time to show my deeply multifandom roots and not have any of these share the same fandom 🫡 below the cut because i’m chatty as hell

number one on the list is a recent one but absolutely my all-time favorite thing i’ve ever written: talk, a bg3/raphtav-and-also-haarlep-is-there smut oneshot

i don’t use this tweet here because it’s smut, but because no fic has EVER gripped me by the brain and haunted me for months until i wrote it like this one did and also because the devil’s hot. i laid awake at night in a cold sweat thinking about this even before i’d finished house of hope for the first time. i’m not even being hyperbolic here, this fic GOT me. also this fic converted me from haarlep-neutral to haarlep’s personal cheerleader. they’re so fun

my beloved darling tav already had a very strong characterization to me but i still feel like i Learned her through writing this, and certainly learned a lot about her dynamics with raphael and haarlep. enough that i’m braving actually writing a longfic for them, and feel free to hold me to this because otherwise it’ll languish in my drafts for another six months. but i’m actually formatting the first chapter for ao3, it’s Genuinely almost done !! promise

fun story about this is i cheerfully told my mom i’d finished writing something after i posted this and she asked to read it. i was like haha. well i’ll do that after work! and then i didn’t ♥️

-

number two on the list is what i’d have confidently said was the best thing i’ve ever writtennbefore talk, and that’s one of my dimension 20 big bang 2021 fics: plant a garden in the yard, then, a fantasy high/aelwyn & ayda friendship fic where they explore the deeply haunted tunnels beneath aelwyn’s deeply haunted house

it’s hard to overstate how personal this fic ended up being to me, enough that i hold it as close to my heart as my other d21bb fic which i wrote about grief while Actively grieving. both fics for that event ended up being a good deal more melancholic and introspective than i thought they would at the start, but this one Feels more intimate (for lack of a better word)

aelwyn & ayda are both characters that mean a lot to me on their own, and figuring out their friendship—prickly and uncomfortable as it starts—was honestly healing. there’s something really cathartic about writing a character who’s gone through such extraordinary circumstances in their canon finding a path Towards genuine connection and happiness, even if they don’t find it and Especially if things still aren’t perfect.

also the only time i’ve ever actually hit ao3’s comment length limit was on a reply to an absolutely lovely comment my friend shark left on it so :) the response to this fic was also really nice!

-

number three on the list is my queen b magnum opus even though i have one that’s like 8 times longer than it: teeth, the book 1 mc/poppy romance i craved/theoretically a smut oneshot that became something more.

this is a remix of another fic i wrote, so it feels weird to prop it up higher than the original, but i’m just so fond of this one. queen b is a very silly game and poppy min-sinclair can be a VERY silly character but my bea for this fic is another oc i grew deeply attached to, and i think the sheer self-indulgence of the fic shines through, in a good way.

also, i think the characterization in this is strong enough that i’ve been able to recommend it to friends with better taste who haven’t played queen b, and they’ve still enjoyed it! which is just IMMENSELY validating as a writer :’)

-

number four and five on the list are my niche oneshots which i wrote for a target audience of me, myself, and i, and i think that’s part of why they work as well as they do!

four is a session with dr. martin whitly, a prodigal son fic which focused on ainsley & martin, namely ainsley relying really heavily on her father, despite the fact he’s a serial killer that she Knows he’s manipulative and terrible.

the fact that i wrote this before the season 1 finale is astounding to me. i have never called characterization beats harder than this, and i feel comfortable saying that even though the actual plot points are quite different, and also even though ainsley isn’t canonically gay. that’s okay because i know and perceive the truth <3

prodigal son’s cancellation is something i’m hard-pressed to say i’m Upset about this far out, but i wish every day that the episode where some ainsley issues got addressed had lived to see the light of day.

this fic i Cannot recommend to people who haven’t watched prodigal son because it’s me extrapolating and picking at lines of dialogue that Suggest a lot without confirming much, but that’s also really fun, in its own way. some of the best fics i’ve ever read are enjoyable specifically as transformative media.

-

five is walk with the devil, a the martian/ares3some noir au which was honestly 90% a style experiment but like i fucking nailed it?? there was a stretch of a couple years where some of my best work were from smashing together whatever pairing i wanted to write with a bunch of prompts and seeing what i could make from it (werewolf au caitvi was also one, and a runner-up on this list)

this fic has a lot of hallmarks that i know people aren’t usually a fan of, but i love it. non-linear narrative. major character death but also maybe not, you won’t get closure and neither will the characters. actively avoiding concrete details in favor of a strong, hopeless tone. bringing in a ton of the cast for no reason. LOTS of 1940s slang. and because of that it’s my baby. weirdly i feel like my johanssen characterization is better in this than in either of my two canonverse fics?

i don’t know that i’d write fic for the martian like this again—a lot of what i like about it is really different from the more transformative fandom approach for the things that compel me to write—but i’m glad i did, because this fic is my darling. more people should be experimental in their fics because some of the weirdest stuff will almost always be some of the best !!!

anyway answering this made me so very hyped to write more once i’m off work !!!

[azrielgreen]

I don’t see how you can interpret “your writing has ruined me for anyone else” as anything /but/unfair. Why can’t people compliment you without bringing other writers into it? It literally is rude and I’m sorry I can’t see how it’s not.

A) if a person is checking and policing tone of how praise is given, then it's reasonable to assume that person is miserable in fandom and should take a break/priorotise their mental health.

B) people are and always will be free to express themselves in happiness however they like and no one gets to shame them for that.

C) no one is actually bringing other writers into it except you. The extremely common "ruined me for all else" thing is a very broad generalisation, and it's completely harmless. I don't look at a compliment like that and actually think for a moment that it's true because explorative enjoyment is an evolving process, and people will ALWAYS find something new along the way. No one is actually "ruined," nor are they declaring the exclusion of all other fic except mine as you are well aware. It's hyperbole. It's exuberant excitement and joy, and I'm so sorry to say, but when you are literally policing the TONE of someone's joyful expression, your behaviour is unhealthy, toxic and plain gross. Crossing the line to actively harass someone is bullying.

D) I write for free. I have a reasonable expectation to set boundaries with people coming into my comment section to intentionally seek out something they consider to be problematic. I will delete these comments every single time.

E) the fact that you're bound and determined to FIND problems in a place where you should only be engaging with what brings you happiness, makes me really sad. This kind of bullshit isn't why I write and I work REALLY hard, so dealing with this kind of thing is incredibly disappointing and yet a further reminder of why fandom can be so toxic and unpleasant.

I cannot understand why anyone would waste their time like this. If you don't like me/my work/how people engage, then please don't READ my work and avoid me and my pages.

Furthermore, I remember your Ask from months ago. I responded to you as fully as I could and I do agree with some of what you said back then but coming into my comments to bully people - and that's exactly what you're doing when you bring unsolicited aggression to a place of self expression - is completely unacceptable.

It's fanfiction. It's there to read for free. I write in what very little spare time I have and this kind of thing really doesn't vibe with me at all. Fandom drama is best left for those to whom it gives meaning and nourishment, and that's absolutely not me. I'm here to write and create.

Please respect the boundary I'm setting here. Invading comments like this is not OK and I will not tolerate it.

[trigunwritings]

So I have some THOUGHTS about episode 9 now that I finally was able to watch it, so I’m gonna ramble on about them below the readmore

- The brief flashback to Knives and Vash playing the piano together was interesting, not only in that it means both of them are fairly talented on the instrument, but also because it means the song that Knives has been playing in the times we’ve seen him has been only one-half of the full thing perhaps? I’m sure there’s something quite symbolic about it and how it pertains to the brothers being so interconnected, so I wonder how that might show up later 🤔

- Though I would have preferred to get some more depth to Knives via the scenes with Tesla (since that both showcases the stark difference between their viewpoints and establishes a really good reason for Knives to fear/hate humans so much) I did like that we got to see a direct act that shows the audience just how little the common population thinks of plants as anything more than tools

- “We’ve hit the production limit. They put too great a load on the plants, it cut them off from the higher dimension. They can’t maintain their bodies.” <- I have no clue what the hell that’s supposed to mean but, as the person becoming known in this fandom as the feral plant headcanon-er, I am VERY interested to see if they’ll ever elaborate on that since the manga/first anime never did. *shakes the Stampede series* LET ME KNOW THE SECRETS OF THE INTER-DIMENSIONAL ALIENS

- The ‘Last Run’ scene in general was fairly disturbing, but I know that was the point in order to hit home how Knives so far has interacted with humans (the mental pain had to be horrible, given how bad the distress of a single plant had affected Vash)—but who was the man he was with? Was that supposed to be Conrad? Has Knives already started up his cult?

- Even though Knives totally murdered some dudes, he sure did look cool while doing it

- “Outside of human control, plants use up all their energy in one burst and die.” / “So you bought into that nonsense… No matter how comfortable, chains are still chains.” 🫣

- WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON WITH VASH’S ARM

- “Is that… a gate?” WILL SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THAT AT SOME POINT THANK YOU

- I find it interesting how Vash losing his arm was not from the direct influence of Knives—either his Angel Arm doesn’t exist, or its a wildly different kind of power. Either way, Knives having to make a split-second decision to remove his brother’s arm in order to keep that ‘gate’ (looks like a black hole to me tbh) from swallowing up everything is a really neat twist on intention.

- I saw a post recently joking about Knives being utterly obsessed with his brother and I thought it was hyperbole. I SEE THAT IT IN FACT ISNT. Knives you are a lonely fucker I swear to god.

- Last episode I was so confused on the timeline and was worried that they had shortened the time between the flashbacks to the present day—and I’m super happy to be wrong! Putting Luida and Bradley in cryosleep in order to prolonged their lives was a very creative way to keep those characters interacting with Vash.

- Meryl being SO surprised and impressed by flowers really hit home that they straight up DON’T exist on Noman’s Land…. which, jesus, that was a surprise. I assumed at best sickly little potted plants might have existed, but none? Very interesting…

- Roberto being pessimistic is really hitting home that I know he’s going to die soon and will likely be replaced with Milly in the following seasons. I really enjoy the way his character pairs with Meryl’s energy and positive realism 😭

- Ngl Zazie the Beast is lightly growing on me, mostly as a neat antagonist since they represent the native species on Noman’s Land before anyone else arrived. Wonder if their alliance will alter at any point…

- “Outside of human control, plants use up all their energy in one burst and die.” / “So you bought into that nonsense… No matter how comfortable, chains are still chains.” 🫣

- Totally thought Luida was going to die either by Vash (accidentally) or Knives (purposefully).

[purrincess-chat]

So I have three criticisms about the fandom:

1. Why tf do people call Marinette a creepy stalker? They do realize she’s 14 right? She’s a young girl with a crush, not some s*x offender.

2. I don’t get why there are fights over the Lovesquare when it’s literally the same two people. At the end of the day, it’s the same fucking dynamic.

3. The way this fandom treats the creator like he owes them something is absolutely disgusting. They act like a bunch of self-important, entitled karens.

1. People forget what it's like to be a teenager with a crush. That and there is a trend in fandoms as of late that exercises this black and white thinking pattern. Either something is so morally pure and devoid of any wrongdoing or it's completely problematic and anyone that enjoys or consumes it is just enabling harmful narratives. There's no room for nuance. ML is written by someone who grew up watching old, old superhero cartoons and watching old, old superhero comics. That's evident in a lot of jokes and references and tropes that they use. The creator himself worked on several shows in the early 2000s, and you can see evidence of that time period in ML. While that objectively wasn't that long ago, the early 2000s were a much different time on TV. The teen girl practically basing her whole identity around being in love with her crush was a common trope around that time (see: Helga from Hey Arnold. Seriously yall Marinette ain't got nothing on Helga and her motherfucking chewed gum shrine shaped like Arnold's head). A lot of her behavior is meant to be exaggerated for the joke (as was Helga's). That's just how things were. 🤷‍♀️ But some people, especially if they didn't grow up in that era watching those types of shows or if they're not as socially competent and can't understand hyperbole, then that's likely where the Marinette is a stalker thing comes from. Also can have a lot to do with mob mentality. Someone people deem cool or smart says it once, so a bunch of underlings follow without actually thinking about whether it's objectively true or bothering to question it. It's a problem in society at large (I mean look at the American political system, or any political system rn honestly)

2. You and me both, nonny. Yet every time I go into the ladrien tag to find content to queue for ladrien Wednesday, I scroll past at least 3 "ranking the love square sides" posts and ladrien is always at the bottom because of some arbitrary, made up, noncanon reason that they've convinced themselves is true. I've said for years people just need to watch the show with their eyes open and employ at least a single brain cell, maybe go outside and touch some grass, talk to real people. Just as a start. 🤷‍♀️

3. That's not exclusive to ML sadly. People have been harassing creators and musicians for years. Not to be a Swiftie on main, but Taylor has put out 5 albums since 2020. And that's still not enough for some of her fans. People are still demanding she announce her next rerecord rather than just sitting and enjoying all of the shit she's already given us. Entitlement has become a societal problem that bleeds into fandom. Everyone wants things bigger, better, faster. Capitalism really did a number on humanity.

Anyway, that's just my take on things. I've been here a long time, and just because I don't always point things out or say anything as of late doesn't mean I don't still notice it. I've just gotten jaded I think. It is what it is, so I stay in my corner with my friends and just have as good of a time as we can. 🤷‍♀️

[stitchkiss]

Hi!!! I’ve been following you for a while and I see that you’re very active in the teen wolf/thiam fandom. I want to be more active too and I’ve noticed that you tend to leave really long comments on fics and I was wondering how you do that? I don’t always comment but I want to more, do you have any tips?

hello anon! what a question! i’m going to use comments i left on @raekensarcher’s fics as examples bc that’s where i do my best work.

but first let’s start with why commenting is so important: it is a great way to integrate yourself into fandoms and can even gain you mutuals/friends! i tricked jack into friendship by dropping comments left and right! commenting is also a great way to encourage writers and to keep a fandom alive! it’s basically the entire purpose. i find that writers are kind of like crows. you drop a nice and thoughtful comment and they’ll latch onto it (and possibly you) forever and so they keep putting them out bc they want to keep writing to keep this good shit going with you. help a crow, they bring you shiny things. you comment, they write. it’s a rapport that needs to be nourished bc it’s beneficial to both parties. fandoms are kinda like an ecosystem in this way. comments are like the food and water to keep this network thriving.

alright let’s get into it!

when i comment, i usually type my thoughts as i read, so basically like live blogging. i like reacting in real time. more than once i’ve typed out a prediction or inference about what’s to come and it turns out i was right, so i make sure to mention that too! pointing out an author’s foreshadowing/hints is a good way to let them know that you’re paying attention to what they write. sometimes (depending on the fic and how i feel) this method of commenting can be a little distracting from the actual fic, so reading through it all then going back might be more helpful to get your thoughts in order. this helps make the comment long BUT the length of the comment doesn’t actually matter bc it’s about what you’re saying/putting into the comment

so, what should you say? easy: tell the author your reactions to what they’re writing. humans are social beings, they thrive off interaction and authors LOVE knowing their words elicit emotions in people. writing is basically a superpower in that way! below are a few comments i’ve left on jack’s fics.

as you can see, my responses to what jack writes is very emotional and slightly violent.

there is no wrong way to comment a reaction. in fact you should utilize all the ways you can think of for variation. such as telling the author that you’re screaming, typing an all caps “AHHHH” to show you’re screaming, tell them that you’re crying, laughing, etc. add in keyboard smashes, hyperbole, and even use emojis. there’s a lot more but these are my go-to. (also, please, be cautious if you’re going to threaten yourself with bodily harm, especially when commenting on a stranger’s fic. jokes aren’t often translated well online and it can also make the author uncomfortable nevertheless)

moving on! notice how i quote the author. they LOVE that shit. they eat it up like candy fr. when i pull out quotes they’re usually the ones that effect me the most and stand out. this varies by person ofc but the reason i do this is to show the author that i’m noticing what they write and that i understand (hopefully) what they’re trying to say. it’s even better when the author tells you that you pointed out lines that mean a lot to them or it was their favorite to write. although i will mention that pointing out seemingly small scenes or “throwaway” lines matters just as much! like a slice-of-life moment in the bigger fic pie. if something strikes you, tell the author!

following that, reacting to lines and quoting them is good, but what will make your comment better is if you tell the author WHY you reacted the way you did or why that particular line stuck out so much to you. this often leads me to typing an analysis of what they’ve written about a character or situation. while i’m not the most articulate person out there i do try my best. for example:

analysis! these are harder to write bc they actually require brainpower. like this whole comment is longer than the lit paper i wrote that same week, i even checked the word count. i don’t think i need to explain literary analysis even tho ppl on tumblr sometimes tend to lack comprehension and critical thinking skills BUT i have faith in whoever is reading this bc you wouldn’t have read this far if you weren’t interested. go you! anyway, my analysis usually comes from understanding the source material and the character(s)/situation in question, but i apply this to how the author decides to write. paying attention to what they’re saying and how it challenges and/or confirms canon as well as your interpretation of it will make a good comment. fics are often character driven rather than action/plot driven so consider that. but honestly analysis is up to you and your understanding of a fandom/ship, so good luck if you chose to drop an essay.

there will often be themes in fics, point those out if you notice it! sometimes they’re subtle and sometimes that’s the basis of the fic. tell the author how the application of a chosen theme works with what they’re writing about. reoccurring details are deliberate and authors will love if you mention it!

i think this comment is a good example of a few things i’ve outlined so far! this fic has an underlying religious/christian theme so my comment (analysis) acts according to that as well as my understanding of theo raeken and religion.

if you notice something about the authors writing style, point it out! this is actually something you have to tread carefully with though, so make sure it’s nice and polite if you do decide to say something! authors are human and their fics can be a way for them to bare their soul, so make sure you’re not causing them anxiety by pointing out certain structures/formats of their writing. so again, make sure to be nice about it.

you can also tell the author what the fic means to you. fics can be so personal and you might relate to it more than you realize. if it hits it hits.

interlude on what NOT say: if an author doesn’t explicitly say you can leave constructive criticism then leave that shit out of your comment and stick with unconditional love and support. while it’s true that constructive criticism helps authors they don’t need it all the time, especially when they didn’t ask for it. fics are like their homes, they’re inviting you in so don’t be a dick and insult their curtains, alright?

finally, compliment the author! i am the kind of person that tells strangers that i love them so i usually default with that to wrap up a comment bc i got a lot of love to give and it has to come out somehow! if spontaneous declarations of love aren’t your thing for whatever reason then tell the author how amazing they are! complimenting the writing itself is probably the way to go if you’re allergic to affection but it does make the author really receptive and happy. it’s very cute. acknowledgment of their work will bring them to their knees i promise.

i will admit that commenting how i do takes time. i usually comment when i’m not busy like at night or on weekends. one time i even arranged my schedule with the sole purpose of leaving a hefty comment on a 20k+ multi chapter fic! obviously you don’t have to do that, but i am certifiably insane and like avoiding responsibility. hope this helps anon! :)

jack’s ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raekensarcher/pseuds/raekensarcher/works

[nerves-nebula]

god you worded that specific thing about 2012 so well. honestly a lot of aspects of that show make me cringe and i have to tell myself, like oh its from another era of kids media where things were 'meaner', but that doesnt change the fact the way splinter is as a parent reminds me of a bad parent of mine. it doesnt change the way i really wish the guys would talk out their problems every once in a while and have it stick. cuz like you said, it doesnt seem intentionally like theyre trying to show abuse, but sometimes that just kinda makes it seem more harmful if that makes sense? because then the show never addresses the way the characters can be traumatized from the way they've treated each other. and in fandom it always comes down to "raph isnt abusive because hes nice to mikey" like to me, raph isnt even the problem, hes also suffering from a toxic family unit. like splinter literally tells his other sons to insult and bully him to teach him a lesson very early on, the vibes..... are bad. and these excuses come from people who think the rise turtle family is "wish fulfillment" of a family. as if they also dont have their own issues to work through? kids thats sad, and maybe they should address that thats sad.

Reminds me of like Nickelodeon sitcoms where everyone is frustratingly awful to each other all the time lmao. Makes sense they’re from the same eras I think.

Honestly 2012 seems to have a lot going on I don’t think I grasp yet. Can’t wait for college to end so that I can binge it!!!

The idea that the rise family is unrealistically perfect kind of just sounds like you’ve had a bad family life tbh. Or you’ve never been around siblings who like each other without a history of conflict. I’m being hyperbolic but the rise bros are literally so normal. They’re just normal brothers they don’t even like everything about each other they’re just not super mean. And they’re still mean sometimes.

To be fair I didn’t think that kind of relationship existed either until I met my girlfriends family and apparently you really can just have a good relationship with your siblings without steeping it in twelve layers of irony and emotional constipation. I’d never heard that take about rise before tho but that’s so funny lmao.

[theimpossiblescheme]

👀🔥🌙📌

What’s your LEAST favorite song? Why?

"Growltiger's Last Stand"--we all know why. Fuck you, T.S. Eliot, and fuck you, ALW, for not having the good sense to leave it out.

Share one (1) hot take/opinion about the show/fandom/etc.

No more London-style replica designs--society has progressed beyond the need for London-style replica designs. More Broadway replicas or, better yet, Hamburg replicas, you absolute cowards.

Do you think Cats has a theme/message? If so, what is it?

I do think it has one, albeit not one that I think its creators were aiming for. The original poems have a distinct element of British classism to them, i.e. "these cats' jobs/roles in the household constitute their entire lives, and there is nothing else notable about them" (yes, that is partially me projecting based on what I know about T.S. Eliot as a person, but I'm not wrong, am I?), which you still do get some of in the musical. But by nature of almost all of the cats being onstage the entire show, we do get to see that these cats have more to their lives and relationships than just their human-designated jobs. And for all the "Hal, it's about cats" of it, there is quite a lot in the show about the importance of community and acceptance and cherishing our lives and loved ones while we still have them and how growing old is something that happens to all of us with the only difference being how we handle it and how others treat us. I wouldn't call it a message so much as a theme, but I'd say if there is a central one, it's (to paraphrase a certain poem) "sing, dance, and be merry for tomorrow we die."

What was Cats 2019’s biggest mistake, in your opinion? (OTHER than 'bad cgi’) If you don’t think it made any notable mistakes, what’s your favorite thing about it?

I think so many of its flaws can be laid at the feet of Tom Hooper as the director. The dude clearly does not know how to handle a show like Cats (he barely knew how to handle Les Miserables, and that's me being generous), and I'm still baffled that he wanted to inject more realism into it, like... my guy, it's about singing and dancing cats. Realism has left the building. Not only that, but the movie feels like it has a certain amount of contempt for its source material, like it's having a laugh alongside everyone who thinks Cats is weird and bad, which would have made for a mean-spirited and bizarre-in-a-bad-way watch even with a more competent director. I don't hate the Cats movie--I'm not overly fond of it, given all those reasons, but I think all the hyperbolic hate for it got really tiring really fast. If anything, I feel protective of it--if you're gonna criticize the movie, criticize it on its own merits, and don't drag Cats as a whole down with it.

[littleholmes]

Hello once again ^^ (Please excuse me for being in your askbox 3 times now!)

I was reading this post again and first time i shared my thoughts i forgot to add something i had been thinking before. (brainfry)

I feel like another reason why some fans took the cheater Gojo to heart is because he is stated to be attractive, in series and outside too. I mean, it is no surprise that he is very popular amongst fandom, both international and japan! But what i wanna add here, i think that people have the wrong idea of Gojo being aware that he is very attractive and ladies seem to like him (outwardly at least) but never in canon is Gojo actually shown to indulge anyone like that? Like, i don't mean to say that Gojo is involuntary celibate or anything of the sort, we do know he flirts but i just don't think that attractiveness should be linked or equated to being the type to lead women on and off or cheating even. And regardless, it does bring me back to my first point about Gojo simply not looking for any romantic relations because that's simply not the life he wants to lead, especially because of the circumstances of being a sorcerer. The strongest one too at that. One thing about Gege is he really loves dunking on Gojo and especially his die-hard fans, women too! He literally advises women not to pick Gojo, Nanami instead > and even states that Geto was/is more popular than Gojo. Bottom line, i think aromantic and asexual potential or even demi/pan should be considered.

Anyways, alot of fanon things tend to overlap canon and i personally don't like that. I keep in a very small corner of the fandom and only share my thoughts and opinions with people whom i find to be reasonable and understanding (like you for example!) and critical thinking the utmost. //

If you have any thoughts to share one this, please do! I enjoyed your takes and like your pov on the manga and it's characters. Again, i apologize for the inconvenience! <3

Hi again! No worries, don’t apologize🌸

This one’s a long one with spoilers so warning to those who come across this who haven’t read the manga!

I mean Gege dunks on Gojo because they actually hate Gojo. And I don’t say that with exaggeration, I’m not being hyperbolic, like…Gege legit does not like Gojo and they’ve been very clear about that. Which is *sigh* I’m gonna go off on a tangent really quick.

From a writer standpoint, I totally get why they don’t like Gojo, because as a character, Satoru is overpowered and essentially undefeatable with the exception of the prison realm, and it can be stressful trying to write around that on a grueling weekly schedule to advance the plot in a meaningful way when there’s someone like him around in your story. Then a large percent of the fandom loves him so there’s pressure to keep him okay to avoid backlash and it can cause some resentment, so I get it.

But I also kinda don’t like how Gege gets snarky about how people love Gojo. As a writer, if fans like one of my characters I hate, like it can be an ugh at times but still it’s nice to have people enjoying something increased, so I don’t make that reaction clear even if I’m put off. But if that’s how Gege copes with the pressure and this overpowered character they created then cool, but even if they’re just joking and actually likes Gojo, like, they could just not. I’ve seen how their comments have hurt some of the younger fans’ feelings, especially during popularity polls, and it’s just something that kinda bugs me about Gege.

But from a fan standpoint? I just sigh because while I understand, I really like Gojo’s character. Between him and BNHA’s Aizawa, I understand his motives in trying to change systemic issues through upcoming generations especially as someone close to thirty who taught students for a few years, and I understand the loss and the stress, but I digress

Character sexuality I think of like I do ships: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it’s up to interpret and it’s whatever the fan sees y’know? That’s what makes fandom awesome! Personally, I think of Satoru as bi/pan (when I use bisexual it includes all genders but I know many prefer the term pansexual for more clear inclusivity!). I can definitely see the potential there for him to be aro/ace! It works for his character.

And now, in thinking of Gojo and relationships, or rather his lack thereof, it’s kinda hard to even consider him in a romantic relationship because of the situations he’s encountered, especially the one he’s in at the moment. After all, he’s not in a relationship right now because he actually can’t be since he’s in the prison realm (unless he’s currently in love with one of the skeletons in there which, given the roughly two weeks or so that it’s been between Shibuya and now in the manga’s timeline, and the 1000 days it’s been for us, who knows).

Also, if he weren’t boxed in the realm at the moment, then there’s the fact that the person he had the most chemistry with is dead (and in typing this I’m realizing that that statement could potentially go for more than just Suguru😭). Which goes back to the whole, if he connects himself to anyone it could happen again thing, which then goes back to the whole strongest thing, but also the whole Jujutsu sorcerors don’t exactly have a long life expectancy thing, which then goes back to the loneliest thing because he’s the strongest. But I digress

idk I’m rambling but Gege doesn’t really like Gojo, I think of Gojo as bi but I’m cool with whatever anyone sees Gojo’s sexuality being, and I hope that kinda answered your questions/added to your thoughts😅

[ohtobemare]

i didn’t mean that you were discredited, i meant that it was discrediting to the people who DO write deeper stories to generalize like that. i also don’t know who you think i am, but i don’t write for this fandom. as for hyperbole, it wasn’t very clear that that’s what you were aiming for and i take things very literally, so it came off as you saying those things about the fandom as a whole. i had seen you say you weren’t rude to anyone and only ever blamed yourself in your announcements, but the things i pointed out were where i felt you did offend, which i should have made more clear in MY message. so i apologize for not doing so, although i still believe my points were fair. it wasn’t meant as an attack, but rather an observation.

hi, anonymous. it’s unfortunate you didn’t understand the tone of the post and took it the wrong way, it happens and for that i am sorry, but i still very strongly stand behind what i meant and said.

sometimes people’s journeys are messy and we arrive at paths not many else understand or accept. my path doesn’t, and never has, looked the same as everyone else’s and it has made people upset. you are not the first person to cross blades with me and you won’t be the last.

your conclusions are fair considering the context you forged them from. you are entitled to them— far be it from me to begrudge you that right.

and while i may be snippy, blunt and sarcastic, please know that i am not deeply wounded or attacked or holding a grudge. pretty strong girlie, here. i have been a little extra testy recovering from vaginal surgery, so if my claps were crude or harmful, for that I apologize.

i am happy to call this a truce and leave well enough alone. 🤝🤍