#I'm sURE that this is a controversial move in some parts of the fandom

[thelaurenshippen]

ummmmmm I caught up on last night's 911 and.....hello!?!?!?!?!?!? I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE

[olderthannetfic]

My experience with shippers has been such a mixed bag.

Sometimes there are those "controversial fandom takes" threads and some comments go like this:

"Shippers are the worst. They only care about their romance and never talk about anything interesting in the story outside of that!"

Which will be responded to with either:

"There are lots of ways to enjoy content, mind your business!"

Or

"Shippers are the backbone of a fandom. We can discuss the intricacies of the work AND be horny at the same time!"

I'm sure that's true, but that was rarely how it went in the fandoms I was part of, unlucky bastard that I am. Out of the languages I can understand, I only saw a few times fans engaged in discussions about several topics concerning the show or the book. The rest were either quiet or balls-deep in messy shipping behaviour that is often criticised.

The irony is that it was always the shippers who got angry when people complained about them being "that kind of fan" who would engage in huge blown-out public arguments online. The last time I saw it happen, a group got super angry when a random person online, who none of them followed, criticised their favourite ship in the quotes of a tweet that wasn't theirs. It was a dumb criticism from a person who didn't understand the characters nor cared to understand the chemistry that fans of that ship see. Very stupid and, to me, easy to ignore. But the shippers got so angry that the fight spread outside of their bubble and more random people got involved. Eventually, their fight reached a big artist from that ship and that person shaded their holy war by saying: "I love [pairing] as much as you guys do, but fighting over this is so unnecessary. Ignore them and stop doing this shit! How tiring and boring that this always happens!" and it eventually stopped. Later, I caught one of them wondering if the artist was talking about them, afraid they would get blocked for bringing toxicity to the artist's page, which I found out is something that the artist does to curate their online experience. You know, like a sensible person.

I wish I could say they were teenagers, but they were between 22 to 29 years old.

And let's not talk about the civil wars. God forbid a ship be interpreted in a way that the others dislike, or explored in darker and more controversial themes!

I just can't wrap my head around the behaviour of getting into fights with strangers on twitter dot com or anywhere on the World Wide Web because someone out there said something stupid about a thing I like. Why do some people get so aggressively defensive rather than just blocking and moving on? Maybe throwing in a "spoken like a true tasteless bitch" if feeling particularly vexed?

I'll never say shippers are useless fans like some say, but they can be some of the most consistent shit-stirrers in fandoms. My biggest struggle with them is that the crazy shippers aren't vile in the same way that some fans can be when a black woman is cast for the role of a character that isn't black, for example. They are vile in the way that they will send death threats to the directors, the animators, and the actors if their ship isn't made canon by the end of the story.

At their best, shippers can be some of the most engaged and passionate fans anyone could have the pleasure to find in their fandom. But at their worst... man...

--

I'll eat my hat if like 90% of people reading here don't ship a bunch of ships.

[tommyssupercoolblog]

Incoming very long ramble about the fragility of internet content and the ways some things are impossible or difficult to preserve

The thing that frustrates me most about poppytwt is how fruitless it all feels.

Like, you can't archive or research poppytwt effectively. You can certainly TRY but you'll find very little!!!

You have people who spent years in the poppytwt fandom who can TELL you about fanfics they read, art they saw, friends they made who were deactivated or doxxed or harassed or who committed suicide or are otherwise lost to time, but they'll have almost nothing to show for it because poppytwt was actively designed to be as impossible to trace back as possible, precisely because people were afraid of harassment.

How are you supposed to find, say, Tommy/Tubbo fanfiction? There's some on the actual tag, sure, especially now that poppytwt is for the most part over and it's considered "okay" to ship them now, but I'll tell you right now there are thousands of fics that won't pop up because the fic had no tags whatsoever, or spelled Tubbo like Tvbb0, or used some God awful emoji combination to convey who they were talking about, or were straight up DELETED. Discord servers moved every few years, fanart and fics were usually tagged with censored bullshit or not tagged at all and then taken down and deleted, entire accounts were ALSO deleted, even assuming something was tagged properly it's probably gone.

Most of us in the fandom at the time didn't think to make archives of anything while it was happening, so we've lost like.... probably enough content to make our own small website full of it, and even more chatrooms.

Almost all of the public facing content left is NSFW and/or more controversial kinks like CNC, watersports, etc, which could be because people who post that content are more resistant to criticism anyway but honestly I don't know why that is, and I know sfw content beyond what you can currently find EXISTED, we consumed tons of it back in the day, but it's almost fucking impossible to find!!! And most of it, when you get your hands on a link, is GONE!!!!

It happens with NSFW content too though, if course. Veradie was one of the most popular artists in poppytwt by far and a lot of the art links don't work. Some have archived versions with working links but a lot is gone because the original post leading to it doesn't work, and Veradie, like, the person, is missing. I'm sure she(?) would know a lot about old fandom and might even have archived some stuff, but if you're some sort of internet historian how in the FUCK are you supposed to find her??? She deactivated without a trace!!!

I made friends with a user called Kencydoo on here and one day I logged on and Kency was just GONE without warning or any indication of where they were moving to, no DMs to people they knew, nothing. I don't even know if it was staff or mass reports or a self-deletion. I do know Kency sometimes posted NSFW dead dove stuff and had tags you could block to avoid it, so it's possible one of those posts blew up and got the blog taken down, but I have no level of certainty.

Reese (I think it was Reese?) had people hunting for a "main account" that didn't exist for harassment and doxxing purposes and then ALMOST left (I'm glad you're still here @reesesrambles )

There's no stability for poppytwt content and no real shelf life which means that most of the history and even the harassment that REQUIRED THE EXISTENCE of a seperate fandom is gone. We can describe what the old dsmp fandom was like and why poppytwt exists and what it means but most of the actual concrete fandom blogs or resources are GONE, absolutely obliterated.

Like you can't make a Strange Æons style video about poppytwt, you literally can't, because almost all of it is like the fucking city of Atlantis. There WAS stuff here, but it was constantly sinking.

Most people I know for a fact were involved in poppy honestly just left for the hermitcraft fandom because people over there are like...normal?? The hermitcraft fandom allows RPF and doesn't give a shit about shipping characters who are "sibling coded" or whatever the fuck. They understand the concept of just not clicking on something you don't want to see, instead of launching a twitter cancellation campaign against people. So like if you can talk about a similar, and GOOD source of content that is also actively ongoing and not get shit for it, why would you chose to create for a discontinued peice of content and/or streamers who you WILL get shit on for writing about?? Like if your options are "write grian RPF and be able to not stress and have a fun time" or "write tommyinnit RPF and delete hate comments every day and watch your back constantly" why the fuck would you pick the latter???

And it's frustrating because the fact everything disappears means it feels like you don't even have much to look back on. The friends you made or content you enjoyed about a series you love is all dust now, and if you were into the DSMP for a long time (and therefore in poppytwt for a long time) then it's so much worse. It all adds up.

Anyways that's my ramble on how fucked up it is that entire communities can be lost in an era where things can supposedly be maintained forever does anyone want to drink a caprisun with me

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #526

Yuri!!! on Life official guidebook, Toshiharu Mizutani (Art Director) interview

Part 3.

-- For sure, there is a lot of small things in the designs.

M: When I look at just the line arts, I always think that they are drawn in a very loose way, and a lot of those small things are skillfully drawn in a simplified way/omitted. It's something that only somebody with a lot of practice can do. Even newcomers can draw precisely, if they look at a drawing and try to copy it, but the most important thing is not to draw something that is not necessary. If you have to later erase something that you drew, then you give yourself twice the amount of work, but only people with a lot of skill can simply not draw too much to begin with.

-- Then it must have been a good opportunity to learn for the younger staff members, I'd guess?

M: They were all very desperate [to get the job done] and working while on the brink of death.

-- The ice in the skating scenes is very realistic, too. Was it a request from the Director?

M: Yeah. Since the first PV. Even I have watched some figure skating on DVD, so it was something that was on my mind, too. In case of ice shows, the lights are very elaborate, and your eyes are really drawn to the ice, cut with blades of skaters' shoes. Because of how it sparkles. I was wondering if it would be possible to try to achieve this effect, but I thought that if I touched this subject, we all were going to suffer, so I kept quiet. But then I decided that I want to have those cuts in the ice, after all. All were drawn on the same layer, but then split into multiple layers. We put at least three such layers on the surface of the ice.

[Notes: Long time no rant, so...

((Just in case, newer readers may not be aware, that I'm a "fujo-hater" 😂 But fret not, I'm not against seeing relationship between Yuuri and Victor as romantic or against people reading BL, but I'm very much against fujos, who as it was in the case of YoI, try to "teach"/press the creators/other staff members to make the canon bend to their doujinshi tropes.))

The talk about staff members on the brink of death reminded me about that huge controversy about MAPPA that happened last year 💀 It's not a secret that Sayo was overworking animators during YoI and there are still screenshots of animators calling her names on twitter and say condolences to each other, bc of being involved with YoI. So, YoI fandom now hating MAPPA, bc "bad MAPPA, bad working conditions, poor animators...", while demanding that they should stop producing shonens, bc they should make YoI instead is well... an example of how spending time in an echo chamber and just following the crowd can make you a huge hypocrite.

It should also be said that it's not that those shonens are "just for boys" or anything like that if we talk about this topic, btw. GoYuu from JJK (Gojo x Yuuji) is so popular with fujos that it has now more views in total on pixiv than VicYuu, and gets more views in 10-30 min than VicYuu gets in 24 hours (a huge credit for that should ofc go to YoI's IP holders, as they've been trying to starve the fandom to death since 2018, basically...) It's really ironic that it's YoI fans who are so much against MAPPA making those popular shonens, bc so many Jp VicYuu fujos moved to GoYuu (it's basically the same trope "the most awesome, strong and cool man in the world the seme" x "fujoshi avatar the main character in the center of the universe the uke") - one of the reasons, why Jp fans don't attack MAPPA - they very much enjoy those shonens. (Another is that they can read and it's very easy to check who owns the IP.)

To sum up, as always, it's very unfair for YoI fans to call Otsuka CEO the greedy homophobic liar, while absolutely refusing to see the bigger picture.]

[princesscolumbia]

Pride Month 2024 - Day 11

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the single most controversial thing I've ever written:

🄳🄴🄰🄳 🄳🄾🅅🄴, 🄳🄾 🄽🄾🅃 🄴🄰🅃!

🪦🕊️🔞"BAMF" or "Ranma is Fucked"🔞🕊️🪦

(Looking for a link? Keep reading)

This is a "dead dove" fic. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, it's based on the GIF of the guy finding a bag in the fridge labelled "Dead Dove, Do Not Eat!" He opens it and finds...a dead dove, and upon the discovery of the very thing the bag was labelled for, he says, "I don't know what I was expecting."

Yeah, that one.

A 'dead dove' fic is one where the author has chosen to dip into some pretty problematic stuff. Maybe it's something specific to the fandom, the genre, the age group of the target demographic...whatever the problem, they've properly identified it as a dead dove fic at the outset, usually be either putting something in the title, the tags, using a warning system if one is available, sometimes all of those and more.

Basically, it's the author putting a big-ol "DEAD DOVE, DO NOT EAT!" on their fic, so at that point if someone opens the bag and discovers that there is, in fact, a dead dove, that person has nobody but themselves to blame.

Getting it yet? This is a dead dove fic. Last chance to keep scrolling before getting into problematic stuff that might trigger you. Still with me? The rest of this post is below the cut:

"BAMF" or "Ranma is Fucked"

Summary:

The day after Ranma (pretending to be 'cousin Ranko') is seduced by/accidentally seduces her mother, she gets to face the world with the knowledge that she is, indeed, a mother fucker.

First off, yes, this is based on another fic, a oneshot from an author who admitted they don't do well writing long-form, so it was a concept they thought of and dropped the (very, very good) short story and moved on. You can find that fic here if you're so inclined, but even BeehiveCitizen has acknowledged that I've built on their work so much reading their story may not be necessary. In fact, my most recent glowing comment on "BAMF" confirms this:

I shouldn't like this fic. It's main theme is a major personal squick. I don't usually read Dead Dove fics. I'm squicked by most incest play and the terms Daddy or Mommy or Babygirl in sexual settings are quick turn offs. There are lots of good reasons why I shouldn't like this fic. I'm not even sure why I chose to read it. I've spent the last week reading or rereading every single trans Ranma story on this site, but normally I'd still skip a Mother/Daughter fic. But some whim made me decide to give it a shot. I shouldn't like this fic. But I fucking loved it. I loved every fucking scene Nabiki showed up in. I loved watching Ranma discover and then embrace her own sexual nature, while still struggling with gender identity and her relationship with Nodoka. I loved seeing Ukyou embrace gender fluidity. Akane's lesbian realization. All of the characters in this story felt like realized characters, albeit ones that keep making incredibly poor choices and can't keep their hands off each other. Which, granted most of the characters are teenagers so that follows. The humor was amazingly hilarious. So much of the fic left me actually giggling out loud, from the first scene on. I am giggling right now just remembering parts of it. The drama was heart wrenching. Watching Ranma struggling with her gender, her fears and self loathing over lying to her mother about her identity. The end of chapter 5 where Ranma has her moment of anguish followed by how hard she spirals at Nodoka's flinch was so heartbreaking to read, yet so well done. And the part at the end where Ranma falls into depression... That hit me hard. I've had my own struggles with depression, and your depiction was viscerally familiar without being triggering. I absolutely loved Ranma's drunken breakdown to Konatsu. Konatsu was always my favorite Ranma side character, and I would be so interested in seeing her POV in that scene. The sex scenes are damn good. I'll admit I didn't really get anything out of the Ranma/Nadoka scenes. Major squick and all. But they were done so well I never thought about skipping or just skimming them. And the rest of them... Fucking hell that's good smut. My favorite must have been the Ryoga scene. The whiplash from Ranma's gender breakdown to drowning her issues with sex was perfect. And I also love me some well done Ranma/Ryoga. I love this fic. I came home at almost midnight from an extra long shift at work and discovered it while lying in bed looking for something to read before sleeping. I didn't sleep. I could not put this fic down. I spent all day today at work with it buzzing in my head. I'm considering making it my next ficbinding project so I can have a nice hardback copy of it. I read your extended notes on Tumblr about it. I'm at work now waiting for my relief to get in while writing this essay of a comment. I am eagerly awaiting that promised sequel. I'm an old school Ranma fan. I've been reading Ranma fanfic since I was a teenager in the 90s. I love Ranma fanfic. It was Ranma fanfic that first cracked my egg, even if I spent 20 years after that trying to glue it back together. So I've read the works of the old masters. And let me say this, hearing this story described as the Dark Mirror Universe version of Kenko's Girl Days hit me in the head like a lead pipe and left me dazed and seeing stars.

When I started "BAMF" I was in the middle of reviving Fission, grinding on LLW, and chunking out "Return to Sender" and "Afraid to Ask." I didn't anticipate actually spending that much time on this; a chapter or five, probably short form to keep from straying off into the weeds, then done.

I shall now quote my girlfriend's reaction to the end result:

"You wrote a 110-THOUSAND word incest smutfic!!!!"

Which is, strictly speaking, true. One cannot deny that there's a lot of smut in it, a good chunk of it is incest smut, and there are, indeed, over 110,000 words in the thing.

But what I didn't expect was to wind up crafting one of the damned finest transfemme Ranma pieces I could even imagine.

Of course, it came with baggage. I'm pretty firmly no longer welcome in parts of the fandom. Like, at all. Certain authors and community members have proactively blocked me on the socials and there's a handful of fics I can't leave comments on because some people have conflated, "You wrote this" with "You endorse this." Which...no, that's not how it works.

(Not going to rabbit hole the whole "pro/anti-shipping" discourse because it's dumb and stupid and it should be obvious which side I think is phenomenally dumb and stupid)

Also, I don't know many erotica pieces you know where the author put in, "This shit's fucked, if you're experiencing any of it IRL PLEASE seek help!" in their fic at regular intervals. Which, you know, is something I did. Because sometimes people are deep in the shit and don't know it until they read their lived experience and someone points out that no, relating to that character is not a good thing.

A gentle reminder that the behaviors and actions in this fic are not to be normalized or accepted. RP is fun and enticing, actual incest, abuse, and suicidal ideations are not.

Suicide Prevention Hotline

For the U.S.A.: 988 Hotline

For the U.K.: SPUK

Resources for your country: psychologytoday.com/Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World

Reporting Domestic Abuse

Identifying and Reporting Domestic Abuse in the USA: Wikihow

For the U.K.: UK.gov

Resources for your country: International Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Abduction of a minor

For the U.S.A.: Call 911

For the U.K.: Call 999

For your country: Call the Emergency Police line in your area

Resources for abducted children: International Center for Missing and Exploited Children

If you recognize the behaviors in this fic in you or the people you are in relationships with, get to a place of safety and seek help as soon as possible.

[aashi-heartfilia]

Star Dress Combo #01: Mini Series Begins!

Let's do it!

So, welcome all to my mini series where I rank every SD and SDC based on their appearance, power and significance in the story. So without further ado, let's jump straight into it!

The first Star Dress Combo (SDC) on our list is LeoXVirgo.

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Appearance

My first reaction to this Star Dress was pretty meh and honestly, I'm still not a big fan of it. I know, I might be one of those few people in our fandom, but I just don't like it. Leo is very Queenly and Virgo is literally a maid so what LeoXVirgo gives us is pretty much fitting with its theme but the dress itself with all it's jewellery and frills and the apron isn't just doing for me.

And what are those wings for? Can she fly?

It's might be a controversial opinion but I think it could have been better. More creativity and thought process could have been applied to it but keeping my personal preferences aside and taking the fandom into account, this is my final rating.

Appearance: 8/10

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Now let's move on to the best part:

Power (DPS)

Just look at the damage it does! After Urano Metria, it's arguably the most powerful move in Lucy's arsenal and that's one thing for sure! I'm not counting AquariusxGemini here cause she can hold it for merely 16 seconds but more on that later.

The biggest nitpick however, I have with this SDC or probably all SDC in general is that it has only one single move! You would think that a SDC with such high DPS should at least have something better to offer, especially when we know how versatile and dynamic both Leo and Virgo SD are.

But no, we get one OP OHKO Move, which we thought was very badass until Kiria rendered it completely useless in the 'Battle between Women' when she cut through her Lion Maiden like it was nothing.

DPS: 9/10

Not as powerful as Natsu's Fire Dragon Demolition fist but OP nevertheless.

Versatility: 2/10

Just one OP move combining Virgo and Leo's powers doesn't make it versatile.

Overall: 8/10

The DPS is solid but puts a heavy toll on Lucy's magic Power and leaves her very vulnerable to her opponent's attack if Lucy's attack somehow didn't work, like with Kiria and that my friends is more devastating than you think.

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Significance

Just 3 major appearances and it's already very popular among western and Japanese fans alike. With lots of fanarts and a very high DPS it might be the most popular Lucy SDC so far.

Plus, from the story POV it's one of Lucy's Trump Card! Whenever she found herself cornered by tough opponents this was the first SDC she could count on.

During her battle with the Strauss Siblings, she was able to OHKO Lisanna and damage both Elfman and Mirajane with just one move!

Even in the 'Battle between Women' this was her first choice to battle Kiria. No wonder it's Lucy's ultimate strength and one of the best SDC in her arsenal. It is strong and elegant, like Lucy herself.

Significance: 10/10

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Evolution

My series could not end without me adding my personal ideas and touches to it! So what other moves or powers could LeoXVirgo SDC have?

Earth Manipulation

I don't have an image for it, but it would be lovely to see Lucy manipulating a huge chunk of Earth and hurl it on her opponent or maybe even some mud rope that can bind the opponents from all sides?

Huge Quick Sand

Something like Azeel had, from the Alveraze arc if you can recall. It was said that it could swallow entire cities! If only Lucy had something like that....if the opponent cannot fly, there is just no escape! What's better is that Lucy already had a smaller version of this move with her Virgo SD and it's called pitfall. So what if she can incorporate the same thing just on a very large scale?

Flying?

Put her fairy like wings to some good use and make her fly!!! It reminds me so much of Erza's Heavens Wheel that I can't help but imagine her flying. Don't ask, just do it!

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My Overall Opinion

As far as the SDC goes, I think it was a very neat concept. Even before the 100YQ made it official, it was suspected by many fans that she should be able to use it sooner or later. I think the concept of SD itself should have been introduced earlier in the series, so that we could have seen it evolve more but anyways.

I wish we could get a more detailed explanation on how this thing works and what other moves she can use, if any.

Otherwise, I'm always up for Lucy getting some power ups to show how capable she really is.

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So with that, I end the part #01 of my SDC MINI SERIES! Make sure, to look forward to more!

~Thanks for reading

Cheers! Aashi🌻

[writebackatya]

I saw your post and I'm working up the courage to come off anon. As someone who was bullied out of the Ducktales fandom a while ago for shipping a pretty tame ship it's hard to see these people constantly reblogged on my dash. Maybe no one checks kudos and reviews on Ao3 but I do because I have had such a bad experience in this fandom.

You were completely right about Shelly (boy some of the artists they still associate with...yikes...their Twitter is locked for a reason) They already got a pass (again is it the art, the guilt tripping?) and their Google doc defending themselves led me down a rabbit hole that I wish I had stayed out of. When I see who believed their bs defense and unblocked them it makes sense. Everyone single one of them is into some real pro shipper stuff while publicly saying they're against it. I also have been in Discords or chats with a couple of them so I have screen shots of them and some other big name fans drawing and saying terrible things.

It's kinda like when creators from your favorite show get publicity called out for bad behavior and everyone is shocked but the truth finally unravels. It always starts with one person and then the dominos fall as others feel more comfortable about opening up and there are more victims and villains in the story. I'm just really nervous about being the one to start the topple.

I just want to start off saying that I completely understand your wish to stay anonymous. These things are always tricky and being in the center or just being involved with it is never easy. I can speak from personal experience that whole Shelly situation had me nervous during it all

And when I got your message earlier, I just didn’t really know how to feel; especially at the fact I was called a hypocrite because I “cancelled some fans” and continued to interact with the people you mentioned in the previous message you sent me

I’m not naming any names because I am just not sure about the entire situation. I really don’t have time to look into things right now when I’ve been working doubles, dealing with some family stuff, and other things just piling up on me. But regardless, I’m still taking your words seriously

Back to the comment of me cancelling some fans. I only really “cancelled” one individual and that was Shelly. And if I’m being honest, anon, when I first got your message, I thought you could’ve possibly been them or one of their fans

But apparently not. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When I was doing my investigation of Shelly, I found that they did draw pedo art in the past but found nothing recent. But I found them interacting and being mutuals with people who did on their Twitter so that’s why I made that callout post asking all the younger members of the fandom to block Shelly who of course soon deactivated their tumblr

I did hear that they came back. And heard about their apology. Someone even told me that Shelly no longer associated with those pedo artists. And part of me wanted to give Shelly the benefit of the doubt and that they have changed. So I just tried my best to move on from it all

I never read the apology. Prior to the controversy I’ve only had a few interactions with Shelly and they weren’t really good ones. I decided to just ignore Shelly and not interact with them or give them any attention at all

I admit what I did was cowardly and kinda lazy but I really didn’t want to be involved with that again. I felt like all eyes were on me and I really didn’t want that to continue. Especially if I didn’t have any evidence of their current actions that would imply they haven’t changed

Now let’s talk about the individuals you called out in your previous message. Out of the three, I only really talk to one. One of them I have interacted with and even read some of their stories. The third. I honestly had no idea who they were until I looked them up and recognized their icon. So I might’ve interacted with them but I’m not 100% sure

Now in your message you told me that those individuals left kudos on fics that contained r*pe and dubcon. Well as soon as I got your message I reached out to the individual I was closest to for their side of the story

They admitted that they have left kudoses on those types of fics but the subject matter makes them uncomfortable. They mentioned the stories they read that contain those subjects they usually go past that part and go right to the comfort part of the story and I’m just going to assume that those stories would depict r*pe in a negative manner

This whole thing is still of a great concern to me. And clearly it is to you since you made the effort to look up these fics and see who is giving them kudos

And if you have any more info please reach out to me via the DMs so it’ll be easier to communicate. Like it or not, you are involved in this and kinda are the one who started the topple. Again, I promise I’ll keep your identity a secret

[take-care-with-your-glasses]

For the HP mutuals that keep asking me, what happened with me and HP, I don't know if I can explain it well, but at least I can try.

I grew up with those books and idolized them a lot. Wrote thousands of fics (as much as for other series, cartoons etc. etc.). But once I grew older, I started to re read them and find moments where the magic was simply lost for me (aside of the JK controversy right now). It was like it was time to move on. I still enjoy some of the pairings on the fandom, but I'm not precisely orbiting on it anymore as much as I used to do, because, I don't know... I simply don't.

I like other things and even if it was part of my childhood, it isn't a substantial part of my life anymore.

Good and bittersweet moments at the same time, that's for sure, but now I feel too little every time I have to read a HP fic (unless it's a rec or written by one of my mutuals like what happened yesterday, which surprised me a lot). But I sincerely don't feel it right now.

[cuchufletapl]

I want your personal opinion. We see a lot of shipping controversy when it comes to MHA, but none of the ships have actually been confirmed, just teased. And I find that the biggest tease is Tododeku, honestly. Do you think there is even the slightest possibility that Horikoshi could just bless us with this ship? Do you think there is something there, genuinely? I want this ship canon, and honestly I'm really not feeling it with Ochako at all. What are your opinions on her? I dont know if you agree, but her character revolves around the main character in a way that makes it annoying and unbearable and I cant stand the interactions, yet it seems that Horikoshi seems to have given up as of recently. Do you think so?

Please don't take this as hostile because I don't mean it as such, I just struggle with tone. But.

This ask is kind of strange to me because 1) I don't write meta that often; 2) I've never written meta about BNHA; and 3) actually, in the past four months I've reblogged a grand total of nine posts about BNHA.

It's a fandom that I'm a part of but that I barely talk about on Tumblr — if you only followed me on here you'd think that I'm barely into it.

So what on Earth would make you ask me my opinion on this, anon?

Like, you see a profile with a Fullmetal Alchemist icon talking about Sonic, Ladybug, and Spy x Family and go: "Yeah. This is the person I'm gonna ask about Boku no Hero shipwars"?

Besides, considering how this ask is worded, it looks to me like you have a fully formed opinion and just want some sort of validation for it.

And I checked the recent stuff in the tododeku tag and I saw at least one more person responding to a very similar ask to this one, so there's that.

I'm prefacing with this to clarify that I'm aware that this is some sort of bait (even if I'm not completely sure what you're baiting for, anon) and that you probably went through a bunch of people that had posted/reblogged tododeku stuff recently and sent them similar asks.

However, I do have an opinion, and my ego can't resist sharing it, so here we go. Buckle up, I started rambling.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of what you are talking about when you say that tododeku has been the most teased ship.

Their dynamic is solid and well-written, and they've had a lot of page/screen-time to develop together. They're close friends (Midoriya is Todoroki's best and favourite friend, without a doubt), they're at ease around each other, understand and trust one another — in sum, they care and there is a lot of proof of that over the nearly 400 chapters of the manga (plus spin-off media).

This would be a good basis for a romantic development in their dynamic, it'd make for a good love story, but I don't think Horikoshi has ever intended to go in that direction, not even in subtext. I don't think he would even if a gay/bi protagonist was allowed in a battle-action shonen.

I think the "tododeku teasing" is the inevitable outcome of having two characters impact each other's narratives in such a way. Of course there are a lot of Moments™ between them that can easily be read in a romantic light — fighting Izuku in the Sports Festival was literally a turning point in Shoto's life! But Horikoshi just wrote them that way because he wanted to advance their character arcs through their friendships.

(It's a huge theme in BNHA, in my opinion. Class 1-A constanly inspire each other, make each other better. They don't just develop on their own, it's with the support of other people that the characters move forward. Deku is the epitome of this: his gifted power born out of the sacrifices of eight other people, his fighting style inspired by his mentors and his friends. And he's not the only example: Tamaki and Mirio; Kirishima with Bakugo and Ashido; Uraraka, Iida, and Todoroki himself of course. Horikoshi is good at writing admiration and friendships.)

And after all, good friendships tend to (although not always) make for compatible romantic pairings.

Listen, if tododeku ever became canon, I'd end up in the ER because my heart wouldn't be able to handle the joy and the surprise bursting out of it. I don't hope it to, nor do I particularly want it to be canon (romantic subplots are not my priority in BNHA), but it would definitely make me very happy. I've been on this boat for, what? Five years, give or take a couple of months? Tododeku is probably my actual OTP (as in the meaning of the acronym, my one and only true pairing).

(And that's without taking into account how massive it would be in terms of queer representation in Japan. The male protagonist of a top Shonen Jump nekketsu manga, bisexual and in an overt relationship with another major male character? Kohei Horikoshi would make history.)

But back in 2017 I went in fully expecting it not to be endgame, and that hasn't changed in 2022.

First of all, because regardless of Horikoshi's intentions, this is shonen manga, c'mon. It's Shonen Jump Magazine. The only gay action we see in this demographic is questionable yuri pandering to male audiences.

Although to be completely fair, BNHA does have confirmed queer characters: Tiger, Big Sis Mag, and Toga. However, you'll notice that none of them are gay men, only one of them has any relevance whatsoever, and not all of them are handled with the same care (Magne is... oof. People make excuses for it but I'm too familiar with Japanese media not to recognise that her design looks just like a transmysoginistic charicature, and the theory that Horikoshi is doing a social critique by making medical transitioning not accessible to her due to marginalisation is utterly fanon interpretation. It's not anywhere in the text, it was made up outright. It'd be amazing if it were true, but considering how unsubtle Horikoshi is with the politics of BNHA, as manga tends to be, if it's not there, it's because it wasn't supposed to be).

Second, because if Horikoshi wanted to make his main characters boy lovers and was allowed to... Well, in all honestly, I think he'd go for bakudeku (if, ya know, Bakugo makes it, which he probably will). They're one of the central dynamics of this story, their arcs don't make any sense without each other. They're not up to the level of, say, sasunaru, but they're not that far off. It's the most popular pairing in this fandom, both in the West and in Japan, for a reason.

(And if not bakudeku, I think kiribaku would have the biggest chance. Mostly because there's quite a lot of evidence to support a queer reading of Kirishima, and I'm not entirely sure it was accidental.)

Of course, if anyone gave me the reigns, I'd make Bakugo and Midoriya queerplatonic and make Todoroki and Midoriya marry but alas, 'tis not the case.

Nevertheless, there might be no canon ships whatsoever.

I'm still holding out for a time-skip and a sequel, despite what Horikoshi said earlier this year about ending the manga — a lot of things feel unfinished in ways that can't be resolved in one single arc. So hey, maybe he'll surprise us and pull a Shippuden.

But if he keeps his word and this is the end of Boku no Hero Academia, then he definitely does not have the time to include a romantic subplot of any kind. Not at this stage, not so near the end and with all characters in the middle of battle like this.

So, yeah, maybe you're not feeling it with Ochako because you're not supposed to. Midoriya had some mild interest in her at the beginning and she used to have a crush on him, but that was that. Which would be a nice subversion, to be honest, since an izuocha endgame is what everyone and their mother expected ever since their first interaction, based on the usual romantic tropes of this genre.

But, another thing, because this interpretation of Uraraka ("her character revolves around the main character in a way that makes it annoying") is one that I see echoed everywhere in this fandom and it does annoy me a little. It's a parroted opinion at this point, because the absolute lack of nuance implies that most people saying it haven't actually analysed Uraraka's character and are just repeating what other people said before them. Not saying that you're in that group, anon, maybe you did think it through and just disagree with me, and that's fine.

This critique of Uraraka comes from a larger criticism of Horikoshi's writing of female characters — criticism that is not undeserved. He is capable of writing good three-dimensional female characters (look at Rei Todoroki, or at Himiko Toga), and I think Momo Yaoyozoru's character arc is one of the best that he's written for a supporting secondary character of any gender (it's simple but well-executed!). But it's true that he has way fewer female characters than male ones, and a lot of them are underdeveloped and underutilised to boot.

(Part of that has to do with a more general problem. Horikoshi ended up biting way more than he could chew with his gigantic cast of characters, which is a conversation for another day, but long story short: it's not easy to juggle that many plotlines and character arcs, and sometimes he pulls it off but a lot of the time, particularly in the later half... eh. But it just so happens that a lot of the characters he's unable to give the time and space needed happen to be the few female ones that he has. Well.)

I do feel this is somewhat the case with Uraraka, because considering how she started out, she should've pulled more narrative weight than she has, at least for the arcs that she participated in (the Overhaul Arc did her dirty, let's be honest here). And she's the main female supporting character, it makes it more evident.

But I think that people get so focused in looking for what should have been there that they miss that already is there. People will criticise her arc for revolving around Deku and then completely ignore the parts of it that have nothing to do with him, funnily enough. You guys don't look past Deku's shadow either.

Midoriya inspires Uraraka in a similar way that he does the rest of his classmates and his friends specifically. That's what he is to her — an inspiration, a friend. Much like Midoriya himself does with Bakugo and All Might, she decides to go on her own hero path while taking some of Midoriya's determination as an incentive for her.

Her childhood in poverty shaped her desire to be a hero, and the kind of hero that she wanted to be — she wants to make people happy through helping and saving them. And when she starts the race towards her dream, and she sees her teachers and friends hurting, she's the one to ask the question no one else does: who saves the heroes? Who heals them? Who makes sure they're okay and happy?

And now she's going one step further, and she's trying to save a villain — Toga. And this has nothing to do with Midoriya. He isn't even in the picture right now! Hell, their last conversation before the final battle was about Toga (and other things, but it was obvious Toga was at the forefront of Uraraka's mind)!

Yes, her relationship with Deku is important (he's the protagonist, c'mon), but not the end-all be-all of her character arc. She sees Iida decline Midoriya's offer to join his team in the cavalry battle and decides that she's not going to be all dependent on friends either — and then comes up with a better strategy to fight Bakugo than even Midoriya had thought of. She catches feelings and immediately tries to shake them off because they're a distraction she can't afford for the sake of her own goals. She becomes an inspiration for him, as much as he is for her.

Their friendship is pretty neat, and while Uraraka could be more, let's not act as if she was nothing but Deku.

So.

To conclude.

Look, anon, from your words I can tell that you're obviously very invested in tododeku. I understand that, I really do, but I'd advise you to get over it. At the end of the day, it's just ink on a page. The emotions that they make you feel are real and valid (that is what art and storytelling are for) but if it gets to a point where it genuinely upsets you that two characters don't end up together, that it feels like a need that they be together in canon, it might be the time to take a step back.

I say this as someone who still gets angry over klance lol. But it's true.

I think you can find a lot more joy than you realise in simply not giving a shit about canon. And while shipping is very fun, I don't find it recommendable to look at all media only through that lense.

As I said before, all the "tododeku teasing" you mention is just one particular interpretation of their interactions, and at times it can be one that removes the actual themes written into their dynamic.

[beyourownanchor6]

Lol you are right, we keep coming back!

Oh it definitely got weird. And they tried to integrate it with the cwtv multiverse and it got even weirder because of spoilers but basically in integrating it they contradicted events of the original series

Lmao the ending of arrow was so bad. The ending of Supergirl made it impossible for Superman and Lois to take place in the same universe because she fucked up the bag. Legends got canceled without any ceremony and it ended on a cliffhanger. Black Lightning was great but it also ended too soon. The ending of The Flash was very disappointing. Basically nobody stuck the landing.

Oh god i wish i could forget the school shooting episode. It wasn't even traumatic (and i'm saying this as someone who survived two separate Activr Gunman Situations in junior high and high school), it was just bad. And i never saw that episode of one tree hill (i only watched a handful of episodes, i was firmly a The OC kid), what was that like? And you're right, they probably wanted to steer clear of the controversy.

OMG I FORGOT VENOM WAS MARVEL 😂😂 Yeah, Symbrock is also one of my ships. I don't care for deadpool but i do like spideypool. Also MattFoggy from Daredevil (my absolute favorite marvel hero).

Omg same. My goal is at least 12 books in the year and to cut down half of my Read Later from AO3. I wanna get through the buddie backlog so i can get into BuckTommy, and i do wanna get back into Sterek. Also you definitely got time to read 10 books! Good luck!

Okay, glad i'm not annoying you. I worry about that sometimes. Lol honestly the readmore is a good move, wish i could do it on asks too. I think i'm gonna stick to asks for a bit cause i love that i have a tag on your blog, but in the near future i'll switch to DMs.

it’s a hellsite, but it’s our hellsite? something like that 😅

the cw multiverse sure was…something wasn’t it? they were definitely reaching with a lot of those episodes and storylines.

i’ve erased it from my memory it was so awful 😂 i tried to watch supergirl twice and ending up quitting it both times; thankfully didn’t come back a third. omg legends! that show was sooo good the first couple of seasons, then they got rid of half the main cast and then it became the reject show. they truly had no idea what to do with it. i never watched black lighting; tried to stay clear of more of those shows after all the others lol. i also stopped the flash before the last couple of seasons bc it was becoming like arrow and i wasn’t going through that again lol. they were definitely all—something lol.

oh wow, that’s intense. sorry you had to go through that; that’s so awful. the oth one was definitely intense. i think a big part of it had to do with how it affected the storyline as a whole, but the way they put it together was definitely very haunting. it’s ironically one of the best episodes i do believe. i also love me some oc. i’ve been thinking of rewatching that one lately lol.

venom my most beloved! ngl a lot of that could have to do with tom hardy 🤣 but i do love the character as well! i can’t wait for the new one. i’ve seen a lot of people are into spideypool but it doesn’t speak to me i guess lol. loveeee daredevil. i miss when all the marvel netflix shows were a thing ngl lol

i got my marked for later down to 4 or 5 pages? so ig i have that going for me 😅 my problem right now is that i’m wanting to read for multiple fandoms and my buddie brainrot has kinda disappeared, so now my marked for later is stuck. i did buy 2 new books today, so there’s hope! good luck on both your goals! there’s still lots of time left this year!

no, not at all! if i don’t reply right away its bc i either don’t have beans atm or i just don’t have the attention span, so once the notification disappears (if it even comes) its out of sight out of mind lol. but definitely not annoying me ever! i love giving people their own little tags 😎

[mama-qwerty]

Hello again! Thank you for your reply. It's mainly about an interest that has.. Not aged well, and something that I have moved on from. I want to just... move on with my life, you know? My question is, how do you move on from something you did, something you did when you was younger, and just.. Not mind it anymore?

My friend originally owned the account and gave it to me. Me and my friend were interested in the fandom, but they stayed in it while I moved on before giving me the account.

I've never said anything mean, or controversial, none of that. I am the current owner of their account.

When I was talking about Deviantart, I meant it as a good thing 😂 at least to me. I'm making great progress so far.

I don't know, I've just hasn't been feeling like myself for the past 48 hours.

- 🦊 anon

I used to be heavily into Hey, Arnold! Like, my first real fandom experience, where I was one of the regulars on the message board, spitballed with friends, gushed about new eps, theorized Helga's motivations and mindset, wrote fics and everything.

And then I wasn't. The hyperfixation fizzled and although I look back on it with fondness (it's also how I met my husband, online, through the chatroom of one of the message boards) it's just not a major part of my life anymore.

Fairly OddParents. I had a few friends I chatted with about it, but wasn't as into the fandom with that one.

Then, nope.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Did not engage with the fandom on that one. Stayed in my little hidey hole while I wrote some fics for it.

Done.

I think with most cases, you just move on and don't really give it a whole lotta thought. Sure you may miss some of the people you interacted with, but once you're no longer interested in that media, you just kinda leave it and the fandom behind.

It's a natural part of growth, honestly. You have interests that stick around for a while, but then you either outgrow them or just fall out of love with them, and just kinda move on.

It's not something to be ashamed of or needs a lot of attention drawn to it. People fade in and out of fandoms all the time. Moving on away from fandoms is pretty normal, and simply a sign of changing interests or personal growth.

You owe no one any explanations for any past fandom interactions. Look at it as a part of who you were years ago, maybe remember the fun times, but then leave it in the past as you move forward.

[fyodcrs]

Hi! endhawks for the ask game!

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when I started shipping it if I did:

Hard to say, but I think it happened pretty quickly after Hawks was introduced. I think Hawks' "I'll push you forward" line is what did it for me 💖

my thoughts:

*in tears* They just mean so much to each other??

Hawks is a really important part of Endeavor's redemption. Endeavor is to Hawks what All Might is to Midoriya, and to me, there's something so striking about that, because of the sharp contrast that was drawn between Endeavor and All Might when Endeavor was first introduced into the story. Enji being little Keigo's only light - and I love the complete lack of subtlety in how that's portrayed, lol - when he was a black spot for his own children, and Hawks accepting Endeavor for who he really is without wavering in his support is just, some really good fucking food.

Endeavor having been the inspiration for Hawks to become a hero is a stark contrast to the pain Endeavor caused to a lot of the people around him, including his own children. I don't think Endeavor's redemption would have worked half as well if the Hawks character wasn't there to show the good that he is capable of representing, and in fact did represent, even before he became number one and chose to be a better person to fill that roll. We see Endeavor trying to become a better person and a true hero, and we see that for some - specifically, for Keigo - he always was a true hero. Hawks is himself an imperfect hero, with a darker side, so it's even more striking how his hero-worship of Endeavor, the most imperfect of imperfect heroes, lies at the core of everything that is good about Hawks. They bring out the best in each other, in other words. 🥰

What makes me happy about them:

Everything I said above??

I'm an absolute sucker for the idea of Hawks swooping in (like the bird of prey he is sdfghgh) and completely disrupting poor Enji's life lmao. Poor Enji is just like "I'm going to die alone in this new house I built specifically for the purpose of dying alone" and then Keigo strolls in and is like "I've already moved in, btw." 😆

I'm also a huge sucker for age differences in fictional romances, lol. And the size difference?? It's like they were tailored-made for me sdfghjgfhj

They just have a certain aesthetic, what can I say.

What makes me sad about them:

Both boys have been through too much 🤧 I just want them to have a happy ending 🤧

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Mischaracterization is a problem in any fandom, tbh. Especially when it comes to characters like Enji, who are canonically complex and are controversial in the fandom. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. *SIGH*

things I look for in fanfic:

I actually haven't looked for endhawks fanfics in quite a while, but I've mostly gravitated towards the smutty ones, lol. But my favorite endhawks fics are the ones where they help each other heal and learn to be happy. 😌

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

I don't really ship dabihawks, but I accept it. I see the vision, even if I don't find the vision particularly compelling.

As for Enji, I actually really love Endeavor/Miruko. 👀 They'd match each other's freak, if you will.

My happily ever after for them:

They get married and settle down to a happy life together. The end.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Enji would be the big spoon, but Hawks' giant wings kind of get in the way, and Hawks has a habit of sleeping draped across Endeavor with his wings sheltering them both.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Cooking! They both like to cook, and are pretty decent at it. Enji also likes to join Hawks in the air, sometimes.

Thank you, Itz!! 💖💖

[dread-red-queen]

some questions for writers

tagged by @fereldanwench

Last book I read: I honestly can not remember the last time I sat down and just read a book, I do enjoy reading dont get me wrong but I just have not found a book that I want to read recently, I did used to really love the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton

Greatest literary inspirations:  not really sure If im honest I'm more inspired by tropes and situations my brain randomly comes up with that are probably not as random as I think they are.

Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write: I'm not really sure, I tend to love reading what I also enjoy writing which is usually gritty angst, romance, alternative universes, sacerin sweet romance or spicy romance full of passion, or just spicy in general I love the trope of two characters just being so in love or in lust with eachother trying to resist giving in only to do just that when the other looks at them, that sort of thing I dunno.

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: more fic focusing on my OC Raven and her softer side or just exploring her past and stuff, I wanna share my baby, but I know when its not about main characters in a fandom or at least have them feature in it, that might not be everyone's cup of tea

You can recognise my writing by: I tend to really like writing spicy content, I think my plots are ok Ish. I'm sure not everyone likes my plots as much as I do but I have fun writing them and I share them in case someone else might also enjoy them

My most controversial take (current fandom): I dont really think I have any "controversial" takes, but I will say I really dislike the use of the word C*nt in regards to describing lady parts in romance scenes especially if up until the use of the word the scene has been so sweet ,tender with beautiful wording. I personal just find the word a bit to vulgar for romance, I dont mind using the word if describing someone horrible but yeh I guesse some might consider that a controversial or hot take *shrugs*

Top three favourite tropes: 

stuck in close proximity like trapped in a tight space and being hyper aware of the others body.

kissing to distract, get through to someone or to avoid getting caught by guards

enemy's to friends to lovers is also one of my favourites

What’s your current writing mood about a 5 I'm trying to wrap up my latest fic Present & Future, I got my ending written as inspiration randomly struck me the other day but im struggling to get to that ending, I dont normally write fics out of sequence but I was on a roll and got carried away. now I'm wondering if I have set myself up to not finish the story at all haha

Share a random frustration: I'm currently in the process of packing to move house, My husband serves in the military so we have some work we need to do to the house before we leave and I think my husband is being a bit paranoid on just how much work we need to do, considering we are paying a cleaner to make sure the house is perfect for march out. I'm like why am I on my hands an knees scrubbing when I'm going to pay for a cleaner to do it XD

tagging but no pressure XD @breezypunk @severemiraclefest

[nanjokei]

i just have a lot on my mind lately thats why im talking about this stuff suddenly.

but i have been thinking. like people catastrophizing gundou getting the boot when they have no idea how thin the ice she's been skating on is anyway, im not sure if they even know who she is aside from watching some gunkan clips and maybe a few solo clips— honestly, shitposting about baseball during the biggest match japan has had probably this century, in the country where Baseball is Serious Business, honestly is so ill advised that i can only think she should have known to stay in her lane as someone who had been doing social media as a job for so long.

i think what people are missing is that she was a Controversial Tweet factory. shinzo abe died and she made fun of it, like on the day of, and yeah honestly i think its pretty based but let that set the tone for you. when the baseball shit happened it wasn't JUST the baseball tweet, if you searched her up on twitter at the time people were making threads of all the insane shit she's said, and she got blasted on national tv for being a dumbass. like... i think that people have to realize that it's a job at the end of the day. in the eyes of many japanese people this wasn't unfair or bullshit at all lol. your opinion as an overseas "fan" who shitposts on reddit or 4chan or even twitter DOES NOT MATTER. (most of these people just hover around certain talent without actually watching anyone)

my opinion on it? play stupid games win stupid prizes lol. yeah it sucks an og got the boot on some level but to act like she was 100% in the right is kind of crazy and ignoring a lot of things. like i said, it's a job, you work for a company. a lot of people forget it is a job. and there is a responsibility especially given how anal jp netizens are to not do stupid shit to make yourself a target. she absolutely fell on her own sword. these people are ADULTS. i hate the overseas fandom bc they think the companies are at a liberty to defend them at every junction. like, if it's like that, isn't it just better if both parties part amicably anyway. i'm sure she is much happier as an indie and hanging out with warabeda.

ofc thinking like this gets you called a shill. by all means, if you think so, call me it in your mind. personally i'm very critical especially this year. i just have the common sense not to get in my emotions and see things objectively rather than act like they're actually anime characters who are unable to have any agency. people leave their jobs all the time over disagreements and creative differences or just plain idk, Wanting To Move On after 5 years of anime kayfabe (no matter how thin). so i rarely get sad about retirements the way overseas fans act like either someone died or was abused by some kind of investor pleasing shadow committee is so immature and offputting to me

also. way worse controversies have been overlooked 🤷‍♀️

[tetras-stuff]

oh boy I've pissed people off with this one huh. I'm not gonna get too much into it but here we go:

1) using the "it was supposed to be a b movie thing!" argument for the Barry thing is....also bad. dont get me wrong, i agree that it is supposed to be shlocky horror and i like re1 and its atmosphere, i just dont agree that this is an excuse for how poorly jill is written. like no, Chris was nowhere near as stupid as Jill. I didn't mention Rebecca but whilst we're on it, I firmly believe she is also written in a really sexist way because pretty much all the women in RE are badly written, its a sexist series and I don't think it's a bad thing to say that. I don't really get why this is controversial. Jill isn't supposed to be a rookie, they tell us all the time that she's legit the best at a lot of what she does (e.g. personally picked by wesker because of her disarming skills etc etc) and then show her not being able to shoot properly, having to be saved every 3 seconds by a man, and wandering around like a lost puppy waiting for men to tell her what to do. Like come on. It's ridiculous. you can criticise things you love. I love re1. I don't love how she's portrayed. being critical of media you consume is a good thing.

2) I'm not saying she was perfectly written in RE3R because she wasn't. Yeah, the stuff with the enemies is very sexualising and I never said it wasn't? Jill acts more like an actual adult with actual competence in RE3R, but that by no means takes away from the sexist parts of her writing. Im not a RE3R apologist, I just prefer the way she's written and portrayed in RE3R because she has more agency. is it perfect? no, but it's arguably better in some ways (and worse in others, sure).

3) the RE games can be campy and fun without being sexist???? like sure the stuff with Chris pushing boulders and whatnot is stupid, but Chris is treated VERY differently to Jill in all media. I mean for fucks sake, RE5 is a great example of that. She is brainwashed, sexualised, and treated like an object by Wesker and the writers themselves, and then just stands back letting Chris be the big hero???? why?? The women in RE5 are treated JUST AS poorly as RE1 (do NOT get me started on excella and sheva). The older games (yes including RE5) are sexist. Chris is treated as a campy silly guy, sure, but he isn't sexualised or treated as incompetent because of it. Weird comparison to make when it is so clear how differently these two OG characters are treated. You didn't cook with this, as you say

4) final point for this one, "you're just making stuff up" literally when??? I didn't say anything untrue lmao, I gave my interpretation of the games and the fandom. opinion can't be "made up"????

okay next reply omg I'm already tired

1) you can love re1 jill if you want lmao I literally didn't say you can't. fandom is what you make it and if you like re1 jill, cool!! this post was aimed at sexist men hating re3r jill just because she has more agency and is treated like an actual adult. I don't like re1 jill but that's a personal opinion, you are free to like her as much as you like.

2) I don't like re5 in general but I don't like how she's portrayed especially, when I mentioned re5 in the post I meant a potential remake. I agree with you on this point!!

3) I really don't agree about the Barry thing. It's not "I don't want to believe this", he literally pulls a gun on her and she immediately forgives him and moves on. she is written as being so desperate for a male authority figure that she just believes anything and everyone (which can be well written and has great writing potential! they just don't deliver on it in any way imo)

okay final take:

everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, obviously. A lot of people are very quick to defend Jill as a character in every capacity and that's chill. my og post was out of frustration for how she is portrayed in re1 and frustration at how the fandom interprets it, because I've seen a lot of dudebros getting really mad about how "masculine" remake jill is and it pisses me off. if you disagree with my take, you do you. that's fine. I'm sure there are lots of things we disagree on, it isn't world shattering and I wasn't trying to "cook" anything with my post, just expressing an opinion.

I love jill valentine and there is so much potential in her character. I hate that RE doesn't always capitalise on that potential and its sad what they do to her character just to gain male attention. There was so much good in RE3R which makes me excited to see where they go with her in future games such as a potential RE5 remake. I just don't fully trust them to do it since there has been such a huge backlash to her character because now she's "too angry". I stand by my original point.

okay omg I'm done now bye

I hate when people criticise the newer jill (remake jill) because it's just dudebros who are annoyed that she has agency now. they want re1 jill who was really stupid, naive, and behaved like a child instead of a full grown military woman because innocent childlike female character with boobs = hot. let jill have her agency. let her say fuck. let her be the one to take wesker down in re5 instead of sitting back letting chris do everything. don't be cowards.

[eulchu]

LET'S TALK: DREAM AND THE DREAM STANS

PART 2: DREAM. TO THE ANTIS

so. let's be real. dream has made mistakes. he's been very stupid and very inexperienced in the past. that's something we all acknowledge. no surprise here, even dream himself does.

i'm not going to make this post to advocate for dream rights or talk about his growth as a person. there's plenty posts that talk about that. i'm sure i've made one or two. instead, i want to talk about something a little more... controversial.

see, i would be totally fine with the general internet making dream own up to his fuck ups (if only it wasn't so fucking repetitive. move on, people. this isn't celebrity.com talking about the possible haylor 10 year reunion, whatever the fuck that means). totally down, super dandy, if people wouldn't hold this guy on such different grounds to the rest of the internet.

let's talk now about the dehumanization of dream: dream, who was 20 when he started. who was terrified to lose the very thing he'd read books for, lost sleep over and studied to the very t to achieve. who hadn't had one PR class in his entire life. who woke up one day and found half the world had turned against him.

why is it that dream's side of things is never considered? no one is ever willing to put themselves in dream's situation, except his own fans, who get automatically dismissed for being dream stans. if we're gonna talk about dream's fuck ups, can we at least acknowledge the world's fuck ups with dream? the narrative has been pushed to extremes, to the point where dream, the very main character of his own controversies, feels like a passing trinket through his own array of hate comments and death threats. emotionless and inhumane. 2-dimensional.

comments like "the reasons to dislike dream continue to multiply" and "with big popularity is, of course, gonna come some hate" defy the whole point that many of those who critique dream are trying to make. how can you hang dream for 'enabling toxicity' by 'not doing enough' and then completely condone toxic actions sent his way? not in a completely direct way, maybe. they're not saying it's okay. they are, however, discussing it with a tone of normality that enables such behavior.

stans will claw your eyes out in an attempt to defend their celebrity, or if they think it will benefit them. these people though? their only purpose is to make him feel bad about himself. people make fun of him for saying "it's not my fans, it's people who hate me" because they think, okay, it's not their fans, but it HAS to be someone else's fans. because that's fandom logic. it's NOT. it's no one's fans. there's not one movement behind dream's antis, except their shared desire to see dream have a mental breakdown, or worse.

no one ever acknowledges this. it goes beyond fandom culture discussions. when i read the title of a video called 'how dream became a target' i was expecting to see a little more than just "stan culture was his downfall" because it wasn't. i wish the general commentators who do research to put out videos like this one would take one second to realize that this isn't about fandom culture. dream IS the target. not of stan failure. he's a genuine target crowned by thousands of people who have no connections to fandoms or fan culture.

it's genuinely scary to think that a 22 yo has to endure real and serious threats against his life for existing. this isn't some silly one direction stan who tells you to die because you didn't correct someone's name correctly. this is grown people who want to see dream dead no matter what he does and says, simply because their hatred runs THAT deep. completely unfounded. no one's ever fucking willing to talk about that. at this point i'm not sure any of them are even aware, or if they care enough.

what's with the double standard? people who praise themselves on having 'critical thinking skills' go and contradict themselves, displaying such a case of personal bias that is, frankly, embarrasing to read. i don't think we're asking for much. i don't think wanting dream to be treated like a human being is too much of a stretch. in fact, dehumanizing someone to that extent makes you far worse than anything dream's ever done.