#ai fan freaks go away

[motoyaoi]

my friend’s dad (whos into motogp) showed me one of those rosquez ai images im fucking crying😭😭

[harrysfolklore]

buzzcut - blurb

this kinda sucks but it was on my drafts sooo why not, hope you enjoy !

MASTERLIST | MY PATREON

//

"I wonder how would I look with my head shaved." Harry randomly said one night both of you were cuddled up in bed.

"Where is that coming from, lovie?" You looked up at him, curious by his sudden statement.

"Dunno, I've never in my almost 30 years of age had a buzzcut," he shrugged, "I feel like It's part of manhood to shave your head at least once."

"Your manhood is just fine," you rolled your eyes with affection and pecked his chin, "But if you want to know how you'd look with no hair, you can always look for those AI pictures your fans have been making lately."

Harry laughed and kissed the crown of your head, leaving the conversation at that and focusing on the romantic comedy movie you picked for the night.

Days passed by and you soon forgot about your conversation and Harry didn't bring up his desire to shave his head again, so when he mentioned that he wanted to get a haircut you assumed that he was getting his usual trim.

Oh boy, were you wrong.

"I want to chop my hair a bit before we head to Vegas." He said a week before your trip, Jeff kept insisting that you needed to see the show he had been working on at the Sphere and you finally agreed.

"That's fine, just don't do anything extreme you know I love the curls." You replied, unaware of what he had up in his sleeve.

"Nothing to worry about, baby." You failed to notice the devilish smile on his face that gave away that he was planning something else.

The following day Harry told you that he was going to Ayae's place to get his haircut, which was weird to you because his hairdresser always came to your house to cut his hair, but you still didn't overthink it too much.

Until you got a text from her that read "Don't kill me or your boyfriend for what he made me do."

Just a minute after you got the text you heard the front door open and your name being called from downstairs.

"H are you home? Ayae texted me but I don't know what she means." You said as you made your way to him, he was standing in your living room, his hair being covered by the hood of his hoodie.

"I cut my hair," he said and a confused frown made its way to your face, "And I'm going to show it to you, but you need to promise me you won't freak."

"Why would I freak? Why are you acting so weird about it?"

Harry only smiled and pulled the hood from his head, revealing that his brand new buzzcut.

You stood in your place for a few minutes before reacting, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"It's not love! I shaved it," he got closer to you, a big smile on his face, “Do you like it?”

“Oh my god! Your hair is really gone! What the fuck, Harry.” You laughed in disbelief, grabbing his face to get a better look at him.

“I told you I wanted to give it a try before my twenties ended, remember?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” you shook your head, “This is crazy! Does Jeff know? Forget about him does your mom know? Oh my god we need to facetime her right now.”

Harry laughed at your rant, “Jeff knows love, he wants to shave his too, and we’ll facetime mum later,” he pecked your lips quickly, “Now wipe that look off your face! You’re looking at me like I’m an alien!”

“This is just so weird, but also such a you thing to do,” you pecked his lips back, “Your fans are going to be absolutely nuts about this.”

“Lord, that’s what i’m dreading the most.”

A week later you and Harry were standing in the crowd of U2's concert at the Las Vegas Sphere, surrounded by friends and other concertgoers.

Somehow Harry's new look gave him a little more privacy, since the world didn't know that his signature brown curls were gone and he could go unnoticed sometimes.

"You've been busted." You said as you noticed a phone camera filming the both of you, Harry was standing behind you with his hand protectively gripping your neck.

"What, love?" He asked, making you discretely point at the person with the camera.

"Well, I guess the madness stars now."

A day later, pictures and videos of Harry's new haircut flooded the internet, making his fans go crazy once again.

taglist: @lightsoutstyles @willowpains @straightontilmornin n @sleutherclaw @gimsaysay @hazzassmirk @platinumbarbie143 @musicforcinemas @celesteblack08 @scntfrhs @eleanordaisy @lomlolivia a @iceebabies @iloveshawn @be-with-me-so-happily @watermelonsugacry @rayisthehoe @drewrry

[akookminsupporter]

Rosie, I knew it was going to be absolute chaos after they announced Jikook enlisting together, going to be crazier after they announced AYS, but man, after they released the photobook and the behinds, it's like every single fucking vile hater of Jimin, Jungkook, and Jikookphobics ranging from tkkrs, solos, fake ot7s esp those big accounts, for some freaking reason, they can't have the basic decency to respect and acknowledge Jimin and Jungkook as individuals and their bond.

Do you know what it feels like to me? It's like they are either too into their delusions or they finally can't look the other way and explain away what jikook truly are, they can finally see what we can, but they're doing everything and saying anything just to avoid facing it.

We used to just ignore them and keep reporting and blocking, but right now, they're trying to be so loud, so whatever they're spreading becomes the "truth" to influence new fans. It fucking pisses me off. I feel so sad. These two have done everything for us, pushed themselves so hard to leave us with so much before they enlist, and this is what these people are doing?

It's frustrating, but at the same time, I know that we have people who genuinely support and love them, that they're just not active in social media. That in real life, Jikook are truly loved. Sorry for venting. It's been a crazy couple of months.

I’ve always said they see what we see, in the way we see it—and that’s the problem. That’s why they have a “salmon complex,” swimming against the current, against the obvious. At the end of the day, this fandom is inherently homophobic because, beyond the fact that many love to joke about BTS being in a poly relationship, they know it’s not like that, and that’s part of the appeal, the fetish. Jikook then breaks that idea and that “comfort” because they do seem real, and that makes people uncomfortable. I also think many people hate Jimin and Jungkook because of the success they’ve always had, and with that, they break the idea of equality that many have about the group—especially in the Solo Era. Even though each member has been successful in many ways, it’s undeniable that Jimin and Jungkook’s success has been different, and that bothers people. That’s why so many of those malicious comments include things like “the agency’s favourites” or “the chairman’s favourites,” which is ironic and wrong for so many other reasons.

But the truth is, the problem many have with Jimin and Jungkook goes beyond whether they’re a couple or not, though it’s undeniable that this seems to be the main issue. What I’ve never understood is the specific hatred they have for Jimin. That’s something I just can’t wrap my head around. I don’t know if it’s because he’s so good at everything, even—or especially—at being a good human being, that it bothers people. Is the world so messed up that they can’t stand someone being a good person? It seems so.

I think it’s undeniable that a lot will change once the guys are out of the military, and it will be… interesting to see the dynamics between all of them, especially between Jimin and Jungkook, and how the fandom reacts to that.

For now, we’ve just got to keep reporting and blocking the haters and see who gives up first—until June 2025.

[amrass]

Fandom rant

I don't do one of these too often! But I needed to let off some steam. Things get a bit dark in here, so be warned, though it ends positively? I think? Lol, if you want to see someone work through anger through messy and abstract writing, this can be an example.

Sometimes I get so disillusioned by fandom I wonder why I'm sharing my stories as a hobby. I enjoy writing, but staying in fandom ...

It's the way the insecurity of our time has leaked into people, making it into a competitive space rather than a community, with people screaming over each other with moral posturing, while please like me, please praise me, please look at me hum in the background for anyone with sharpened ears. It's so grating. It exists in me as well, and I want it the fuck out, because it's so destructive for creativity and kindness. There's this distinct feeling of worthlessness that sucks everyone else in it like some sort of demonic soul drain. Lol

I think it's time for me not to stop writing fanfiction, but to stop sharing it, little by little. Make sure it isn't sudden like a knife coming down, but a deliberate and slow withdrawal from fandom. Really slow. I'll finish up a few projects, warn readers - not vengefully but honestly, say kindly farewell and thank readers for the interest, then leave. It's also to make it easier for myself because I'm going to miss the positive experiences a lot. I've met some cool people, with who I hope contact remains. I've gotten so much nice feedback on my fics, I'm incredibly lucky, but even in some comments (the ones that praise my work by putting other fans down) our dark times exist.

This isn't a reaction to any individual problem or person, it's just frustration that the one place I thought freaks could come and gather at (fandom), is so full of the shit from outside, even people who think they're doing good are so full of it. Insecurity (which is just the same as false confidence, which there's also a lot of) is so rampant right now, and seeing as it's a root of so much evil, it's extra tiring seeing this kind of evil in supposed allies.

At least it does put a finger on the points where the left has failed, allowing for the rise of the fascism. One can't escape the language of our time, unless one seeks out material from other times, which few will ever do. Not because of stupidity, but because they don't have time. Plus, with the added threat by AI, which I don't think anyone's going to stop using anytime soon, I feel even more disillusioned. Even if I know my writing skills are decent, artistic skills are likely to grow truly worthless, because the recipients will not have the attention span nor the interest in seeking out challenges. The flattening of culture happens here, too. There's no escape from it.

It's weird doing these kinds of rants, because usually there is an emotional outburst, and then one goes back to doing exactly what one was doing before lol. I am ranting, but I am also trying to cement my decision: to leave, slowly, without anger or bitterness. This is me letting out some of the anger and the bitterness, I suppose.

Some of it is existential, too: due to both personal matters and the rising tensions/prices/hate in the world, I don't think I'll live that long. Again, this is not a threat at all, but just ... ah, it's too personal, I'm sorry, but please don't worry: an early death is just something I have to take into consideration more so than some. It underlines how I need to ask myself if sharing fanfics takes more than it gives. I think I'd rather be actively creating with friends.

I'm reading over this now and realizing that this is honestly a pretty alright metaphor for climate change lol!!! Like, I thought I found a space "away from it all", some sort of oasis, but even in the middle of the desert climate change will prevail. It was silly of me to think of fandom as a space untouched by the outside world, but when I was 12-16 and hung out discussing Teen Titans & Hetalia fanfics and fanart with online friends, it truly felt like that because my home life was so ... different, to say the least. I guess I was chasing that feeling, no doubt warped by nostalgia, and am sad I can't find it again.

Hm. Maybe I should delete this, maybe not. Thanks for reading.

I might need to get out of here little by little. I guess people leave all the time without big fancy blocks of texts like mine, but ah, if some of it resonates, it can be worth it. 🖤

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

Sexiest Podcast Character 2024 — Scripted Redemption Bracket — Round 2

Propaganda

Seth (Lost Terminal):

Seth is a cute disembodied ai located on a satellite called Station 6 orbiting a earth that has gone through major climate changes (Like, the Mediterranean Sea became incredibly salty lakes and Antarctica's snow has melted, leaving only rocky terrain type of major climate change). He was created when original crew realized they can't complete the mission as ground control had ghosted them + supplies are dwindling so a computer scientist(with the crew helping her out) created an artificial intelligence who can act as another crewmember, thus, making so the mission lasts indefinitely.

Jasper Moon (Badlands Cola):

He's a cult leader who's obsessed with dinosaurs. he sound like he's 1 slip away from saying UwU at all times. what's not to love?

Additional propaganda below the cut:

Seth (Lost Terminal):

He's so so lonely. The crew is unfortunately gone and Seth has them stored in a room for the last like, 18+ years. Season one is just Seth rambling about himself and his situation via sending out transmissions from the satellite in the hopes that someone may pick up on his transmissions. One of his main goals is to make more friends.

The act of sending out transmissions eats away at his limited power source. So much power that Seth admits that he would've have a lot more time of he didn't send out any transmissions but he so firmly believes that there's someone listening even though no one has responded ever so he continues to send transmissions.

His dumbass once tried to save energy but foregoing pressuring the rooms in the station only to accidentally basically cut his brain off of oxygen as the cooling fans were unable to cool down his system without air. Don't worry he was fine and had learned his lesson

He has three robot maintenance kids who help him move stuff around the satellite. Names are Matt, Matts, and Maddie! Their method of traveling is space is straight up how the cores in Portal move around, on railings!

When he was planning out his descent down to Earth (because all that transmissions had killed all of his power and now he has to get off the Station if he doesn't want to power down), he didn't think of any sort of backup plans if he was unable to talk with his voice (because he had a ai friend who was supposed to help him get down) and guess what happens when he crashed onto Earth? Yeah, he couldn't talk and Matt and Matts died on impact. Maddie survived. Seth also died on impact but don't worry, someone managed to recover his core processors and revived him

He didn't know that he died at first until he was told so and Seth get baby's first existential crisis about being which he handled wonderfully!

Random facts about him: Seth begins his transmissions with "Hello World". He chose his own voice over a number of options because at some point he liked using that voice more than the others. Its a running gag that he Does Not Like Salt. He calls the computer scientist his mother and he's such a momma's boy. There was a moment where he was called child of man and Seth interjected, say he was actually the child of woman. He's not really good with plants.

He's an overprotective parent. He slowly starts freaking out when his maintenance robot daughter goes outside for the first time when he had previously encouraged her to not be afraid of going outside, saying that she's too delicate to go outside and is about to have a breakdown when Maddie comes back. He's such massive hypocrite <3

There's a lot more to Seth but I think this is good enough propaganda to, at the very least, get people interested in Lost Terminal.

#SETH #BABY

#(are you kidding me vote seth) #(i dont care hes cute not sexy vote for my son)

[gorgon-goddess-of-chaos]

Search

Fair warning, strong horror themes with this one. Also all usage of “bro/broski/dude” is in a gender neutral way, not because the reader is necessarily presenting masculinely. That’s just how he talks.

Spirit/AI!Bingiplier x GN!Reader, TW: death, corpses, technological/body horror Words: 798

The archive whirrs with artificial life, the high volume of fans and processors needed to keep it running. The floors creak under your feet as you approach a large screen. A large button reads “press for service”, prompting you to cautiously press it.

“Sup, dude! I’m Bing, ready to show you how to totally rock your way into finding what you’re looking for! How can I help a fellow broski?”

The appearance of a stereotypical skater bro is definitely not what you were expecting, but his overly cheerful demeanor is definitely charming.

“Um, I’m looking for a particular book? It’s the last one in the series I’m reading and I haven’t been able to find it in any local store.”

“Totally, duderino! Let me search for it real quick!”

The light faded from his eyes and his body goes limp, pressed up against the screen like he’s trapped in a glass box. It’s terrifying how lifeless he looked in less than a second. You just stand there, wide eyed with horror as you wait for him to come back to life.

“Bing…?”

“Sup bro!”

He appears on another screen, his body disappeared from the one in front of you.

“Are you okay!?”

“Yeah! Why?”

Bing looks at you like nothing ever happened, or that you didn’t just see his body ragdoll in front of you.

“N-No reason…”

“Alrighty! Got that book for you!”

A book is shot out of a chute nearby, thrown onto the floor with probably far too much thrust. Luckily, there’s bands around it keeping the pages shut.

“Sorry, I told them the tubes weren’t tubular, and they said they’d fix it!”

“How long ago was that?”

“Probably when I went missing!”

You hold the book in your hands, slowly turning around to face him again.

“…what?”

“Yeah, I’m probably around here somewhere, stuck between some of the shelves. Maybe I got closed in as some prank!”

“Bing, that is incredibly concerning.”

“Is it?”

The book is clutched to your chest, moving through the dusty shelves as curiosity takes a hold of you.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“I’m just searching for you, buddy.”

“Don’t- don’t go!”

Bing follows you from screen to screen, each one falling limp, looking more and more dead. You run so much faster as it starts freaking you out, looking for anything out of the ordinary. It isn’t until you reach the servers in the back that there’s two rows just ever so narrowly apart, the giant wheel that moves them jammed and clicking.

“Don’t go there!”

“Hey, hey it’s okay. Just gonna look-“

“You’re gonna get hurt, bro!”

You look to the screen next to you, the cheerful color of his avatar now gone, looking pale and gaunt. There’s pain in his eyes that you can see, even behind the glasses that cover his eyes.

“Bing, I want to find you. I want to help.”

“Just, be careful…”

The book is set on a nearby table, using all your strength to turn the wheel. It creaks, rusted threads resisting your momentum. But you manage to get them to roll apart, peeking your head in and gasping at the sight.

Wired into the server is Bing, or whomever Bing was before he was, Bing. His skateboard and sunglasses are crushed. It’s almost as if the servers are keeping him alive, absorbing him into their technological ecosystem. His skin is sickly pale, and even Bing turns away from the sight.

“Oh…”

“Deep breaths. We’re gonna get you out. I’m gonna call an ambulance and… I don’t know, my computer science teacher might know something?”

You call the proper authorities, waiting with him and trying to distract him from the sight. They work at disconnecting him from the servers, not risking either entity. With each wire snipped, his image becomes glitchier.

“Hey, fair warning kid, this is the last one. You’re getting out of this.”

“Tha-a-ank yo-o-o-ou…”

Bing looks ready to cry, pressing his hand against the screen, meeting yours and lining up your hands.

“I’ll be right here, waiting for you on the outside.”

He nods, and the last wire is snipped, wiping the image of him from all screens. There’s an eerie silence as you all wait to see how his body reacts, but he awakens with a gasp, looking frantically around. His eyes meet yours and he sobs, reaching weakly out for you until you take his hand.

“You did it, you found me.”

“I did. You’re worth finding, Bing.”

A paramedic passes you an identification card, showing “Brody Rays”.

“Or Brody. Because you deserve to be called by your name.”

“Will you come to the hospital with me…?”

He squeezes your hand, clearly terrified.

“Even if I wasn’t riding with you, I’d search until I found you again.”

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2023 Anime Overview: Oshi no Ko

Spoiler free premise: A doctor in a small town is a fan of a sixteen-year-old idol Ai Hoshino. But then Ai shows up with a secret pregnancy. Now he’s going to have to figure out how to deal with her secret and safeguard her from obsessive fans as he helps her give birth…

Spoiler for the entire first super long episode twist premise under the cut:

…that is, until the doctor is murdered by Ai’s stalker and reincarnates as Aqua, one of the twin children Ai gives birth to. The other twin, Ruby, is also a reincarnated soul. She was a former patient of the doctor’s, a twelve-year-old who was a huge fan of Ai before dying of terminal illness. Both twins are unaware of the other’s former identity, but they both enjoy their new lease on life and come to love Ai all the more.

All seems well (I mean well for the twins, that is, not for the viewer who has to grapple with all this bizarre and creepy premise) until the same stalker that murdered the doctor murders Ai herself. Aqua realizes his father/Ai’s secret lover must have leaked Ai’s location to the stalker on purpose. The problem is that Ai never told Aqua and Ruby who their father was. So Aqua vows to track down his father and kill the man for what he did to Ai, whatever the cost. After growing into a teenager, he gets more involved in the entertainment industry and begins his search for his mother’s true killer in earnest.

Yeah, that’s a lot isn’t it? And it probably doesn’t help when I tell you that before he becomes Aqua, the doctor basically admits he, an adult man, wouldn’t turn down a date from the sixteen year old Ai, prompting the nurse to call him a lolicon (because anime will always insist on using that phrase where they should say ‘pedophile/ephebophile'). Or that baby Aqua refuses to breastfeed with Ai, but his twelve-year-old-girl-in-a-past-life twin happily does so with a huge, lascivious grin. (There’s also a discussion where Aqua says ‘he’ll let it slide’ when he learns Ruby was a girl in her past life too, she’s like ‘wow so great I was born a girl so I can enjoy mama's/Ai's breasts” and he’s like “no it’s not okay actually” and you just have to sit back and realize this is a conversation you’re watching on TV. This is where your life has bought you. )

Why did you keep watching, you ask me when I say these things? Well, it was well-made and engrossing. The animation was great, the pace was snappy, and Ai was instantly endearing. Plus everyone was talking about it endlessly on a discord I belong to, and they said after the first episodes the weirdness of the reincarnation angle becomes less important, the horny baby antics go away, and it becomes more of a straightforward murder mystery and a intriguing exploration of the entertainment industry.

And that’s pretty much true. The show goes out of the way to handwave Aqua’s past life by saying going through puberty and infantile amnesia means he now doesn’t know where he starts and the other dude begins anymore, and he essentially feels like a teenager.

Where Oshi no Ko is truly compelling is it’s exploration of the predatory entertainment industry and the twisted misogyny and parasociality of idol fandom.

It makes some basic, but very needed, points. It points out that fans who freak out over 'their' idols having a relationship and blame them for it are gross, and the industry that puts them in a box is gross. This is very basic stuff, but still underdiscussed in anime. A lot of anime pretend all is well for an idol since the anime industry itself makes bank off idols. So it was satisfying to see to see a character scream ‘You all fall in love with idols, it's selfish to say idols can't fall in love! You take out all your anger on women because you don't have a girlfriend!" at the endless twitter comments saying it was "expected" that Ai was killed for ‘betraying’ her fans. It's also clear the author did a lot of research on the entertainment industry and has a lot to share. A lot of what he has to share is really interesting, and I appreciate that in his interviews he wanted to make sure Americans understand that Japanese actors and idols don’t have unions and it leaves them open to even more exploitation.

(Even the bizarre premise of the anime is nod to a gross “joke” idol fans make- a lot of 2channers apparently joke about wanting to “be reborn” as their favorite idol’s child whenever there’s a marriage announcement. However, it feels like the premise is rooted a lot in shock value...)

At the same time, Oshi no Ko doesn’t really go as hard as people act like it does. It’s not Perfect Blue, and it pulls its punches. It still goes for easy answers sometimes, and what’s worse, easy answers that lionize its obnoxious protagonist. Never is this more apparent that the cyberbullying arc.

First, let’s be clear- the cyberbullying arc focuses on a reality show actor, a girl named Akane, being driven to attempt suicide after a bunch of internet detractors harass her over something she did on the show (that the producers pressured her into doing in the first place). However, Aqua saves her at the last minute.

Hana Kimura lost her life in a very similar incident just a few months before this arc in the manga was published and the author’s spoken about it on record. Hana was a pro-wrestler who was on the reality show Terrace House, and what happened to her is the same thing in broad strokes, only she didn’t get a convenient rescue. But nobody bothered to contact Hana’s family about any of this, so Hana’s mother was blindsided when she heard about it, and claims some of the hate messages in the anime are identical to the ones Hana received in real life. She pleaded that "Because it raises important issues, I would like to support a work like Oshi no Ko.  However, I don't think it needs to be done in a way that makes people  who have actually been victimized on social media suffer when they see it.”.

Oshi no Ko fans, having just watched an arc about the serious consequences of internet harassment, were of course respectful to the grieving mother of a harassment victim- nah, they harassed Hana’s mom for criticizing the show. Another example of the incredible media literacy of anime fans.

All of that was already not a great look for the manga and show, and I think the kind thing to do would have been to contact the family before telling this story. But even if that wasn’t a thing, I didn’t like how this arc was handled. After Akane is saved by Aqua, he leaks her attempted suicide to the press. Though there’s a mention that this unethical, he’s never really taken to task or confronted with the fact this violation of her privacy could have led to another (potentially successful!) suicide attempt. Then he talks to the director, reminds him that Akane is a teenager and adults should protect children, the director has a change of heart. Aqua's given permission to release footage of the cast being friends, the harassment dies down and Akane immediately gets better offscreen, because that’s how trauma and depression works!

God, ‘depression is NBD! You recover quickly!’ is one of my biggest fiction pet peeves. Considering how despicable the producers were to Hana IRL, the whole storyline wrapping up like this wasn't just sloppy and lazy, it was insulting.

Rather than explore with the actual messy fallout this would realistically have for Akane, it just had Aqua get to be the edgy savior who was In the Right even though his actions were horrible and could have had catastrophic consequences. Also the ‘adults should protect kids’ moral felt weak when Hana and many other entertainers who hurt themselves after being mistreated by fans and the industry were adults. Did they not deserve to be protected?

And I guess it sums up a lot of my problems with the show. It's painstakingly researched and talks about interesting stuff (though sometimes one character has to become an exposition machine just so we don't miss ANY of the author's research, which can feel awkward). It has some interesting and complex main female characters … but 3/4s of them have some romantic connection to Aqua, which grates. It’s more honest about the idol industry than most anime, but also sometimes pulls its punches when it comes to exploring actual mental illness and industry abuse.

'Aqua is the smartest and all the girls are sooo into him’ gets pretty annoying. Two girls are already in love with him, and even without the really unnecessary ‘was a pedophile in a past life’ baggage, he barely has a personality. Aaaand there’s how we have to listen to him muse about whether he was in love with his mom. Aaaand there's the looming threat that the next girl to fall in love with him will be his sister, since she muses she was in love with the doctor in her past life.

Once sis mentioned that, I started wondering if I should even come back to season 2. Leaning towards ‘no’ right now (definitely not if the manga really does…that). I don’t regret watching ONK- it was interesting, well animated and produced, and the theme song is a certified bop- but it’s also not something I could ever recommend to anyone. It’s the most fraught show I’ve watched in a long time, and in the end, I’m not sure all of its weird parts add up to a satisfying, truly subversive story.  It’s a mess, but time will tell if it’s an intriguing enough mess for me to come back to.

[hils79]

Hils Watches Kiseki: Dear to Me - Ep 9

Okay *deep breath* let's continue

Uh...who is this?

OH MY GOD! That's Bai Zongyi's university admission letter. DOES HE HAVE AMNESIA FROM HIS HEAD INJURY???

Look, usually I am all for an amnesia storyline but hasn't Bai Zongyi suffered enough?

Fuuuuuuuck! He hasn't just forgotten Bai Zongyi he's forgotten everything! Like even his own family (which they are totally manipulating him for because now he can't remember that he hates them)

I don't even know who this dude is and I already don't like him

God, this poor kid trying to drink away his pain. Ai Di needs to come and take care of him

Oh there he is

His shirt says best because he is the best

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH 😭

Oh, sweetie, no. Not when Chen Yi is so drunk he barely knows who you are

I'm not sure that's what you want to hear from a dude you're about to have sex with

Ai Di is crying. WHY IS EVERYTHING STILL SO TERRIBLE?

😭

God, is Bai Zongyi going to end up with amnesia too? THIS IS NOT FUN.

Why am I suddenly Very Concerned? If anything happens to him...

NOW we get the 4 year time skip? NOW???

He looks good, but god he looks so sad.

Okay, he obviously knows Ai Di and did he didn't freak out when Chen Yi showed up and carried Ai Di away so he probably doesn't have amnesia. He's even smiling. GO SAVE YOUR MAN BAI ZONGYI! God, does he even know about the amnesia?

Aww did he quit and go back to school?

Conflicted because I am not wild about Chen Yi dragging Ai Di back to the gang when Ai Di has made it clear he wants to leave, but also I really do enjoy Chen Yi picking him up and carrying him like this

Nooooo Chen Yi made him a meal of spicy food because he knows how much Ai Di loves it 🥺

He looks good with natural hair but I do miss the bleached hair and the choker

Nothing about this entire messy situation is straight

Well, at least he knows I suppose. That makes it marginally less painful, but only marginally.

Oh, shit, he DOES have a form of amnesia. Just not as serious as Fan Zerui. God, everything is terrible.

SOBBING! They had better meet in the bakery the same way he met Ai Di that time.

Of course he's got someone watching Ai Di

Wait, has Ai Di bleached his hair again?

Well, things are still terrible but fractionally less than the previous episode?

[unclefungusthegoat]

So I've been thinking about THIS:

for like a whole day now, and it's got me like:

So here are my notes and questions and thoughts:

Gonna be long, going to put under a 'keep reading'

THE PEOPLE INVOLVED

Simon Mirren. He created Versailles, and him posting this image suggests that he's working on a project related to Versailles or the Louis XIV period of history.

'He's back'. The word 'back' here absolutely suggests a return of someone we're familiar with.

Alex Vlahos is INVESTED in whatever it is - suggesting 'HE' is Philippe. He liked the post and commented 'Makes you wonder why he ever went away'...

... and then David Wolstenscroft, the OTHER creator of Versailles, replied saying 'And how'.

This is so cryptic. They all know who 'he' is. Alex seems perhaps wistful, maybe about the end of the show and therefore the end of Philippe. 'And how'... I've no freaking idea what this means. How 'Philippe' went away? How he's come back?

How he went away... the show ended.

How he's come back... well I have a theory later.

This screenshot above is taken from Gabriella Petrillo's Twitter account - as you can see, Alex shared the pic to his Instagram story captioned 'Oh, who invited you?'

Which is in QUOTATION MARKS.

Meaning that this is either Philippe asking the audience, or a general character tagline for the project.

OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIKED THE PIC

Anna Brewster (Montespan), Sarah Winter (Louise de la Valliere), Raphael Roger Levy (The Masked Man in S1), and also Nicki Oebel who works with Alex as the second half of his film company Cowhouse Films

TAGGED NAMES

Tagged in this picture are:

ALEX VLAHOS (and his tag is directly on the man's head, which might not mean anything, but suggests it's him)

EVAN WILLIAMS (not him, Chevy is blond)

GEORGE BLAGDEN (the only other real candidate as to who this could be, but compared side by side to the Versailles promo photos, and with the lack of response from George, I doubt it)

STUART BOWMAN (too young to be him)

Also tagged: Versailles Series, MonChevy Love, Versailles fan club.

Bonus: Helen Mirren (Simon Mirren's aunt), Bella Thorne, both actors, and also Louis Vuitton Official and Harris Reed, both fashion houses/designers

THE IMAGE

OK, so lets assume this is meant to be Philippe.

COSTUME/HAIR

The jacket is the wrong style for 1600s Versailles. It's more 1700s, and the real Philippe died in 1701. The costume designers for the original show were METICULOUS in their choices and the way things were worn. Including COLOUR PALATTES. Every character had their own. And Philippe only wore white like this once... at the costume party in S1 E9 when he dressed identically to Louis. Generally, Philippe wore more grey and silver.

If the figure is Philippe, the hair is the right colour, but shorter, and also half up, which is not a style Philippe ever wore in the show. His hair was sleeker with much looser waves, whereas this man has quite thick hair.

LOCATION

I think the Chateau in the photo is Fontainebleau, where some of Versailles was filmed, but I can't find a direct parallel photo from the position 'Philippe' is standing in. However, Fontainebleau has lots of water near it, like in the photo. (And I also feel like I saw Alex visiting there on Instagram within the past few months but I don't know if my brain is playing tricks on me)

IS IT AI?

My sister pointed out the image could be AI generated and honestly? I agree. No hands on show, and the bottom of the sleeves look a bit weird. No location tagged either. Historical costume that isn't quite right for the period we're assuming it to be, or for Philippe's character, which wouldn't be inkeeping with the series' aesthetic.

Could definitely be AI.

REALITY CHECK

Versailles was the most expensive show Canal+ had ever produced. I think it still is. And a new series, or spinoff series, would be just as expensive to produce. This isn't Game of Thrones we're talking about. The show has its hardcore fans, but it wasn't exactly a household name, which studios would throw masses of money at to reboot.

The story of S3 of Versailles also ended in the early-mid 1680s, just as the cast were reaching the point where it seemed ludicrous that they all still looked so young. The cast are now all doing different projects, several have married and had children since. They've moved on with their lives. To think they'd all return to a reboot or spinoff show... is unlikely.

However...

SAINT CLOUD

Alex Vlahos tormented us all with this snippet of a 'Saint Cloud' concept trailer a couple of months ago. Saint Cloud was the name of Philippe's chateau, and his spinoff idea was always a MonChevy comedy show about their lives and debauchery and stuff at their home.

But let's face it, this whole thing feels unlikely, and more just like a bit of a fun idea than something that a studio would actually produce, and he's only just started writing a concept trailer...

BUT.

SPEAKING OF...

ALEX VLAHOS

I'm gonna do a whole section on Alex Vlahos, because there's no way he's not involved. He, in fact, announced something at the convention that gives me my biggest theory about what this is.

Alex is obviously a driving force for the Versailles fandom. He was a key figure at the conventions and at the con in May I went to, and on Instagram shortly after, he announced he is going to do a Versailles podcast next year. It'll be a 30 episode thing, one for each episode of the show, and he said he'll have guest stars to chat to... including other actors and the showrunners, Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft.

So.

That is a CONFIRMED upcoming Versailles project.

And so this image?

MY THEORY

I'm running with the theory that it's is a promo image for Alex's Versailles podcast, possibly made with AI.

It would make sense.

It's something for the fans, hence the tagged accounts. It'll feature the tagged actors to talk about the show. It's not something that is going to cost a million euros to make, so is more realistic. It's not a long term commitment for actors who have other jobs now.

It shows a man who looks a bit like Philippe - looking back at the chateau, as if reminiscing about his time there... just as Alex is going to do on his podcast.

BUT'S

Of course, this is just my theory. If it is the case, the fact that this podcast had already been announced twice makes the mysterious nature of this pic/conversation weird. And the fact that it was Simon Mirren posting it first, not Alex Vlahos, would be weird too, although maybe it's just because it's going to be quite an 'official' thing, with the support of the showrunners.

But I digress.

Anyway, on a final note, I would VERY VERY VERY willing to be proven wrong, and have a Versailles S4 or a MonChevy spinoff happening, I might actually cry if it does hahahaha

[golbrockstar]

Anyway, here’s the full review under a cut in case anyone hasn’t seen it and doesn’t want spoilers :)

I enjoyed it well enough, about the same as a usual video of theirs. 6/10, I like the bones but the finished product wasn’t really up to snuff.

I’ll say what I liked first so you don’t think I just wrote this post to hate on the film lol:

It’s a really interesting story of the land and them going there was really cool, I definitely believe that there’s something about the place that’s naturally unnatural.

The ghost hunter they talked to clocking them right away about Colby having come out on the other side of something but Sam still hanging on to something. It was a moment that kind of continues to solidify the things we’ve been seeing from both of them, especially this year, post-Colby’s cancer treatment.

The Estes method at the end of the movie was really interesting. Leave it to Colby to be the one to get all the good stuff lol.

When they heard someone outside the cave, that was genuinely really creepy to me and I was nervous the whole time.

You’d never get me out there, no freaking way. Especially not at night.

I always enjoy the Sam, Colby, and Nate dynamic.

A few (lol) gripes I had:

It felt like too much and literally nothing happened at the same time. Like they were trying to tell a story but didn’t have all the beats figured out and it just felt tedious after a bit.

I thought the AI looking images (I don’t know that they are and won’t claim they are such without knowing) were used too much and too repetitively. Had they been a wider variety a visuals it could’ve been cool but it was just the same ones over and over again and lost their creep factor after about the second time through.

The movie could’ve been about 10 minutes shorter if they just cut some of these unnecessary visuals, which it kind of needed cause it was losing me by the end.

They glided right through them setting off some explosives on the land??? Like they didn’t explain it, introduce the guys who were doing it, or anything. Just gave like maybe a minute of time to it and then moved on.

Guys stretch that out a bit and cut some of the funky visuals I’m begging you.

It really bugged me that they didn’t talk to a Native American shaman or even a native historian. Like don’t get me wrong, the people they did talk to were nice and all but if you’re going to talk so heavily about this Native American shaman protecting the land and holding rituals there, maybe talk to some native Americans who maybe know about that stuff??

It just felt very naive and weird of them to talk to a ghost hunter (who may also have been a medium of some sort?? Idk they don’t explain it) and a white archeologist about the subject matter.

And also just ignoring her when she asked for that part to not be in the movie? Like guys she says it right there, asks you not to put it in but you do anyway? Dick move.

They were so adamant about being respectful to the land and coming in peace, but then they a) kept saying the S word even though they literally talked about how you shouldn’t say it b) lit off fire crackers at the end of the movie??? And c) wanted to get a reaction so they lit off explosives, which they knew was disrespectful.

They honestly frustrated me a lot in this one and that’s not a problem I usually have with them.

It’s really cool that they’re getting these movie opportunities but I hope the next time what they put out is a bit more cohesive.

Honestly, idk if they’re gonna post this one to YouTube like they did the last one, but if you’re an snc fan, I’d just recommend watching it the traditional way. It’s what it’s built for and the movie itself isn’t really worth the price of the movie theater popcorn, which is a shame.

If you enjoyed it though more power to you! I didn’t not like it, I can just see areas where I wanted it improved.

[ellieellieoxenfree]

22, 24, 25

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

canon is not always great at doing this either, but trauma and disability. i look at some of my faves — rita farr, josee, vegas theerapanyakul, ai di, hartley rathaway, teresa mendoza, rita west — and they’re fucking absolute messes, all defined by some brutal shit. their respective canons have handled this with varying degrees of sensitivity (you know exactly who i’m subtweeting) and i don’t participate in all of the fandoms for these pieces of media, but i turn into an absolutely wild beast when people gloss over that because it’s too much of a challenge to include. people who faced years of childhood abuse or who were suddenly confronted with an unexpected, uncontrollable loss of autonomy are going to struggle with those things. one of these characters got shot multiple times in the abdomen, for chrissakes. and people are like ‘idk i guess he can have a marathon fuck sesh it’s cool this won’t interfere with his life in any way’ like YES IT WILL YES IT IS FUCKING PERMANENT, DIANE. there are physical effects and limitations that never go away. there is an ongoing, volatile sense of loss that will body you over and over again for the rest of your life. i love josee for tapping into the anger of disability (you know how i feel about my best girl) but i also love characters whose canons force them to grapple with a reality thrust upon them at a point in their lives when they can draw a clear delineation between Me Before and Me Now, rather than those who have never known the grief of your bodily function being ripped from you unexpectedly. and that isn’t just disability. that’s betrayal and abuse and loss of security and stability and identity. and if you can’t actually deal with the whole of a character’s raw ugly misery and anger on top of the fun fluffy bits to read or write then MAYBE the messes are not your arena.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

ooooh i’m gonna get canceled for this one but i will block people who get into internet slapfights about gender and sexuality. i’m an old shithead so i find the trend of needing to affix 500 microlabels to every character exhausting, especially in canons where none of these people would have the remotest fucking idea what you’re banging on about. and further, i find it extremely off-putting when a male character expresses traits that aren’t in lockstep with stereotypical or toxic masculinity and immediately gets painted as trans. i see one of these essays where you spend 10k assigning things to a character that are really just you projecting your own identity onto your fave and onto the blocklist you go. some of y’all make me miss fucking kinnies.

i also cannot fucking abide ship wars, because i came from a fandom where people got so mad about a pairing taking up too much screen time they engineered a plot to ruin a real person’s career over it (that was wave one of the bullshit, but i digress). i have watched that shit happen for years and years and yeaaaars — usagi/mamoru and seiya/usagi fans used to throw temper tantrums at each other like they were getting paid to, way back in the day — and it has never gotten any less noxious. it has, in fact, just gotten fucking worse with the increasing curdling of twitter and stan culture. it was bad enough when it was just screaming at each other over which boring girl harry potter should bone but now people have let that shit spill into the real world. now it’s just a normal thing to try to affect someone’s careers, or discuss your rpf ships in front of the people involved. FUCKING BOUNDARIES. LEARN THEM. RESPECT THEM. what the fuck is wrong with you people. stop sharing your fics with them or tagging them in your art. and yes, that even goes for bryan fuller. just because he’s a freak who probably beat off to all the hannibal/will art you sent him doesn’t mean you should have sent it in the first place.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

since you’re my BTS buddy…i wish for a meteorite to strike everyone who identifies as an army because if i’m stupid enough to go into the tag, 99% of the posts are ‘hybe/bighit is out to sabotage (fave’s) career’ or ’this is why (ship) is the only truth and everyone else is a dirty sinner going to hell for wrongthink’ and holy shit TAKE A MIKE’S HARD LOOK AT YOURSELVES FOR FIVE MINUTES. if you are so deeply invested in the sex lives of some random korean guys that you are getting legitimately angry at other people on the internet about them not thinking your preferred boy is making the sign of the two-backed aardvark with your other preferred boy, log off. go the fuck outside. i’m not above cracking jokes but some of y’all are rolling out the murderboards and obsessively documenting every single moment their faves happen to be in the same area of the stage to explain why one of them moving their little finger an inch to the right means he’s gonna get his ass eaten after the show.

the career sabotage shit i don’t even know, understand, or care to know. i see it in the tag fucking constantly and it exhausts me. i need to not engage in baseless conspiracy theories. i’m not here for this. just like i’m not here to figure out who in the group is taking a ride on the humpatron 3000, i’m not here to go through a million posts on 50 social media sites every day combing every single word choice for evidence that my faves are one wrong step from being put to death by bighit management. i just want to enjoy myself for five goddamn minutes.

as a very casual new fan, my experience has been 1% gifs of people whose faces and talent i enjoy and 99% screeching harridan drama whose point entirely eludes me. i hate all of these people. i hope they fall into the ocean. maybe the fish will be a more receptive audience than i am.

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

Sexiest Podcast Character 2024 — Scripted Bracket — Round 1

Propaganda

Sydney Sargent (Camp Here & There):

Sydney Sargent was submitted without propaganda.

Seth (Lost Terminal):

Seth is a cute disembodied ai located on a satellite called Station 6 orbiting a earth that has gone through major climate changes (Like, the Mediterranean Sea became incredibly salty lakes and Antarctica's snow has melted, leaving only rocky terrain type of major climate change). He was created when original crew realized they can't complete the mission as ground control had ghosted them + supplies are dwindling so a computer scientist(with the crew helping her out) created an artificial intelligence who can act as another crewmember, thus, making so the mission lasts indefinitely.

He's so so lonely. The crew is unfortunately gone and Seth has them stored in a room for the last like, 18+ years. Season one is just Seth rambling about himself and his situation via sending out transmissions from the satellite in the hopes that someone may pick up on his transmissions. One of his main goals is to make more friends.

The act of sending out transmissions eats away at his limited power source. So much power that Seth admits that he would've have a lot more time of he didn't send out any transmissions but he so firmly believes that there's someone listening even though no one has responded ever so he continues to send transmissions.

His dumbass once tried to save energy but foregoing pressuring the rooms in the station only to accidentally basically cut his brain off of oxygen as the cooling fans were unable to cool down his system without air. Don't worry he was fine and had learned his lesson

He has three robot maintenance kids who help him move stuff around the satellite. Names are Matt, Matts, and Maddie! Their method of traveling is space is straight up how the cores in Portal move around, on railings!

When he was planning out his descent down to Earth (because all that transmissions had killed all of his power and now he has to get off the Station if he doesn't want to power down), he didn't think of any sort of backup plans if he was unable to talk with his voice (because he had a ai friend who was supposed to help him get down) and guess what happens when he crashed onto Earth? Yeah, he couldn't talk and Matt and Matts died on impact. Maddie survived. Seth also died on impact but don't worry, someone managed to recover his core processors and revived him

He didn't know that he died at first until he was told so and Seth get baby's first existential crisis about being which he handled wonderfully!

Random facts about him: Seth begins his transmissions with "Hello World". He chose his own voice over a number of options because at some point he liked using that voice more than the others. Its a running gag that he Does Not Like Salt. He calls the computer scientist his mother and he's such a momma's boy. There was a moment where he was called child of man and Seth interjected, say he was actually the child of woman. He's not really good with plants.

He's an overprotective parent. He slowly starts freaking out when his maintenance robot daughter goes outside for the first time when he had previously encouraged her to not be afraid of going outside, saying that she's too delicate to go outside and is about to have a breakdown when Maddie comes back. He's such massive hypocrite <3

There's a lot more to Seth but I think this is good enough propaganda to, at the very least, get people interested in Lost Terminal.

[smww4ever]

Hello! Hello!

Hope you're good?

What did you think of Henry Cavill's portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman ?

And do you think they made the right choice in picking david corenswet ?

Well Hello Hello there! Thanks for asking. Hope you’re well too.

Flattered you care for my opinion and thoughts on this. Well I read your questions, so here goes…

Henry Cavill was born to play Superman. It was actually exciting to see his cameo in Black Adam. Wow I thought there’s that movie magic you hardly see anymore and then they killed it. The public was robbed of what could have been. Even the cameo in Shazam in which he should have been so we could have seen his face was theft. We will never get to see his version of Superman fleshed out. Sad, man, sad.

If they never ‘restore the Snyderverse’ whatever you may feel about the director, it will be another gaping hole in cinema history.

Add to that, we never got to see Superman get older, or any engaging stories and villains. It’s always the same origin story, same villain (Lex), rescue the damsel (Lois) and maybe he dies in the end.

Ah yes Mr. Corenswet

David, frankly looks like the Dollar Store version of Cavill. No hate on the man. Since they got rid of Henry, they went with an obvious clone. How he will carry the role?…we shall see if they ever release a trailer. No teasers at the SDCC which Gunn had opportunity for but only revealed a lame logo.

The pictures and video from the filming in Cleveland look awful. I know many have convinced themselves that it looks freaking awesome! But it just reminds me of when your loved one cooks you a meal and trying to be nice you eat it knowing full well that it needs to be thrown in the trash. Me on the other hand, I’m the friend who got invited to the meal and can see a mile away that it will send me straight to the toilet. So I just nod, smile and politely decline the meal saying, “Oh no thanks I already ate.” 😂

I don’t have any high hopes for this new Superman film. It will be like most of Gunn’s movies have been: jokes and vulgarity, and Amanda Waller in everything.

As for SuperWonder fans, the movie will be Lois-centric. So guys, just go watch SuperWonder animated.

Heck even the popular TV show Superman & Lois got axed. I don’t watch it but if they’re not listening to the SuperWonder fans, they sure as heck aren’t listening to the Clois fans either.

If I’m wrong and it turns out to be the Dawn of A New Beginning for DC [in a Vought-voice] and Gunn is the DC savior then I guess I must have missed out on some tasty slop.

Hope that answers your question. Christopher Reeve was great as Superman. Movies back then had that magic. I remember seeing that movie when it came out in the theater. He should have done a Superman 6 movie tbh as corny as the other sequels were, and they really missed the boat in not doing any team-ups with the actors of that time: Lynda Carter, Adam West and Chris Reeve. We all see it now in Ai explorations and sadly it’s too late.

You know I get this same look when I’m in the bathroom. Hope he doesn’t tear up a giant hole in the concrete.

Until next time or next question… ✌️ 😂

[lecterthewhale]

Having work when the newest episode of Oshi No Ko comes out? Lame. Anyway, it’s later than my last few posts for this show, but I finally watched episode 5 and I love it!

This episode, in many ways, seemed to bring back a lot of that humor we saw and loved in the first episode that’s been largely missing in the past few episodes. Yes, we still have Aqua being obsessive about getting revenge and everyone still misses Ai(though, to be fair, I don’t know if it’s possible not to miss Ai), but that wasn’t the main focus.

In the past few episodes, the main comedic parts have come from Kana(assuming Aqua’s gay, following Aqua home, freaking out when she found out that Aqua wasn’t in the celebrity department, fighting with Ruby), and this episode continued that!

Considering how the previous episode ended, we all knew that Kana was going to feature decently heavily in this episode, but man I did not expect her going joining Ruby to go down in quite the way it did here! I mean, first of all Ruby and Alana constantly fight! I can’t wait to see these two continue to get closer because it’s honestly hilarious seeing the two of them go at each other yet also work together. On top of that, Aqua begging her to join? Hilarious, but also man did Aqua do Kana dirty! I love him so much! 😂

Okay, and then Ruby? She’s still so sweet and innocent, but now she’s finally starting to become an idol! Oh, and the way she wants to be honest and not have any lies? Man is she so sweet and naive! That being said, the fact that Ai was an expert lier and Ruby plans to be an idol who doesn’t lie is an interesting juxtaposition and it will be interesting to compare the two as the series progresses—especially since you know that the one thing that Ruby will have to lie about is Ai.

I will say, though, that having her idol group named the same thing as her mother’s seems like a dumb move considering that’s something that she probably wants to keep a secret. Like, there’s no way people aren’t gonna sit down and compare the new B-Komachi to the old one, so there’s bound to be a decent number of people who might notice the similarities between Ai and Ruby. Hopefully Ruby won’t end up regretting any of this!

As for my boy, Aqua, man I am laughing! I mean, we all saw the dating show coming(our obsessive little boy is willing to throw away his dignity for his revenge anytime!), but man, the fact that our lovable little sulky boy hates it all so much and yet is acting his literal heart out pretending to be happy about all of it is sending me! 🤣🤣🤣

As much as I love Aqua, I will say that the part where Aqua was talking about his love for Ai was a bit weird/uncomfy since it was framed in a romantic way yet she’s his mother and all that. It’s the thing that made me hesitate in the first episode, but Aqua has somehow managed to be respectful towards Ai despite being her fan, you know? Like, refusing breast feeding, not being overly cuddly, supporting Ai with her pregnancy, things like that. To me, all of it made what would otherwise be awkward and uncomfortable humorous and acceptable. This conversation brought up all those things, but Aqua said it wasn’t a romantic love, so I just hope that’s solidified a bit more as it gets brought up.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see how all this goes down—who will join Kana and Ruby’s Idol Group, how the dating show will go down, what’s up with the girls in the dating show(because I’m calling it now: all of them are sketchy!), and what will happen next! I really can’t predict much for what will happen in this show and it makes me so excited and curious about what’s going to happen next!

[captorcorp]

ok im rambling about my thoughts on tadc bc i have many (long post)

ok first of all general character opinions with walk cycle gifs to break up the walls of text (gifs from here):

caine: the silly guy... literally why red recommended this to me was the digital world setting + an ai character and they know me too well because every ai character is my favorite by default. i'm very excited to see what we end up learning about him throughout the series, also i absolutely love that he was inspired by AM from ihnmaims but 'if he was a silly little guy instead of fueled by hate' or whatever the creator said about him. his weird head design is really creative though it does discomfort me a bit sometimes, something about the combination of eyes and teeth;;; still think he's kinda tumblr sexyman coded besides the teeth head but most people are too distracted with objectifying jax so he gets a pass

pomni: she's cool!! it's hard to form a solid view of her so far bc most of what we've seen is her being understandably overwhelmed with and O.O at everything, but she seems like she'll be a pretty interesting protag - i liked them showing her moments of weakness with leaving ragatha behind too. that being said i think she stretched out the 'omg this isn't real what's going on???' freaking out bits way too long but that's just a personal gripe with that sorta stuff in media like this. if i was isekai'd into the digital circus i would simply be so chill about it after only 5 minutes of panic. rip to pomni but i'm different /j oh yeah also a fun character design even though i don't really like clowns she's just very Shaped

jax: motherfucker. jk i actually don't feel that strongly about him i just find him slightly annoying at times. at first i thought 'oh ok he's a loveable asshole yeah he's kinda entertaining so he's cool' and then he just ended up being more asshole than loveable. also thought he was sexyman coded and was unfortunately right this time ^^; apparently he's the creator's fave too?? so hopefully he doesn't get away with too much stuff without consequences, or he's gotta actually get some positive traits yknow. however i do love his design with the big grin and semicircle eyes and etc, very cartoony and fun. if the controversial blorbo poll was still open i would submit him bc it seems like the fandom is split on him. but also kinda tired of him from fandom overexposure

ragatha: she's really nice and i want to be her friend - looking forward to seeing where her character goes in the future though, bc we've only seen her being polite and forgiving and sweet and etc, and i think she should be allowed to kill people /hj. it was cool seeing her get glitched too even if ;-;. i was never into raggady ann stuff like i've heard the creator is but her design is still cute too, even if less surreal than some of the others ^^

bubble: keep forgetting this guy exists, not a huge fan tbh? gets some points for being another ai though. looks like a chain chomp. i do like that they're able to be popped and respawn though, that's a fun quirk. the scene with them cleaning up after pomni is p gross

kinger: i barely thought about this guy during the pilot tbh so was surprised to see the fandom all adoring him. kinda just reminds me of fear from inside out. but actually overexposure of him from tumblr and other people enjoying him kinda made him grow on me a bit (reverse of what has been happening w jax). he's pretty cool to me now. i can't believe fandom already gave him a tragic backstory with that queen chesspiece we see crossed out...

zooble: another character i didn't really think about, though i like their design and detachable body parts and such. i also couldn't really get a good sense of their personality tbh? i think they just need more screentime honestly

gangle: i wanted to like her a lot more than i did when i first saw her bc her design is very fun, with the ribbon-based body and comedy/tragedy masks and etc. but ended up not getting too interested in her as a character. but i think she's in the same category as zooble where she needs more screen time and character development though? bc she still seems like she could be cool if her personality gets explored more

thoughts on the overall pilot:

ngl i have a whole bunch of gripes about it despite also rotating it in my mind. i feel like a lot of the characters are a little 1-dimensional currently, even if i do find those dimensions appealing for the most part, hoping they get more characterization in the actual main season though. also most of the pacing/jokes didn't really land for me or felt a bit forced, though there were some good bits like king's hands following zooble's head, pomni opening doors to surreal scenes like the bathing mannequin, jax getting choked by zooble's hand, the randomly generated 5-letter names, also any of the cartoony imagery gags like the censor bars or cartoon dust cloud of gloinks.

however, overall i enjoyed it still!!! all of the animation has so much charm and character to it, surreal semi-human character designs are always great, it's very colorful and bright and reminiscent of old early 2000s activity center games, etc. it gives me kinda 'welcome home' vibes, with both being bright and cheery exteriors meant to mimic old media style that mask darker stuff under the surface. also the general plot of like. people being trapped in this weird setting and forced to participate in fucked up (?) games by some mysterious mastermind (well we know who the mastermind is but not much about him) while struggling to escape or understand why they've been trapped here... very common plot but always is intriguing to me. also of course [holds digital worlds and ais in my hands] my beloved tropes...

thoughts on the fandom:

i am. concerned. that there seems to be an overlap with the h*zb*n h*t*l fandom;; but also i don't know anything about that show's status besides like. callout posts about the creator and people complaining about the pacing/character designs and etc. so i don't really know if all of the hh fans is bc it's like, also an animated series that appeals to the same audience? or if it's going to be too similar or inspired from it or also have a problematic creator somehow 😔

otherwise it's whatever, maybe a bit on the :I side bc i already saw someone make a y*nd*r* jax imagine post and it scared me hjkdfs. otherwise mostly just usual fandom stuff i think? dunno.

actually nevermind i just got back from twitter and apparently the creator is already feeling :/ about their own fandom and apparently people on tiktok are hcing some fucked up stuff about jax so. can fans be normal for 2 seconds please.

[magicalgirlagency]

How would you rewrite Oshi no Ko?

Well, for starters: DROP THE REINCARNATION BIT. Let Aqua and Ruby be their own characters with their own memories. And Aqua doesn't have an Oedipus Complex; he loves his mom in NORMAL ways a son should love their mom.

Their mother, Ai, would also be way much less plastic and glittery; like, have her starry eyes be fancy contact lenses and her purple hair be a wig or something! Let her struggle with the pain of being a single teen mom instead of her smiling through the pain 24/7!

And then, the tragedy happens: Their mother is murdered by a deranged fan, but they have no other choice but to keep it to themselves. As they grow older, they also grow tired of being treated like objects and forced to hide their grief away to save face, and both decide to go on a journey to demand justice. Not only for their mother, but to idols everywhere.

The Hoshino Twins become severely critical of idol culture and use their influence as artists to protest for their rights and start an union (there's an union for everything these days; wouldn't be surprised if asian idols started unionizing one day...)

They expose the filth of the idol industry, all of their draconic regulations and the unethical treatment and negligence that comes with them. In doing so, they're challenging their luxurious lifestyles and putting their identities as Ai's children at risk for a greater cause, as they demand for the investigations of their mother's murderer to continue until the perpetrator is found and dealt with.

They would also call Japan out for treating mental health as taboo, demanding it to be fully free of charge, for idols and fans alike. If their country actually bothered to treat mental issues with the seriousness that they deserve AND made it accessible to all, many of the problems within the idol circles would be minimized.

There would be LESS crazy fans on murder sprees, and there would be LESS cases of idols commiting suicide.

There! It's SO much easy to come up with a series' premise and not be a major freak about it.