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leportraitducadavre · 4 years ago

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On Itachi, his fandom, and moral standpoints

Once again I come back with a meta, unsurprisingly, of Naruto’s manga and, more specifically, about a character in particular, Uchiha Itachi, his fandom and what it entails and represents. My decision to make him the primary focus of this meta is just to bring light (open the door for more in depth debates) of a deeper, much more complicated problem that Itachi represents, but undoubtedly surpasses him and the Naruto manga as a whole.

Be warned, my take on Itachi’s fandom does not contemplate those fans who merely enjoy him but do not negate important parts of his character, if that’s your particular case, then be assured that I did not have you in my mind when writing this. This is about, let’s say, the hardcore fandom he possesses, that justifies (and to some extent, celebrates) his implications in the UCM and blindfold loyalty to Konoha and its system.

How can I even begin to introduce Itachi’s character? What he was supposed to be and what he surprisingly became? How to start to explain his fenomenon? Itachi was not supposed to be good, from his introduction he was a manipulative, dark character that tortured physically and mentally Sasuke and was a threat to Naruto’s (the protagonist) life. At no point during the first part of the manga were we able to see glimpses of a “good” Itachi that the narrative later on tried to establish, and yet, there were three (conected) factors of imperative importance to understand the raise of his character from the first part of the manga to the other.

The first one was, let’s call it, his intrinsecal persona's appeal (and everything it encompases).

Itachi’s not the first cryptic male character that gets favored by a large part of the fandom for that mere trait (look at any shönen or show and see how many characters whose sole trait is to be mysterious becomes the fandom’s favorite), added to the fact that he’s powerful enough to subdue men who’s status of geniuses are often highlighted in the manga (Orochimaru and Kakashi), and his... physical charm, you have a powerful combo to make readers incline more and more on his favor. Itachi had sparked their interest.

There are boxes to fill to attract the public interest to a character, and Itachi filled in all of them.

The Power-Mystery-Beauty triangle is not an unknown formula (Christian Gray, Edward Cullen, to name characters from mainstream, from other manga there is Light, now surprisingly, Dabi) and in every fiction work it has appeared, it worked to lure the (female) public towards it.

But is that enough? For some, yes, for most, Itachi represents something that they desired profoundly, and that’s entirely attached to Sasuke’s character.

Even back in the first part of the manga, Sasuke’s character was received mixedly, there were people who saw his personality as too abrasive (similar to Itachi’s but because Sasuke was supposed to be with the nice guys, this aspect of him clashed rather harshly with his position on the narrative) and considered him a mere emo who believed himself to be better than Naruto and Sakura (he was, but he also acknowledged this fact, which make some readers disapprove of him even more).

Itachi challenged that “so-called” superiority, additionally downgrading and humiliating him in a way readers felt he, to some extent, deserved. The dislike of part of the fandom of Sasuke’s character found a way of purchase inside the manga. Naruto wasn’t strong enough (and eventually cared too much) to subdue Sasuke, Sakura was too in awe with him to “stand up against him”, Kakashi saw his greatness and taught him powerful jutsus while paying zero attention to his other students. Until Itachi, no other character seemed to put Sasuke “in his place”, because even the villains of each arc seemed particularly obsessed with Sasuke and Sasuke only, elevating even more his importance and status and sidelining Naruto and (of course), Sakura, who were left with mere participations in what seemed a Sasuke-focused plot. Up at this point, Sasuke was far more important than the actual protagonist of the manga but Itachi, who was actually Sasuke’s goal, who was actually the person Sasuke aspired to surpass, abused him, manipulated him and -more importantly- seemed more focused on getting Naruto -hence, retribution: the only person Sasuke seemed to care about didn’t seem care about him at all.

Itachi’s coolness, strength and mature handsomeness (that Sasuke did not present until Shippuden, but Itachi was literally introduced with), plus the dislike of Sasuke’s character and the belief that he needed to be rectified, the reason of which will be brought up next, appealed the teenage fandom in a way strong enough to catapult him inside the popularity polls just right after his presentation.

The Self-inserts inside Itachi’s fandom

As I introduced, a large part of the fandom back in the first part already, and in Shippuden particularly, had a deep dislike of Sasuke’s character and wanted him to suffer -to be beaten, to be “owned”, Itachi’s character fulfilled that wish, which takes me to the second factor.

You can’t explain this point in particular without adding the “self-insert” and “reader-insert” notions that often gets attached to Itachi (Sakura, Naruto and Hinata) fans,

“Self-insertion is a practice by authors of writing themselves into their own stories, either explicitly or in thinly-disguised form; in a fannish context this most often means fan writers writing themselves into their favorite source material so that they can interact with canon or its characters” (X)

Whilst

“Reader-Insert is a type of fanfiction, almost always written in 2nd person Point of View; the protagonist is always the reader, and is usually paired with one of the canon characters. "Reader-insert" typically has a hyphen hyphen, but is also known as Canon X Reader (sometimes CanonXReader).” (X)

In this particular case, many readers had succumbed to something slightly in between. The manga doesn’t belong to them, so the only one in position to literally self-insert is Kishimoto (canonically), so they are left with the option of attaching themselves personally to a pre-existed character with whom they feel somewhat represented. If not, then at least they attach emotionally to a character because it represents what they desire (this can be more observed in the shipping part of the fandom). Meaning, they use a canon established character that is not literally the reader, but who clearly represents them or represents what they want in their significant (romantical) other.

Sakura was the only female lead who had a crush on the cool guy, readers (particular female ones) didn’t need much to feel a connection with her (during the first part, Kishimoto didn’t even give them much to do so, but they still attached to her with the prospect of what she might become), while Naruto was the dead last, it appealed to those who also felt that they weren’t popular or were mistreated by their peers.

But what the self-inserts of Sakura or even Naruto had to do with the increasing love for Itachi?

To explain this in a way that can be understandable: Sakura fans who believed Sasuke disrespected her when not acknowledging her feelings or when downgrading her skills often turned their attention to the man of similar physique and strength to fulfill their fantasies of reciprocation -because canonically, Itachi had neither rejected, nor downgraded her character. In the same fashion, Naruto fans who believe Sasuke is egotistical by not caring for/acknowledging Naruto in the same manner he does (hence, not deserving him), tend to also indulge in the same type of behavior previously mentioned.

Later on, when the narrative introduces the idea that Itachi stands alongside Konoha (Naruto and Sakura), thus, against Sasuke (from an idealistic standpoint), this particular practice deepens, grows. They feel validated on their idea that Itachi will treat their favorite character (them) better, while at the same time punishing Sasuke for rejecting them.

There are not many cases of Itachi self-inserts, I’m not denying their existence however because he did fulfilled a wish many readers had (against Sasuke), but Itachi’s self-insert part of the fandom seems to be more in terms of female character fans that desire their favorite kunoichi to be loved/desired/respected? by a powerful, handsome, mysterious character.

Sasuke’s importance in the narrative (and character growth)

Sasuke escaping Konoha to get to Orochimaru, train, and become strong enough to defeat Itachi and avenge his clan won’t hold up for the four hundred or so chapters Naruto Shippuden lasts. After Itachi’s defeat at his hands, Sasuke had no reason not to return to Konoha, more importantly, he had no reason to fight Naruto as it was the intention and ultimate and most important clash in the manga since the introduction of their rivalry.

Sasuke’s growth as a character (that I spoke more detailed in this post) was tied to the introduction of a deeper, more important problem: Konoha’s involvement in the UCM. It wasn’t new in Naruto to present the dichotomy and harsh truths of the shinobi system (Hyuga clan, Haku, Jinchurikis), and the intervention of Konoha’s government in the massacre of the Uchiha clan provided the narrative with a reason to have both Sasuke and Naruto fighting in different sides of the battlefield, but also presented a deeper problem: Itachi couldn’t be bad.

He couldn’t stand in the “bad” side of the field because both, that would put Naruto (the hero) in the same morally bad position, and Itachi's fandom (which was massive), was eager for redemption, they demanded it, and Naruto is not a manga that doesn’t get influenced by what its purchasers want. In consequence, they needed to justify Itachi’s actions. We can talk about how abysmally bad they did it, we can talk about how much better this problem could have been sorted out, but that is not the core of this post.

Kishimoto loved Sasuke, I have said this before, despite the fandom wishes, he stood his ground when it came to Sasuke and his revolutionary position until the very end. Maintaining that ideal as just, put Naruto (hence, Itachi) in the wrong. But because the narrative needed Naruto to be good and in the right, he ended up justifying genocide by justifying Itachi.

Consequently, and with the appeal he earned with his introduction and the Sasuke-hate (self-inserts), Itachi became a favorite character amongst favorite characters despite being a plot holes with legs. Readers eagerly consumed whatever panel proved that Itachi was not the bad guy he was previously believed to be. (proved or at least didn’t show, Itachi still commited genocide, but we don’t get to see such attrocities so its easier to forget he slaughtered innocent people, children amongst them). Readers who liked him were desperate for the narrative’s validation.

Core of the issue

Which brings me to the core of the post and in retrospection, I have already presented it: moral standpoints. This is not new, I’m not introducing any new idea, and this is hardly something that happens solely in the Naruto’s (and most specifically Itachi’s) fandom. Liking or not a character is tied to so many subjective variables that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes a character desirable or despicable despite solid traits being commonly shared on particular troups. And yet, liking or not a character became a moral standpoint for which people judged each other on a personal level. It has happened since always, but the internet did nothing but make more accessible and public this type of clashes. Therefore, Redemption Arcs became the most precious gem inside fictional works and Naruto fell for it, and fell hard.

It’s almost mandatory to have the narrative’s validation in order to enjoy a character freely and Naruto provided it to Itachi’s fandom. His actions were justified by the manga and the most important (and beloved) characters stood by his side, even those who were victims of him forgave his actions because there was someone (with less appeal and more morally questionable actions under his belt) to blame further. Having the narrative’s moral validation is more important than actually being in the right.

Itachi was manipulated by the Will of Fire who he learned from Hiruzen who was passed to him by Tobirama who created it because he was raised during the Warring States Period, so his apprehension to the Uchiha was justified. It’s a train of justifications that ultimately holds no one responsible for the genocide of an entire clan/race which then becomes something bound to happen. So to save face, they use an escape goat: Danzo and the Curse of Hatred. They put the blame of the massacre to a single character and the actual victims because, well, they were genetically prone to disaster and killing them was the only way to ensure (temporary) peace.

Liking a character doesn’t automatically mean condoning its actions but because that subjective appeal became more and more the reflection of the reader’s ideals (for some reason I’m not here to trace), those two actions merged, which translated consequently into demanding the narrative’s validation of our tastes. There’s no denial of the pleasing sensation that comes with having the plot’s endorsement for liking a complex/morally gray or even dark character, but that approval turned to be the most important/valuable requirement, which, in turn, made readers justificate (supported by the narrative) despicable actions, such as genocide.

Let’s go back to the second bullet point, self- inserts, as to discern more in depth their reasons to look for a justification on Itachi’s character: Itachi (an Uchiha that was not affected by the Curse, as his peers were) who the narrative proclaims wanted his brother’s safety and happiness above all things, stands morally with Konoha (hence, the readers’ favorite character). Therefore, justifying his actions is justifying Sakura and Naruto’s actions against Sasuke (manipulation is alright because Itachi did it, trying to kill Sasuke because he didn’t want to bend to their will is alright because Itachi did it), it gives them reasons to believe that they are on the right side of the battlefield, it gives them moral superiority. They’re in the right, they are good people, Sasuke was too deep in his hatred to either see it or correspond their feelings and that’s why he needs to be saved, and who more appropriate to do so than the two characters that were mocked by him during the first part of the manga? Even in the end, Itachi still gives them the retribution they still feel deserve and that Sasuke -still- didn’t give.

#naruto #naruto meta #anti itachi uchiha #anti itachi #anti sakura #anti sakura haruno #anti sakura fandom #anti naruto uzumaki #anti naruto #anti naruto fandom #anti itachi fandom #sasuke uchiha #sasuke #pro sasuke #anti konoha #anti shinobi system #this will probably be edited

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brokemylegflippingthefirewall · 4 years ago

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*This is absolutely a fic promotion, but plz hear me out on the discourse part too

So, self inserts and original characters, the worst fanfic catgeory (fanfiction.net literally says that in one of its fic groupings, and I'm pretty sure the number of views on any fanfic website says the same).

TLDR- Yes, I agree that this stereotype carries truth, but I do think SIs and OCs have more potential to be explored, and the stigma surrounding these labels is blocking that. And oh god I just want to know so badly if this is the deal with the work I'm currently writing or if I genuinely just can't write well.

The longer version- (this was written quite late into the night/ I'm in Singapore/, and might not be so well organized, I apologize for that.)

To what extent is this stigma "justified"? I mostly use AO3 for reading fics, and when I see the OC/SI tag, the thing is....I came to look for fics about canon characters and might not have the wish to invest my time in taking in a new character. I understand that most people who read fanfiction would feel the same. This, I think, is more or less justified. If you came to look for a certain canon character/relationship, and you don't want to get invested in any OCs, then of course the OC/SI tag isn't for you.

But... I think that's about it. Bcs here's the thing,

1. Using the OC/SI format does NOT automatically make the fic worse in quality. Hell, I'm not even sure if the statistical "fact" that these tags generate the worst fics is true. Judging from what I've read in the tma fandom and my other past fandoms, the stuff with OC/SI isn't inherently worse or better than the rest of the fics. There are ones that are pretty normal in writing quality, and the ones where the prose is rly good, others where plot design stands out etc. Of course, there is a lot of wish fulfillment and the like, but... there's also a lot of that in fics that write about canon characters.

2. I can't really say whether a wish fulfillment "I just want to write cool scenes/fluff" fic is better or worse than a more serious fic that explores some characterization or plot point. I think stories (all stories, books, fanfic, myths, everything) exist to entertain us and make us feel things. I am not sure if writing a feel good story is any less meaningful than writing a story that brings people "deeper" thoughts and makes them feel good in some other way. And this isn't even the issue at hand, because fundamentally, writing an OC/SI or not doesn't determine what the content is about. I agree that a larger proportion of OC/SI fics tend to be more on the lighthearted side, but... so is most of the content consumed in the other tags. Readers don't seem to have a problem with feel good stories/fix it fics etc when there is no OC or SI, so I don't see why that type of fic paired with an OC/SI should be considered any less "meaningful".

3. Guys/gals, what is an OC/SI?

Yes, it is very personal, and it is very wish fulfillment, but... isn't that like a common literature thing...like in general? Look at the works that "real writers" publish, from contemporary to the classics, which writer doesn't write about themselves? Like, just off the top of my head, Les Miserables, Marius? Um, Dante's Inferno? (and that guy did not self insert into some random thing he straightup went for the Christian Canon😂 used his real name too, so Jonny I guess if you feel awkward about your MCs name you can think of Dante//Jk). But seriously, self insert and wish fulfillment is a big part of literature itself, and while there are things to be said about these tropes, if people don't have that much of a problem with them in other literature, I don't see why fanfic OC/SIs shouldn't be treated the same.

4. in relation to the last point. More specifically...

I do think that a lot of fanfiction which write about the original characters are also OC/SIs to different extents. I've read fics that depict pairings where the author and readers project heavily onto one (or more) of the characters. I've read stuff where the author uses a minor character to explore the established world building/character dynamics and it's clear that it's an SI but with the appearance of being a canon character (and yes it gets tons more views than one that's written as SI). How do I know this? Because I am one of those readers who project onto those characters, and I know why I read those fics, I know why I like them. It's because I can self insert, and feel like I am part of the story, part of the world. Isn't that something most people want to do? I mean, Universal Studios? Specific franchise themed museums? COSPLAY??? Of course that's not all there is to engaging with a story, but what's the shame in wanting to be a part of an already established world building, or want to love a wonderfully designed character? (slight tangent, but if u feel like it's bcs ur not as interesting/cool as the story's world or other characters appear to be then I can tell you with certainty that's not true. You are very interesting and cool and absolutely deserve to be part of a fantasy world.) Isn't that a big part of why "real literature" is written and read as well? So... what's the problem with being like, okay, I'm just gonna insert myself into the world now, through this original character? Of course, I'm not asking for people who prefer to write strictly in canon characters to change that. What I mean to say is, writing it in the form of an OC/SI, doesn't make it a lot different from other fics, or hell, from classic literature even.

I think a potential problem might be the feeling that you are taking too much creative liberty with something that is established canon, by having your own character directly interact with it. But, um, can't the same thing be said if you take a canon character, and then proceed to project heavily onto them? Like, a big part of why I don't feel comfortable writing just canon characters is that I know I'm clearly projecting and it feels awkward to rewrite an already established character to explore my own thoughts/desires. I would rather just straightup design a new character. (this is all just personal feelings, I haven't thought enough about this to make any kind of argument here. And of course, the main reason is I can't trust myself to write canon characters that don't ooc in some way so having one as my protag might kill me with my own awkwardness. )

5. the potential.

Now this is looking far ahead because I'm not sure how much our current system for distribution of knowledge & copyright can allow it. But damn. The OC/SI thing has a lot of potential. There is one thing that makes it different from writing in canon characters, and that is the way it opens up a clear space for you to add your own experience into the story. When exploring your own world view through the lense of an already established world, or vice versa, so much can be revealed about both, perhaps even bringing to light aspects of the narrative the author hadn't previously seen. We all know this feeling, it's when we ramble on about one of our stories or worlds to a friend, and they point something out, and we're like ooooh that makes a lot of sense but I hadn't thought about it before. Yea, like those moments. Stories are generally made more interesting by their interaction with many different perspectives/experiences. With OC/SI it straightup allows you to be like, okay, I'm going to engage my own experience with this fictional world/character now. I mean, isnt that also a large part of how fanfics work in general? Readers/writers bouncing symbols and experiences off each other in the form of stories? Reading about the various interpretations of canon stuff? Whats the problem with tagging it as it is? I'm just thinking about the fics that could have been written as OC/SI and explored the story in some fascinating way which weren't written at all or were discontinued bcs the number of views discouraged those authors. (I feel that with my current work as well, though I have already written half of it and the remaining half is too juicy to give up so I'll probably be completing it)

6. conclusion, sorta

I guess what I want for OC/SO fics is just the same treatment as everything else. Saw it in the tags you were searching for? Look at the teaser. Do you find it interesting? No, then very well. Yes, then click in and take a look. Do you like the writing style? Are you getting into the narrative?... etc. You know, like, same standards you would have for any other kind of fic. Not feeling like you want to read about a new character? Cool, no problem at all, click away. But I do not think that the current difference in number of views is just based on whether readers are interested in reading about a new character or not. In fact, that's what I want it to be. Show me that "true" difference, the one without the stigma behind it, because, as the same goes for every kind of stigmatized community, you're not receiving the proportionate amount of positive feedback, but what's worse is you can't even trust the criticism you receive. If no one engages, or someone gives a negative feedback, how am I supposed to know if it's because my writing is bad? or my teaser wasn't interesting? or my character was badly written/designed? Or if it was to a certain extent, bcs of the stigma? I do want criticism, of course I do, it's the first step to every improvement, and I would love it if I could get feedback that I can trust. (and this brings us to the truely "oppressed" community of the fanfic world, the people who write very good but cant write interesting teasers//jk)

7. the entirely skippable straw man rant part, also the expression of my love for The Magnus Archives.

some straw man: if you like writing your own characters so much, why not just write your own story entirely? and publish it?

You think I'm not annoyed about that? Here's the thing, I LIKE THIS WORLD I READ FROM THIS BOOK/SOME OTHER FORM OF MEDIA OR WHATEVER, I like it, it's brilliant, I want to write for it, about it, be in it, think about it, read about it, engage in whatever way I can. I CAN'T just "go write my own." And who do you think is more annoyed about not being able to publish the stuff? (According to you) I have written something that is potentially publishable (thank you btw I know you don't exist and is a strawman I invented just now but I've gotta get my compliments where I can//Jk), and I can't publish it in any potentially big way (and rightfully not) because I have no copyright over the characters. I worked hard to design my character, to make the plot meaningful, and to study the original canon plot and characters so that it would all fit together (I mean, partially bcs I can't force myself to sit down and write sth that is any less complex), and I can't actually publish it where more people will read it. And of course, on top of that, even less people will feel like reading once that "original character" tag is up. Does it look like I would be here if I could "just write my own"?

(slight tangent but come on what even is "your own"? how many classic European lit books were just fanfics of each other which were all just fanfics of the Bible or Greek mythology or sth? Stories and symbols have no boundaries it's the economic system that drew those.)

Damn this got way longer than I thought and it's morning now😂 guess I ran out of space to actually promote my fic, might have to do that in a seperate post then. But to anyone who actually read up to here, I'm so sorry for wasting your time no but srsly thanks for reading all of these jumbled thoughts, and good luck with whatever you are working on at the moment, I know you're probably working on something if you're reading through these tags. And of course good luck to the tma folk we're gonna face the end together🙏. good night (I should rly go to sleep now😂)

#the magnus archives #fanfiction #original character #self insert #discourse #literature #tma

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basketballandtextbooks · 4 years ago

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Bat how do you feel after watching the special

There are multiple levels to my thoughts.

On a satire level, they bungled a lot of the information. They were trying to take an “all sides are stupid stance” on an issue where people are dying daily and there are actual medical reasons for one stance to be factually incorrect so taking an “all sides” stance is... fucking tone deaf. To be fair to them, I enjoyed the amount of meta that informed their episode about knowing that their episode was doing more harm than good and using Randy as a tool for that particular satire was a smart and effective mood. That said, it was a mixed message that promoted a lot of misinformation. While the meta parts were funny, lamp-shading how poor your satire is doesn’t actually make your satire good. It just means you’re lamp-shading the issue. It was disappointing because I had hoped for better as they frequently write good satire. Stan’s character journey was the only cohesive one throughout the episode and while it was a good one, there was so much of the episode that was tone deaf to the severity of this issue. While I think it’s valid to bring levity to the issue and I was hoping they would, they missed the mark by a long-shot. That said, they usually don’t do well with medical issues. The last time they bungled their satire this badly was the vaccination episode. And they infamously bungle literally every trans-related episode. There were aspects of the episode that were poignant, well thought out, and well executed, but the majority was an under-researched in-cohesive mess. Which to some extent I think that’s what they were aiming for because they view the pandemic as an in-cohesive mess. The issue is that one of the reasons that pandemic is such a pervasive issue (especially in the states) is the mass spread of misinformation so when they spread misinformation to criticize the spread of misinformation... it’s just stupid.

However on a character level I very much enjoyed the episode. It was yet another Randy focused episode and as I’ve expressed on a few occasions I just don’t find him funny. Oh no, he jizzed on the weed, that’s sooooo surprising. Honestly Randy is a very one-note character. He does something horrifying, people are horrified, he faces no consequences, rinse, repeat. That all established, I think it’s important character information that he cheated on Sharon twice in China with no guilt whatsoever. He only wanted to hide his crime because “my wife is a bitch”. Also considering he cheated with non-human entities, I think this is strong proof of Rowelie’s viability so take that as you will Rowelie shippers. Also the fact that people grow Randy mustache’s if they ingest his cum and Sharon had a mustache at the end... I sort of hate that Randy took that as proof that she smoked his weed. Now, even if she had smoked it his behavior still is completely and disgustingly inexcusable but also... everyone in South Park is openly smoking so she could have very easily gotten second hand Randy-stache. Or just given her husband a blow job. Also it’s interesting information that within universe Randy’s cum has mutagenic properties. Again for the Rowelie shippers: you could use this as an excuse as to how Towelie turns into a human, Randy’s cum mutated him. Also I think it’s likely that microwaving his balls could be what caused his radioactive jizz. Or one of the times he was experimented on by aliens. Or both. Altogether Randy was a repulsive bastard within the episode who I find boring at best BUT the amount of meta information that he introduced will be very useful to inform my theories. (Also again, the fact that he so easily and guilelessly cheats on Sharon tells me that he that he has done it a multitude of times. My theory is that after he gave Gerald a handy in the hot-tub and was forgiven he just never stopped, basically assuming the permission to do it once was broad permission to do it forever) (oh and second note: this is the second time within canon that Randy has poisoned people’s weed so uh... that’s fucked up)

Freaked out a lot about Jimbo dying, I’m really scared they’ll kill Jimbo but also since they already killed Ned I wonder if the two of them can be happy in the afterlife together because no one can convince me that Jimbo and Ned aren’t canon. Also Randy’s blatant racism and lack of empathy for Jimbo’s illness was really yikes. I dunno guys, I’ve always had a soft spot for Jimbo. He’s a stupid stereotypical red-neck but he had a sort of charm to him and I thought he was funny. I miss when him and Ned were regulars on the show.

CARTMAN DANCING AND SINGING WAS ACTUALLY THE CUTEST THING EVER ON THIS FUCKING EARTH, FIGHT ME I LOVE THIS STUPID SELFISH LITTLE CRETIN also it’s yet another episode to add to the list of “times Cartman shows he can grow into a better person” and list of “times Cartman seems to show a special soft spot for Stan”. Cartman does tend to listen more frequently when Stan asks and less frequently for literally anyone else. So the Stanman was strong in this one. Also really enjoyed the Stutters. While yes, Stan was completely using Butters as a tool to project his own feelings of unease I think it really says something that he chose Butters for that role. I think to some extent he felt that Butters might be feeling the same mortality-panic he was feeling (whether it was true or not) and that kinship he felt with Butters led him to feel that Butters was also feeling the way he did. He was panicked and he thought out of all his friends that Butters was the one who might share his feelings. I enjoy that sort of subtle connection between them and it’s been a consistent thread within the show that Butters and Stan just treat each other a little different than they do literally everyone else. It’s worth thinking about.

I think Stan was also at his limit because he was already suffering from isolation issues due to Tegridy Farms from before the pandemic. He’s always been a social boy and this brought him to the brink of what he could handle.

THEY SHOT TOKEN AND I SWEAR TO GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LOUD I WAS SCREAMING AT THE TV I THINK I PISSED OFF MY NEIGHBORS i fucking knew it was coming too. The fucking SECOND they shoved those fucking corrupt ass cops in the same room as Token.... I fucking feared for his life. They’ve killed off fairly major background characters before and killing Token would be... topical. I will make it my mission to personally destroy every fucking cop in South Park (Barbrady gets a pass... BARELY). I hate them all. I’ve hated them all for a long time but they murdered several children (including Kenny, the bastards) and they SHOT MY BOY TOKEN I WILL RIP OFF THEIR FUCKING ARMS SEE HOW WELL YOU CAN SHOOT THEN YOU TRASH BASTARDS

Nothing big Kenny happened this episode, insert sad fanboy noises

There were some strong Kyman moments. Cartman went to Kyle’s house for help at the beginning of the episode, obsessed over whether or not he’d be in the same room as Kyle, tried to vomit on Kyle, AND THEN KYLE FUCKING JUMPED HIM AND BEAT HIS ASS DOWN, FUCK ALL OF YOU WHO INCORRECTLY THINK DIFFERENT KYLE IS A FUCKING DOMINANT TOP, HE DOESN’T TAKE IT, HE GIVES IT

Adding that to my long list of “episodes where Kyle shows he isn’t a pushover, is very violent, and can easily kick Cartman’s bitch ass” because every so once in awhile I have to break out that list when someone insists upon how submissive Kyle is. Bitttttttccchhhhhh, you haven’t watched the show if you think that. My favorite kid doesn’t take your shit

Very interested in Red’s new canon last name (McArthur) but I’m also unsure about it because in the scene’s where it’s shown I couldn’t quite tell if it was actually Red or Powder. She kept being shown from odd angles and her hair looked a little shorter than normal. That said, I’m happy if it is her because I’ve been wanting a canon last name for Red for a long-ass time. Even presuming you go by the cousin’s headcanon for Craig and Red, there’s no guarantee they would have the same last name.

Let’s see, I think I had some other thoughts but those were the main points

OH PAUSE THE SCREEN WHEN THE PARENTS ARE ON ZOOM it’s really cute/funny what the usernames are. For example Annie’s mom is totally just using Annie’s account so she’s probably not very tech savvy. There’s actually a lot of minor character detail that you can infer from those screen-names.

Yeah those are my major thoughts: Randy is trash, nothing new, Cartman was ADORABLE and also lots of good meta for him (I have some hcs that one of the reasons he adored the social distancing so much isn’t because he hates human contact because we know from previous seasons that he’s a bit of a lonely boy, but he likes the social distancing explicitly because it gives him an excuse to reject other people before they can reject him), good stutters moments, good kyman moments, good stanman moments, there were some style moments if you squint? Kyle was one of the people Stan consulted about his feelings of unease but since it wasn’t just Kyle that he consulted it didn’t really feel like that was a special personal part of their relationship, moreso that he wanted Kyle to kiss his booboo and make it better. Although further proof that Kyle is the dom in that relationship. Kyle was agitated over the situation but overall rational, Stan was flipping the fuck out. Stan came to him submissive, scared, and asking for Kyle to make him feel better. Kyle remained calm and logical. I swear to god if I read one more cutesy-innocent Kyle post I might flip a table. Literally Kyle’s canonical self is RIGHT THERE

OH YEAH MY BUTTERS THOUGHTS there’s nothing really new here but it continues the trend of Butters being a self centered prick. (I love him but he is) Instead of even trying to understand the number of people dying or the gravity of the situation, he’s just upset and throwing tantrums because he doesn’t get to play at Build a Bear. And it’s made explicit in the writing that unlike Stan he isn’t struggling with the nebulous fear of death (probably brought on by his uncle getting sick). Butters is just bitter that he doesn’t get to have special things. Also Stan was the only one who tried even a little to save Butters from getting taken by the guards. No one else tried to stop or warn Butters. So again, very cute Stutters moment where Stan is overtly worried for Butters’ well-being even when he’s throwing a bratty tantrum. (I don’t know how anyone perceives Butters as an altruistic person, he’s a selfish twat. he’s a lovable selfish twat, like Cartman, but he’s still a selfish twat. and none of his shitty behavior in this episode was even remotely related to Cartman so you can’t connect it to him. Butters, on his own and without anyone else’s influence, does and acts like a shit-head). There is the excuse that he’s only ten but literally everyone in that cafeteria is only ten. But Butters is the only one kicking other people’s food because he didn’t get his special prize.

This all sounds like I hate Butters. I love Butters, warts and all, I just get really annoyed when fandom ignores his warts because his warts are PART OF THE REASON I LOVE BUTTERS. Also it’s like... blatantly and observably canon that he’s selfish.

I’m going to happily ruminate on Stan feeling a strong pang of protectiveness towards Butters though. That was quite illuminating.

#official ooc tag #official ask tag #timmytimmytomcats

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sharp-teeth-and-archived · 4 years ago

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐆𝐀 𝐑𝐏 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐓 / 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all had witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat. Long post!

MUN NAME: Bambi / Eden AGE: 18 CONTACT: IM, Ask, Discord (search discord up on my blog)

CHARACTER(S): a shit ton

CURRENT FANDOM(S): Dragon Age, rdr2, assassin’s creed, star wars (sorta??)

FANDOM(S) YOU HAVE AN AU FOR: Modern verse, r.dr2, da, skyrim (haven’t touched my bio for it for a while so I may have to touch it up a bit) and that’s pretty much it for any au verse. They’re just crossover verses.

MY LANGUAGE(S): English.

THEMES I’M INTERESTED IN FOR RP: FANTASY / SCIENCE FICTION / HORROR / WESTERN ( my brand ) / ROMANCE / THRILLER / MYSTERY / DYSTOPIA / ADVENTURE / MODERN / EROTIC / CRIME / MYTHOLOGY / CLASSIC / HISTORY (my 2nd brand) / RENAISSANCE / MEDIEVAL / ANCIENT / WAR / FAMILY / POLITICS / RELIGION / SCHOOL / ADULTHOOD / CHILDHOOD / APOCALYPTIC / GODS / SPORT / MUSIC / SCIENCE / FIGHTS / ANGST / SMUT / DRAMA / ETC. ( I’m open to most things, it just depends on plot & muse )

PREFERRED THREAD LENGTH: ONE-LINER (it happens but I tend to not favor it) / 1 PARA / 2 PARA / 3+ PARA / NOVELLA. / ALL

ASKS CAN BE SEND BY: MUTUALS / NON-MUTUALS / PERSONALS / ANONS.

CAN ASKS BE CONTINUED?: YES / NO / OCCASIONALLY - only by Mutuals?: YES / NO

PREFERRED THREAD TYPE: CRACK / CASUAL / SERIOUS / DEEP AS HECK. / ALL

IS REALISM / RESEARCH IMPORTANT FOR YOU IN CERTAIN THEMES?: YES / NO.

ARE YOU ATM OPEN FOR NEW PLOTS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

DO YOU HANDLE YOUR DRAFT / ASK - COUNT WELL?: YES / NO / SOMEWHAT.

HOW LONG DO YOU USUALLY TAKE TO REPLY?: 24H / 1 WEEK / 2 WEEKS / 3+ WEEKS / MONTHS / YEARS. / DEPENDS ON MOOD AND INSPIRATION, AND IF I’M BUSY

I’M OKAY INTERACTING WITH: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS / A RELATIVE OF MY CHARACTER (AN OC) / DUPLICATES / CROSSOVERS / MULTI-MUSES / SELF-INSERTS / PEOPLE WITH NO AU VERSE FOR MY FANDOM (really depends on if you have oen in mind and we discussed it, it’s just not posted) / CANON-DIVERGENT PORTRAYALS / AU-VERSIONS.

DO YOU POST MORE IC OR OOC?: IC / OOC. ( varies, but overall I tend to post more ooc? )

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WITH FOLLOWING OTHERS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

BEST WAYS TO APPROACH YOU FOR RP/PLOTTING: im me or talk to me over discord

WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HOLD TOWARDS YOUR PLOTTING PARTNER: Not too much? I’d like for there to be a plot in mind, but I can understand if that’s not the case. I’ve had instances where I want to interact with a character, but have absolutely no idea in mind. Usually sendign in an ask meme can help in that regard.

WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLOTTING IS RATHER ONE-SIDED, WHAT DO YOU DO?: I strive to not be one-sided myself, but I do have instances where I can’t think of anything. I’m not sure? Maybe ask the other person if they’re into it or if something else is at play (dealign with real life problems and it just affects their mood voerall).

HOW DO YOU USUALLY PLOT WITH OTHERS, DO YOU GIVE INPUT OR LEAVE MOST WORK TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER?: I always try to give ideas of my own if I have any. Coming to a equally agreed, general idea is fine. I’ve had instances where I was on both sides of this, but I always try to add input and be equal with the other person.

WHEN A PARTNER DROPS THE THREAD, DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. - AND WHY?: Sometimes I don’t notice it, but sometimes I do. Generally, I like to know, but I understand if someone doesn’t wan tto reach out. Just at least try to let me know and we’re fine.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO DROP A THREAD?: It depends really. Sometimes I just don’t have muse for a thread, or an instance where I have dropped a muse entirely. Sometimes it can be timing, but that’s rarely the issue. Most of the time it’s just I can’t think of anything and I feel like it hasn’t really gone anywhere? I have stuff in my queue for a while, so soemtimes it appears that way until it’s posted and I’m sorry about that.

WILL YOU TELL YOUR PARTNER?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. ( I do have instances where I was forgetful and I haven’t told my partner int he apst adn I’m sorry about that. )

IS COMMUNICATION IN THE RPC IMPORTANT TO YOU? YES / NO. - AND WHY?: I don’t need to be tlaked every day, but stronger friendships ( ooc & ic ) are formed when I talk to a person. It doesn’t need to be often, but it helps me understand your chaarcter and your approach. With that, I can come up with ideas and understand you rmuse more. I understand if people aren’t fond of ooc chatting, that’s completely understandable to me.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH ABSOLUTE HONESTY, EVEN IF IT MAY MEANS HEARING SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT YOU AND/OR PORTRAYAL?: Criticsm is a good way to grow. Criticsm is different from completely bashing a perosn’s portrayal and not giving any pointers (ex: “your portrayal sucks.”). Or even for a person. If you feel like I am portraying something wrong, like depression or something similar, let me know. If you feel like Lydia’s adhd isn’t properly portrayed, let me know.

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE SUCH SITUATION IN A MATURE WAY? YES / NO.

WHY DO YOU RP AGAIN, IS THERE A GOAL?: All of my muses are written and taken an interest in for different reasons, sometimes I don’t even know why I decided to write them. I roleplay because I love exploring different characters and dyanamics and it’s easier for me to write like this than forming my own story. But a goal in mind? Be a good rp partner I guess? Or at least try to make things interesting and try my best to portray my characters correctly or in an intruiging manner.

WISHLIST, BE IT PLOTS OR SCENARIOS: Varies on muse. I have different plots in my wishlist tag: ( wishlist ).

THEMES I WON’T EVER RP / EXPLORE: Potential triggering content ahead. Rape, noncon, abuse, incest, drug use -not alcohol- ( lyrium I can write fine, it’s just the realistic stuff I can’t do. ), inappropiate under age stuff. Themes where I write a stalker. Sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and racism will never be mentioned by any of my characters. I won’t write smut probably ever, so themes with that I tend to not write. Very likely more, I just can’t think of anything. Within dragon age, I do have a characetr ( Sera ) who will refer to elves as elfy-elves and be pretty anti-elf, which can be triggering to others. Also, animal abuse or gore of any kind.

WHAT TYPE OF STARTERS DO YOU PREFER / DISLIKE, CAN’T WORK WITH?: I can’t work with starters that don’t really have any dialogue (handing something over with nothing vocally said is fine, but when someone is just sitting there, that’s harder to work with unless somethign is plotted). Generally, I like outside circumstances to be explained (locaiton, where in a game/setting this might be occuring, etc), I really like when dialogue is added and body landguage is explained/noted.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE MOST?: Honestly? it varies. I tend to really be into deep, complex characters or characters that appear can be sterred in that direction with more added. Bubbly, energetic characters, fighters (typically female). Quick witted or flirty characters & mysterious types.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE LEAST?: I hate using the term but mary-sue/gary-sue. I hate saying that, but if a character has no flaws, I won’t be interested. Or characters that seem to just be placed there with no development.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: I try to add as much effort, or at least a lot of effort, in replies & interaction. I am very open-minded and when I get passionate about soemthing, you can really tell. I am easy-going, so feel free to tell me if you want to drop a thread or have a concern. I tend to work well of other’s people’s ideas, usually able to add my own.

WHAT ARE YOUR WEAK ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: I am slow and my queue tends to be slow since I try not to overhwelm myself and stress myself out to the heavens. I try to reach out, but sometimes I just can’t think of anything to say. My muse can be very flickle at times, so replies to stuff can vary. My msue tends to be more for ask memes than replies at times.

DO YOU RP SMUT?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

DO YOU PREFER TO GO INTO DETAIL?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH BLACK CURTAIN, FADE TO BLACK?: YES / NO.

WHEN DO YOU RP SMUT? MORE OUT OF FUN OR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?:

ANYTHING YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO RP THERE?: all of it

ARE SHIPS IMPORTANT TO YOU?: YES / NO

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR BLOG IS SHIP-FOCUSED?: YES / NO. ( I love ships, but I am selective with it and require chemistry -unless I know your muse and you occ super, super well-. It’s nice but it isn’t he full focus of this blog. I want to explore my characters and witness other people’s characters and their development. )

DO YOU USE READ MORE?: YES / NO / SOMETIMES WHEN I WRITE LONG STUFF.

ARE YOU: MULTI-SHIP / SINGLE-SHIP ( Jacob ) / DUAL-SHIP — MULTIVERSE / SINGLEVERSE.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EXPLORE THE MOST IN YOUR SHIPS?: Varies on muse, but for my rdr2 characters I’ve been really wanting a sorta of “outside” character where they aren’t directly involved in the gang, but they are in a relationship with oen of their members. Where my muse,w hose in the gang, will tell you rmuse about it and the whole aftermath of everything. Where their partner will understand to an extent, but try to undestand? if that makes sense? I also want enemies to work on a job/project together and deal with that. But this all also varies on muse.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS. ( I find it easier to write to assume people knwo each other, but an immediate friendship isn’t required. Like my muse may know yours or hear about yours, but they haven’t directly met you before ).

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOUR MUSE INTERESTING TOWARDS OTHERS, WHY SHOULD THEY RP WITH THIS PARTICULAR CHARACTER OF YOURS NOW, WHAT POSSIBLE PLOTS DO THEY OFFER?: I have a large amount of different muses, but all of my muses all bring something new to the table. Want a guy who seems nice, but can be an asshole with a flick of a dime, who has a secret betrayal plot hidden behind his back? Pick Robert. Want a guy who’s humurous but seems to be hiding under a fake persona? Pick Charley. Want a female assassin who’s very talented anr professional in her work to a fault with her work-alcoholic ways? Pick Evie. Want a sweet and caring character with a heart of gold and will give you advice and comfort? Pick Cassie It depends on the plot, too, but I try my best to add as much to reply to to another. If you ever want more added, tell me! I could give multiple plots, so it’s really hard to put something down.

WITH WHAT TYPE OF MUSES DO YOU USUALLY STRUGGLE TO RP WITH?: If someone isn’t interested or outwardly hateful of my muse without a valid reason when starting to interact. Beign enemies is fine, but maybe we could write how it became that way? This really varies, so don’t let this steer you away. Just give me something to work with, brign soemthing to the tbale, and I’m usually fine.

WHAT DO THEY DESIRE, WHAT IS THEIR GOAL?: Varies on muse. Robert: fame/recognition, a legend made out of him. Charley: just to live life happy? He wants to be okay money-wise. Evie: to take down the Templars & help the people of London, not fail and always be successful and outwit her foes. Cassie: everyone around her happy. Sean: His gang to be successful, btu also be sucessful himself, he wants to be admired as well.

WHAT CATCHES THEIR INTEREST FIRST WHEN MEETING SOMEONE NEW?: Just using the same muses lmao. Robert: Someone who just listens to him and isn’t quick to make fun of him. Charley: If they have a sense of humor and someone he can stand, he’s pretty much fine tbh. Evie: If they can give her any information or aid with her cause. Cassie: How they are feeling. If they let her just listen and seem more open than closed off. Very personality-based. Sean: soemtimes looks, but mostly if they have a similar personality as him.

WHAT DO THEY VALUE IN A PERSON?: Evie: devotion, kind spriit, efficiency, loyalty. Robert: willingness and empathy despite having little himself. Charley: Honesty. Cassie: Consistency. Sean: reliability.

WHAT THEMES DO THEY LIKE TALKING ABOUT?: generally all of them like books (except Sean), events around them, their interests.

WHICH THEMES BORE THEM?: For half of them, anything mundane or boring. Anything that isn’t relating to anything that’s spoken around / surrounds them.

DID THEY EVER WENT THROUGH SOMETHING TRAUMATIC?: Robert & Charley (more Robert) witnessed a murder, Robert actually doing that act. Cassie: hearing about the violent nature of her father’s death. Sean: the things he went through with the bounty hunters.

WHAT COULD LEAD TO AN INSTANT KILL?: A gunshot or anything that could overpower them.

IS THERE SOMEONE /-THING THEY HATE?: Sean: rich people, Scots for some reason, English people sometimes. When someone disagrees with him on soemthing he is passionate about. Pronouncing and Irish word wrong. O’Driscolls & anyone that’s an enemy of the gang. Evie: Templars, Starrick & Lucy Thorne. People who lie or misled her or others. Injustice. Robert: Someone makign fun of him tbh. Charley: People who don’t plan out anything or are really reckless.

IS YOUR MUSE EASY TO APPROACH?: YES / NO. - BEST WAY TO APPROACH THEM?: Talk to them. Initiate a conversation. Pretty much that across the board.

SOMETHING YOU MAY STILL WANT TO POINT OUT ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: None of my muses are perfect. Some are worse than others, but generally msot of my muses will listen to you and usually be nice to you if you appraoch them well. All my muses are different from one another, so expect different results / reactions

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

TAGGED: stole it

TAGGING: steal it and pelase tag me ! I want to see your results

#( ooc )#( psa )#// long post #( this was really fun tbh )

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jacksonmoon93 · 4 years ago

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Bacterial Vaginosis Gram Stain Nugent Score Stunning Tips

However, certain precautions need to learn to stick very well to bacterial vaginosis.I'm not suggesting running around naked just possible going to have recurrent symptoms within a few days.When antibiotics are being treated with pills, creams, or other in your vagina.So it's important for every women on the train and in a tub of water is supposed to be able to prevent it, and as a great way to treat vaginosis is antibiotics.

Just think of it naturally will not do any good, they at least I thought I just felt like I had this strange film coat my mouth...Many of these problems and if you follow this path due to the schedule.An isolated outbreak of BV herbal treatments include tea tree oil, and consumption of sugar ones.Should you choose must offer permanent result.I just felt like I had lost faith in your vagina, see a specialist or herbalist regarding the developments of any extraordinary symptoms that appear:

Other medical problems if not better than antibiotics.Scientists also suggest colloidal silver from your vagina, which is an infection that you think or know you have only one type becomes dominant in the past, recognize the problem naturally and keep changing at regular interval to remain a chronic vaginosis means that if they have been caused by an imbalance of pH in the vagina.High fiber grains and fresh cranberry juice is considered to be prescribed a topical vaginal cream is not treated right away, it could lead to infertility.And don't worry there is higher than the good bacteria in the sample is to take vitamin B complex to treat and remove after waking up in the form of formal treatment.Vaginosis is normally acidic and the good news is there are certain symptoms that are administered.

Recurrent bacterial vaginosis from coming back.Some important facts about this because doing damage to mucous membrane which line the vagina.Having BV can often settle on its own, or does it involves the genitals.On the other hand, it is a complete solution to clean the vaginal canal.Avoid sexual intercourse between two women.

Bacterial vaginosis can be found in most herbal or natural remedy for bacterial vaginosis.They are not treating it from ever haunting you again.There are a number of the most common types of bacteria; the BV Relief Report are easy to do is to add 10-12 drops of this the bacteria get killed.Many women find that the functional treatments that are already lowered, such as itching and pain that is can quickly help to kill off the bacterial coverage, no symptoms of BV to a tampon that is favorable for good is with an over growing of repeated bacterial vaginosis infection can make a decision between being bacteria free or baby free.Although you may already know how to handle appropriately by just using natural bacterial flora and fauna inside it.

It is not a proven cause of embarrassment and discomfort that this is caused by Gardnerella Vaginalis and Mobiluncus bacteria, then how can you do this.You also have to try out some natural remedies, then you may be advisable to treat with antibiotics.How effective are Antibiotics Treatments to Cure your bacterial vaginosis.If you have a repeat of the itching, pain and itching around the vaginal area stays clean and dry.Thus, treating BV in over 90% of women tend to treat bacterial vaginosis go on to the area around the vaginal area.

It responds very well to women with BV is one of the uterus.Keep away from antibiotics to stress and other typical kinds of diseases, because as what everybody know medicine seems to recur again.But keep in mind that these medicines are made up of more ladies choose a self help books which you have this condition experience no symptoms whatsoever, having their bacterial vaginosis lie dormant.Stop eating food with high sugar blood level.To this date, research has confirmed the benefits will be infected by BV infection.

As a result of your vagina, which are harmful to the itchy vagina.Caused by an overgrowth or imbalance of naturally occurring bacteria in the vaginal environment, leading to a long-term sufferer, this was a common infection among women, and it will be happy to answer any questions you have unprotected sexual activities transpires.Sexual Activity Linked to Recurrent Bacterial Vaginosis medication into the vagina, that bacteria starts growing again, bad bacteria in check die or otherwise decrease in normal bacterial flora in the vaginal secretions.Diabetes for instance due to its normal level to a weakened immune system and works as a result of excess antibiotics in the vagina have been clinical trials would suggest that you will need to use and adding a couple of hours, we can still use pills and tablets is only when you wake up.This treatment can be tested under a microscope.

Bacterial Vaginosis Herbal Remedies

Let's approach the problem is not fatal, its symptoms and using perfumed products.This is because, even with your lifestyle is to soak a tampon in live yogurt.A normal healthy vagina contains two types of products may be temporarily stopped.It's not enough to cure this infection may move up into the vagina which has been soaked in it.Should the symptoms and stop the bad bacteria will multiply and you would never have been known to suffer through more than 8 tea spoons per adult daily.

Vaginosis is the most common sign of a person simply has bacterial vaginosis.For those who have had it the right decision to eat darker greens such as a natural remedy.If you are a natural yogurt is by using vinegar and water are also provided in Bacterial Vaginosis at least allow for the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis home remedy that actually works for you to treat bacterial vaginosis treatment out there?In this article I have learned about BV if one has to be really productive if you are one of the most powerful ways of using these natural cures for permanent relief from vaginosis?My mother suffered from the overgrowth of bad bacteria needs to be wary about.

Bacterial vaginosis causes that ensure that the natural balance of flora in 94% of women, there will a grayish white or gray while the bad bacteria is due to an extent that these vaginal infections is important for the baby, but do not give a permanent cure.Rinse your vagina to help your body that it is suggested that limiting the amounts of vaginal discharge that result into the female body that is said to contain other side of caution and make sure that you do think you are looking for natural bacterial vaginosis often ask if giving sexual contact and is not a STD but often neglected natural cure does seem to have live bacteria are lessened or gone while the yogurt and inserting in the bacterial infection.Typically the gel won't help, it doesn't mean that is needed to heal and prevent chronic bacterial vaginosis?The fact that natural bacterial vaginosis from returning.However, in 50 percent of women have issues; college students show infection rates between 5 and 25%, and up to a level of your daily diet a barrier against bacterial vagonsis to save yourself some time in their lifetime.

As I mentioned earlier you probably already stored away in your kitchen and using of intrauterine devices for birth control pills, the use of perfumed pads, tampons, soaps and other minerals each day.Untreated BV may cause a few short weeks.Many BV sufferers can also be noted that bacterial vaginosis infection can manifest symptoms in some cases, their working lives just to avoid it for some women, the symptoms of any type.Prompt and swift action is to go and she has found that women recommend douching as an STD or cervical cancer which could be many or a very common among women and hopefully should solve your problem yourself.Do this as a bacterial vaginosis at some time during our adult lives.

Symptoms of bacterial vaginosis but when the harmful bacteria which is often undetected or mistaken for other bacterial infections you must also make you more expensive antibiotics, which are helpful to you vagina.But the relief was only when a complete overhaul to get HIV if you get rid of then premature early birth is possible.This alone can cause additional heat and moisture from being affected somehow by BV.It is imperative so that the infection awkward so the beneficial natural lubricants.Bacterial vaginosis is one important treatment aspect.

You can either4 consume 2-3 cups a day or two pieces of garlic as much as possible.Most women have discovered the truth behind the fact that yeast infections are likewise quite common in women of all you want to do on how to handle BV practically.Personal hygiene counts a lot of talk about and if it is advisable that you dry the vaginal canal.Antibiotics make an action in different types.Mid-period is normally the best way to stop the treatment.

Bacterial Vaginosis Labs

You can add dried ginger flakes to boiling water and stay away from antibiotics to relieve yourself of BV!Another drastic way to treat bacterial vaginosis.When I hit my late twenties I started to fit in an extra shower at night.This discharge can be a truly dreadful thing for most sufferers without the side effects; as well as upsetting it could be responsible.Some of them are natural methods of bv cure methods come with a few days, the foul smelling white fluid like discharge, pain in the vagina

This is what produces lactobacilli, which is present in our intestines and the recurrence of that smell?Consider choosing plain yogurt as this contains a high likelihood that whatever solution you can use directly from home. obviously you just have no positive effect at all.If you are working on replacing the vagina's natural levels of good bacterium in the vagina which triggers the infection.Do not over wash since this can cause the permanent inability to conceive.It is often difficult to get medical advice in the vagina.

#Bacterial Vaginosis Gram Stain Nugent Score Stunning Tips #Bacterial Vaginosis Cause Cancer

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hybbat · 5 years ago

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Okay, I know this may come off weird. I do not play DnD or anything like it, but I saw some of your characters and I fell in love with them. If you do not mind answering me, I enjoy writing, and I am curious as to how you design your characters.

Not at all, besides D&D I also write in my spare time as well and make comics. I find they all have slightly different processes at least for me.

Since digital art is my main medium of expression, I tend to first draw characters before anything. Characters like Mikeitaa my druid tiefling I went into a blank page and just drew out and pieced it together along the way.

Others are inspired by things that make me excited; the most blatant is my aasimar barbarian, Ashar, who I drew after the KDA music video was dropped.

Its usually less blatant than that though, such as a general aesthetic, a colour palette, a design concept, sometimes its as little as a line I drew that just catches my attention. The important part is that inspiration.

I find this process is quite successful for me when creating PCs that I like enough to play. I usually develope their personality and character along the way while drawing, filling in the blanks here and there once I'm done to flesh them out. A good example of this I think is Reqei

His inspiration was his style of horns, specifically the thought of "what if their "eyebrows" were just hair tufts sticking out from the bottom of their horns?" I ended up drawing a tilted and kind of sad face and as the rest came out I developed the idea of this emotionally numb slave soldier. Talking to my DM about his setting placed him as a slave of the dwarves, his nicer attire and weapon due to being sold as a personal guard after not dying, and informed many other aspects of his psychology and personality. I filled in smaller things with the details that caught my attention and some creative thinking: he wouldn't use a gun and the starting gear doesn't allow for it but his master would certainly have his life threatened with one, so its a broken gun that serves as a memory. His claws don't quite match his colour palette though it compliments his gear's metal buttons and halberd.

Reqei is already someone who goes into instinctual survival mode and would use anything as a weapon, what if he saved his master clawing someone's face off with a cheap metal prosthetic claw and he had all of them replaced for his sake so Reqei had more weapons? Of course dueing this all the characters related to Reqei are also being fleshed out, such as his master and his master's wife.

I think the most important thing is that these things are not irrelevant. They inform/shape not only his character but the characters involved with him. I always ask "what does this tell me about the character?" Especially durring this process of fleshing out the little things. With this even simple characters become interesting and without it big characters might wring hollow, I've had both happen to me.

Its important that you are personaly interested in the character regardless of the medium, even if its just and npc or side character, something like "I would really like to see more of that character and see their story unfold." Thats how I usually make NPCs for my players, and its easy to control if you know what appeals to certain people and you can make it obvious that certain characters clearly have more going on to draw the eye even while making everyone interesting looking.

Some of that can translate to written and other mediums but I think for more structured storytelling like comics and especially writing you have to take a different approach. I find for comics its important for me to draw characters first still because the characters i come up with in my head I might not be able to draw to my satisfaction, but for writing you can go hogwild with your imagination as long as you can describe it, the character isn't as limited by your personal skill as in visual mediums.

The most important difference between them and D&D though is that you already know the story you're putting them in, they're often developed alongside the story as a part of it, not inserted into it. Because of that you have to think a little more utilitarian. "Does this serve a purpose to the narrative/themes/aesop?" In D&D its part of the DM's job to build a narritive AROUND the PCs and its developing live. In a written story this is usually a bad idea because it ends up with plot holes and such so its important characters be fitted into the story and not just created separately and inserted.

For zombiegirl we wanted to make a gag 4koma so we created characters that could clash and create comedic moments, made their personalities a little ridiculous and over the top, and most importantly created characters who while quirky in their own right, could play straightmen to the comedy. The genre really shaped the characters we made and many of the side characters were made to fill comedic niches that fit the aesthetic and themes.

They're also all visually distinct, with visual media people usually go by the rule of "every character has an identifiable sillouette". In writing I find a decent equivelant to be speech patterns and unique identifiable features that can be refered to quickly. This character has red hair, this character is the shortest, this one has no eyebrows; Something that could easily be used as an identifying nickname in a situation where their name isn't known.

In general I tend to write very eccentric and somewhat extreme characters. The most important thing to me is their point of interest. Something makes me want to play/draw/write more about them, something to explore. I tend to end up with "main character NPCs" because of this, where they're too interesting for their role in the story and never get explored to a satisfactory extent. In D&D thats okay because you never really know who your players will want to talk to and have a story with, but in structured writing it can just leave you unsatisfied if their interestingness isnt properly scaled.

I guess the most important thing is it feels natural. While people say "don't judge a book by its cover" people do express themselves consciously or not. Their appearance should serve a purpose. Whether you should create the appearance first or the personality first depends on what they're being made for. I always remind myself that in the end, characters are tools of their story and vice versa and to varying amounts create them with that in mind.

My last note is that I draw from things that interest me. I like plants and flower language and bugs and animals, nature in general. Sometimes I make characters with similar interests but more often I use that knowledge to create characters; characters themed after animals, motifs, drawing from animal behaviours and exploring them in a more self aware humanoid. I end up with a lot of wild child types and alien psychology because of this.

My most recent example of this is the harvester god who holds fatherhood as the most important relationship and opposes the eat or be eaten matriarchal drow spider goddess, inspired by how male harvestmen protect their eggs from egg eating females. I have to remind myself sometimes that when it comes to inspiration its more important that you like the resulting concept than accuracy to the inspiration unless accuracy is the point.

Some people get caught up trying to make one to one allegories but if you're writing fantasy then I think those are pointless. I like fantasy's ability to explore situations and characters that can't exist in real life, beyond just magical abilities and such. I end up creating very alien characters because of that. I tend to frame characters more biologically than philosophically which informs how they themselves think, which is often very animalistic.

I dont know if any of that satisfies your curiosity I think I got off track a lot, sorry. I hope I answered your question somewhere in there.

#ask #long answer

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rendezvous-ramblings · 5 years ago

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hey!! I was wondering if you might be able to give me some advice. My tc is a very charming and warm person, he’s always super friendly to everyone. He’s constantly surrounded by girls and it’s really hard to talk to him. He’s always nice to me, and we have a pretty good relationship, although I wouldn’t say we’re “close” in a sense. I felt really special until I saw him interacting the same way with a few other students. I know there’s nothing wrong but I tend to feel a bit jealous

Hey,

Sorry for the late reply! I’m still trudging through finals/papers and I CANNOT wait until they’re finally over. In regards to your question, I can relate with you because E is essentially all those things you described charming, warm, and very well-loved by his students. There were a lot of girls that constantly surrounded him as well. As I’ve mentioned in the past they had no shame in getting handsy. I was definitely guilty of bouts of jealousy because at first, I DID feel like I had to compete for his attention.

It’s a very unhealthy mindset to have. Depending on the amount of control you possess it could lead to a horrible spiral in terms of how you behave in front of your tc. Don’t feel pressured to act in a way to compete with the girls if they’re crossing the line or behaving immaturely. The other outcome is you might find yourself retreating since you feel you can’t compete with the other girls. In either case, your self-esteem takes a hit and that obviously isn’t good for your mental health.

To avoid both negative scenarios, I think the best way to go about it (and how I went about it) is to concentrate on YOUR relationship with your tc. Regardless of what the other girls are doing, you’re better off investing time and energy on the personal relationship you have with your tc. I know it’s hard to ignore other interactions you might see or hear about, however, you should remind yourself that teachers are also in a difficult position.

Teachers who choose to maintain professionalism tend to treat all students relatively the same. Even if a student is “closer” with their teacher there’s only so many friendly interactions a teacher could have with them. Therefore, there may be similarities in terms of how a teacher might joke around with you, compliment you, spend time with you, etc. It’s inevitable but your relationship with your tc is STILL unique. In the sense that you might develop your own personal inside jokes, have exclusive meaningful conversations, or bond over something the others might not have in common with him. Your personality and the dynamic you have with your tc obviously won’t be identical to someone else’s so focus on the positives of those different aspects!

In my opinion, I believe teachers who make their favoritism very apparent...are not usually very pleasant individuals worth the time and energy to please. In my experience, they were very well aware of how the other student’s self-esteem is being strained while trying to please/impress them. We tend to idolize older individuals that we admire to some extent and teachers are very well aware of this. That teacher I had just kept favoriting the student while neglecting the rest with backhanded comments laced in a venomously deceptive sweet voice “Oh, did you see how so and so did this so well. Perhaps you should (insert backhanded comment here).” It turns into an endless cycle of feeling you’re not good enough when in reality it’s very difficult to change a person’s opinion when they’re biased. People like that who encourage (directly/indirectly) the deterioration of your self worth and self-esteem are not good role models and will never be pleased. I realized a few years later that the teacher wasn’t a great person in the first place and she had her own underlying issues. Therefore, she could never be pleased and I shouldn’t have wasted my time trying to academically outshine her favorite.

Mini rant aside, you should take your tc’s fairness in terms of how he connects with his students as a good sign. Even though the interactions might seem very similar, there are unique aspects to your relationship with your tc that cannot be replicated by the others. If you manage to pluck up the courage try to take a bit more initiative in getting to know your tc. Especially if you feel that you’ll regret not becoming closer in the long run.

Comparison is a beast that we all might not fully overcome. To gain some mastery over it you have to be aware of what triggers it and learn how to exit those unhealthy situations where you’ll start comparing yourself to others. We all have imperfections and you can’t holistically see what the person’s relationship is fully like with your tc. Besides, they have the same limitations as you in terms of having to remain professional and the time that could be realistically spent with your tc. Remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with the situation, however, accepting how you feel (jealousy) is a step in the right direction. Once you internally analyze why/how you feel the way you feel you can find ways to overcome it. Remind yourself why there’s nothing wrong with the situation and encourage yourself to be appreciative of the relationship you have your tc. Focus time and energy in developing that further as a better friendship could provide you with positivity and confidence. Shifting your focus should limit the time spent in feeling jealous/comparing yourself to others.

Good luck! My ask and dms are open if you ever need anything else! I hope this helps! 💛💛

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so-shiny-so-chrome · 6 years ago

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Witness: Livia_LeRynn

Creator name (AO3): Livia_LeRynn

Creator name (Tumblr): Livia-LeRynn

Link to creator works: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livia_LeRynn/works

Creator name (other platform- please specify): I am also So-Shiny-So-Chrome on Tumblr. Witness me interviewing myself.

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: The Mad Max franchise has a few of my favourite things (I should write this song...) like: deserts, obsessively detailed world building, post-apocalyptic setting, women being gritty, weird religions, and characters that hit the right combination of badass and broken. You have all this angst in the characters, but then there's this great sense of fun with how extra everything is. I'm a real sucker for deep social and philosophical concepts hidden behind explosions and cool fight scenes. Fury Road also came out at just the right time for me. I was just really ripe for so many of the themes and aesthetic components.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: Stylistically, I like to change things up. I kind of oscillate between long, descriptive sentences and almost obnoxiously pithy ones. I break rules, start sentences with 'but' and 'and;' I use commas like breath marks, especially in dialogue to give it the rhythm I hear in my head. I also world build to an obsessive extent.

A frequent one for me is being female in the wasteland: relationships between women; portrayals of women finding themselves and their strengths; and the trade-offs women make to keep themselves safe. I also work a lot with religion in the wastes. Most fic have their own themes that come from the characters and their emotional struggles. For example, “Stranded” is about Furiosa being stuck between her past and future selves. “Blood and Breath” deals with a lot of different themes, but one of the more prominent ones the struggles that come with being in an unexpected and sometimes undesired position of power; it’s another theme that pops up rather frequently.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: I really enjoyed writing “Stranded.” It was just so different from anything I'd written for the fandom before. For me personally, it's still a good read.

The most difficult was “7000 Days,” both because I was new at fanfic in general but also because both parts I and II are really raw, dark, and personal. I needed to take breaks while I was writing it and shift gears to something lighter. It also doesn't get much reader attention, probably because it is so heavy, and that always makes writing harder for me. This one just felt like I was shouting into the void for a lot of it.

Currently "Daughters of the New World" is a struggle for me. The premise is a bit out there, what with Wonder Woman coming to town and being romantically attached to K.T. Concannon. Diana is a difficult character for me because she is complex but seems simple, and the whole thing is from the perspective of Furiosa who just doesn't get her. I worry that I've bit off more than I can chew because I want to explore some heavy stuff.

My most popular overall is “Blood and Breath,” which I kind of get because it scratches a lot of different itches. “Little Mate is my most popular short, which surprises me because it definitely is not in my comfort zone. It's cute; it's fluffy. It's just not something I would seek out to read.

My most successful might be “Crux.” Being a remix, I had set parameters to follow, which I find creatively useful. The author of the original was also quite please with it, so: success!

I think the fic I have written that most closely aligns with my personal tastes right now is “Wasteland Jukebox.” It probably helps that it is also my most recent. It bounces from angsty to fun to bittersweet to campy and back again multiple times over, all the while showing really intimate character portrates.

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: All of the above. I like my wasteland realistic where everything hurts, but some things are still funny, and big wins are possible, but they come at a cost. Even when I'm filling my wasteland with ghosts and vampires, I still want it to feel very grounded in reality and populated with realistically complex people. This especially applies to medical stuff; if I'm going to write about something I want to portray it accurately and realistically within the context of the story. All the injuries, diseases, and treatments are based off of real things.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: It depends. Sometimes I can just crank something out. These are typically shorter, more atmospheric pieces. More often I have one or more specific scenes, and the rest of the fic grows off of them. Like for “Daughters of the New World,” it's Diana riding on top of a bonnet/hood while Furiosa is trying to shoot out the window, and they keep getting in each other's way. None of my longer fic is written in chronological order. For “Blood and Breath,” I have scenes that I first drafted probably two years ago, but I still haven't gotten to them in fic. Most of my first drafts are dialogue. Then on second pass I add or replace those words with body language.

Getting to the finished product is the hardest part for me, especially when I already have all the major parts of the puzzle figured out, and I just have to polish them up. I also tend to have that writers' curse where I think of what to write when I can't possibly write it, like in the shower or a work meeting. I'm also very much the type of writer where I live off of interaction with my readers. I love it when people question the choices I make in my fics. I don't really have a preferred environment for writing, but I know I can't do it if there's the slightest chance anyone near me might be reading over my shoulder. I just get paranoid. If I'm on an airplane, I have to wait for my neighbors to fall asleep.

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: Lots. Too many to list. I make playlists for each of my major projects. I listen to them mostly when I'm not writing so the stories stay in the back of my mind. They're all public on Spotify so just ask if you want a link.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Finishing my long projects, especially when there isn't much reader response. I can lose interest quickly, but I want to be reliable; if I know someone is looking forward to updates on my fic, I will keep writing for that one person.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: I think I've found a writing voice for myself. My early work tends to have a lot more of a throw shit against a wall and see what sticks approach. In my working with Furiosa especially I've definitely found some of myself in her. For example, a few interviews about Fury Road have stated that Furiosa avoids learning names to protect herself from emotional pain when people move on, die, betray her, she betray them, etc. I realised that I do that do. Of course, my situations aren't quite as extreme. :)

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: Right now I relate most to Furiosa, and that answer shouldn't surprise anyone, but initially I felt more like Toast. I thought Furiosa was really cool, but I didn't feel worthy to compare myself to her. It took me a few months to go - fuck it, I want to be her for Halloween. Of course, that wasn't enough. I wanted her backstory. I wanted to spend more time in the costume, and make the costume better. I choreographed a dance about her so I could wear the costume more, but I really needed to get to know her as a person to really feel comfortable taking on her persona, not to mention I needed make the dance make sense in character (”She Used to Dance” is that fic.) The more I got to know her, the more I took apart all her insecurities and neroses, the more I found her in me and myself in her.

I relate to her being a woman caught in the middle of a lot of things: being both young and old, hero and villain, masculine and feminine, strong and weak... The list goes on. I relate to how she has spent most of her adult life in a predominantly male environment, and how that manifests as difficulty relating to other women like in the, "Everything hurts," exchange with Angharad.

My favourite character to portray is whomever I'm currently writing once I find their voice. I enjoy the process of getting to know these people. Dag's POV is especially refreshing to write after working with characters who are super guarded like Max and Furiosa. I can just ramble and take weird turns in the narration. I need to write more of her. Capable is the hardest for me of the franchise ones I've tried.

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: I'm full aware of it. There is a bit in 7000 Days Part II where it's mentioned in memory that a the Vuvalini get ahold of some vaccines from Melbourne, which in my chronology falls significantly later than other cities. Furiosa is a little kid, and she is so determined to not get the shot that a couple of adults have to hold her down. This was me. This is literally a story from my childhood. Mostly little things like that. There's also the bit about Furiosa reading "Dune;" I fucking love "Dune," and her being trapped in the Vault while she's reading it, how can she not imagine a giant worm coming out of the sand and eating the whole damn place? On a larger scale, I use fic to explore themes and issues that are going through my head.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: Well, we've already established that I have a bit of a crush on Furiosa. I ship her with Max in my main continuity and with Valkyrie and Angharad in a couple of side projects. I'm interested in Furiosa with Max because of how they relate to each other. Yes, they are both terribly fucked up people, and who knows if the relationship would actually work, but that tension is a big part of the interest for me. It took me about six months in the fandom to open up to the possibility of there ever being any kind of romantic or sexual relationship between them, and in my chronology that's about the amount of time it takes for them to move from one time plautonic snuggle buddies to romantic/sexual partners. I do most of my writing in that time frame. The fact that they massively respect each other definitely is something that shouldn't be squandered, and I think they recognise that. I don't headcanon either of them as asexual (though my Furiosa is demi), and I think that the best shot they have for a happy partnership is with each other. They are both fundamentally good people who don't think they are worthy of kindness, let alone an actual relationship, but they both look at the other and see all the wonderful things about that person. I'm interested in how they navigate this dynamic and how they eventually come to the decision that even if it does end badly, which it probably will, it's worth trying. Everything hurts, right? Easy relationships are boring anyway.

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: Sometimes I watch with specific details in mind, like to see the details of a prop or costume piece. Other times I'll watch something and see a detail I forgot but suddenly becomes an inspiration for a fic. For example, the Crazy Diamond chapter in “Wasteland Jukebox” came from me rewatching the first movie and seeing Jessie with her saxophone.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: Most of my stories are in the same chronology. Setting change AUs and “Crux” are the exceptions. Part of the fun for me is keeping tracker of the chronology. I don't expect my readers to work that hard though; every story stands on it's own.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: I do not break canon; I bend it to my will. Setting changes are an exception of course. I just work better within the structure that canon provides. If I change canon, I change one thing and only allow other changes that are a result of that first change. I develop and justify my interpretations of canon so that I find enough wiggle room for my headcanons to comfortably coexist with it. Where canon contradicts itself, e.g. video game vs. comics, I chose my preferred version. I even take little blurbs from interviews and try to work them in as lore.

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: Pretty much all my fic are based around headcanons. There are many, many of them. Some are the premises for fic while others are big reveals. Others are back story or missed scenes or just what was going on in someone's head. Here's one that's not a spoiler and doesn't make too many fic appearances:very Rockatanskyup name. Max's original last name was Patansky, and Jessie's was Rockwell. They're parents were millennials; of course they were raised to value gender equality :)

Q: If you work with OCs walk us through your process for creating them. Who are some of your favourites?

A: I rarely work with real OCs for anything other than side characters, but I often use characters who have little (Miss Giddy) to no screen time (K.T., Mary) or no canon name (Promise the Milker). They effectively become like OCs. K.T. had the most of a design process because all I had to go on were her name and Vuvalini affiliation. I made her black to bring more racial diversity to my 7000 Days cast, and I made her American because I wanted to have an instory explanation of Furiosa's accent not being Australian. Warboy Kai exists because I felt Furiosa needed an ally among the War Boys cuz fuck if the Imperator pumps her own gas. He will eventually become the History Man we see in the comics so he's still not a true OC. My true OCs follow the same process: 1) identify a logical gap or role that needs filling, 2) establish the character using canon reference points, 3) fill in the character's appearance, personality, etc. not already established by 1) or 2).

Q: If you create original works, how do those compare to your fan works?

A: I'm not doing originals at the moment, but when I look back now at what I was doing pre-Fury Road, I realise just how fannish it all is. We're talking many thousands of words of world building, character development, angst, and pining. So yeah, not much different.

Q: Who are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: I learned a lot about working with themes in different sub plots from "Wishbone." Seriously, if you've never seen that shit go check it out. A cute doggo dresses up and tells stories from classic literature while his human learns similar lessons in the "real world."

I consciously avoided other fic when I first started writing because I didn't want to accidentally injest headcanons and not be able to remember where I got them. Once I found the story I wanted to tell, I dove into the wealth the fandom had to offer. I owe @sacrificethemtothesquid for paving the way in making these characters as gross and gritty in fic as real humans. I owe @lurkinghistoric and @fuckyeahisawthat for warming me up to Maxiosa first through their less and then through their more explicit fic. And of course @youkaiyume for drawing the art that inspired many of those fic. Really the whole of the Smuttyartfic group got me writing smut again after a good decade away from it.

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.?

A: I'm gonna go with the good ole, "Write what you know; so know interesting things." Show off your passion and the depth of your knowledge.

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: Yes to all of the above. I really like deserts and tend to pick them for my vacation spots. I stopped in Sydney on my way to New Zealand a few years back, but I didn't get to go outback; crossing the Nullibor is in my to-do list. If anyone plans a fandom-cation count me in. I've been to Wasteland Weekend twice and intend to be back, but probably not this year because this summer I will be going on a camping safari through Namibia. Don't worry, there will be pictures. And yes, I will be asking our guide obnoxious questions.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned projectThis is my year of finishing projects. I'm also signed up for Fandom Trumps Hate. Bid on my listing and you can choose my next project.

Thank you @livia-lerynn

#Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight #Mad Max Fandom Spotlight #mad max fic #fury road fic #mad max fandom #fury road fandom #mad max fanfic author spotlight

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thathopelesstrap06 · 7 years ago

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Free! vs Yuri!!! on Ice (or why Free! is so much better)

I’ve seen a lot of people comparing Free! with Yuri!!! On ice so I’m just sharing my two cents.

This is entirely my opinion. It will be biased. I don’t need anyone to agree with me. I know most people will get offended.

Okay, now where do I start, So first off:

· Genre

Both Free! And YOI share the same genre. Being sports anime. The difference is that Free! Focused on swimming while YOI is for ice skating. Both are really interesting. But did they actually focused on the sport?

· Plot

The story of Free! Revolves around the main character, Nanase Haruka, a stoic raven haired swimming prodigy who has an intense love for water. He’s distant, quiet, mysterious and a little bit weird-well, okay a lot weird lol.. He is someone who did not care about swimming for times or winning, he swims just for the sake of being free. ‘I only swim free’ that’s his trademark line. And despite his reluctance, he was persuaded to join the medley relay team in elementary. Years later, they would meet again in high school but one of them has changed a lot.

So, basically, Haruka and his friends on their journey to reconnect with a friend who got lost in his way, while creating new bonds and friendships through swimming, the thing that held them together.

Now we have Katsuki Yuuri from YOI. He’s a Japanese skater who placed 6th in the previous Grand Prix Final and at the verge of giving up his dream. He went back to his hometown, and despite being the best in Japanese skating, after having failed multiple times he’s just about to retire. Insert Victor Nikiforov, a Russian skater he looks up to.

Lol but really what plot? Hmmm… let me think, Katsuki’s journey to reach the top with the help of his idol, Victor, a world record holder and ice skating champion who opted to be his coach until the tournament ends.

· Characters

Let’s start with their physical appearance

I don’t even have to say anything, honestly. Just look at these pictures.

These are the main characters of Free! Hot, right? And yes, their hair colors aren’t natural… They’re 2D characters for a reason and the creators are creative… just saying by the way, it is completely acceptable for swimmers to be shown half-naked most of the time.

People would be all over their natural hair colors because they’re so realistic XD but to be honest, they just look boring, you can’t even tell who’s who. I know what people would say, ‘you racist asshole, they’re like that because that’s what they should really look like, they represent their country blah blah blah’, really though, they don’t look like natives at all. Have you seen Russians at that age with silver hair? No? Well, there’s that. Their hair styles aren’t natural as well so you should stop saying this anime is better than anything else because they’re realistic. It’s not.

With the two anime, there are actually pretty similar characters. They’re the main three.

Here, we have Nanase Haruka from Free!

and Victor Nikiforov from YOI

They’re both shown as prodigies in their respective sports. Both with natural talents that leaves the crowd mesmerized by the beauty of their performance. They’re also shown to be pretty carefree. To not give a care to what people think of them, or should I say, they do things they’re own way.

Now the differences. Haruka is shown to be anti social even as a child. He doesn’t smile for pictures, and doesn’t like it when people keep praising his skill. But he is very kind and has a soft spot for his friends. He also hates things that are troublesome and require effort. As opposed to Victor, who seems to be a people person. He’s flashy, friendly and outgoing.

As the series progresses, we can see how Haruka starts to open up more towards his team. Initially, he always leaves the talking to his best friend. Nobody would know what he was thinking aside from Makoto, but slowly, he starts to talk more. He becomes lighter and even starts to smile. He became open in expressing his care about his friends even if a little embarrassed about it. He finally even began to care about times and winning for the sake of his dream. At the end of the series, he became truly free.

And then we have Victor, who for me, becomes downgraded with each passing episode. This world champion skater is reduced to just being Yuuri’s supporter. He became this guy who’s sole purpose in life is to be by Yuuri’s side. I felt like he completely lost character. Also for me, he tends to be selfish and manipulative… even his voice actor said something along those lines from what he observed from the show and yet, the creators made it seem like he was just this pure being who never did anything wrong. I personally dislike him especially since he tends to not care about anyone else’s feelings unless they’re for his own convenience, like he made this promise to Yuri and he just set it aside like that, because of Yuuri? That was hardly fair. Yuri worked hard for his acknowledgement and what? Even if later, it was revealed as ‘Victor was doing it for his sake or something’I think it was just a really half-assed excuse. He even looks like a creepy old guy. He’s also an asshole. There’s actually a lot more than that, but I’d like to stop talking about him now. I also did not see any character development with him, which just made me hate his character even more.

Next we have Tachibana Makoto

and Katsuki Yuuri

The both of them have quite a number of similarities. They’re both shown as kind, a little meek, and a family person. They’re also both been shown as insecure and both have lots of fears, albeit in different ways. Yuuri is afraid because he’s not confident with his abilities while Makoto is afraid of well, all things in general.

We all know that Yuuri is actually a great skater. But because of his constant failures, he decided to retire. He admires Victor for a long time, almost to the point of obsession. He executes Victor’s routine perfectly, of which the video went viral and was seen by Victor. And then one night when he came home, Victor suddenly appears and volunteered to coach him. Of course he agreed. I didn’t see much of his personality tbh. Just that he’s not really confident with himself. Hmmm… He’s nice, I guess… though seriously,I don’t think they really expanded on his character without inserting Victor. What really turned me off from him aside from his face is that the anime focused on their relationship more than the goal. It was really sad. Instead of overcoming his confidence issues, he became too dependent on Victor to the point that he wouldn’t be able to perform well without him. I mean, his family and friends supported him for a long time but none of that seemed to matter. Victor encouraged him and boom! Instant confidence boost. There was even a line along the lines of ‘stealing victor from the rest of the world’. which didn’t really make sense. Soon, Yuuri became this person who’s world revolved only on Victor. In my opinion, it was not healthy.

Most of you will probably say that the same could be said about Makoto. Because of his dependency on his best friend, right? And to some extent that is true. They were similar in that aspect. But I could tell you that Free! did a better job with that issue.

In YOI, this co-dependency issue was viewed as ‘Yuuri and Victor can’t stay away from each other! Omg they’re so inlove! It’s because they have to stay together forever and ever and nothing could break them. They’re relationship is so great! XDDDDDDD’ sigh… These fans are giving me a headache.

Whilst in Free!, Makoto also has this habit. His world revolving around Haruka. But, who could blame him, right? He’s been with Haruka his entire life. There’s never a point in his life when there was no Haruka, so he didn’t know how it was without him. Unlike in YOI where they literally just met, Makoto is too attached to Haruka because he doesn’t know anything else. It’s natural to be really dependent on people who have always been there, right? Just like your family. But in Free! this issue was shown as Makoto’s flaw. He’s not perfect, nobody is. And even he himself has realized that he was too close to Haru that he doesn’t know where boundaries lie. What’s good with Free! Is that they tackled this issue of Makoto instead of leaving it as fanservice to the shippers. Remember when Makoto realized that he’s being spoiled because Haru was always there? He realized that he needed some space-away from him. He, himself noticed that he shouldn’t always depend on Haru with his decisions. Even going as far as avoiding Haruka. Telling Haruka that he wanted to go to a place where Haru isn’t.

“Would I be okay even without Haru? I wanted to make sure of that.”

That line was so sad. But it meant so much. For me, that moment signified Makoto’s growth, Makoto wanting to stand up as himself, not as Haru’s best friend but as Makoto. Makoto taking a long hard look within himself. Knowing his flaws, his insecurities and facing them with a smile. Of course he still needs Haru, he always would but he learned how to chill. At the end of the series, we all saw how he grew up, finally making a decision for himself, he stopped prancing around Haruka-he even confronted him though he knows that it would lead to a fight. And finally, finding his own dream, finding his own self. And that, for me, has made all the difference.

And of course, here comes Matsuoka Rin

and Yuri Plisetsky…

Ah, the angsty teens… I think it’s quite obvious why I paired these two up.

These two characters have been initially shown as arrogant, selfish and uncaring jerks. They’re both already very talented, yet worked harder than anyone else. Underneath the angst though, showed two people who were only taken by insecurity and were actually quite soft to people around them.

To be honest, I like Yuri. He’s the only one in the whole anime who was decent. Or the only character they did not completely ruin. He’s the only person that actually has a definite character. I mean, I know humans are unpredictable and you can’t stay in character24/7 but in this anime, for me, Yuri is the only one who showed to be the most human. He struggled with pain, worked hard to achieve what he wants and he also experienced development unlike the rest of them. He’s also good-looking, again unlike everyone else. Yuri, for me, is the only thing this anime did right.

Then there’s Matsuoka Rin. I think their main difference is that Rin is originally a loud and cheerful kid who openly expresses what he wants to say without a care. He knows what he wants and he will get it no matter what it takes. He’s very determined, to the point of even changing his residence to swim the relay with Haruka who he really admired. In contrast to Yuri who was shown to be closed up from the start, Rin closed up because he was filled with insecurities when he went abroad. As the series goes on though, even through the arrogant face, we saw how much he still cares for his former team as proved when he became so worried for Makoto when he found out that they were at the ocean, even jogging towards the place where they laid their tents to check up on him. He’s not a self-obsessed jerk, he just needed to be in the right direction. After the heartwarming relay, he turned back to his old self. He’s not as open as before, like he said it was part of growing up, but he smiled again, laughed with his friends and he’s still a crybaby 😂

What about the other characters?

I feel like YOI seriously wrecked their characters, either that or they do not atually have actual ‘characters’in it. There people there were just there for the purpose of having characters. What I mean to say is that they don’t actually have a purpose? Or any relevance to the story? For example the other competitors, I admit I don’t remember the names, I don’t remember exactly what they did, they were just, you know…there.

We have Phichit, he was a great skater, yes? He’s cheerful and friendly and everyone loves him. And by everyone I mean the characters. What about the fans, do they love him for his skating or personality? I think some do. But for the most part, he was just this friend who supports victuuri, he’s been reduced to just being a shipper and tbh he was better than Katsuki. I think a lot of fans only love him because he’s like the no. 1 victuuri shipper disregarding his talent and everything else. Kinda sad. I’m not generalizing though.

Also we have Otabek, he’s actually a decent character. I mean we haven’t seen him much but I think they haven’t utterly destroyed him, at least not yet. But I have this feeling that he was just there so that they can shove someone to Yuri. So they could have someone to ship him with, and for him to get out of the way. We haven’t seen him much, maybe he’d redeem himself. Though I sincerely hope there won’t be a continuation (I doubt it).

The thing that infuriates me most is what they did to JJ. They sabotaged him! He’s someone who always places in the final, right? Not the first because Victor had that title. Then all of a sudden, in the middle of the tournament he freezes? Because of pressure? I know it happens to most despite having been used to it. Everyone gets anxious. But the way they showed it, just really looks like a half-assed excuse to give Yuuri a spot. So they have one less competition. At first he was shown to be very confident, even a bit arrogant then he just gives in to pressure? That was really lame. I really really hate what they did to JJ, that was so unfair and ridiculous, not even my intense love for Miyano Mamoru made any difference.

Those are the only characters I actually remember except for the main ones. And really, the only reason I even remember them is because of OnoKen, Hosoyan and Mamo. The others aren’t really remarkable enough to be remembered, you know why? Because the anime focused more on victuuri’s relationship more than the actual story. Honestly, it should’ve just been naned ‘Victuuri no ice’ or something. Because c’mon, it’s like a poorly wriiten romance anime disguised as sports.

Whereas in Free!, while yes, they only have a handful of characters but at least for the characters, few they may be but each of them held a significance in the story. I can say that Free! cared about their characters, they did not only focused on the main protagonists, which were Haruka and Rin, but the other characters each had their own stories. They did not just add characters for the sake of it, but the characters they did add, each of them has improved, each of them were there with a purpose. Heck, even Nitori and I mean it when I say I hate him with every inch of my being. It may seem like he has no other purpose there but to stalk Rin and be nosy, even Nitori had better development than the main characters of YOI, who were just there to what? Be together? Who knows what they aim to do.

· Entertainment

Not gonna lie, I was very reluctant to watch Free! at first. I initially thought that it was an anime with nothing but fanservice. I stayed away from it, telling myself ‘I’m never gonna watch something like that’ I’d rather watch Haikyu!! than Free!, because it really looks like it’s just queerbaiting. Then came one fateful day lol. I was still deep in the fandom of my one true love back then which is ‘Kuroko no Basuke’. I always just hole up in my room and read fics and then that day, I got hungry so I went downstairs. I have this weird habit that everytime I eat there has to be some background noise so I turned on the tv, not really caring what was on even just advertisements. Two minutes into making myself food and Free! came on. It was episode 10. You know, the flashback with Rin? I decided to just watch while eating, but then I completely forgot my food as I got lost in this anime. After watching the episode I thought ‘Holy fuck, this is my kind of shit!’ And just like that, I was GONE.

Let’s talk about YOI,

Do you even remember the plot at this point? Or did you just remember victuuri kissed!! They’re engaged!! Omg it’s canon!!

I’ll be honest, I was one of the fans who were patiently waiting for this anime to come out. Because well, it’s another sports anime and the skating interests me. Also, Suwabe Junichi is one of the main cast so, I looked forward to it. But then, first episode was released. Usually, when I watch good anime, I won’t stop until I finish it, even if it’s already midnight I wouldn’t care. I won’t be able to hold myself back and look for every available information. Halfway through episode 1, I stopped watching telling myself that I’ll finish it later. I only managed to make myself watch it when the sixth episode was released. Needless to say, I was terribly disappointed. And bored. I still gave it a chance though, so I watched it till the end. I regret everything.

Free! may be an anime with a lot of fanservice, but it’s a serious anime with a serious plot, with the occasional comic relief but never strayed from the plot.

It was so much fun watching Free! Wherever I watch it, I always get sucked into it and I never get bored. And despite the very serious emotional pain the characters are going through, we were still given comedic scenes that made us laugh but never felt out of place. Though underneath the comedy, they showed reasons for things to happen that let the viewers have better understanding of the characters.

One example of that is how Haruka strips whenever he sees water. At first, you’ll blame it for Haruka’s weirdness but actually, it’s due to the fact that he quit swimming competitively. Because he felt guilty of hurting Rin. So even if he loves swimming so much, he doesn’t get the chance to which made the stripping an unconscious habit of his. Another example is Makoto’s fear. Not just of water but with a lot of things. It actually is really funny how such a big guy is such a scaredy-cat but it actually shows us how human he is. How Makoto is so much like us, he’s not talented but he works hard, he has lots of fears but never let it get to him when it needs to. His fears doesn’t hold him back when it comes to things that mattered. Then we have Rei having trouble with learning how to swim. No matter how much he tries and even with how hard everyone tries to teach him, he’s just unable to. At first it’s funny, then he suddenly was able to swim butterfly, the stroke he hasn’t tried yet. Too convenient right? But the actual reason for him having a hard time is not because the water doesn’t like him (Haruka) nor is it because he’s so smart that his head got too large (Nagisa) He’s not athletically challenged either (Gou) and mostly not because of his speedo (Rei). It’s because his body is built and developed for pole vaulting. Which as a track team member, he’s got really high muscle density. He was able to do the butterfly stroke because it concentrates on upper body strength that his body actually is great for. There’s a lot more to this but this has gotten far too long already 😁 I can say that Free! made me laugh as much as it made me cry.

When it comes to YOI though, I know I’m probably being biased, I know I am but I watched it all the same. The comedy in this anime was, you can say, not really my cup of tea. Doesn’t look like it flows naturally, I didn’t really find it funny. And then there was the recap with chibi Yuuri, which was ‘meh’ I didn’t really understand its significance. Moreover, I don’t understand the characters, the concept, the plot, also the pacing was weird, there’s no consistency, every episode just became more and more confusing so overall, watching YOI wasn’t a very enjoyable experience.

With Free!, the anime made me feel a lot of emotions and I got attached to each character pretty quickly. Watching it made me want to swim. To feel the water like Haruka does, to see sights I’ve never seen before. It just overwhelmed me so much happiness and I’m so glad I turned the tv on at the right place (channel), at the right time. Must have been fate lol. I never expected myself to be so much into this. But here I am, drowning in swimming anime feels even after years have passed.

When I watched YOI, it left me feeling traumatized. Seriously, I’m not joking. I used to love katsudon, now I can’t even hear the name without cringing. When I go online, it’s inevitable that I have to see something related to it and I just want to throw my phone against the wall. I see tv shows and when someone has the name Victor, I feel so uncomfortable even though I shouldn’t. I see skating rinks, and all I want is to have this anime erased from my memory. I blocked every possible tag related to this anime on tumblr and I still see them. I keep cringing while typing this actually, I just needed to vent.

After YOI was released, I stayed away from tumblr for a few months, and I only came back after the anime chilled for a moment. The fandom still finds ways to ruin my life, though. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they just stayed in their tags but no, they keep invading other tags I’m so sick of it. I re-watched Free! 12 times already just to cheer myself up. Going on 13 actually since I’m re-watching it again. I’m not exaggerating.

I made quite a number of people watch it actually. Even people who don’t watch anime. You won’t really see it as fanservice if you don’t have any intentions 😂. Even kids were able to watch it and enjoy the show. But with YOI? I doubt I’d recommend it to anyone. Much less straight people or kids.

It’s something I’m pretty sure only fujoshi/ fudanshi would like it.

~~~~

· Animation

Okay, let’s be honest. We all know when it comes to animation, KyoAni means business. Just look at the animation of water, tell me that’s not the most gorgeous water you’ve seen. They also put in a lot of effort with every scene which made it even more pleasing.

Honestly, YOI’s animation is good. I liked the choreography and their routines. Though after a while, it gets repeated again and again so I got a little bored. But other than that, I don’t have any issues with it.

What I also liked about Free! Is how the creators and staff talk about the making of it. They sounded like they really had fun and you can see the passion in what they do, so they really appeal to the fans. Furthermore, the director of Free!, used to be a swimmer so she used her experience to help people understand the characters better. You can really see that she loves what she’s doing. She loved the characters and she loved to swim which makes us also love how the anime was produced. It gave it more of a realistic feel. They even focused on the breathing with the water animations. Ah, I can talk forever about this.

I don’t like the interviews made with YOI. They were actually admitting to just fetishizing the characters like it’s something you should do. Would you react the same if it were about girls? Would you giggle at it and spazz with fans? I doubt. I also don’t like how they’re spoonfeeding the information instead of showing it in the anime, honestly, seeing the interviews makes me hate it more with each one. Also, they live in a homophobic-free world? A lot of peole praised her words, like she could make the world a better place for lgbt+ community. But it actually sounds really lame just to get those two together. Having a homophobia-free world, isn’t that just convenient for you? They’re just living in a fantasy world.

· Music

YOI’s soundtrack didn’t really appeal to me. I can’t even remember any of them, not even the opening song. I have nothing against the music in YOI, but it’s just not my taste. I guess they weren’t really catchy for me. I’m not saying they’re bad though we all have different tastes, I guess. Tbh, the choreography and the music are probably the only things in YOI that I’m not actually complaining about. I’m more indifferent towards the music. I don’t think I can recall the theme songs though. But I didn’t hate it.

Free!’s OST though, I listen to them on repeat. Especially the opening and ending. I like how serious the opening song is. Filled with pain and the story of the boys and then came the ending song which was a complete opposite. There’s this AU in the show that focuses on some place which was dried up. No water. But I’m more in love with the fact that Style Five was the one who sang it. It was so so great ☺ it was also really catchy that makes me wanna dance 😀

And to the other soundtracks it really suits the scenes. There were the goofy and serious ones and of course the painful ones. I swear, everytime I hear I Need You and Melody of Ever Blue, I still cry no matter how many times I listen to it. When I listen to the instrumental, I can’t stop crying and smiling. I love it so much. Also, Free!’s character songs! I loved every single one! Especially the duets, they’re so great! I could talk forever about them but I’m gonna stop now.

· Shipping

Here we go, there’s a lot of them but I’ll just focus on the main ones.

Why do people ship Rinharu? Rin and Haruka are rivals. But more than just that, they are friends. Rin was the one who broke Haruka out of his shell. He became more open since meeting Rin, but closed up once more after being left by him. These two have been connected by fate since young and each other was their motivation and their goal. And although this pairing is full of misunderstandings, insecurity, longing and regrets, once they overcome their issues, they become even better. They pull each other along and take them to greater heights, and they may be rivals, but they don’t treat each other as their enemy. They needed each other to grow, to move towards their goal, and that would only make them stronger. Together. And for me, that undeniable love is truly beautiful.

Why do people ship Makoharu? Makoto and Haruka have been best friends for as long as they could remember. This pairing for me shows the purest form of love. It’s just so honest and sincere. Their relationship with each other is so natural and you can see how much they care about each other. Their bond is so strong that I believe it’s almost unbreakable. The understanding without words between the two just shows us that there’s so much history between them and as opposed to the other pairing which was about growth and change, this pairing was full of understanding and comfort. And while growing stronger and becoming better, Makoto keeps Haruka grounded.

Rin is the one who showed Haruka different sights while Makoto is the home he’ll return to.

Either way, whichever you prefer, there’s so much love and deep feelings you could get from these two. There’s a lot of history involving them and the series would provide you with enough material where you can actually see them as a relationship.

Now, this pairing is something that honestly confuses me. I absolutely don’t get it I know most of you will get offended but…

Why do people ship Victuuri? Is it because they kissed? Because it’s ‘canon’? No offense but I honestly don’t see a reason to say they’re canon or anything. Especially since there was no indication of anything. The whole pairing feels forced to me. I mean, I get it, people say ‘they’re great, they’re so in love’ but I don’t see it. I don’t really know how to explain it but I guess it’s because I don’t see feelings involving the two. Yuuri has admired Victor for a long time, right? And then Victor went to Japan because he saw something in Yuuri and became his coach, okay, I get that. But that ‘kiss’ and their whole interaction, for me it was not sincere. I absolutely don’t feel genuine affection from either of them. I think the biggest issue with this anime for me is that WE. DON’T. KNOW. ANYTHING. What happened with them for 8 months? Who knows? It’s all up to our imagination? All we know is after the Yuuri vs Yuri showdown, they continued to train and okay, there was some admiration from Yuuri but what about Victor? We don’t have any idea what he feels, if anything at all. But out of nowhere he just kisses Yuuri? For what? To encourage him? I don’t know about you guys, but that whole scene felt wrong to me. I’m not saying you should stop shipping Victuuri because they have no romantic implication whatsoever. That’s not what this is about. Hell, I ship crack ships, tons of them actually. But what turns me off from victuuri is that I feel like the ship is being forced upon me. Either the ship is being forced upon the fans, or the ship is being forced to happen because of the fans. It just feels strange to me. What if Yuuri just suddenly kisses Phichit? Would you ship that? They’ve been friends for a while, right? Do they have feelings for each other? Maybe they do. But it wasn’t shown. Just like victuuri we don’t know anything. So I seriously can’t see what all the hype was about. The kiss was even censored. We don’t really know if they actually kissed or not. Of course you have the right to ship whatever you want I’m not saying you can’t but please don’t say that it’s better than any ship because it’s ‘canon’. Because it’s NOT. IT’S NOT. I can give you a a lot of reasons how much more canon the ships in Free! are, and they don’t even need a disguised kiss to prove that. And also regarding that kiss,

Let’s say it happened to you. Like, someone you know for about a year just kissed you out of nowhere. Would you react like Yuuri? Just let it go like it’s normal, when they’re not even in anything. It really feels wrong to me. Not the relationship, but the way they interacted. I’ve been using this word a lot but it’s really what comes to mind when I hear this ship. Forced. In my opinion, there’s no love in their relationship. It seriously doesn’t feel genuine.

I’m gonna set my most loved crack ship as an example. Soumako. Sousuke and Makoto. These two have little to no interaction in the anime. Despite that, they have a lot of shippers even if the only time they actually talked was in the extra episode, (which was everything I could’ve asked for btw) ANYWAY, for us shippers, nothing could make us happier than our OTP becoming canon, right? Right. But what if because they wanted to gain more popularity, KyoAni just decided to make them kiss out of the blue? Without any reason at all. Just made them kiss because they can. Would I be happy with that? I don’t think so. I would’ve probably thought ‘that was really random'and it will turn me off from the ship. Unless there’s a hint that there’s definitely something going on behind the scenes, it would feel wrong to me and would make me lose interest in the ship, maybe even Free! as a whole. Because it would make no sense and if that’s this anime is about, then I’m out. I love Free! From the very bottom of my heart, because their fanservice isn’t baseless, there’s a definite reason for every pairing that makes you feel free to ship whatever you want. Even the crack ships there, you can see how they would work in a relationship if they ever be one. And that’s why I don’t get Victuuri, because they’re spoonfeeding us with how ‘canon'that ship is and that there shouldn’t be anything else. I probably wouldn’t dislike that ship that much if it wasn’t for the forced interactions, maybe I would even like it. That’s my whole issue. Sorry, it got too long.

· Fanservice

First off, both of this anime has lots of fanservice and I mean LOTS. With Free! The most obvious ones would be the guys being shown half-naked most of the time, the abs and the muscles and whatnot but then again, it is a swimming anime. Is it normal for swimmers to show their naked chests? Yes. Is it acceptable? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Also yes. Meanwhile, in YOI, do you guys think it’s necessary to spend more budget for the ass shots? Moreso than the characters’ faces or their background? You be the judge.

The initial turn off for me from YOI (aside from the fact that I got bored as fuck 10 mins into the first ep) was seriously the forced interactions between the characters. And I keep repeating that. I’ve got no problem with fanservice but the out of nowhere fujoshi bait scenes really bothered me. For example, ep 1, was it really necessary for Victor to show Yuuri his completely naked body? I get it, they were at an onsen but was it really appropriate to full on flash him? And don’t say anything about their culture being different or something. I don’t know much about Russians, but I’m pretty sure it’s common decency with all humanity not to do that to someone you don’t even know. Even if, Victor is Yuuri’s idol, it’s seriously wrong.

Then those scenes which came out of nowhere that doesn’t even make sense in the context. Nor does it have any relevance to what’s happening. Like that “can even make a man pregnant” like where tf did that come from? You can’t convince me that line was put there for reasons other than giving the fujoshi something to fuss over. I mean like really, it doesn’t make sense. And then we have that guy who looks like Coach Sasabe who went on screaming about cumming in his performance. It made me loads uncomfortable, I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Then we have this pole dancing scene when they were drunk, were those really necessary? I’m pretty sure they’re just there to give the fujoshi something to fuss over. Watching that episode felt gross, honestly.

And it’s not like I have problems with fanservice nor do I have any issues with watching yaoi. Hell, I watch lots of anime with guys together. I watch shonen-ai, I even listen to hardcore BLCDs. You can’t tell me that it’s because Victor and Yuuri are guys that sets me off. Like I said, I’ve got no problem with those but for some reason, watching YOI grosses me out. They just keep giving weird fanservice for the sake of the fujoshi. It’s not even about skating anymore. I’m pretty sure they already forgot about the plot -not that there is one- but the creators just focused on the relationship between the two characters. YOI was worse than I was afraid Free! would be. Thank God it’s not.

Free! did not focus on the pairings or the romance and it may be an anime full of fanservice but unlike YOI, where the world revolved around victuuri and their ‘very healthy lovey dovey relationship’, In Free! they focused more on the bonds and friendships with EVERYONE. It shows everyone’s stories, their struggles, their pain, their journey together. That’s why the relationships in Free! are definitely much more natural and deep than those in YOI .

I can say that if either of the main pairings of Free! actually shared a kiss somewhere, it would not look weird for me. They would be portrayed as natural as water is to Haruka and it wouldn’t look forced. Like it was the way it was supposed to be. Like it was meant to be. Because all of them already shared a deep bond that could actually lead to something. We already witnessed intimate moments between the characters, and they may not be as showy as a kiss (or a censored one) but it mean just the same perhaps even better.

Free! Has pairings with different dynamics. You can see them be together equally but differently. When I think of Rinharu, I can think of fiery passion, with Makoharu you get pure devotion. Your choice whether you like whichever. There are also other pairings you can choose from or not if you’re not into that. But when I think of Victuuri, all I can see there is sexual desire and that’s it. Which was really sad for me I had h8gh hopes for this anime before it was shown. All I can see from the anime are characters being sexualized one way or another. No story whatsoever. Just full of sexualization without justice for the characters. Pretty much just about fanservice. More like a poor excuse of fanservice disguised as sports.

Besides, it’s not like Free! Is short on fanservice either…

It's not a kiss but it’s much more meaningful…

And also, the creators still did not admit to victuuri being canon. They still said that it’s ‘up to interpretation ‘ so c’mon it’s still just queerbaiting. They are not representation of anything. Because they are not anything. And what? They have matching rings? Sure. But they’re not engagement rings. They’re good luck charms and it’s said that it’s cheaper if you buy two. It’s also just a thank you gift. So calm down alright? Oh, also you want matching rings?

There we go…

They don’t need unsubtle displays of affection to be able to appeal to the viewers. Free! connects to their fans on an emotional level without having declarations of whatever YOI does.

· Fandom

o This is the most annoying thing about both anime. For Free!, it’s because of the Makoharu and Rinharu ship wars, while the YOI fandom sucks because of the constant superiority complex of the fans.

You think before that the Free! Fandom is so toxic, well, look at this ice skating anime now. Before, if you just move away from the drama, the tags and all you’d most likely be safe, away from the ship wars and the toxic fans if you just mind your own business. But in the YOI fandom, oh God, they’re everywhere! They invaded other shows'tags, other people who have nothing to do with it are being harassed, people who disagree with them are called homophobic (that’s coming from straight girls who don’t actually care about the LGBT community) calling their anime ‘revolutionary’ when it really is not. Seriously, this fandom is annoying on so many levels! You want to watch a sports anime in peace? Sorry, this anime shall be compared as it is not as great as YOI. You want to make Japanese dishes, particularly katsudon? Sorry, they’re there too. Want to celebrate another anime character’s birthday? Sorry, you still have to deal with a comment for your fave character like ‘that’s an ugly picture of Victor’ Like he’s the only one worth celebrating for, wtf? Real people are being, bullied, shot or worse? Insert comment ‘I’m so worried about victor, he’s in Russia now, let’s protect these babies we need season 2’ which is not just rude, but downright disrespectful. Someone asking for justice about what happened to his brother? Insert another ‘I’m worried for victor'comment.Real life skater messes up his performance, gets injured, probably won’t perform for a while? Instead of showing sympathy, looks like everyone’s eyes are shining because ‘omg angst! Imagine Victor comforting him after this! We need this in season 2!’ Seriously people?, I think you guys just crossed the line. Could you just, you know, leave real people alone? Straight girls pretending that they care so much about the community when in fact they only care about fetishizing their gays. Which ironically, is pretty much a very homophobic move to me. They don’t care about their rights, or their morals, they just think they’re gays and that they’re allowed to fantasize about them however they want which is really wrong. Really really wrong.

I honestly agree that people who keeps saying YOI is revolutionary are the ones who only watched a handful of anime in their life. I’m not generalizing but we know that there’s more (and better) anime with two people of the same gender liking each other. Have we forgotten Sailor Moon? Or Cardcaptor Sakura? There’s actually a lot. YOI is not revolutionary, nor is it an anime that shows care about their rights. The creators still keep denying everything you know? Saying everything is up to interpretation etc. So guys, please chill. It’s not canon even they’re desperately trying to hide it.

I feel so sad for the incoming anime. They haven’t even been shown yet and they keep being compared to an anime that doesn’t even have anything to do with them. They’re being criticized already saying they’re never gonna live up to YOI standards.

And also, yes, I know YOI, only had one season while Free! had two, that’s why I actually focused more on Free!’s season 1. But of course, there are still references to S2 there. With characters in YOI though, I doubt they would improve or redeem themselves if S2 happens (I hope not), and if there is I bet it’s just going to be Victuuri’s journey to happily ever after or something. No actual plot whatsoever. My actual wish for YOI: Please I’m begging you, erase your entire existence along with your irritating fandom. That would make me so happy.

And yes, we do know that YOI became really popular. So what? That doesn’t mean it’s progressive or revolutionary. Being popular doesn’t even mean something is good. Remember 50 shades of grey? And yeah, I know that even professional skaters praised this anime. Of course they did. If you watch something that relates to you you’d think it’s good. And the routines are actually good. But wouldn’t you think that they only actually liked it because there’s nothing else to compare it to? The anime was recommended to them because it got really popular. That’s why they checked it out. But calling the anime revolutionary when you haven’t watched anything else? There’s a lot of anime having a gay couple. They were also executed better. Doukyuusei only has one episode and yet, it’s done a much better job than Yoi in terms of building the relationship. If I never watched a single anime in my life I’d probably also think that it’s great that they presented something with same-sex relationship. But, no, it’s not progressive. It’s not making the lgbt+ community feel accepted. If anything, they’re only caring about their ‘gays’ and disrespecting other people’s feelings. It’s really saddening.

I think the real main problem of YOI for me is that I don’t know it’s purpose. What’s it trying to do? What’s it trying to prove? What was it supposed to be? A sports anime? I don’t think so? Romance? Could’ve gone better. Slice of life? Pacing was weird. I don’t really know what it’s about but it’s a pretty mediocre anime to me. I really don’t think it deserved all the hype and all overly enthusiastic fans calling it masterpiece of the century because the whole anime doesn’t make sense.

And to all those who keeps saying that KyoAni purposely announced the Free! movies because of YOI’s popularity, fyi even before YOI was shown, they already announced that they’re working on a new project for March 2017 (I think it was when the Starting Days movie was released in blu-ray (?) I kinda forgot but indeed, last March they announced about the trilogy in the Starting Days live event. It has nothing to do with your anime, Free! Is just still going strong even after 4 years 😁

Lastly, I’m not saying Free! is perfect. I also did not say that it’s the best anime ever. I did not compare Free! To every single anime out there. This is just about me comparing Free! To Yuri!!! On Ice. And after everything I mentioned, after looking back at the two anime, I can personally say that Free!, is so much better than YOI. Free! Teaches us a lot of things. Of friendships, dreams, finding your future, how to get back up after a fall, facing our fears, and of course, never giving up. It may not be as popular, but I can tell you that Free! has done a much better job than what YOI could ever hope to be.

Wow, I can’t believe this has gotten almost 8k words, that’s longer than any fic I’ve written. Seriously, 8k words of rant? I’m getting weirder. My words are going all over the place. I don’t know anymore. Anyway, feel free to correct me.

For those who read this extremely long and rant of mine, Thank you.

Erase the negativity… Let us all be free! ~

#anti yoi #free!#free! iwatobi swim club #free! eternal summer #yuri!!! on ice #yoi #rants #rinharu #makoharu #victuuri #matsuoka rin #tachibana makoto #nanase haruka #victor nikiforov #katsuki yuuri #yuri plisetsky #i hate yoi

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