#and it feels like pandering to those who only watch for that ship

[lesbians4armand]

personally i find it deeply boring that amc iwtv is so insistent on the main focus always being on loustat/lestat himself. yes he is the narrator of the majority of the books and yes he is a major character, but iwtv is interview with THE vampire, the vampire being louis. the main character is louis. putting more lestat into s2 works well enough to transition from s1-s2 and as a visual means of literally haunting the narrative but amc is starting to seem like its making everything about lestat, when it shouldn’t be (at least not during the events of the first book and this particular interview) it’s about louis. louis’s life, his relationships- with lestat but also with others (claudia, armand, his own family, hell even DANIEL)

tldr i don’t like how lestat seems to be becoming more of the main character than louis.

[shelleysmary]

lots of fans have made valid points and written well-thought-out posts about the trop ai drama, so i'm not gonna rehash them, but i do want to bring up something that no one seems to be talking about and it's the impulse that leads people to plug these things into ai generators in the first place.

fandom over the last year especially has become increasingly toxic to the point that actual billion-dollar corporations are afraid it. the result is subpar, pandering films, books, and television shows that break no new ground, recycle old tropes, and sacrifice story integrity to avoid catching heat from the loudest, most entitled people in the room. i'm calling this an issue of entitlement first and foremost because the idea that the audience should have any say over a non-crowd-created media project is preposterous. deciding that the cons outweigh the pros of watching something and choosing to walk away without making a fuss is a lost discipline now because everyone with an internet connection and a social media account believes that their vision reigns supreme. "how dare this show downplay my favorite ship! they were supposed to kiss! that was the whole point! the absence of this one thing i had on my wishlist is a crime against me personally!" so they turn to ai and click some buttons and now these gifs exist and are being circulated with an air of "i've righted a wrong." worse, the use of ai in this way is being conflated with the creation of fanworks???

there are reasons why i don't believe the ai saurondiel kiss is on the same raft as, say, making them kiss in a drawing or a published fanfic, but my main concern is with the spirit behind each. fanworks are made in homage to the source material, even the fix-it fics. there is an acknowledgment, a separation even, between the television show and the fanwork. this separation is necessary and i would say even integral to the nature of fan creation, while ai closes that gap until it no longer exists. the elimination of space between creator and audience also happens on social media, when disgruntled fans who have taken umbrage with a fictional character or creative decision directly harass the writers or the actors involved. more and more, fans are demanding to be in the rooms, in the minds, and to exert control over the people who tell their stories, and it has only ever worked to our collective detriment. now i'm not saying that if you liked and shared the saurondiel ai kiss that you're the same as the internet trolls who harass (mostly) women and people of color online. but i'm begging you to do some self-reflection and ask yourself why you feel entitled to seeing what you want on your screen.

what has changed in the last few years that would make you dissatisfied with, say, reading someone's fic or making your own drawing? is it a matter of "the tool is there, so why not use it?" is it "i believe it should have happened and it didn't and i feel cheated?" or maybe there's been a pattern you've noticed in your recent media "consumption" (god, i hate that word) where, unless a show or television series goes the exact way you want it to, it feels like you've been defrauded somehow? i'm not being facetious. i'm inviting you to notice that what you're feeling is probably discomfort, disappointment, maybe even cognitive dissonance because you imagined it going one way, and now you're at a loss because it didn't. you built it up in your head, you had something to look forward to, you were convinced that it would happen, it was exciting and you were so eager to get to that point, and then.... and then...

we've all been there. and it sucks. but i also want to remind you of how important it is to preserve the separation. this space is ours. the writer's room, the filming set, the editing room, those spaces are theirs. the actors' likenesses are theirs. thinking beyond trop, the separation is how we get creative works that challenge us politically, emotionally, that make us uncomfortable and tell us important truths. writers shouldn't have to - and shouldn't FULL STOP - do what we want them to do. sometimes that means knowing when to walk away, when to say "i no longer enjoy this show, i will no longer support it" or "i will continue to watch but pretend things went differently," the latter of which has been the spark that has moved so many online fans to draw, paint, write, or sew. it's a type of creation that allows "canon" and "fanon" to exist parallel to one another. moreover, the effort it takes to make anything with your own two hands, with your own time, and with your own energy increases your appreciation for the creative impulse. films and books and television stop being "products" for your "consumption" because you're aware of what goes into them, and it becomes easier to look at things you don't like or disagree with and say, "you know what, i'm gonna pass," or "not in my headcanon."

oh, and by the way plugging things into an ai generator? is theft. the same way that it's generally frowned upon for people to use ai to, say, write the rest of an unfinished fic without the express permission of the fanwork creator, using the actors' likenesses to make them kiss goes against everything the actors' union fought for last year. i'll also add that it's incredibly creepy. almost all of us are in agreement that intimacy coordinators are a good thing because they act - again! - as a separation between what's "real" and what isn't, the same way going on ao3 and reading a fic that very clearly says on the tin that it's a fanfic, unaffiliated with the official ip, is a separation. it's another beast entirely to normalize fan-use of ai, to say you support creatives, support actors, support unions, and then do this in your personal life. i repeat the question: what impulse leads anyone to believe that this is okay other than a feeling of misplaced ownership?

tl;dr: ai nonsense does not belong in fandom spaces. (in my home state of california, it is illegal to use digital replicas of an actor's voice or likeness in place of their actual services without their informed consent [which, in spirit, is what you're doing by using ai to make your gifs]). we all just need to mind our own business and go back to writing our fix-it fics and complaining to our friends in relative peace. if you're finding it impossible to do so, ask yourself why. remember that fanart is our longstanding tradition. stop outsourcing it to an unregulated technology just because your two faves didn't kiss.

[showtoonzfan]

Predictions for the new upcoming Helluva episode:

Ever since The Circus came out, these writers have had a habit of making long-ish episodes feel like you just watched a whole heap of nothing, but I expect this episode to be REALLY overwhelming and crazy since there’s clearly going to be a lot going on. This episode will probably be around 20-ish minutes unless it’s legit 30 minutes because I see that happening, especially since the crew made it clear that each episode gets longer and longer as the season moves on.

Similar to what I said in the last one, I just KNOW this episode will be insufferable regarding the pacing. Unlike the previous one where we were simply in one location, here we’re clearly going to be in multiple locations with more characters and plot lines, and let’s not forget…more fight scenes. I expect the animation to look very rushed and in your face in some areas, since this show is known for being very fast paced. It’s just going to be a mess, we all know it.

Either this episode will end with everything quickly being resolved and happy dandy, or it’ll drag out and end on another cliffhanger since the show is desperate for you to keep tuning in and have hype. (Cough, only for it to let you down later in the most underwhelming way COUGH) —It’ll either be one of those but I’m not sure which.

Stolitz pandering. Lots and LOTS of Stolitz pandering, with probably no mention of Ozzie’s too since nobody cares about actual character development and buildup, everyone just wants to see the ship in action, not the shit that actually should be setting it up. The pandering will of course revolve around sex jokes since nobody on this team can write believable nuanced gay couples, and like I said in the other post, Stolas will get hurt, uwu Blitzy has to save him since Moxxie and Millie are useless whenever they’re not the focus, and once Stolas ends up in the hospital, Blitz will worry over him and it’ll be dramatic yada yada. They’re probably going to pull another “SEE GUYS BLITZ LOVES HIM”- scene to pander the ship in. I’m also expecting the show to probably once again treat Stolas as someone who always “loved” Blitz and portray him as the uwu bumbling bird boi who’s in love despite it still not making any sense whatsoever.

Again, Moxxie and Millie will probably be useless in this episode. Like…yeah there’s going to be a fight scene between them and Striker, but Viv has proved to me that these fight scenes mainly go nowhere and I feel like it’ll be there to look cool and pad out the run time. Striker will probably just get away again anyway, unless Viv kills him off but I honestly doubt that’ll happen. I feel like I’m going to go out of this episode saying “Moxxie and Millie didn’t need to be in this episode”- because as of now they just seem to be there for the fight scene and nothing else. The focus is clearly going to be on Blitz, Stolas, and Striker anyway so do we really need them? Same for Loona, she looks like she’s here just for a fight scene and because the writers have no idea what to do with her outside of fighting or just appearing for a few minutes to either help the group out or do nothing.

I already said this but Andrealphus is definitely just going to be Stella 2.0 but a gay male version of her. Very flat, boring, and a waste of time. He’s just another pawn existing to merely torture poor Uwu Stolas and make him look like the innocent one because god forbid Stolas suffers from something other than a Saturday morning cartoon villain. Wish Stolas would suffer from the consequences of his actions rather than someone who doesn’t like him simply because they don’t like him but this show clearly has no interest in characters getting what’s coming to them and would rather baby them instead.

Highly doubt Octavia will be seen or even mentioned in this episode since no one gives a shit about her, unless Stolas will of course to show that he’s the good one who actually care’s because god knows Stella won’t mention her, and despite Andrealphus being Octavia’s uncle, I doubt he cares about her either, especially if you’ve seen the leaks where they’re both just getting pedicures and laughing about Stolas trying to call Octavia like fucking 80’s cartoon goons.

More non existent and empty world building or more things that are just left unexplained

Striker may or may not die, if he does I’m not patting Viv on the back for being “bold” because we now know she hates him and sees him as a toxic masculine bigot, and it seems like she’ll strip away what made him interesting in the first place anyway so his character was already ruined. If he survives we’ll know just so the show can bring him back again for the sake of suspense.

I already know that the fight scene or scenes in here with Striker are probably going to be like the fight scene in episode 5, where there are not only countless animation mistakes like the backgrounds changing constantly, but characters hesitating when they could easily just shoot immediately, cause…again…plot. And speaking of the plot, this might be another episode where the characters are dumbed down for the sake of it.

Knowing that Viv wrote this episode, I’m expecting it to be very horny. Perhaps not as horny as the previous episode, but still horny, especially since it’s a Stolitz centric episode.

And that’s it. I’m honestly dreading this episode cause Viv wrote it, and we all know how S1E7 turned out. I really wish we were getting the Fizz and Ozzie episode instead, but nah we can’t go two episodes without focusing on Stolas and/or Blitz. I’ll be here to review it once it drop’s because it is keeping me entertained, so I’ll see y’all then.

[animebw]

Seasonal Reflection: Spring 2023 Anime

Now that’s more fucking like it. I was feeling pretty down on anime after a disappointing winter season, but spring has come in like a freight train to remind us why this medium is so damn important (just in time for summer to let us down again because my god this new crop of shows is looking thiiiiiiiiiiin). Making the choice not to stick with shows I wasn’t enjoying just for the sake of completion was clearly the right call, because not only did that leave me with fewer bad shows sucking my my free time and motivation, it meant I was able to much more happily appreciate the bevy of excellent offerings that Spring 2023 had to offer. From an absolute top-tier run of rom-coms to a slew of entrancing fantasy series, I was never at a loss for things to enjoy. I’ve already shared by thoughts on Vinland Saga’s flawed but excellent second season (8/10) and the abysmal, overrated trash heap that was Oshi no Ko (3/10), as well as quick thoughts on all the series I ended up dropping. But if you want to know my thoughts on the other shows I watched to completion? Then read on, and see which spring offerings are worth checking out!

Uma Musume To the Top: 4/10

One of these days, I’ll be able to better articulate why this franchise leaves me so cold. What is it about Uma Musume that made fans go gaga for historical racehorses anthropomorphized as cute anime idol horsegirls that I’m not getting? Cause from where I’m sitting, the whole thing is just a bloated, overwrought exercise in hacky melodrama and shrink-wrapped moeblob pandering with the occasional actually pretty decent sports anime arc thrown in there. The whole thing just feels so cynical and calculating, from its lazily slapped-together premise that feels like three random popular anime genres shoved in a blender with no rhyme or reason to the obnoxious soap-opera histrionics that define its attempts at tugging your heartstrings. And while this 4-episode OVA certainly has the best, most exhilaration animation of the bunch- seriously- it is stunning how good the racing looks- it also makes the unforgivable mistake of having zero Gold Ship content. They got rid of the funniest character in the show and I will never forgive them for it.

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible: 4.5/10

I think 2023 is the year that something officially snapped in me. I have just entirely lost patience with middling rom-coms that exist for no other reason than to sell the fantasy of a perfect manic pixie dream girl who’ll love your totally bland forgettable self. I mean, not like I had much patience for them to begin with in the first place, but watching Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible felt like staring the futility of mindless wish fulfillment itself in the face. Does it have some good jokes? Yeah. Is the animation pleasing enough? Sure. But between the embarrassingly forced whimsy in the soundtrack and the treacly sweet presentation that tarts up this bargain-bin Takagi-san like some sweeping, romantic ideal, the inherent emptiness at the heart of the fantasy it’s selling just becomes impossible to ignore. Boys, I beg you: get higher standards for yourself and the shows you watch. You will not cure your loneliness by losing yourself in the illusion of a perfectly sweet, doting girlfriend who’ll never ask you to outgrow the things you hate about yourself. You deserve better than settling for endless self-indulgence at the hands of an industry that doesn’t believe you’re capable of more than that. Or just, you know, at least only watch anime of this kind that actually are good, compelling stories in their own right with more to say than “Gee, wouldn’t it be great if Kana Hanazawa was the only person in the whole world who I mattered to?” There’s even one of those later in this list! You don’t have to settle for mediocrity! Seriously!

My Home Hero: 4.5/10

I feel bad for this show, because it’s one of those cases where it’s obvious you’re getting a vastly inferior version of the story. The concept of a cat-and-mouse thriller where the protagonists are just a normal family of everyday middle-class busybodies trying to outwit a yakuza conspiracy after killing one of their goons is a pretty unique one, and the writing goes a long way to sell out on the fact that these are just an ordinary middle-aged couple thrust into a hectic situation and doing their best with the limited skills at their disposal. Even if the writing can be overly convenient at times with how much they’re able to plan ahead, there’s some good stuff here. Unfortunately, it was adapted to anime by Tezuko Productions, one of the most bafflingly incompetent studios to still get reliable work. So the animation falls apart any time it has to depict anything more complex than characters talking and walking, the art direction is uniformly ugly and stilted, and the horrendously conceived score tries so hard to sound epic and edgy that it turns every potentially gut-wrenching moment into a laughingstock of poorly executed melodrama. If you’ve got any interest in this story at all, just go straight for the manga and forget this turd exists.

Yuri is My Job: 5.5/10

Something to know about me: I hate cringe. And if there’s one type of cringe I can’t stand above all others, it’s watching performers mess up on stage and ruin the show for the audience. As a former theater kid, nothing makes we want to curl up in a ball and die more than a stage play going off the rails and the actors being left lost and adrift while the audience stares and murmurs in worry. I say all this to tell you that I watched Yuri is My Job- a show that is primarily focused on watching actors almost fail in live performance over and over again in the messiest. most emotionally charged ways possible- and I almost managed to make myself like it. What can I say, I’m a sucker for subversive yuri deconstructions that explore the liminal space between ambiguous Class S-style stock yuri tropes and real feelings of lesbian love. Especially when they’re willing to let their characters be this messy and difficult. But man, there were times I had to watch this show with my hands over my eyes from sheer concentrated cringe. Do not let the yuri fool you into thinking this is just another soft and sweet gay girl romance, this shit gets rough. But as long as you have a stronger stomach than me for this kind of thing- and if you don’t ask too many questions about what these girls’ lives are like when they’re not play-acting for customers in a yuri schoolgirl cafe because we never fucking leave this location- you might find something really worthwhile here.

Otaku Elf: 5.5/10

Every season, there’s one anime that sneaks under the radar at first but slowly accrues more and more good will over time, establishing itself as an underappreciated gem for anyone smart enough to go looking for it. And this season, that show was Otaku Elf, an inconsistent but enjoyable blend of chill slice-of-life antics- centered on a young shrine maiden looking after the titular shut-in elf who serves as her temple’s local deity- and bite-sized history lessons about the life and culture of people in Japan’s Edo period. It’s got some surprisingly warm and nuanced character writing for its two leads, and their relationship as they push and pull from different perspectives on life leads to a handful of emotional moments I’d genuinely consider magical. Sadly, the further the show strays outside that central relationship, the less interesting it gets, with most of the side characters- the maiden’s perfectly angelic younger sister, other elves enshrined as deities as their caretakers- coming off as half-baked in comparison. It’s a bit of a crap shoot whether any given episode will pluck at your heartstrings or bore you to tears depending on what it chooses to focus on. But when it’s good, it’s really good, and it’s worth a look for anyone who enjoys historical trivia mixed in with their comfort viewing.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2: 6/10

In retrospect, I’m really glad I went back and re-evaluated my opinion on Magus Bride season 1 before this new entry came out. Not just because it helped me realize how much I’d underappreciated one of the most captivating fantasy anime of the modern era, but because it drives home that this second season’s sluggish pace is, in fact, an issue. Magus Bride has always been a very slow and ruminative series, trickling through moments like streams through a mud-clogged riverbed en route to its big character moments. But even by those generous standards, this has been sloooooooooooow going. Lots of table setting, lots of new characters with new conflicts, lots of buildup for multiple different plotlines that don’t always feel meaningfully connected and will require a damn good payoff to make this slow start worth it. Luckily we’ve got a second cours coming in the fall, so there’s still plenty of time to turn Chise’s experience at magic college into another worthwhile entry in this powerful series. Until then, I’ll hang tight to the things this series still does well- its primordial depiction of magic, a wonderful soundtrack, the complexities of Chise and Elias’ relationship, Chise’s continued journey toward understanding and cultivating her self-worth- in hopes the end result will be just as magical as what came before.

Birdie Wing Season 2: 6/10

Is there a point where a series who’s primary appeal is how brazenly over-the-top it goes starts to run out of steam? Believe it or not, being stupid and bonkers is an art unto itself, and it takes real talent to sustain. For every Akiba Maid War that constantly ups the ante until it blows its stack with an absolute barn-burner finale, there are countless Highschool of the Deads that slowly dribble away their incredible manic energy over time, leaving nothing behind but the same tired anime cliches as always. And as much as I enjoyed seeing the rollicking madness of Birdie Wing come to close, I can’t deny that I felt my interest starting to slip as this second and final season went on. It just doesn’t do enough to surpass the bar it set with the insane high-stakes golf mafia death matches in the first season. Which I acknowledge is a high bar to clear, but for all the hilariously overdramatic soap opera twists and sudden power-ups that dominate the matches in this season, it never quite manages to measure up to that wonderful madcap energy that made its first season such a lightning-bolt success. Or, I dunno, maybe they shouldn’t have split up the main goddamn couple for basically the entire season. Especially when the same studio was already doing another, much better handled lesbian separation arc over in G-Witch. Seriously, Sunrise, anything you want to get off your chest? I feel like you might have some issues.

Ranking of Kings: Treasure Chest of Courage: 7.5/10

It feels like we’re heading into a very bizarre trend in side story “season 2″s lately. First Ranking of Kings, Horimiya next season, and the Quintessential Quintuplets somewhere down the line, so many shows are spending entire seasons on side content going through stuff from the source material they either skipped over or rushed through. And I can’t help but worry that sets a bad precedent for anime adaptations; we seriously do not need to legitimize shows hacking their source material to pieces for the sake of modern broadcast standards any more than they already are. On the other hand, though... man, it’s hard to complain when the end result does such a great job living up to its source. The Treasure Chest of Courage is every bit as whimsical, emotional, and gorgeously animated as the first season of Ranking of Kings, all the same heart and imagination in bite-sized pieces exploring the finer details in ways that make you appreciate the base story even more. It even fixes a few of my big issues with the main show’s back half and sets things up for an apparent proper season 2 sometime in the future! We’ll see if Horimiya and Quints can keep up those high standards, but for now, this is an exceptional interquel that’s bound to make you fall in love with one of anime’s best modern fantasy yarns all over again.

The Dangers in My Heart: 7.5/10

If you started watching The Dangers in My Heart only to drop it after the very first scene, I can’t blame you. The prospect of putting up with a school-shooter level misanthropic loner of a protagonist gleefully fantasizing about brutalizing his crush was almost enough to make me nope out right away. But thank god I kept watching, because once you get past that horrifically unrepresentative opening scene, it quickly becomes clear that The Dangers in My Heart is actually a genuinely wonderful little rom-com that fully understands just how much edgelord middle school nonsense is just insecure kids trying to figure out their place in the world. So few rom-coms like this really get the precise blend of hormones, awkwardness, insecurity, and cringe that defines so many middle school foibles, let alone one that understands the interiority of its female characters well enough to make them feel more fleshed out than trophy wives. But this show nails that early adolescent hellscape without ever coming off exploitative of it (well, almost; there are some obnoxious fanservice moments that really didn’t need to exist, thankfully few and far between). And really, who else but the director of the similarly true-to-life Teasing Master Takagi-san could pull that off so well? Just make it through that opening scene and you’ll very quickly find yourself falling for these idiots just like I did.

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999: 8/10

God, it’s so fucking good to have shoujo rom-coms again. We went through such a drought period where the genre basically faded into nonexistence save for the Fruits Basket remake, but it feels like they’re finally coming back into fashion. And what better way to remind the world how marvelous the world of shoujo romance can be than another collaboration between the studio and director that graced us with the masterpiece My Love Story back in 2015... with another show called My Love Story? You couldn’t ask for a more surefire winning formula, and sure enough My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 is a delight from start to finish. It’s nominally about failgirl extraordinaire Akane meeting the socially awkward and emotionally distant hot boy Yamada through the RPG they play together, but the game stuff is actually a pretty small part of it. At heart, this show is about the messiness of young adulthood, and the ways people fumble through the highs and lows of coming of age as they develop into fully concrete people. And it captures that chaos with all the sharp, creative direction, thoughtful character writing, and feel-good romantic fireworks you should expect from this creative team. It’s a gut-busting, feel-good, achingly sincere gem of a show, and I recommend it to everyone in need of a little more whimsy in your life.

Skip and Loafer: 8.5/10

It’s absolutely insane to me that the Skip and Loafer manga is published in the same seinen magazine as Vinland Saga, because this is one of the most authentically shoujo teen coming-of-age delights we’ve had in a long time. Small-town girl Mitsumi moves to the big city to excel at a prestigious high school and make her dreams of rebuilding her hometown come true, only to have her perfect plans derailed by the chaos of growing up, from friends to crushes to high school curveballs. It’s so rare for a story to capture adolescence this authentically, the moments both big and small that define our paths toward maturity as we begin to figure out who we want to be. Watching Skip and Loafer made me reflect on my own high school experiences, good and bad alike, and be grateful for all the steps I took that brought me to where I am today. And any show that can get me so introspective about myself is a show worth celebrating. Plus it’s got the legendary Tomoyo Kurosawa in the leading role, and it’s got a prominent adult trans side character (Nao-chan is perfect and needs more screentime in season 2 or I riot), and the OP makes my cheeks hurt from smiling too hard... yeah, PA works has once again knocked it out of the park. Somebody stop them, they’re growing too powerful!

Heavenly Delusion: 8.5/10

To summarize Heavenly Delusion in a single sentence is, I’m afraid, impossible. I could say it’s a post-apocalyptic mystery thriller that feels like the love child of Shinsekai Yori and The Promised Neverland, but that doesn’t quite do it justice. I could say it’s a dizzying double-track story that does a better job than pretty much any other series as letting you pick up clues on your own, but that’s doesn’t tell you enough either. I could say it’s host to one of the most staggering, masterpiece anime productions ever put to television with no shortage of the greatest singular episodes and individual cuts I’ve ever seen, but even that falls short. I could even say it’s a deeply flawed, intensely problematic series that’s trying to unpack so many different ideas about gender and sexuality with no guardrails to keep it from hurtling off track, but even that leaves out so much. Ultimately, though, the only way I can describe Heavenly Delusion is that it is Heavenly Fucking Delusion, and it’s one of the single most mesmerizing anime I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. It’s a tour-de-force capital-E Event the likes of which we so rarely get nowadays, and if you think you can stomach the dark places it goes in its exploration of humanity’s corrosion and reconstruction, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to give it a watch. Just be aware there’s a content warning for an incredibly upsetting scene of sexual assault near the end, and I mean that seriously. I like to think I’m pretty desensitized and even I felt kind of sick and unclean by the time that scene was over. Watch at your own discretion.

Insomniacs After School: 8.5/10

So fun fact: this is the rare series where I’ve actually read the manga before the anime was even announced! One of my Discord friends introduced me to Insomniacs After School, and despite my normal aversion to manga, I fell helplessly, recklessly head over heels in love with it. And if this adaptation made you feel any inch of that magic, then you owe it to yourself to check out the manga right away. Not just because there’s more story to cover beyond the anime’s admittedly pretty perfect stopping point, but because Lidenfilms’ workmanlike production is only able to capture, like 70% of what makes this series so special. And this stirring tale of two insomniacs learning to navigate the trauma of their sleepless nights together deserves to be experienced at its full, unblemished power. It’s an absolutely wonderful slow-burn romance that captures the nuances of teenage friend groups and coming of age like so few series I’ve consumed, and its portrayal of Nakami and Magari’s growing companionship under the night sky is sure to melt your heart into a sugary-sweet puddle. It’ll make you learn for your lost youth more palpably than any other show you’re likely to watch this year. And even in a season already jammed to the gills with exemplary rom-coms that really, truly get what it means to be a teenager or young adult, this slightly subpar take on the material still stands head and shoulders above them all.

Mobile Suit Gundam: the Witch from Mercury Season 2: 9/10

Be honest: did any other show even have a shot? For all the wonderfully realistic rom-coms and ambitious seinen mindfucks this season gave us, there was only ever one true contender to the throne. And I’m thrilled to say that after a fantastic first season putting all the pieces in perfect order, Gundam: Witch From Mercury stuck the landing with a riveting second season that smashed the game board and  sent everything spiraling out of control in the best way possible. It’s like Ichiro Ookuchi took all the right lessons from his work on Code Geass- a seamless blend of high school melodrama and gut-wrenching mecha warfare, dizzying plotting that leaves you gasping for breath at the end of every episode, a sheer unrivaled confidence in the chaos of love and war- and refined them to a razor’s edge, delivering a never-ending roller coaster of jaw-dropping battles, explosive emotional payoffs, stunning twists that all make sense in retrospect, tears, laughter, hard choices, flawed characters overcoming their weaknesses, and a true coronation of Suletta and Miroine as one of the all-time great anime yuri couples. At times you can’t help but wish for more time to explore the many worldbuilding details and side characters that fall by the wayside as the chaos takes hold; two cours just isn’t enough to do justice to all the complex, interconnecting ideas this series is juggling. But the fact it works as well as it does, and bring it all home for such a satisfying finale, is proof of just how damn miraculous this series has been from start to finish. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect introduction to this storied franchise, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what this creative team will come up with next. And if you somehow haven’t gotten around to watching it yet? Fix that as soon as possible. You won’t regret it for a second.

[anxresi]

NEWSFLASH: Pink-Streaked Plot Device Confesses Crush To Equally ‘Perfect’ Protagonist. A Nation Of Undemanding Fans Weep.

May I offer a few stray observations?

1. Zoe is not ‘Amazing’, Marinette. She’s just written that way. (Bonus points if you can catch the movie reference there) 

She’s obviously SUPPOSED to be because she has so many friends and loved ones, can do everything she puts her mind to SO well and hasn’t got a single fault in her oh-so-sweet personality. 

The problem with being so gosh-darn flawless though, is that you’re straight-out BORING... especially when put into the confines of a TV show where we expect the characters to be more than just insipid one-dimensional goodie-two-shoes. 

If only they had someone better to replace her, like a rebellious anti-hero... with many layers to their character and plenty of scope for growth and change... yes, that would be MUCH more interesting than a perpetually shilled Creator’s Pet...

Oops, they already got rid of her. So sorry, my mistake.

2. People should be honored to be ‘loved’ by Zoe? 

Not really. She probably ‘loves’ everyone, due to her single-note ‘nicey nice’ persona excluding her from expressing any mild distaste about anyone. Including her own newly-psychotic sister, who’s probably told her she despises her for years.

 She’d probably skip merrily into whatever-bullshit-name-Hawkmoth-has-these-days’ lair in a yellow sundress and a basket full of oatmeal cookies, give him a little kiss on the cheek before prancing out singing ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie, leaving a trail of fluffy bunny wabbits and freshly-bloomed daisies in her wake. 

Aaawww! *Retch*

3. “Adrien’s not the one I’m in love with...” OOOH HERE IT COMES! BRACE YOURSELVES...

4. ...AAANND like a deflated balloon, a broken swing and a show running out of ideas so quickly it shoves in these ‘serious’ moments that’ll never be referenced again, Zoe never explicitly says those three magic words (Alakazam, abracadabra and hocus pocus, right?)

I guess she wanted to be ‘special friends’ with Marinette the same way Rose and Juleka are. A more hopelessly unsubtle, pandering load of nonsense would be impossible to find... but it won’t stop a certain percentage of the audience from instantly shipping these two and finding this moment both ‘inspirational’ and ‘emotional’ (I can just see the hyperbolic tweets now: OMG I WEPT BUCKETS! I CAN RELATE SSSSOOOO MUCH etc)

Sorry, but I can’t get on board. I would say this was badly done whatever the sexuality of the couple, so you can kindly burn your placards screaming ‘BIGOT’ right now. The fact it’s so cynically aimed at a demographic that are often sadly overlooked in animation until recently (and naturally, afraid of some kind of Moral Panic the writers STILL can only hint at gay relationships instead of announcing them out loud) just makes the whole shameless manipulative process even worse, IMHO.

To all those who aren’t catered to by an often very heterosexual-focused cartoon industry, watch The Owl House. Give She-Ra a try. Just anything, instead of this pathetic... what was that term I heard the other day... Gaybaiting?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

(N.B If you get something positive out of this episode I am not seeking to devalue your experience or ruin your enjoyment... I am just saying, I think this is badly-done, poorly written tripe designed to earn the show brownie points when frankly it deserves none. A great example of virtue-signalling, to borrow a tired right-wing trope. You might disagree, and feel free to argue your case, but please respect my opinion by not calling me a bunch of profane names in response. Thank you.)

5. The short scene ends with Marinette letting the supposedly lovestruck Zoe down gently, with a hug and a silent promise to never speak of this again (believe me, they won’t).

 It’s a good moment for both of these favorite, endlessly-hyped characters of Thomas... Marinette gets to show her ‘human’ side and improve her already sterling reputation, whereas a lovesick Zoe takes her rejection surprisingly well.

 No tears, raised voices or even mucus bubbles... the entire emotional catharsis is over in less than 40 seconds. Guess they were too busy with more important stuff in the episode like Cheesy Chat puns, Hawkmoth’s Ham’n’Cheese and Marinette getting spotted panties from her Lucky Charm (I wish I was kidding... but I’m not. I’ve READ the leaks... *Shudder*)

.....................

So, to sum up then: another throwaway moment in an increasingly stupid show that could’ve been something special or left a lasting impact... of course, it does neither of those things. 

I mean, what were you expecting at this stage? The people who produce it are clearly not making any serious effort whatsoever, whether that be in the writing department or stopping MASSIVE spoilers from getting out and ruining the plot (although, I think they already did a pretty good job of that even before this latest round of security breaches).

So if they don’t care, why should anyone else? At least it’s fun to vent about... but time for a break now, to watch something with a bit of actual quality. Hmm... *Decides to see the Amphibia finale for like the trillionth time.*

[gascon-en-exil]

A bit late and a bit long, but to add to the Edelgard being sexualized post, it bothers this anon that nobody in the fandom is willing to acknowledge the issue with the developers making the ONLY female lord in 3h the one that no matter the route is unequivocally in love with/obsessed with the main character. A lot of people criticize the increasing avatar-worship in recent FEs, but Edelgard is almost never included in that discussion despite her being the biggest and most blatant (1/3)

example of that type of writing in 3h. Hell, compare how Edelgards obsession with the avatar is portrayed in fandom as a cute, awkward schoolgirl crush while other characters like Tharja and Camilla has their avatar-obsession near always be portrayed as creepy, unsettling and unhealthy. The FE fandom just does not view her like the other fanservice characters, and hilariously your original post actually contains a mistake that is an excellent example of this: when artwork for year four (2/3) of CYL was revealed, people were outraged at notorious sexy artist Cuboon for DARING to sexualize Edelgard by giving her boob armor - except thats exactly what her Emperor class outfit looks like in 3h. It was pretty funny to watch people near combust over this "blatant sexualization" when it was always there and they just failed to notice. I guess nobody who played CF actually used her Emperor class. (3/3)

Well, as multiple comments on my latest video are pointing out, dark mage/bishop being male-only doesn't matter all that much because those classes suck. You could say the same thing about emperor. *rolls eyes*

But seriously, I can somewhat excuse that reaction because the boob armor is a lot more prominent on her brave alt than on the in-game model.

That's just FEH being FEH.

Edeleth is a fraught topic no matter which angle you look at it. If you like or don't like how Byleth is a flat silent protagonist, how you feel about blatant Avatar pandering, which gender it's acceptable to ship Edelgard with, and of course the antis who call all Studentleth pairings grooming.

It must be tough shipping Edeleth sometimes and coming across discourse from so many different corners of the fandom...but considering how some of the ship's fans have acted (and continue to act) to me over the years, I find it very hard to be sympathetic. I believe I was being charitable in my Dimidue video when I called Edeleth - either M/F or F/F, of course - the most comparable pairing in terms of canon material.

[resistanceisfeudal]

me in my feelings about trek fandom:

so, that star trek confessional blog that's been going around the last few days? and the mini discourse about possible rage-bait on it? and then the new rule that they won't post anything that feels like it's attacking a specific subgroup of fandom? That whole thing?

Cursed discourse. Rotted, rancid, stupid shit. And not even the top five worst discourses I've seen this week.

I actually kind of am mad at a lot of trek fandom and do have a lot of honest opinions that would read as an attack on people...

I guess the thing that has been rising to the top is this phenomenon where people who are clearly intelligent and thoughtful in terms of how they engage with stuff in general end up having bizarre blindspots when it comes to trek.

People who thoroughly acknowledge cultural biases and the ways in which opinons are shaped by bigotry when it comes to talking about how, say, Voyager was received at the time, will turn around and flatly deny the roles of racism, misogyny and transphobia in the reception of Discovery, insisting that "it's bad because grimdark" - which a) isn't even true and b) a cursory glance through the comments on a stream of a disco episode would prove that "grimdark" is not the thing that audiences are mad about. You might have a good faith criticism (which "grimdark" isn't because it's not accurate, but idk some other good faith criticism) but that's not why the show is less beloved than snw or picard s3.

Or people who constantly reblog posts about how episodic "filler episodes" are so great, and how they build the characters and make up the heart of the shows... and then talk about characters and their relationships in ways that only make sense if you cherry pick random disconnected moments from across seven years of television.

Or someone how can talk articulately about fandom culture, stanning, and conspiracy theories, and shows insight and cynicism into phenomena like those sherlock truthers... and then says that garashιr would have been canon if it weren't for ezri, or that it would've been canon if they'd got an eight season. Like, these are ridiculous opinions that basically rely on you not watching the actual show.

Ok technically the last two were just me bitching about a ship that's popular and therefore sometimes the fans can get obnoxious. I shouldn't complain about that... while we're here, I also find spιrk annoying at this point. This is silly, back to snw.

Fundamentally, a lot of snw's popularlity is the same as picard s3: it's nostalgia heavy and the leads are white men. Overall, taking the entire audience in mind, that is a significant part of what's going on.

Now, obviously, snw is a lot better than s3 of picard (which i will die mad about). It's not a bad show, but I do feel that s2 didn't really improve on s1 and perhaps felt weaker at times. I thought the musical episode was genuinely bad and struggle to even believe people when they say they liked it. To be clear: I love musicals, I love musical episodes, I hated this one.

It's shit like this, the insistance that it's amazing when, as a show, it's just fine, sometimes a little bad, mostly pretty good, occasionally very good - it's shit like this that makes people accuse fans of being inauthentic when they praise it. It's claims that snw is "saving nu trek", when no, no it hasn't. Discovery has been prematurely cancelled, Picard ended in disgrace, and Prodigy was cancelled, then rescued but its future past s2 is unclear. It didn't save anything.

It feels like the future of trek is going to be more naval gazing, more nostalgic pandering, more meta references and a distinct lack of new concepts... possibly even a lack of new characters at this rate.

I made this side blog to post about picard s2, because I genuinely had a lot of feelings and thoughts. I felt like, while there was some annoying shit and bad takes around, it was fun to participate and I was enjoying myself. For the last few months, really since snw s2 aired, I've been having a pretty bad time here. So much of it is petty shit that sounds bizarre to type out: small posts and variously tiny infuriating takes. This entire post is stupid and pointless, when I put it like that.

But, yeah, trek fandom has been making me pretty unhappy recently.

I'll still be here and will watch the new disco when it comes out, and hopefully feel something again. I want to be able to re-enter the headspace I was in back when S2 picard aired, and I felt free to just express my opinions without being hyper aware of everyone else's pre-conceived stuff. We all have loaded opinions and strange baggage with trek, it comes with the territory.

[youremyonlyhope]

The Star Beast

Am I excited for the 60th? Eh... I'm just glad to have Doctor Who to watch after a year of nothing.

Why in the world were my Disney+ subtitles set to Chinese?

Donna my girl. You are the only reason for me to be excited. This whole post has a lot of salt throughout.

Also, I don't know how I feel about the exposition to the camera thing. Twelve did it better. Interesting opening sequence. And I think I have said I like the retro logo. Ok Rachel Talalay directed. That's promising. Those robots in the background felt cyberman-esque. Ughhhhh I have so many thoughts about the choice to have Donna name her daughter Rose. Ugh. I like that the running gag of Donna not seeing the chaos for random mundane reasons continues. Glad she's still roasting him. Ok if this is supposed to be a NEW Doctor, I don't like him saying Allons-y. Please. New catchphrase. The same face doesn't have to mean the same personality. Plus I don't know French but isn't saying "Let's - Allons-y!" redundant? Ok shoutout to Nerys that's fun. Shaun's a good man. I'm very glad we get to see more of him now since he was a bit of a non-character in End of Time. OH GOOD UNIT IS REALLY BACK PROPERLY. Wait do I remember seeing pictures of Kate in promos... I was about to ask why the ship was right side up if it crashed. Ok. It landed. God I've forgotten Donna's mom's name but I'm really glad to see she listened to the Doctor and shows Donna appreciation now. I was just about to ask how long it'd been. Because End of Time aired in 2009/10 but the whole timeline of the RTD era was messed up. So does that mean that Journey's End was technically 2008? God let me not try to make sense of this right now. God I hate this Meep thing with a passion. I hate its eyes. So much. Ah. Nightmare fuel. I don't like the sonic reverting back to be so similar to Nine/Ten's either. It would have been funner if he was using Thirteen's. Plus he should have been in Thirteen's outfit but I've already complained about that for a year. Cowards. "Off you pop" I wonder if that's a reference to Clara in the 50th. What is that the Time Vortex or something? Does Rose crochet these toys? Love that. (For the record I got nothing against Rose at all I'm just mad she was named Rose for pure fan pandering purposes.) Ok now I see why it was hiding in toys in the promo. Sylvia you are totally right to be angry at the Doctor this time around. "Oh wow he's so cute" no, it's nightmare fuel. GOOD JOB SYLVIA. He deserves that slap. Oh poor Shaun. He's such a good man though. Sees the chaos, sees a literal monster, and decides to compliment his mother-in-law's cooking. Good job. "I loved that man." Aw. Me too. "He's not dead." "You idiot." Love it. Kate came in to help take care of Wilf? Oh. Ohhh. My heart. "You've got two hearts? So do I." "You've got what." Oh Donna. Hmm so the hypnotized soldiers are not on the same side as the Wrath... I don't know how I feel about this sonic force field thing but ok. Resonating concrete. I'll accept that reference because it's about Nine. "Or we've got things very, very wrong." Yep I agree that Meep is probably evil and as nightmarish as the Meep looks. A living sun. I'll accept that reference because it's about Martha. Please RTD, reference something OTHER than your era though for this 60th anniversary of the whole show. SEE I TOLD YOU IT WAS A NIGHTMARE CREATURE. "With your weird child." Ah so Beep the Meep is a transphobe too. SEE. SEEEEEE. I WAS RIGHT TO HATE THIS THING. "I'm just passing by" Ok I always liked that line. God I hate this thing. SHE SAID THE DOCTOR. Ok these random Winter Soldier trigger words would have meant more had they actually be put into the show at some point prior to this. Because I have absolutely no memory of any of this besides the repeated "binary binary binary." Donna Noble is descending. Fixing up all the burning caverns like that is nonsense. OK ROSE. OK.

Ok no wait now I'm mad again. At first when the show was in promotions the assumption was that Donna named Rose subconsciously. Because we weren't sure if Yasmin was playing a trans character or not. Then when this episode started I was like "Ok so Rose picked the name Rose by random when she transitioned and it's a coincidence. Fine I'll accept that." but didn't actually put it in the post. And now NO. SHE HAS SOME OF THE METACRISIS IN HER. SO SHE NAMED HERSELF AFTER ROSE. I'm mad all over again. Just let it go RTD2!

Ok the Keep Out on the shed might be a reference to Twelve's sign on his Tardis. Fine. Fine. I'll take that. Glad they didn't zoom in on the Adipose before that. that would have been too obvious. Because the toy is just straight up an Adipose. Also happy 10th birthday to Owen the Adipose plushie I crocheted around this same time. "We're binary." "She's not." "Because the Doctor's male" "And female" "And neither. And more." Ok ok confirmation of the Doctor being non-binary ok. This has been a rollercoaster of me being angry and me being happy. "My father would be impressed, I have no higher compliment" That is VERY true there is not a higher compliment than that. Oh is the episode going to be dedicated to Bernard... Oh and we're getting that Toymaker dude later right? And Rose makes toys. Ok I see why this random Old Who villain is relevant to this story. "Shame you're not a woman anymore, cause she would have understood." True. So they can just... let the time lord energy go... sure I guess? OK THE SIGN BY THE ROBOT THINGS SAYS CYBERDOG. I DIDN'T SEE THAT BEFORE. THEY WERE MEANT TO LOOK LIKE CYBERMEN. I do like Ten being insulted by Shaun saying "But not him." since I do somewhat headcanon Ten as being a bit in love with Donna.

Ok at this point I realized that Tumblr had stopped autosaving this draft around when we saw the Adipose. So let's see if I can even post this last half.

I don't mind this Tardis design. Kind of like One's mixed with Eleven's. Ok the set itself is actually impressive. I like it. Oh Donna. Ew I do not like the breathy Doctor Who theme nope.

No dedication to Bernard at the end. Did we already get something dedicated to him? Or maybe they'll just dedicate the episode he's actually in.

As an episode, it was cute and fun. I think RTD2 needs to take some of his own advice and let it go, specifically the Rose thing.

As a 60th anniversary special... Ok I was glad this episode wasn't just purely RTD era callbacks every other moment. But still, it's an anniversary special. Give me more about all 60 years. Or at least the very least more about the Moffat and Chibnall eras. I guess we'll have to see since all 3 episodes are supposed to be anniversary specials. But for the episode airing closest to the anniversary, I'm disappointed that it didn't feel like an anniversary episode.

Edit: I went to check the cast and at the time it had a 9.2 on IMDB and was above Blink as highest rated episode. It's now down to 8.2 which is more reasonable. But god I'm annoyed at the way some fans have just eaten up all this pandering.

[iamafanofcartoons]

Media Criticism is DEAD, there are no more good critics. LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS!

One of my pet peeves is that a lot of the time, people hating on X thing will just regurgitate whatever video essay they got their opinions from verbatim, so you get the same, tired criticism play out every time. Yes, I've seen the hbomb video, and its garbage!

I used to have a friend who basically just parrots certain opinions and it's super annoying because you can literally see him change his own opinions to suit critics, like at least have some original opinions man!

Its genuinely exhausting that everyone today is a mini critic. Every new game, movie, show, ect has to be criticized to the ends of the earth, even if some of those criticisms make no sense at all. even before a new game is out, people have to say it'll be shit with no evidence. can't even discuss a new game coming out in a discord of people who play the first game because they're all 100% CONVINCED without a shred of evidence that it will suck and the devs will fuck it up beyond belief, despite the fact that the only thing we've seen so far are concept arts and 2 trailers. Nobody can be fucking positive about anything anymore and its god damn atrocious. I'm so sick of it.

I'm really sick of people cynically criticizing everything over the most minute details, and it's exhausting talking about media with people like that. 

Obviously people can criticize things but a lot of the time it feels like people are trying to use criticism to make their opinions "objective" instead of just... not liking it. 

You can't just say "not for me" anymore, you gotta write a video essay on why this thing is actually bad.

If you say "I think RWBY is really good" of course people are gonna disagree and that's fine.

 But what I find annoying is that you'll go "Hey this RWBY fight/character is cool" and you'll get flooded with "RWBY BAD WATCH THE HBOMB VIDEO!!"

Imagine spending 2.5 hours watching bald neckbeard cinemasins take a giant dump on a passion project, but somehow you don’t have 5-10 minutes to use google search to see if any of what he said was true. Spoilers? Most of it was slander and libel.

And these are the same people that never recognize forced straight ships that pander to heterosexuals.  Examples?  Sorry, I don't have the time to list 95% of all media with a romance that aren't romance genre.

God forbid someone wants two fictional women to kiss...or two men for that matter.  LGBT media is always criticized more harshly than shows with no representation at all.

It especially sucks because I do think people should have the right to criticize things, and that no piece of media is above criticism, but when everything is 100% criticism 100% of the time it just… doesn’t even mean anything anymore.

It's also hard to criticise things like this when something actually is poorly written, because the worst bigots and haters come out of the woodwork and latch onto your criticism as a "look, we're right" kind of thing. It makes it hard to actually critique progressive media a lot of the time.

A lot of folks just want to hide their hatred for LGBT and for women. I guess I’d rather have poor representation than no representation at all.

Let people enjoy things instead of being a pretentious killjoy who's never had fun in their life unless they're shitting on someone else's fun.

It gets tiring to hear the exact same criticisms of a character I like every goddamn time I bring them up. It may be new criticism to people saying it, but it's mentally taxing hearing the exact same points a hundred times.

[newspropaganda]

Why do you think yugioh fans are liberals?

I'm 100% convinced people need to wake up to how Yu-Gi-Oh! fans keep going backwards with literally everything Yu-Gi-Oh! related. Isn’t it awkward, anon-kun, how most fans can’t see how messed up the Yu-Gi-Oh! community has become?

Back in the early 2010s, from around 2012 to 2014, Zexal was nearly untouchable in discussions—too toxic to say anything positive about it. Now, somehow, people are all smiles about Zexal, even though that show almost killed the fandom and didn’t offer much interesting content. Let’s be real—it was aimed at kids.

Then came 2015, and the Yu-Gi-Oh! community went full nuclear, like some campus liberal losing it over misgendered pronouns. It all started when Konami pandered to legacy fans, giving out nostalgia support in every new anime and hyping up a new movie. The community went from peaceful to a toxic battleground where any attempt at normal discussion was near impossible. Fans became too stubborn to accept any flaws in the shows and actually blamed 5D’s for every nitpicky issue they could think of—sometimes over stuff that barely made sense during its original run!

Then ARC-V came along, and people threw a tantrum because it was “stuck” in the Synchro Dimension for another year, thanks to the tournament arc. But honestly, that wasn’t even its fault—the focus was diverted to yet another movie, one that did its best to kill Yu-Gi-Oh!’s legacy for good. And just to put the cherry on top, discussing Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V became a nightmare; any debate quickly devolved into the fandom’s “headcanon” version of the plot. Insert a Critical Drinker-style joke here: "Because why bother with canon when you’ve got a nice, shiny headcanon, eh?"

I’ll be honest—I'm one of those fans who left the fandom after how far downhill things went, and it wasn’t just about the show's quality. It started feeling like some kind of biased movement, like the kind of rant you’d hear from a die-hard political party supporter. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I even had a massive feud with a user named ScarclightCipher (aka the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC pervert), who kept stalking me with this twisted, incestuous ship that made me want to go back and rewatch bad movies—movies that actually had more substance than this junk. He was the fandom's joke until a fangirl finally kicked him out, trashing his so-called legacy. Haven't seen him since.

The problem is that Yu-Gi-Oh! fans can’t think straight anymore. It's like they’ve got a kind of “Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome,” feeling ashamed to even have an opinion without getting defensive—like chewing gum in a courtroom debate about who’s right or wrong.

Why do Yu-Gi-Oh! fans go off-topic so much? It’s like trying to explain why certain things just don’t work in the series, but they end up making the discussion worse. I remember having a conversation with someone named RainbowYuto, and he admitted he never watched 5D’s because he only got into Yu-Gi-Oh! recently, while I’ve been a fan since 2001—even though I grew up watching GX later since I didn’t have a computer at the time.

Honestly, I think Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, especially in America, can’t think straight, kind of like how people couldn’t think straight during the 2016 election. They were having complete meltdowns over the “orange man,” who, for all his faults, never actually started a war or seemed truly evil. The real issues people had with Trump were things like his comments about women or the way he insulted Rosie O'Donnell and other opponents in debates, mostly to rile up liberals.

It seems like many American Yu-Gi-Oh! fans aren’t just frustrated with politics but also with the game itself, which has turned into a toxic mess over the years. I honestly don’t get why there’s so much paranoia over politics, a president, or even a card game. In my country and others, like Japan, people seem way more relaxed. Even in Japan, the fans tend to be friendlier compared to how things have gotten in the U.S.

To me, America has always been about mainstream tastes—stuff like Tom and Jerry, The Three Stooges, and, lately, getting tangled up in bad politics with gender and woke ideology. It’s only gotten worse in the 2020s compared to 2015 onward. Just to be clear, I don’t care about the 2024 election, other than seeing it as a chance to share memes that highlight how the real losers in America are the ones who blame Trump for everything, just to help globalists who control the media and government keep fueling wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

People like Des Shinta, who support LGBTQ+ causes and hate Trump, do so because the government there is so messed up, and things can’t seem to improve. It feels like America pushes “woke” agendas even in entertainment, like Marvel movies, especially with something as big as Avengers: Endgame, which reflects how the Democratic Party seems obsessed with pushing its views at any cost, even at the expense of fans.

But what does this have to do with Yu-Gi-Oh!? A lot, actually—American fans tend to focus only on Yu-Gi-Oh! DM (Duel Monsters) and often act like jerks. I can’t stand Seto Kaiba fans who hate Trump yet support poorly adapted anime like DM or Bleach, because that’s just the kind of mindset that “modern liberals” have nowadays. Don't get me started on my problems with MangaKamen and Cancel Culture or heck, fucking literacy in American and people telling me to support it.

So, yeah—that’s my point.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Flash (2023)

Considering the demand for Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League, I’m still surprised by the ticket sales of the later DC films. Unfortunately, 2023’s The Flash is more likely to be remembered as one of the biggest box-office disappointments Warner Bros. Ever suffered rather than the red speedster’s first solo big-screen adventure. This film offers a lot to those who’ve avidly watched prior iterations of the DC Universe on TV and the big screen. It panders to the fans a bit too much, in fact, and the special effects vary wildly in quality.

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is about to give up hope. As a child, his mother Nora (Maribel Verdú) was murdered. His father was convicted of the crime. Barry knows for a fact his dad (Ron Livingston, replacing Billy Crudup) didn’t commit it. Unfortunately, the last piece of evidence that could have exonerated him - video footage from his trip to a grocery store on that day - doesn’t show his face. Overcome by emotions, Barry accidentally uses his powers to travel back in time. There, he alters his mother’s fate, traveling to an alternate universe in the process.

The trailers gave it away so it’s not a big secret that the alternate universe (not alternate timeline) Barry lands in has an entirely different version of the Justice League. Most notably, Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. It was fun to see that sort of thing in Spider-Man: No Way Home and it is again here. I never thought we’d see Keaton donning the cape and cowl once more, much less see him teaming up with the Flash as they search for Superman to save the world from Michael Shannon as General Zod. With cameos from Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman, loads of easter eggs and some plot points from earlier movies (such as the empty pod in Superman’s ship in Man of Steel) finally getting addressed, the picture checks many boxes for its audience. Unfortunately, this story takes many cues from the terrific 2011 Flashpoint comic storyline, which was previously adapted as an excellent animated film in 2013 and at least one season of the Flash TV series. I can’t say anything about the show but when choosing between the two adaptations, the animated version is better because its dozens of superheroes and villains make it feel like an event. It’s also way shorter; this 2023 movie is a whopping 144 minutes long. If you're interested in The Flash, I'm sure you've already seen/read this story.

To be fair, the running time isn’t wasted. Before he realizes he’s traveled to an alternate universe, Barry thinks he’s gone back in time so he meets his past self: a younger more immature Barry who’s just received his powers. This film is both one of the Flash’s biggest adventures AND his origin story. If you were to cut some material, it would have to be from the third act, which is a big action scene that didn't really need to happen.

If someone aggressively edited this film, they could probably cut it down by 20 minutes with only minimal rewrites/reshoots. For example, Older Barry tells Younger Barry about the first person he ever saved and the first person he failed to rescue. We see the same people in Younger Barry’s universe as disaster looms towards them… but both Flashes are too busy trying to save the world from General Zod to even try a rescue… so what does that mean? I also feel that the mandatory scene in any time travel movie, the one where the rules are explained, is done rather clumsily.

You might not agree with the flaws directed towards the story, but an undeniable flaw is the special effects. Some are seamless, like those with two Barrys. That’s a credit to Ezra Miller as a performer as well. In many other scenes - such as the big opener that has the Flash saving people from a crumbling building - “uneven” feels like an overly generous description.

The Flash is a mixed bag that thankfully has more good than bad. The special effects may make you wonder where all the money went - I suspect post-production ate a lot of it. Some aspects of the plot are really thoughtful, such as the scenes where the younger and older versions of Barry talk about their mother. Seeing Michael Keaton reprise his role is a treat. I’d even call the performances pretty strong, particularly Miller in his dual roles. There are some issues with the screenplay - mostly during the third act. All this means I’d recommend it to those who are invested in the franchise that started with Man of Steel and to fans of the comic as well… but they’re almost certain to have seen this story done before and better.

Go see The Flash with lowered expectations and you’ll be pleased, particularly if you’re seeing it at home as part of your subscription or for the price of a rental. While you’re at it, there is a scene at the end of the credits, though it doesn’t add anything to the movie and can easily be skipped, particularly since it’s not like this is the last time we’re seeing this universe in action - that would be “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” in December. (September 2, 2023)

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What would a cw adaptation of Harry Potter look like?

Having not watched too many cw shows myself (I just hear about their nonsense), I phoned @therealvinelle who made the poor life choices of having watched much more of The Vampire Diaries than I have and watching any Supernatural.

The following is her beautiful response:

So for starters, we merge Snape and Tom's characters. This is because Snape isn't hot, and because Tom needs to be near the kids. Tom still looks like Tom Riddle, and he's a teacher who seduces Hermione. At no point are any thoughts about the fact that he's a teacher sleeping with a student had

Harry is a blond now, and he's also dating Hermione. A love triangle ensues, one where Tom will hover sexily but dangerously in empty classrooms and make vague threats that Hermione find very sexually arousing.

The love triangle is the focal point of this show.

Voldemort is Tom's evil alter ego, who killed Harry's parents over that prophecy. He wants to kill Harry as well, but it's not the season finale yet so he's not actually doing anything about it. Too busy seducing Hermione.

Instead he just does vaguely sinister things, like release a basilisk that Harry heroically saves Hermione from.

He every so often has charged conversations with McGonagall (Who has been aged down and is in her thirties. She's still considered ancient), implying they had an affair once.

Harry and Hermione piece together that Tom and Voldemort aRe ThE sAmE pErSoN.

(Piece together meaning that Dumbledore, who only appeared in the second half of the first season and the show never bothers to clarify what his job actually is, gets a focal episode where he tells them the story of Tom Riddle through flashbacks. Terrible flashback wigs and costumes galore.)

Tom will later, in season 3 where he goes full woobie and we learn that none of his evil deeds were ever his fault, reveal that there's more to the story. That orphanage he grew up in? It was a special school for muggle-borns where they trained a future wizarding militia. Tom was the only one who broke free of their oppressive regime. The other children... GREW UP TO BECOME THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.

But I'm skipping how season 1 ended. The answer is that Hermione disavowed Tom in the season 1 finale since he was evil, he was too sexy bad boy to care except subtle wigglings of his eyebrow told the captive Tomione-shipping audience that he did in fact care. Harmione shippers think they're all delusional. She then jumped into Harry's arms.

Which was poor decision making on her end, because in season 2 Harry joins the dark side. This lasts for half a season, mostly because the arc featured so much filler. Tom, who was imprisoned in season 1, becomes Hermione's supportive pen pal through this ordeal and she starts to wonder if maybe there's good in him after all.

Sirius Black is introduced, he's a lawyer living in the Muggle world and he was in love with Lily. We get a flashback showing us how sad Sirius was when she married James, and there is buildup for an arc where Harry's paternity will be questioned. This arc is scrapped, and Sirius is written out of the show altogether, never to be mentioned again.

Ginny gets pregnant by Neville. Neville dies tragically shortly afterwards, killed by Harry because Harry is a dark wizard now. This is actually the spinoff door episode to the new show the CW is trying to launch, "The Weasleys".

Neville's death has no real consequences, Harry returns to the light and is forgiven in time to become the child's godfather.

Oh, and can't believe I forgot: they've all been aged up to 17.

End of season 2, Tom escapes prison.

Season 3, we get the whole "DUMBLEDORE is the real villain!" arc. Tom killing Harry's parents in season 1 is forgotten, the show doesn't outright retcon it but it doesn't want the viewers to remember it either.

Hermione is once again in a love triangle, only this time Tom and Harry have both done bad things (but we'll only bring up the 2 bad things Harry did (killed Neville and said a mean thing to Hermione) and none of the 282985204592 bad things Tom did) so Hermione has a hard time.

Hermione also discovers that she's a uniquely powerful witch. She has the power to make windows shatter, candles flicker, and wind blow all about. Everyone is frightfully impressed with this.

Mid-season 3 finale, Dumbledore destroys Tom's body. It's terribly dramatic, but then turns out to only be a mild inconvenience as he is resurrected four episodes later. He's resurrected by Hermione's window shattering powering, she closed her eyes very intensely and bam, he's back.

We learn about the horcruxes, which by themselves are shockingly similar to the horcruxes of the original books. The big change, however, is that this Tom didn't know he had horcruxes, those evil bastards at the orphanage split his soul in the night through ominous rituals (another flashback here). He has no idea where this other half of his soul is.

Season finale, we learn that Hermione is in fact his horcrux. This is why they had so much in common (they don't have anything in common) and why she got through his bad boy persona (he hasn't been a bad boy since season 1!). They were soulmates this whole time!

Harry despairs in the face of this, and he and Hermione have a teary conversation where she confirms that yes, the Tomione shippers won.

He also has a pleasant conversation with Tom, as a bromance has bloomed between the two.

Alas. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, as the door flings open dramatically. Dumbledore walks in, bearing proof that Tom made an Unbreakable Vow to always serve the Order, a Vow that was obliviated from him. He drags Tom kicking and screaming away from a crying Hermione, the season ends with her resolve to find a way to save him.

(Sorry, I'm on a roll here)

Season 4, a year later. Harry and Hermione have been searching ever since Tom disappeared. They've become closer than ever, but apart from three or four moments of extreme sexual tension per episode, Hermione is Faithful™

News of Tom's terrorist actions as an Order member reach them with regular intervals. Hermione remains convinced that he's being forced to do all this and doesn't actually want to hurt anybody, Harry's not so sure.

They catch up to him in Minneapolis (did I mention this entire show takes place in the states? All the actors are American.) and he tells them to stop trying to save him. Hermione, devastated, takes this to mean he never loved her, he was only ever a psychopath playing with her feelings. She tells him as much, and Tom confirms, yeah, he's a cold-hearted son of a bitch (Harry's favorite insult for him).

They break up, and Hermione gets back with Harry. They return to their home city in North Dakota.

At the very end of that same episode, Tom is able to visit Harry for 15 seconds in the form of a specter and very dramatically tell him how he does love Hermione but he's not good for her, better to make a clean break, yada yada. DON'T LOOK FOR ME.

Harry agrees, sure no problem, he can do that. Just one noble bro to another.

Tom nods, thanks for having sex with my girl while I rot in hell, bro.

It is in this same season premier episode that the show introduces the Blacks. Remember Sirius Black? Yeah, this is sexy family.

They become instant fan favorites, and one of them is shipped with Tom (the fans now hate both Harry and Hermione).

Pandering as always, the show lets said character run into Tom. And it's not Bellatrix, oh no. It's Athena, a CW original Black. She's indistinguishable from the original Bellatrix and it's unclear why she's not just Bellatrix.

Tom is ordered to kill her, but they have a moment of truly intense eye contact so he only injures her (the killing curse doesn't exist in this show. Don't ask how Harry got his scar. No really, don't ask, the show never explained it). Shippers go wild.

Tom is eventually able to break free of the Unbreakable Vow through the power of true love (book fans are sobbing, this show gets nothing right), and he returns to Hermione, begs her to take him back. She rebuffs him, and he goes to get drunk at a bar. This is where Narcissa (aged down to 25) finds him. They have sex.

He has a brief fling with her, only to get into a more serious relationship with Athena. This leads to Hermione getting jealous.

We're now dealing with a love pentagon, of sorts. Harry and Tom love Hermione, Tom also loves Athena, Narcissa wants Harry but she has undeniable sexual chemistry with Tom.

The show descends into back-and-forth-ing, and does not get renewed.

The end.

POST SCRIPT:

The oddly popular side character that the CW never wanted to be popular at all and keeps having to make mysteriously vanish for half a season so that the plot(?) can avoid being derailed is Draco.

He's super competent but the show will never admit that.

Later, Athena plays this same role.

- @therealvinelle

[talkingbl]

BL Elitists & Snobbery in Fandom

Disclaimer: My favorite BLs of all time err on the "mature" side, harassing actors is bad, fanservice can be bad, shipping can be toxic, and I too am critical of certain aspects of fandom. Nobody's perfect but let's all try to at least be nice and better than we were yesterday.

Since the premiere of KinnPorsche, there's been an uptick in elitism in the BL fandom. Fans of shows such as KinnPorsche, Bad Buddy, Semantic Error, and other BLs with "mature" themes, BLs produced in East Asia, and/or BLs which cast seasoned actors, increasingly bad-mouth fans of shows like Cutie Pie and others which either exist as pure fluff or take a more trope-y approach to BL storytelling. As a watcher of your ITSAYs and Tonhon Chonlatee's alike, it's a strange sight.

I was already burnt out by all the pandering straights who only enjoy the finest of Taiwanese and Korean BLs and scold the fan service-laden Thai BLs. But it has reached a new level that's, quite frankly, exhausting. It's like, we get it, you want to see the gritty realism of a gay relationship in modern East Asia, you want the glossy production and the seasoned actors in Japan--and the "no-nonsense anti-shipping/fan service" culture in Korean fandoms.... At least that's what you say. But all I see is a need to feel superior and a clear xenophobia that just goes unaddressed. Let's talk about this in parts.

1. Stanning a "mature" BL doesn't make you a better person. Also, saying you have superior taste for stanning ITSAY and Gameboys because "it's LGBT, not BL" is not helpful to anyone.

Let's start here. I will die on the hill that BL is part of LGBT media. I get that people traditionally associate the former with fantastical depictions of gay relationships but I posit this: if Twilight can be classified as a heterosexual romance, with all its blatantly unrealistic and even toxic elements, why can't Dark Blue Kiss or Fish Upon the Sky be LGBT romances? Why must all gay media be about the struggle of being gay? Why can't LGBT-identifying people have a break from the overwhelmingly rough reality we face? It's like saying POC should be limited to films about facing structural racism and borderline modern-day caste systems. As if we can't enjoy an escape from reality like Aladdin or Black Panther or whatever it is that allows us to have all the things western white people have in their media. For some of us, BLs and GLs, however unrealistic they can get, is a fantasy we enjoy. Let those who want it, have it.

2. Trashing Thai BLs just seems like xenophobia at best and color/racial superiority complexes at worst.

Honestly, when people brag about how "Korea is coming for the BL industry" and how superior Korean BLs are, despite how homophobic, boring, and straight up scarce many Korean BLs and BL actors are, it gives "Kpop rappers are better than American rappers" vibes. Like, I have seen people PRAISE Korean and Japanese live-action BLs as superior to anything out of Thailand (and claim ITSAY to be an exception--of course) when the reality of it is is that Thailand is just far more prolific and has been in the live-action game since day 1. Now, I'm not gonna lie, Korea has it's foot on the Yaoi manhwa genre's neck, but that hasn't translated very well into live-action. Moreover, when asked why they prefer Korean BLs overall, these stans can never give a rational answer. But common themes I've noticed include how attracted they are to the MCs, how ~realistic they are (AN: they're not, see: Color Rush, Cherry Blossoms After Winter, and other big names out of Korea), or just how they're "refreshing" as compared with Thai BLs because they're ~above fan service and things like that.

But increasingly, I'm finding that the biggest KBL stans are also kpop stans who just prefer the Korean idol look where everybody is limited to some variation of pale skin, small faces, and eurocentric features. And before anyone tries to come for me, just look at kpop idols, watch documentaries about the toxic single beauty standard and culture, or just talk to your Korean friends (like I do!) The beauty standard is highly specific and everyone must conform to it lest they be ostracized for being "too dark", "looking SEA" (which, why is this an insult?), or "looking poor/old". I'm not saying this to demonize anybody's type, but it feels strange (again, borderline xenophobic) when people who have definitely fetishized that standard reject excellent media on the basis of it. These same people seem to exclusively enjoy BLs from Northeast Asia and/or the white west and wouldn't even give Thai, Filipino, or Black LGBT stories a chance. Again, to each their own but it's the false sense of superiority for me.

As for criticizing the fan service culture, these same fans try to justify their clearly baseless attacks on non-East Asian/white media by saying that, for example, the Thai industry is toxic. But the reality is, Japanese and Korean media practically invented OTT gay fanservice between the straights. Just look at the way kpop and jpop idols are with each other. And while it isn't as OTT with BL actors as it is with the idols, that's likely largely because of how much of a niche BL is in those places compared to the pop idols. There's also something to be said for the fact that LGBTQ+ people, while definitely still discriminated against, are much more visible in places like Thailand. I may be going out on a limb here but I propose that if live-action BLs were as popular in Korea and Japan as they are in Thailand, we'd see a hell of a lot more OTT fan service. And with the recent success of Semantic Error, I can definitely see it happening. You already see it with Taiwanese BLs (MaxHao (however real or not real), anyone?)

3. Letting us know that you're ~not like the other girls, and "don't fetishize gay relationships" is not only blatantly false but also mischaracterizes a lot of the situation.

Now the elephant in the room are those who still enjoy Thai BLs but are so loud about preferring the 1000 Stars' and Bad Buddy's because "there's no seme-uke dynamic and I like that because it makes the characters more real" or "the actors are really good friends behind the scenes and I stan the friendship, not the possible romantic relationship" or, even worse, the "it's none of my business what the actors do outside of the show and I don't ship real people, so I'm better than everyone else who does because that shows my allyship and how I don't even see sexuality." It's giving ACAB, BLM, yet screaming over Black voices vibes.

Now, I never want to trash true allies and I totally agree that it's important not to blur fiction and reality and that we need at least some realistic depictions of gay relationships. But when the hets start going on and on about it whilst at the same time only enjoying BL like it's a dirty secret and assuming actors are straight (but criticizing any notion that an actor may not be), and going on about how everything is fan service so they're just ~above it all anyway...it gives overcompensating for what you know to probably be a fetish within yourself. It gives "I enjoy looking at two hot guys I wish I could fuck go at it and don't want to stop, so I'll pretend like I'm down for the cause, when in reality, I am very much just like the other girls" (girls used gender-neutrally here lol). I don't know, it just seems so fake to me.

And while I'm not saying I prefer delusional, toxic, shippers, there's something to be said for not pretending to be better when, in fact, you aren't. Why can't you consume BL the same way you consume straight romances (or even GLs)? Why does it have to be some activist political thing when you do it? Like, obviously don't fetishize MLM relationships but, speaking as a minority in many senses of the word, the way to normalize non-traditional relationships isn't to constantly make a big deal out of how you think they should operate in media when the reality is, as long as no one is being harmed, diverse representation is the easiest and best way to present any group of individuals. Like, not all Asians know martial arts and are super smart, not all Black people are artistically and athletically gifted, not all white people are wealthy and powerful. Likewise, not all LGBTQ+ people live the same lifestyle. Some are heteronormative. Some are femme in femme/femme relationships. Some have a lot of sex, some don't have sex at all. Why can't we show all these perspectives and allow people to like what they like, again, and I stress, as long as no one is being harmed?

Like, yes, we should definitely not encourage delusional waanjais who give Gulf porn art of him and Mew, but, there's a happy medium where we can do away with harmful representations and actions toward marginalized groups but also celebrate their diversity and people's love of their stories. I just don't see why elitists have to act like they're above everyone else when they are really all in the same boat.

That said, I will still (playfully, of course) roast anyone who actually enjoys boring ass Check Out, because that shit is just horrible lmao. But the difference here is roasting someone's taste in media vs. acting like you're doing the community a favor by uplifting strong masc/masc, non-heteronormative, non fs-driven relationships. Like what you like, roast what you want to roast, just don't be pretentious about it as if you're taking some sort of political stance on it.

I understand I too may fall victim to shaming certain behaviors, but the key is in noticing you're doing it and reeling yourself in. Life is about happy mediums, not extremes.

Anyway, that's just my take.

[beepboop358]

Hello :)

You know I really don’t believe in byler being endgame ( I love byler btw it’s my fav ship ) because of mileven . I don’t like mileven but it just feels like they are endgame and that’s actually somehow sad because it’s like always the same thing : Main boy and main girl get together and they are endgame … that’s it

But what makes me even more sad is that the duffers have made so many byler moments that are too romantic to be just friendship . But I don’t think that they just make mileven break up and mike gay ( or bi or pan etc )after developing their relationship every season . I know there is a lot of evidence that they ( mike and will ) get together but what if we just interpret it wrong or something? Also I think the duffers know how many viewers they would lose if they make mileven break up and byler is way too good to be an actual ship :( 😂 I guess we just have to wait for season 4

( btw that’s no hate to you (or mileven shippers)I really love all of your blogs 💗)

Hey anon!

I don't think we will see the stereotypical boy and girl ending with mileven in Stranger Things. Stranger Things is strictly an ensemble cast, no one is the main girl or main boy. The fan base has kind of just decided that Mike and El are the "main characters", when that's not what the show says.

I did a longer post about why we don't have to worry about the writers pandering to heteronormativity with mileven that might give you a little reassurance that they won't make Mike & El end up together simply for the fact that they are a straight couple, people like their characters & expect them to get back together & stay together, etc. I don't think we are interpreting byler clues wrong. All of the byler evidence so far has been designed to be clues for byler, and they don't point to anything else. The Duffers, writers, set designers, costume designers, etc., everyone works together to create these details, and everyone is on the same page, it's just how productions work :) And if they don't work that way, you can very much tell because nothing on screen will be cohesive and no clear message will come across and everything will seem like an absolute mess LOL, which isn't the case with stranger things.

I think the Duffers are slightly frustrated with the fan response they got from Mileven in seasons 2 and 3. There are a lot of mileven disses EVERYWHERE in the show (especially in s2 and s3) & viewers seemed to ignore them entirely, but the Duffers just kept stating in interviews how Mileven was an obsessive first crush, etc. And as far as their development, there is barely any. They knew each other a week, then El was gone for a year, then she comes back for a few months, hiding in Hopper's cabin and then bam s3. They hardly know each other really.

I don't think they are worried about loosing viewers if they don't comply to what people what with mileven. They've been very clear about the fact that mileven is not the focus of the show. Besides, there are millions of people who watch ST, and hardcore mileven shippers are not the majority of those viewers. Most people who watch the show don't watch it FOR mileven, they watch it for other reasons. I've talked about ST with some of my older relatives/family friends, and with some of my friends as well and they don't seem to care at all what happens to Mileven's romantic relationship in the show, and most of the show's viewers are adults, who are not just watching the show for a relationship between 2 minors (if they were it would be incredibly creepy) Most people who watch the show ONLY for Mike & El are younger, and there are less viewers of that age range. And Mike & El already broke up, which people seem to ignore somehow?? They never officially got back together in s3, they're still broken up from what we've seen...

In conclusion, we're getting Byler <3 We just have to wait it out because they're playing the long game with them :) I agree with you that they are like a perfect ship!

Thanks for the ask! I hope you're well xx

[jenatwork]

Okay, this isn't the essay. This might be the planning notes for the essay, and it needs prefacing with a few things:

1. I have been reading and writing fanfiction for close to 25 years so I'm not just pulling this out of nowhere

2. This is partly influenced by my autistic need for characterisation to be accurate in fics I read/enjoy

3. In no way do I want to tell people how to play with their blorbos - this is almost entirely my personal opinion (with a little bit of English teacher writing advice thrown in)

4. These points might be disjointed, because this is definitely more of a brain dump than a coherent essay.

I was going to say this was a relatively new thing, but looking back, I think I noticed the beginnings of it as far back as 20 years ago - it's just become a lot more prevalent in the past five years or so, as fanfiction has become more mainstream.

What I'm talking about is the writing of male characters (usually in m/m 'ships), in a way that has little to do with canon characterisation and is more about replicating the characterisation that readers (usually of mainstream live-action American shows) expect from romance narratives. That can include any combination of: gender roles (even in same-gender relationships); ideas of sex appeal based on porn for straight men; only engaging with a text for the purposes of shipping;

The reintroduction of gender roles into same-gender relationships is why I'm not into omegaverse or mpreg fics. Those are easy to avoid because those tropes are usually the selling point and first tag of such fics. But it's also partly why I tend to avoid big fandoms centred on live-action English language media. Because there are relatively few films/shows in Western media which properly capture queer male experiences and culture (hard to think of anything more accurate than Russell T Davies' original '90s 'Queer As Folk'), most fic writers' approach to writing relationships comes instead from the relationships that are canon in Western media: namely, m/f relationships. Where, even in 2024, there are still prescribed roles: 'the man and his object of desire' is mapped on to m/m relationships to become 'sugar daddy and his twink' or 'dom and sub' or even just 'top and bottom'. I loathe with a burning passion any discussion of who's the top and who's the bottom, because it feels like ascribing traditional gender roles and nothing to do with what actually happens when queer men have sex.

I need to talk about Deadpool & Wolverine, which reignited a lot of this thinking for me - how Wade's pansexuality in all three of his films is so much of a joke that he seems to me almost the least sexual queer man I've seen in Western media - I'm convinced that if a man ever actually said yes, he wouldn't know what to do about it, because his sexuality has been repackaged for a straight audience who would probably be a little uncomfortable if their funny sex-joke hero actually followed through. The Honda Odyssey scene came across as the film's creators pandering to the shippers in a way that wouldn't deter the straight men who just want to watch their funny sex-joke hero stab and shoot with impunity.

I want to talk, too, about Hannibal, which I recently recently binge-watched precisely because I was curious to see if the babygirlification of its leads by fandom had any real canonical basis. Although I've read only a tiny fraction of the fandom's creative content, what I have read seems to confirm my suspicions: that Will's canonical revulsion over Hannibal's activities is repackaged as swooning excitement at the knowledge that Hannibal kills to get his attention. Again, play with your blorbos however you want, but it is strange to me how fandoms seem to repackage relationships in the same way again and again, stripping away everything from the original content expect for two (or more) attractive dolls to make kiss.

When I said I saw the beginnings of this quite early on in my fandom journey, I want to mention the Warren Mears shippers who kept taking him out of his compelling context to make him kiss boys he never interacted with in canon. And the Due South fic series where Ray Vecchio had a secret life as a drag queen, as if his canonical insistence on upholding a very specific type of rigid masculinity never happened.

And that point would let me segue into an exploration of how, even in 2024, queer culture has been repackaged in a weird, shiny and bland way for straight audiences so that people's understanding of it is limited to Drag Race and Heartstopper and sexless comedic characters.

And how (as I've written in another essay elsewhere) there are far too many fics about gay men putting on lacy lingerie and high heels, or play-acting BDSM from an IKEA-like instruction manual, but I've never read a single fanfiction where a queer man wears a jockstrap.

I need to write an essay about the babygirlification of slash fanfiction.

[fanonical]

not comparing it to incest, but people are allowed to be weirded out by loki’s love interest being himself as a woman… also where did you get sylvie being trans from? she was shown as a young girl (not saying that means that she can’t be trans, but marvel clearly intended her to be cis) anyway idc about owen wilson, but it’s a little silly to act like the only reason someone wouldn’t be into sylkie is because they don’t want to support a ship between 2 genderfluid bisexual people when marvel barely hinted at both of those things and clearly just wanted to play at both “representation” and having their girl/boy relationship so homophobes don’t get mad

1. they're allowed to be weirded out about it. they're ALLOWED to feel whatever way they want about it, but people are acting as if it's a moral position. if you think it's weird and uncomfortable, feel free to just not watch anymore. you can do that. it is free to do that.

2. i personally know many many trans women who were as young as Sylvie was in that flashback, OR YOUNGER, when they first knew they were girls. you can find dozens upon dozens upon dozens of examples of trans girls that young who are out the closet. nott everybody comes out as a teenager or an adult. some people DO always know.

3. idk why Marvel would specifically go out of their way to imply female variants of Loki are rare/otherwise non existent AND show Sylvie to be really and repeatedly uncomfortable being called "Loki" if not to imply that Sylvie was designated male at birth. but whatever

4. sometimes bi men and bi women date. that's fine. that's representation, even. especially when they talk about the fact that they're bi! would i love a male love interest for Loki to ALSO show up in season 2? absofuckinglutely, yes.

5. homophobes are going to be mad at the inclusion of the bisexuality line regardless. in fact, they are! all you need to do is go on Reddit or something to find loads of people angry at how it's "pandering" or whatever. to suggest that bi people don't receive biphobia when they're in ""straight"" relationships is, by the way, in itself biphobic. grow up.

6. yeah, it's for sure at least partially because it's "safer" and less "challenging" that Loki's love interest is female, even when they confirm him to be bisexual, but you can't just... project all this anger onto the fact that a bi character dates a woman. bi guys are into women! that's part of the job description. if you think it's only good bi representation when people are in same-sex relationships, then congratulations, you are in fact biphobic.

7. i'm pretty sure the director of the show is bi, so you might want to be careful about the accusations you throw around about what this bi rep was trying to accomplish

8. i didn't say the only reason people don't support Sylkie is because of blah blah blah whatever you said. i don't care about "supporting ships" because i'm not ten years old and on deviantart. i watch shows that are compelling, and sometimes there are compelling relationships in them. it's ok if you think Sylvie and Loki isn't one of them, i personally do. but don't like... project some ship drama nonsense onto this. i never said anything like that, i just said that people are predominately mad that Mobius and Loki didn't kiss/get together, and are now incorrectly claiming that they were queerbaited because they, being the fujoshis they are, wholecloth invented a romantic tension between two white guys. because that's what they do.