#because then you will be arguing instead of having other like-minded animal haters talk about a topic you like discussing

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

you have good opinions and you seem like a really cool person. thank you for being awesome on my dolphins post I appreciate it !

Thanks! The pleasure is all mine, ever since I was a child I’ve really liked dolphins and other whales. Even though my favourite animals are fish now, it annoys me to see people call them all sorts of horrid things and say they’re evil creatures with malice-filled hearts! It’s, first off, wrong, and second, shows a kind of lack of understanding about other species, how they experience the world and how they think. Because they certainly do not think like humans! And I hate how these things are used to compare one species to other species, to show how they are more good, or more evil. Even if animals fill a similar niche you cannot compare whole entire species on this ethics scale!??? They are DIFFERENT SPECIES and have evolved COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY. Is a rabbit more good than a fox just because the fox kills the rabbit, and killing is ethically wrong? No? Exactly. This is just like fitness (biology), fitness can only be used to compare individuals of the same species, NOT whole species to each other. Doesn’t work that way!

Ah, anyway. I just don’t really like seeing people be weird about animals. Fortunately many people are not!

[copperbora]

Introduction

Here be mine list of information sources that I often use for arguing with people who genocidally hate wolves (and other wildlife,) based on misinformation, anti-wolf propaganda like 'Smoke a Pack a Day!' (yes, wolf haters literally say inflammatory hogwash like this,) and centuries of uneducated fear based upon the very few times in history (actual accounts forgotten) that (likely largely habituated) wolves have been less than friendly to humans. (And I was going to include a picture of one of these 'smoke a pack a day' things but urgh... honestly they make me want to vomit.)

🐾Please note that I will be constantly adding to this list and updating it as I find new ammunition - er, sources, with which to argue with/informationally support my ongoing work on my science-based graphic novel, Knife Edge. (Which production is a bit slow on at the moment because I am spending most of my time outside.)

⚠️Important to note: wolf scientists can be a bit hard to talk to at times due to the fact that some of them have literally received death threats from wolf haters and people in the livestock industries who erronously believe based upon hearsay (i.e. no actual science,) that wolves are a threat to their top dollar. That's why the typically great podcast Ologies had trouble finding a wolf scientist for its lupinology episode - because people who hate wolves tend to hate people who say that they need to stop killing wolves because how dare they be wrong. (I'm still peeved about how bad that lupinology episode was by the way; it didn't even mention trophic cascades. Sigh. (That's why I haven't linked it here, and why I hope that Alie Ward will redo it someday, or that the podcast Science Versus will do a wolf episode instead someday.)

I myself am not a wolf scientist, (although this was my dream as a little girl which I gave up on due to painful dyscalcula,) but I am striving to be as expert about lupinology as much as a non-scientist can be, especially so that I can do wolves proper justice in my story Knife Edge as well as other future wolf advocacy projects that are percolating in my deranged little mind. My stunningly crappy brain for math may have prevented me from studying to become an actual wildlife biologist studying wolves in the field but it isn't going to stop me from helping wolves with my art by attempting to educate and dispel misinformation about them. I can do my best to be a science communicator and do wolf outreach through my work. Hopefully I won't get lynched for it.

Please feel free to use the following links should you decide that you need them. This post is linked in my pinned post so that it can be more easily found especially by me.

Why I Advocate for Wolves

- Because it's the right thing to do: wolves are sentient, highly social beings who live in closely knit family groups much like our own human families complete with parents who impart generational knowledge - such as tactically how to specifically hunt particular prey (for example: elk) - upon their offspring who either go off eventually to start their own families or stay put in their natal pack with their parents, helping to raise their younger siblings. No animal has been more horrifically scapegoated over the centuries of our coexistence than the wolf, which some people are still trying to eradicate even though no science supports this.

- Because I dream of a world where predators are protected, where all killing of them is banned, because they are simply too important to our planet to destroy. They are deeply critical to rewilding our planet and helping our own species survive, because where wolves are, wetlands and forests thrive, helping cure drought, prevent wildfires, facilitate natural carbon capture through the bettering of these ecosystems, and clean the water that we humans also drink, all by preventing cervid species like deer from overgrazing and destroying baby trees. Wolves cause trophic cascades which promote the survival of hundreds of other species from charismatic scavengers like bald eagles and red foxes to the freshwater trout that anglers love to catch whose health is aided by the beavers which are able to create expansive water meadows whenever deer are prevented by predators like wolves from eating all of the beavers' food.

- Because unshockingly, killing wolves greatly damages their genetic diversity, hindering their ability to survive as a species. (I can't believe that there are actually people surprised by this.)

- Because before we ruined everything, the presence of wolves and lack of human interference meant that pre-colonial biodiversity was unimagineably greater than what we see today and I for one would like to see this amazing biodiversity explode again within my lifetime.

- Because wolves and humans have a lot in common; they too mourn their dead and exhibit joy at the introduction of new babies to their families. Recognizing this isn't anthropomorphism; we too are animals, afterall.

"We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be – the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer – which is, in reality, no more than a reflected image of ourself.” - Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf.

🐺Wolf Specific Citations

- Wolves as scapegoats for human evil.

- No statistical support for wolf 'control' (culling) and maternal penning as methods for helping endangered caribou in British Columbia. (Actually, erase the word culling - what they really mean is wolf genocide.)

- The plight of wolves in America (features an absolute textwall of citations!)

- New document suggests British Columbia is using Judas Wolves for aerial wolf cull.

- Account of use of Judas Wolves in British Columbia

- BC Wolf Cull: documents reveal cruel methods of killing wolves. (You can bet your butt that I am furious at my province for this.)

- Wolves do not require human 'help' to control their numbers.

- Wolves are extremely important for environmental health as they cause trophic cascades.

- A wolf, abruptly noticing a human, runs away in fear. (Example of typical human/wolf interaction.)

- Are wolves dangerous to humans? (Spoiler alert: they're statistically not.)

- Killing wolves is unnecessary: wolves naturally limit their own numbers.

- Wolves are not a significant threat to livestock. What is a genuine threat to livestock generally? Free roaming dogs (in fact, farmers in Scotland are allowed to outright shoot dogs who they notice bothering their animals,) dystocia (birthing complications,) and inclement weather - issues which could be aleviated at least a little if ranchers would just use some range riders - aka, cowboys.

- US government data shows that wolves have a negligible effect on livestock losses.

- Killing wolves actually leads to more livestock losses, not less.

- Alberta Rancher Using Non-Lethal Predator Control (hasn't 'had' to shoot a wolf in years.)

- Livestock Guardian Dogs Reduce Losses by 11-100% (utilized correctly they are extremely effective!)

- Livestock Guardian Dogs Reduce Predation (according to Texas A&M University.)

- Please note that the wolf ranking terms 'alpha/beta/omega' have been debunked and are no longer in reputable scientific use. I wrote a thing about it here. Wolf packs are families, not militant groups of marauding monsters.

- All about why we don't use the wolf ranking terms alpha/beta/omega anymore which is why I depict Larch's natal pack in Knife Edge without these terms.

Recommended Books & Films About Wolves

- The Homeward Wolf by Kevin Van Tighem (a great account of wolf behaviour including detailing how wolves have generational knowledge and typically only hunt what their elders have taught them to except in rare circumstances such as in the case of a melanistic male in the Canadian Rockies who started hunting mountain goats instead of the elk that he had been raised on.)

- The Last Wolf by Jim Crumley (goes over the extirpation of the wolf from Scotland and over the misinformation surrounding wolves in great detail; an inspiring read.)

- In the Shadow of a Rainbow by Robert Franklin Leslie (a novel telling the story of a remarkable friendship between a man and a wild wolf which also gives evidence to lupine pre-genocide culture.)

- Island of the Sea Wolves published and streamed by Netflix, which gives an interesting account of a wolf family that has two breeding females in it, who amazingly help each other raise their pups!

- The International Wolf Centre's wonderfully long list of wolf books and media. (Doesn't include everything though.)

Other Wildlife Citations (Mostly About Cougars, Honestly.)

As a wildlife advocate you have to pick your battles so most of my focus is on predators, particularly wolves, cougars, coyotes, and sharks with a small measure of focus on spotted hyenas. I do also have a soft spot for beavers, however, as they are personally sacred to me and also extremely important to the environment, being an unusual keystone species that is a herbivore rather than a predator. Generally predators are the most influential animals in a habitat but beavers - and bison - are novel exceptions. (And actually, squirrels are too. Every animal is an important facet however without natural predators ecosystems crumble. Humans are not a replacement; compared to predators like wolves humans typically do an outlandishly terrible job of positively influencing the ecosystem.)

- The importance of predators (many more useful citations!)

- Why We NEED Predators (ScienceNews)

- Unmasking the myth of wildlife 'management.' (Yet more citations.)

- USDA's war on wildlife (again super well cited!)

- Cougars are NOT a threat to public safety (and more facts about these adorable large dog-sized purr machines.)

- Cougars also cause trophic cascades (in fact many predators do this.)

- Cougars are actually extremely social.

- Cougars are TERRIFIED of human chatter!

- Cougars are the bigfoot of cats. (Also as they are technically 'small' cats - and they honestly are very small compared to actual pantherine big cats like tigers and lions - we need to stop calling them big cats.)

- Want to solve wildfires and drought? Leave it to BEAVERS!

- How beavers restore wetland in deserts.

- Coyotes under siege and misunderstood.

- Why killing coyotes doesn't work.

- Starving bear mercifully euthanized; autopsy reveals plastic impaction in its intestines.

- Disease precautions for hunters.

- The ecological effects of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) on target and non-target wildlife.

- Impact of clear-cut logging on forests.

- Ojibwe Spirit Horse - here before colonization? Plausible, yes considering horse remains found in the arctic.

- Is shark repellent a real thing? (Yes it is, and it's being developed in modern times to save sharks from humans.)

- To underline how very little top predators want to hurt us much less eat us, watch this video to see a tiger shark (one of the most infamous species of shark,) happily cuddle with her human researcher friend and recognize him after not seeing him for years!

Other Wildlife Books & Films

- Lethal Control, produced by Predator Defense (an organization which does an amazing job of thoroughly listing their information sources) and is a film about M-44 cyanide bombs which kill wildlife and pets alike.

- American Coyote by Dan Flores (be warned, some of the information in regards to wolves is incorrect but it is still an extremely interesting and illuminating account of the coyote, Canis latrans.)

- California Mountain Lions: The Legends of California by One Health Institute (ecology of cougars and why they are threatened.)

- The consequences of sport hunting - hundreds of cougar kittens die by orphaning every year. (Hunting predators is NOT sustainable!)

Favourite Information Sources & Organizations to Support

- Predator Defense

- International Wolf Centre

- Wolf Conservation Centre

- The Fur-Bearers

- Raincoast Conservation Foundation

- Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

- MountainLion.org

My Silly(?) Pet Peeves About Wolves

- How many Etsy stores flatout copy that silhouette of Kiba from Wolf's Rain howling with the moon behind him in their designs. Damnit, learn how to draw!!

- The whole moon association with wolves - no, they do not howl at the moon, they howl because it's fun, to communicate where they are/where prey is, to mourn, to locate family members, to express hunt victory (or alternatively "Come and get it!") Wolves probably do not give a damn about the moon.

- When people call baby wolves 'cubs' instead of 'pups' or 'puppies.' No. Wolves are a species of wild dog and baby dogs are puppies, therefore baby wolves are also puppies. Grr. 'Cub' to me implies a baby bear, or, heaven forbid, a pantherine kitten like a baby lion or tiger. Maybe hyenas too.

- Wolf haters, and how ludicrous it is that they've made something so simple so political. Wolves, like human uteruses, should not be political.

- Trophy hunters.

- How every wolf story is extremely fantastical instead of based upon any science.

- How no company ever makes accurately patterned wolf plushies. Even fellow artists mess this up and it's kinda heartbreaking for me; most notably giving wolf plushies a white tail tip instead of a black one. Wolves are not foxes: white tail tips are extremely rare wolf markings! Most of the time the 'white' tail tip is just the result of a black wolf going silver as they age.

- How cartoon wolves rarely look at all like real wolves.

- The fact that their common name is 'grey' wolf when at least in North America they commonly come in black too. I propose 'timber' wolf as a much more accurate name, as they are usually found in forests.

My Silly(?) Pet Peeves About Other Wildlife

- Trophy hunters. Please find a different way to prove that you have disposable income and that you are manly.

- When people call cougars/pumas 'mountain lions' because cougars are only very distantly related to real lions - they're on opposite sides of Felidae. Their closest relatives are jaguarundi, followed by cheetahs. Lions belong to Panthera along with tigers and leopards while cougars belong to the genus Puma. Additionally, cougars and puma are indigenous names while mountain lion is colonial. (Pumas are found in South America, cougars live in North America; same species but different subspecies due to differing habitats and prey.) 'Cougar' is derived from an indigenous Tupi (Brazil) word, çuçuarana.

- When people misuse the word 'cougar' to describe women. Ugh. Stop.

- The name 'black bear' because black bears come in a whole rainbow of colours including white (spirit/kermode,) glacier (it's like blue roan for bears,) cinnamon, blonde and chocolate.

[the-dragon-hearted]

I feel like we, as human beings should address the one overarching issue of not just the Dream smp fandom, but any place where people come together and discuss things they love. The issue: Debate. Discourse. Deliberation. Okay, that was three issues, but you get the picture. We, as a society (yes I'm throwing the 'S' word out there) need to get better at Debate. I get it, the four-year-olds on political stages have set a horrible example but I am here to give y'all a Tedd Talk on arguments, mostly pertaining to content creators but this can be used in any disagreement you ever hold. How to Properly Hold an Argument without being a Child in 4 Steps: Step 1: Never walk into a Debate expecting to change the other's mind This is a big one and it's one of the hardest to grasp. What? What do you mean? What's the purpose of argument if I don't convince the other they're wrong? The purpose of a debate is to offer your opinion and defend it against the world while you pick another's claim apart. Don't expect to change someone's mind. For your own benefit. If you see an opinion that is absolutely horrendus out there on social media, YouTube, Twitchchat, et cetera... and you click on it to refute it. You need to understand you're not refuting it to change that person's mind, but to display to the rest of your collegues why that opinion is, well... Bullshit. You live in a society where people are Ignorant, Misinformed, Sensationalists, or Trolls. Frankly, against certain people (namely trolls) you can't win. No matter what you say or how 'awesomely' constructed your argument is. You can not and will not win. All you can do is build up an opinion and post it and then suffer what 'deez nuts' jokes you get. Here, an example:

Troll: *insert terrible opinion here* Person A: No. That's wrong for reasons a, b, and c. You shouldn't believe that or spread it. Troll: lol, take a joke will you. You're so sensitive.

Naturally, this would upset you. I would be upset and it's okay if you are too. But you should not under any situation continue to feed the troll. Never expect to change someone's mind and never expect to win, especially against people like this. There is no winning in an argument, there's only hurt feelings and over-used claims. The best you can hope for is for your argument to sound and appear as the best option/opinion. Alright? Don't attack people and don't reply with pure emotion. Just breathe easier knowing you made a good argument, posted it, and the other is making a fool of themselves. Honestly, who's the fool? The informed person or the twelve year olds laughing about Bofa? Bofa what? Bofa deez - Aaand we're shutting it down there. So now you know what to walk in expecting in an argument. What do you do next? Step 2: Construct a solid Claim DON'T RUN! I SWEAT I'LL BE MORE CONCISE THAN THE ENGLISH TEACHERS OF HIGH SCHOOL! A claim is the core of your argument; the thing you're arguing about. It can be broad, it can be specific, but the most important part is that you stay on topic. Don't lose yourself to ranting. Always re-read what you type and delete any paragraphs that change the topic. For instance, if you're talking about the Dream speed-runs, you probably shouldn't go on a rant about the manhunts as they're two seperate catagegories and you'll look a bit confused. Step 3: Be mature, be concise, and do some research First things first: Don't deflect in an argument simply because you don't know something. Take your time, do research, form an opinion and come back to it. This will give you time to blow of steam AND stay informed. On the same note, absolutely do NOT use red herrings. Red herrings? Oh, that's when you deflect attention from the main topic with a shallow issue that's related. For instance, let's use discourse discusing a content creator's bias against... let's do something stupid like stuffed animals:

Person A: We need to talk about cc!So-and-So and they're Bias against stuffed animals. Person B: Sure, but there are so many children out there who are lacking connection and are never able to get stuffed animals due to strict parents. It feels wrong to only focus on one subject when there's a whole problem out there.

^^ This is a red herring. It's not always this obvious but for the love of all things good, don't do this. Second things second - this is SUPER important. Stop using Ad Hominem attacks in any and all debates. Ad Hominem attacks are the type that personally attacking your opponent instead of focusing on their position. I'm sure you can tell that politicians love that one - but it's actually an immature approach that cheapens your argument. To see it in practice:

Person A: I don't think it's a big deal that cc!So-and-So did blank and I don't see why everyone's making a big deal out of it. Person B: That's because you're a cc!So-and-So Stan. Person A: Well you're just a hater.

Right away you should be able to tell that there was no tangible argument against or for the content creator. Just a bunch of kids slinging mud on their opponents. Calling someone a 'hater' or a 'stan' shouldn't invalidate their opinion or bolster your own argument. Just because someone 'likes' or 'dislikes' something doesn't mean they can't talk about it, it just means they're likely to possess Implicit Bias or a subconcious bias towards something. Implicit Bias isn't a bad thing and it isn't something that invalidates an argument, it's something that should allow you to at least understand the reasoning for someone to hold a position. If you attack someone's personal standing instead of their opinion it only cheapens your argument because people now assume YOU have no idea what you're talking about and all you can do is hiss at your foe like a feral raccoon on drugs. No one wants to agree with a feral racoon on drugs, kind of how no one wants to agree with a politician. So, how can you better form an argument without mudslinging? It's a bit more complicated, but worth it. You research, you think before you type, you stay respectful, and... you listen to Step #4. Step 4: Sometimes. You have to accept that you were initially wrong. This one hurts. It hurts you and your confidence and all you can do is handle it best you can. I've taken debate and been in dozens or "professional arguments" (I hate that phrase) and I have been 'wrong' plenty of times. There's grace in that and it's an important lesson to learn. It is impossible to be right 100% of the time and it's impossible to be infallible. You have to accept that of yourself and those around you. If your opponent accepts they were wrong, do not continue to harp on them. That's cruel. Alternatively, if you realize you were wrong with your claim, you can admit you were mistaken and amend it. It takes a big person to do that and if your opponent has any decency, they'll recognize that. If they don't, congratulations, you've been arguing with a literal child. And now, you know everything about Debate. (That's a lie, but you know the basics and you can do a lot with the basics.) A good friend of mine once said that every opinion out there came from the mouth of both an asshole and an angel and we all have to be one of those things at some point in our lives. Debate, discourse, argument, all of that is hard and it can be straining or even toxic. Take a step back when necissary. Take a deep breath. Know that if you're feeling personally attacked, you're opponent is using immature methods to tear down your arguments. If you're argument is torn down and you don't know what to think, that's okay too. Take a breath, take a break, and allow yourself to mull it over. Forming your own opinion takes time and a clear mental space. You need both. So next time you see a troll, a jerk, an asshole, a hater, or a stan - don't let emotions get the better of you. Remember you are an intelligent person who is capable of forming your own opinions and NO ONE can take that away from you. Think, research, and then type.

TLDR: Don't expect to win every argument, don't expect to be always right, don't divert your opponents attention, don't personally attack your opponent, always be respectful, always do research, never do anything with pure emotion. Remember you're forming your own opinions and that takes time and space so give yourself that when you need it.

That's it! Best of luck Debating~

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Dobbear! SYAC: The Master Review 6

I am so going to ruin someone’s childhood with that now, but...

guys, it had to be done!

Dashing and daring…

Courageous and caring!

Faithful and friendly…

 With stories to share!

 Doesn’t at all apply to this one artist…

Lesbian obsessed and  each nerddom’s nightmare!

Dobby BEAR!

Whinning here and there and everywhere!

Making claims that are beyond compare…

This is our Dobby-Bear!

Yeah, if you can’t guess, around now is the time I am going to put down the kids gloves and will really dig into why SYAC is garbage. And a huge factor into this, is in part Dobson’s self insert past 2012.

The existence of the blue bear as Dobson officially calls it (or Dobbear as most people call it) is in my opinion rather baffling already in terms of design choices.

I get e.g. that Dobson wanted to distance himself of his past humanoid self inserts as much as possible. But why of all things a bear?

The fact I am focused on that may sound weird, but hear me out for a bit. For starters, I know that Dobson likes western animation. And seeing how western animation has for the longest time been dominated by anthropomorphic animals, I can understand why he would redesign himself as a funny cartoon animal.

But there are at least three things that feel weird about it. First, Dobson had made it clear in the past that he hates furries. So him actually redesigning himself as an anthropomorphic animal is kinda weird

In fact, Dobson himself acknowledges that realization in one of his strips shortly after his fursona took over.

Second, of all the animals to choose from, why a bear? This question is in so far valid, as that bears are not necessarily one of the first to go animals, furries or western animators tend to go for when designing an anthro. And before any furries or anthro enthusiasts are calling me a hater, let me make one thing clear: I like anthropomorphic cartoon and comic characters too, and am okay with most furries. As long as you don’t have a diaper fetish, are a pedophile  or hurt actual animals, you can do and enjoy whatever you like.

But I am also aware enough of furry culture to know, that bear based anthros are most of the time hyper sexualized and muscular, connecting them to how the term “bear” is used in real life gay culture. Which is okay, I think it is just a funny coincidence that Dobson choose an animal, that most furries associate with a life style that Dobson is deeply afraid of, even if he claims to be an LGBT ally.

And as stated earlier, bears are not necessarily the go to animals for animators.

Don’t get me wrong, we all know some cartoon bears like Winnie the Pooh, Yogi Bear, Poh and the main cast of TaleSpin (btw, Kit Cloudkicker fan for life). But lets be honest here; ducks, mice, rabbits, canines, felines, equines and any other “easily to domesticate” animal in the real world tends to make better for easily recognizable cartoon characters than something that can reach a size of 3 meters tops and weigh over 500 pounds.

Truth be told, the pool of cartoon bears is so small, these are the first two things that came to my mind when thinking what may have inspired the Dobbear

And wouldn’t you know? According to Dobson, the Carebears were supposedly the main inspiration for his design.

 Unfortunately, this is also more or less the most I could find of Dobson addressing what went into the creation of the character.

Which kinda brings me also to the third issue as why I think the bear redesign is weird; It is too sudden.

One day Dobson draws himself as a shaved 20 something, the next day he is a fedora wearing Carebear clone, likely created and then rejected by Care Bear villain No Heart, as part of a plot to create a mole when conquering Care-A-Lot.

… and now I need to reevaluate my choices in life, that I was able to make such an elaborate Carebear joke.

It is just a change of design that in my opinion should have been addressed either outside of the comic or in context of it. Which it kinda is, but isn’t.

See, this is the first strip with the blue bear

And then only 13 strips or so later in something called “Continuity” is Dobson more or less willing to address the change…

And he does so in a passive aggressive manner, with Persistent Pam as a stand in for those asking him what is going on, while Dobson just dismissively continues working.

On one hand, you can argue that this is just the joke. The change happened, don’t bother with it, just enjoy what is still to come. And you know, I don’t want to make a rope out of everything Dobson ever posted, including that comic.

But then you have also to account for the fact, that Dobson would eventually associate himself with the blue bear so much, he made him his avatar and icon for his comics and online accounts. In fact, that one comic I posted WAY BACK in the first Master post of Dobson reminiscing how he started SYAC?

For reasons that are a bit confusing to me, he redrew himself (badly I have to add) as the blue bear in one of his earliest strips ever. The one where he belittles the manga fangirl for drawing manga. So I have to ask, what is going on here? Has Dobson increasingly decided to reset his past? Does he want to destroy any traces of his “human” self in his work to create the illusion to any new readers, that he never was as controversial of a person as he was and that there never was a need for him to reimagine and reinvent himself? Is this 1984? And how many of you realize that this paragraph is just me going conspiracy nuts for the sake of entertainment?

But still, it is kinda weird that he went to the bother of redrawing his human self in that one background sketch as a bear. Plus, I honestly think Dobson never even attempting to “explain” the change in the pages of his comics is a wasted opportunity for some decent jokes. Like every time Dobson tries to explain why he is a bear now, something interrupts him or we only get fragments of a story that if we put them together would be as ridiculous as the entirety of “Trapped in the Closet”.

I mean, the dumbest joke idea I have in mind is that Dobson went to build a bear to get a present for a family member. Instead he was build into a bear and later on successfully sued the company, which explains why he can afford to live despite not really working on comics anymore but lecture people badly about the evils of nerd culture.

So yeah, three major things about the design choice that more or less confuse me.

But here is the thing: Confusion is nothing compared to feeling genuine disdain for the design at hand. And compared to Dobson’s earlier human designs, Dobbear is just utterly unlikable.

A lot of that boils down to the following three facts:

1. From a certain point in time on (which I will cover in more detail later on) Dobson uses his bearsona primarily as a soapboxing mouth piece to talk about “politics” in nerd culture. Or at least what Dobson perceives as politics, coming off like a condescending jackass who believes among other things that white people are inherently incapable to identify with black people…

 … or that comic book shops have radicalized nerd culture, essentially calling them terror cells.

Which btw are so inherently offensive to me, I promise I will cover these two separately. One even sooner than the other.

2. If Dobbear is not talking about politics, he will tend to be a smug asshole to other people (most of the time strawmen) or their interests in one way or another. Being e.g. used by Dobson to express his disdain for criticism…

 or to mock legit criticism he had gotten by exaggerating things.

 All while also tending to make his critics look like inherent assholes.

These two facts, combined with Dobson’s average erratic behavior online on platforms such as dA, twitter and tumblr over the years, pretty much assured such a close association between the two, that a separation between artist and creation was not possible anymore, condemning them.

And for the record; Dobson was always a bit of a whinner who liked to act as if he was a better nerd than the average comic book fan. Otherwise, we would have not e.g. gotten Danny and Spot out of it.

But as the years went by in the last decade, Dobson turned from someone in his mid 20s, desperate to be seen as a “quirky” and likable internet persona (like certain internet reviewers), into a virtue signaling, lesbian obsessed asshole who likely regrets his life choices.

… Like certain internet reviewers.

But seriously, Dobson turned into someone who would flip the lid at something as ridiculous as Cheeto flavored chicken fries…

 While also being just the worst type of condescending nerd….

All while losing his mind about politics. Especially after Donald Trump became president

And just as Dobson became a radicalized left winged jackass who saw politics in everything he consumed, so did by default Dobbear, because Dobbear was not a character with his own personality, but a mouth piece.

Something I am about to get into detail in the near future. But till then, I want to cover in the next post the following third and final fact about Dobbear that really makes him unlikable to me: The fact he can’t be happy.

[the-goddessfighter]

Why Ship Batarou? (ʃƪ˘ﻬ˘)

Cover made by @paperficwriter​!!

EDITED!!!

 This post is made in collaboration with @koeharu​ <3<3<3

--------------------

I'm tired of people outside heating a ship just to unload some personal anger on people they don't even know. 

All those people who have asked the questions:

¨Why you shipping them? ¨

¨Is it even posible? ¨

¨Where is the dynamics of this? ¨

 Well, well don’t worry... this is a post dedicated to answering those questions... and also in case someone wants to save energy against a hater.

 ------------------------

 1.- Personality QwQ

 ¨One of my favorite things about the ship that drew me to it in the first place is their personalities! My initial thought was that in different circumstances, these two would get along since they’re both quite wild characters.” -K

Yeah!, uwu let's see:

-Both are proud and stubborn.

-They don't give up on anything and nobody.

-They are the boys who pretend to be rude and dry but have a big heart (among those firm pectorals 7w7)

-Both are good with children; they would never hurt an innocent civilian.

 ----------

¨Which led my to my next thought, we don't know much about Badd's outside life but it seems he only has his sister and we KNOW Garou is completely alone so they would both need someone there for them which they can find in each other ¨ -K

 Exactly. The phrase "God makes them and they come together" would sound great. Sometime loneliness is a necessary feeling, but in a long time it will end up breaking you.

 ------------

¨And considering how they have both shown to be protective about things they care about they would be protective towards each other and that’s what really cemented the idea of ​​this ship to me. It’s just so pure hearted but also fun in the different ways it can be explored ^^ ¨ -K

 Garou did not have a good childhood, there was no one to share his thoughts even if he onley want to had a good conversation, he was always pointed with a finger and be recriminated.

Then we know that Badd is a protective guy and although many things will drive him out of his mind he is always willing to help, if he finds out about that sad past he would surely have a lot more empathy with Garou. Badd is not stupid (reckless maybe ... but not an idiot), he knew that Garou was lying when he said:

- "I have no time to lose with you".

He could not attack his sister because Garou possesses morality (much more than other heroes), he watched him go for a moment even naive of the situation. Something clearly did not fit and instead of being angry with, he simply let him go and continue with his work. (This point will be taken back later, remember *)

Assuming several things happen end up meeting again, and Badd gives him help, Garou would not forget that, many things have been denied to him but he would certainly be eternally grateful to found someone to give him a helping hand. Badd would then become his beginning, a way to start his life again. It’s that something that keeps us safe, that listens to us, that looks for us. If so, Garou would be under great care and esteem fort something that stays by his side and treats him as an equal: In this case Badd.

 Also: Garou saved Zenko, even though he did it "unconsciously"

 ... The image speaks for itself.

  2.- Design UwU

 There are people who accuse us by saying that the only reason we have for shipping them is that they are “attractive”…. I'm like ... WTF?! 

I mean, put the brain to work before the tongue in move.

Of course they are handsome! Of course they are attractive!! (I'm talking about the manga) to say otherwise would indicate that you need glasses!!! But that is not the point...

Another thing that we loved is the contrast of style baby :D. How saying it… it is as if they were the yin yang, the "perfect complement" for each other. Look in detail please:

  @donlemefo​ draw!

G: Black shoes -B: White shoes (canonically on the manga)

G: White pants -B: Black pants

G: Dark sweatshirt -B: Color sweater

G: White Hair -B: Black Hair

G: Golden eyes -B: Brown eyes

  U///U so akHKSASG yesss...

3.- Interactions

 (* Returning to the previous point)

I have also heard people say that it is "impossible" that B and G get along again, arguing this: - Why would Garou want to have something to do with the person who almost killed him? And why would Badd talk to someone who beat him up earlier? -

¬_¬ Seriously ... SERIOUSLY?!!! ufff...

Not to make it long I will give the easiest example in the history of anime:

More than 20 years ago nobody, ABSOLUTELY nobody would have imagined that Vegeta would become one of Goku's best friends and his training partner.

So don't come to tell me that it is "impossible" for Garou and Badd to reconcile in the future dude. U-U*

Even YM took the time to make this nice section: This is just for them because in a way Badd once again realized that G was not completely bad.

 --------------------- He.. Garou stays with the colored cat and Badd with the white ... coincidence?-------------

 .....But there is one more bit ... something that was not seen elsewhere. Badd is not the only one who endured a good fight, of course. But nevertheless it is the one that by default would have won ... or at least leave him very badly injured. What our heart says most for this couple is:

 ��4.- The teaching Badd left to Garou.

 Garou learns almost instantly as he fights, but are physical-teachings. I explain:

 + Tank top Master = Brute Force

+ Golden Ball = Predict projectiles

+ Spring Mustache = Tolerate Weapons

+ Watchdog man = Beastly / Wild Movements

+ Mumen Rider = ……. Dodge crazy bike attack? X’D

  But Badd is most acclaimed by us for his soul-teaching

  Fighting Spirit!  <3 HEART EYES MF! <3

  Although Garou is a prodigy in what he does, it takes him a long time to understand what Badd told him at the time. He not only understood; He felt it and took it out of one the biggest trouble he got into.

 Against a mental power you don't just have to be physically strong, if your spirit and thought is incorruptible… you are unstoppable. (Those who read the webcomic and manga understand what I say)

----------------------NEW EDITED!!!---------

This is the most recent that has come out. Is't not curious? That among all the fights that Garou has had; a "parallel" of his fight with Badd it's made again?

Here, explicitly Darkshine thinks the words that Garou said of Badd back time.

D: ¨His movements actually getting faster? ¨ G: "His swings are getting faster?"

Including a subtle reference to increased power, since Garou is not giving up... just like MB.

Or Murata is doing all this unconsciously ... or really knows perfectly what he does. Remember that what Murata draws has to be made aware from ONE, then ... I will continue waiting for wich will be his next move.

------------------------

 It is true that Garou interacted with more characters. But, like many of us, we focus on Badd for a ship. What our sense tells is that there is no other character that "fits" better with him that Badd. They are a good mix ... a good couple.

 Comment  what do you like about this ship, I would love to read your ideas!

@koeharu​ @dies-first​ @neko09oarmy​

Finally I want to clarify something very important ... this is for you. That's right ... FOR YOU person who loves to see the world burn. If you do not agree with a ship, there is a nice option to block everything you don't want to see on tumblr. Do not waste your strength to argue with someone, you just look worse than you try to make the ship and its derivatives look bad. -K & T

----------------- I apologize if I get to sound "upset" in the answers, but as people treat me I will treat them---------

[glon-morski]

FF XV - the missing reconciliation post chapter 10

Alright, everyone who has ever played FFXV knows the game’s not perfect. Whether you love it or hate it, the game has some issues you can’t just pretend not to see. I personally adore the game, but that doesn’t mean I wave away its issues. Especially not the glaring ones, like the story-telling, which really could use some work at times, what with all the ‘missing scenes that should be there’, the plot holes and stuff.

One such moment of ‘atrocious story-telling’, as is widely accepted as fact by fans and haters alike, is in the second half of the game: the rather infamous chapter 10 and the chapters that follow. For context reminder, chapter 10 of FFXV’s story is right after the catastrophe that is the covenant with Leviathan in Altissia. It’s the chapter about Cartanica, the chapter where our four main characters (and friends) are at odds with each other, treating each other to stony silences unless they’re arguing, the latter being especially the case of Noctis and Gladio, with Gladio throwing a few quite vicious comments Noctis’s way. With everything that happened right before, the character dynamics in this chapter really hit hard. By the end of the chapter, Ignis has had enough and snaps, telling basically everyone off for being at each other’s throats during a time when they should be more united than ever. And after that… things pretty much go back to normal in the group. Which is all well and good, except for one thing. The arguing, and Gladio’s vicious attitude especially, may come a little out of nowhere, but it’s still understandable if one puts just a little thought into it. Noct is grieving Luna’s death and blaming himself both for the fact she died and likely also Ignis’s blindness, he’s overwhelmed by his emotions which cause him to shut himself off emotionally. Gladio is feeling guilty, too. He is Noctis’s Shield and it is his duty to protect him, with his life if he has to. But he hasn’t been there to protect him after Leviathan was dealt with and Ignis did his job for him, getting severely injured in the process. That shouldn’t have happened. In Gladio’s mind, Noctis either should have been strong enough to not need Ignis to protect him (and making him able to defend himself is Gladio’s job as well, since he’s been training Noct since he was a kid), or Gladio should have been there to protect him instead of Ignis. But he wasn’t. He had failed as a Shield and he’s reminded of that fact and the guilt that comes with it every time he looks at Ignis or Noct. And Gladio had always covered up his negative emotions, guilt included, with anger. So he lashes out. It comes a bit out of nowhere and takes some thought to understand, but it’s not something that can’t be figured out.

The sudden shift back from the end of chapter 10 to chapter 11, however, is less acceptable and as far as I know, everyone was saying how the reconciliation was poorly handled and there should have been at least a short scene where Gladio apologizes to Noct, if nothing else. A scene where they talk it out, where the argument actually gets closure and we can believe the characters move on. We don’t get any of that, though, and it’s apparently a ‘narrative nightmare’, which is likely the main reason there are so many ‘missing scene’ fanfics out there that attempt to rectify it, to write a fitting scene that could actually connect the character’s attitudes from the end of chapter 10 to chapters 11-13. And honestly, for the longest time, I agreed with that assessment, because there really should be a proper reconciliation scene.

Unless there shouldn’t be. Unless it’s not a ‘narrative issue’ this time, but something that has been done on purpose. Because what if… Please consider, what if Noctis and his crew didn’t actually properly make up before the end of chapter 13 and Noct’s ten-year-long absence?

Hear me out.

I) “Guys Don’t Talk About Feelings”

Fair point, and it does stand to reason considering what we see in the game. Noctis is the kind to clam up and he doesn’t talk easily, Gladio and Ignis pretend they don’t feel much of anything (except anger in Gladio’s case) and Prompto hides everything behind his happy-go-lucky joker mask. So yeah, a valid assumption to make. Except that it’s not true, because there are instances where the boys talk about feelings and Noct in particular is willing to have these kinds of conversations, even if he doesn’t always (or ever) initiate them. Proof in the game itself include:

- the talk with Prompto when you sleep at a motel and he ends up opening up about his insecurities. Sure, you can have Noct answer in an absolutely dickish manner and conform to the stereotype, but the game rewards you for having Noct listen to his friend, take him seriously and reassure him, which in all honesty sounds a lot more like Noct to me anyway. Sure, the guy can be a bit standoffish at times, particularly in the anime, but there’s no denying he cares and he’d never be a dick to his friends on purpose.

- post-credit scene of Episode Ignis, where Ignis is the one to open up a little (he opens the conversation with a broken ‘we have lost so much’, you can’t tell me the entire exchange isn’t driven by emotion even if part of it is Ignis testing Noct’s resolve) and offers Noctis to abandon their journey. Noctis refuses.

- post-credit scene of Episode Prompto, when Noctis properly apologizes to Prompto over what happened on the train and reconciles with him before they talk about ‘uniting all of Eos’ so no one has to suffer like Prompto has simply because they happened to be born in a different country.

So no, the boys do talk about feelings. Maybe not often and maybe not always as extensively as some would prefer, but they do talk about it when it really matters. Most of the time.

II) Chapter 11 Loading Screen

As FFXV is wont to do, instead of showing us stuff to connect chapters of the story together, we get loading screens with a short text, so more of a ‘tell not show’ approach. Which is a shame, but in this particular instance, it works to my advantage as far as analyzing stuff goes. Here’s the loading screen in question:

This is a peculiar word choice, isn’t it? ‘Ignis’s resolve forces a reconciliation’. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can’t actually force a reconciliation. It doesn’t work that way. You can force two people to stop arguing all the time, maybe, but you can’t force them to see eye-to-eye, you can’t force them to apologize and mean it, you can’t force them to make up. Ignis’s words and resolve could and definitely did force Noctis and Gladio to see how stupid they were being, how they shouldn’t be divided at this point in time… but it can’t force them to forgive and forget. Especially if you consider Gladio’s reactions.

After Ignis’s outburst, he’s still angry. He doesn’t outwardly agree with allowing Ignis to come along, but he also doesn’t bite back at his words how it’s not up to Gladio to decide when Noctis will take up the mantle as king properly. He shuts his mouth and storms off. And that the last interaction we get before the ‘normalcy’ at the beginning of chapter 11, before Gladio and Ignis go off.

At this point in time, I’m pretty sure Gladio hasn’t actually apologized. Hell, I’m persuaded he doesn’t actually think he was out of line that much. Nothing that Ignis said would have made him realize just how much of an ass he’s been. Ignis told him off for pushing Noct for something he’s not ready for and reminded him it’s not up to Gladio to decide when he will be, whether they have the time to wait for him to be ready or not. Gladio doesn’t agree with that precisely because they don’t have the time and Noct has to act like the king he’s supposed to be. Still, Ignis’s words do make him realize the way he’s been pushing is (at least in part) the reason for the growing rift between the four of them and he agrees they can’t afford in-fighting, so he backs off. A little. He’s still a bit confrontational when they go back to the train, but doesn’t lash out quite as badly anymore. I mean, look at his response when Noct actually asks if they can make a stop in Tenebrae (for the first time actually mentioning wanting to, as far as we’re aware). Gladio’s answer is a flat ‘as long as it helps him move on.’ It’s not understanding, it’s not supporting, it’s more ‘fine, if it gets your ass in gear, we can do it’, but said in a less dickish manner. He doesn’t agree to the stop in Tenebrae because he cares for Noct’s feelings, he agrees as a means to an end – Ignis won’t get on his case again and Noctis will (hopefully) ‘pull his head out of his ass’. In short, Gladio is less confrontational, but his mindset clearly hasn’t changed much if at all. He doesn’t act like he thinks he should apologize, either, so it would be no stretch to assume that he simply doesn’t. He acts like his earlier attitude never happened instead and Noctis follows his lead on it. (Or maybe Noctis is the one who starts and Gladio follows his lead, both are likely.) In fact, the first (and only) moment where it might seem like Gladio actually realizes he may have gone too far only happens in chapter 13 Verse 2, when they find the recording of how Ravus died. Gladio remarks that Ravus ‘even called Noctis “his king”’, then lowers his head and stares at the ground for a bit. Don’t know about you, but the posture he adopts looks kind of ashamed to me. Which makes sense, because this is Ravus. The guy who has been going on and on about how Noctis is undeserving of his title as Chosen King, or the Ring, or his father’s glaive or Luna’s help, and he openly admits Noctis is ‘his king’, the Chosen King. He sees a king where Gladio hasn’t and I think that really resonated with him and made him realize just how overboard he’s gone. Because how can it be that a man who used to think Noct unworthy of his title as Chosen sees him as the King he is before even his Shield does? Gladio is supposed to be one of Noct’s closest confidants, the one he trusts most, the one to keep him upright when he can’t stand up, the one to focus when Noct can’t etc. etc. Being a Shield is a difficult duty, but it also means being extremely close to the King, it means he should know him well enough to see things others don’t, he should always be supporting and protecting him. And yet Ravus, of all people, saw what Gladio had failed to see in that instance: that Noct already is king and he is acting the part to the best of his abilities. Ravus believed in Noctis more than his own Shield did. And it’s in that instant, I think, that Gladio truly realized he’s crossed a line (or several lines) and that while he might have had a point in there somewhere, he went the entirely wrong way about making it. In that singular instant, he feels a brief moment of shame and actually realizes he might need to apologize at some point, I think. But they’re in Zegnautus Keep, in the middle of enemy territory and Noctis isn’t even with them, so a heart-to-heart obviously will have to wait for a better time.

Furthermore, there’s the bit how through ‘forcing a reconciliation’, Ignis’s resolve ‘restores harmony to the group’. Another curious choice of words there. If they had really made up properly, couldn’t it be ‘restores the bonds between the four friends’ or something like that? Something more telling that things are actually ok again, that they’ve made up and everything is well? Instead it’s just ‘restores harmony’, which doesn’t really mean much beyond ‘gets rid of the discord’, meaning Noctis and Gladio simply stop fighting. But it doesn’t mean they’ve actually made up, that they’re back to how they’ve been before Altissia. They aren’t. But for the sake of ‘harmony’, they act like they do. After all, ‘a king moves ever forward’ and his Shield is supposed to be by his side, come Hell or high water, right?

III) Game-Play-Story-Integration

Out of all the games I’ve played, Final Fantasy XV is still the one with the best and most extensive game-play-story-integration I’ve ever seen. From the fighting system to the quips between the bros to how the AI acts in combat in certain parts of the story, the attention to detail is unreal. It is especially noticeable in chapter 10, not only because of how Ignis always stays behind for obvious reasons, but also how Prompto never strays from his side or the way Gladio only goes half-way after Noct if the player goes on ahead (though not without bitching about ‘staying together’). It’s also visible in combat.

So… let’s look a bit at the game-play of chapters 11, 12 and 13, when the boys have supposedly been forced to make up, shall we?

Chapter 11 – we get a short cut-scene with Ignis and Gladio where they talk about gathering some information about the going-ons in Tenebrae and Gralea. Noctis is attentive, but still rather subdued. Gladio acts mostly like his normal, confident self. No discord in sight… but also no true unity if you ask me. Ignis and Gladio leave soon after. Noctis doesn’t try to stop them or follow them and neither of them attempt to make him. In fact, no one comments on his lackluster attitude at all and while that’s better than the fighting from before, it doesn’t actually look like a group of three friends, more just three men working together because they’re supposed to. Ignis may just be trying to give Noctis time to grieve properly, it’s what he’s been doing for the entirety of chapter 10 as well all while dealing with his own problems, but Gladio just simply pretends he doesn’t see it. He doesn’t give an indication it bothers him in any way, not in terms of making him angry or worried or anything. He just pretends not to see and lets it roll off his back.

And that’s it for Ignis and Gladio. We don’t see either of them for the rest of the chapter. We don’t see much of Prompto, either, because Ardyn decides to switch places with him. We get one little fight together with fake!Prompto but other than that, throughout the chapter and the fighting on the train, Noctis is alone.

Chapter 12 – it doesn’t actually get better. The chapter starts in Tenebrae station, which counts as an outpost and thus a safe place. You can opt to just follow the other characters and advance the story by talking with everyone you need to talk to, but you can also explore the station first to gather some items and, in the Royal Edition, to gather almanac entries. Now, in any other outpost or city in the game, while there might have been short moments where Ignis, Gladio and Prompto wandered off and behaved a bit like curious NPCs, they always followed Noct once he got a certain distance away. For the entirety of the game up until Altissia, you hardly had any moment when they didn’t follow Noct unless it was story-dictated that they didn’t. That’s not the case in Tenebrae. There’s no real reason for them to remain ‘in NPC mode’ if you decide to explore the station, but they do. They don’t follow Noctis at all. Once again, he’s alone and he remains that way even once they’re on board the train even though Ignis and Gladio are technically still part of the party (you can see their HP bars and stuff).

Once again, much like with fake!Prompto in the previous chapter, we get a fight where the three men fight together. But once it’s over? Gladio calls Noctis to ‘come and see something’, then doesn’t wait for him to follow. The next thing we know, Noct is encountering Ardyn and Shiva and once again, he is alone. At any other point in the game, no matter what was happening, Ignis and Gladio did everything they could to stand by his side – figuratively as much as literally by being physically there. But in this chapter, they don’t. Even post Shiva, when Noctis tells them to go check on the front of the train, they both do without complaint. Noctis is on his knees, half-frozen like they are and he very clearly still looks out of it, but neither of them protests being send away despite the fact that Gladio could have checked on the drivers alone and Ignis could remain with Noct without issue to make sure he’s alright (or so they could both make sure the other is alright). But that’s not what happens.

After Shiva, we get another short cut-scene as the train reaches Gralea and demons pop up while Noctis and co. realize they’re weaponless. Noctis is so shell-shocked by that discovery that he almost takes a Goblin’s claws to the chest, but Gladio pulls him back and kicks the demon away. He protects Noctis. He does his job as a Shield. Noct’s reaction? A split second of relief before he tries for a grin and briefly compliments Gladio’s blow, visibly trying to loosen up, to act normal. That split second of relief is really telling, though, because it implies he might not have expected for Gladio to act. He might have worried he wouldn’t help him. Which he has reason for as apparently, in chapter 10, if Noct happens to be caught by an enemy (you know, that button-mashing moment to get free), Gladio’s AI apparently doesn’t even try to help. I say apparently because I didn’t get the chance to test it on my new play-through, I was on NG+ and over-leveled to Hell, so the characters could one-shot-kill everything long before one stray enemy could grab on to Noct for me to test that. But assuming this little bit of game-play-story-integration is true, it would make sense considering Gladio’s general attitude in chapter 10. Still, we’re talking about chapter 12 now, where the boys have supposedly reconciled, so… why would Noct worry about whether or not Gladio would help him if he needed it? Why would he be relieved when Gladio simply did his job? If they’ve actually made up, then he has no reason to worry or be surprised and relieved about it, right?

Chapter 13 – I don’t think I need to say much about that one. Zegautus Keep. Noctis is separated from his friends for most of it and is once again alone. Nothing more needs to be said on that front. Except maybe one thing. There are two points in the chapter where Noctis has to leave his friends behind. One in the hangar towards the end, when he’s about to reach the Crystal. He hesitates then, looks back once he’s gotten through the closing door, but moves on. The other is way at the beginning of the chapter, when Noct gets separated from Ignis and Gladio by the collapsing train. Not only does he not hesitate to run and leave them behind then (understandable, as he’s surrounded by daemons and unarmed), but he also doesn’t wait for them once he’s in the Keep. That first room he’s in is huge and open and you can see there aren’t that many daemons prowling about. Noctis had locked the door behind him and since the Goblins haven’t broken it down before, there’s no reason they would now. Ignis and Gladio are still out there and Noctis should probably assume they’d try to follow him or find a different way in. So… why does he go on alone? Why doesn’t he wait? Or at least call/text them to see what their plan is so they can agree to try and regroup somehow? In fact, for the entirety of this chapter, why doesn’t Noct try to contact Ignis or Gladio once? His phone still works as far as we know even though he’s no longer in Lucis, chapter 12 proved that when Ignis called him after Noct pushed Prompto off the train. So why don’t they even attempt to communicate when, as far as we know, they have the means to?

I don’t know about you, but for a part of the game where the three of them are supposed to be tight-knit once again and have supposedly made up, the story and game-play goes way out of its way to contradict it by ensuring Noctis is alone at nearly all times, when the normal behavior of all of his friends is to stick close to him at any given time, be it for running around the wilderness, combat or even exploring a safe outpost. And when Noctis’s normal behavior is to try to stick with them, too, and yet in these chapters (and chapter 13 in particular) he goes out of his way to not do that.

IV) Friends And Retainers In One

There’s a very specific part of chapter 13 that really stuck out to me on my latest play-through. Once you reunite with Ignis and Gladio, find Prompto and finally get your weapons back, the boys have their one (ONE!) on-the-field conversation in the entire chapter. Where before Altissia they constantly quipped at each other and you had those short conversations once every couple minutes, this is basically the only piece of dialogue outside of a cut-scene you get this entire chapter (Ardyn’s taunting notwithstanding).

It starts with Prompto pointing out that Noctis is wearing (and using) the Ring of the Lucii. Noctis response is a rather bland ‘I had to. No weapons. No friends. No choice, really’ and goes on to say how he had to find and save the rest of them and for that he had to be able to fight so he had to use the ring. This entire 5-second-explanation is delivered in a low, kinda dead tone, too. There’s barely any inflection to it, let alone any sort of emotion. He just sounds tired and wrung out and completely done with it all. The one who responds is Gladio… with a comment along the lines of ‘you finally sound like a King’ with a ‘took you long enough’ heavily implied if not stated outright. Noctis doesn’t respond to that and neither does anyone else. Once again, it does not sound like an exchange between friends. It sounds more like what a Shield would say to his King.

And that’s exactly what’s going on, isn’t it? What has been going on since chapter 10, actually. In the aftermath of Altissia, Gladio pulled back from everyone, but Noctis in particular. He was no longer his friend, he was his Shield, through and through.

Now, Ignis and Gladio always had some trouble with navigating their relationship with Noct because of its duality between being his retainers and being his friends, something the game touches upon a little (though it’s way better portrayed in the Brotherhood anime). Ignis has more trouble with it, though, because in his case, the line between friend and retainer is extremely blurred and it’s easy to fall from one into another seamlessly and without noticing. From chapter 10 onward, though, while Ignis tried to keep some ‘friend’ aspects to his demeanor, he still acts more like an advisor. This is likely due as much to the fact that he wants to prove to everyone (himself included) that he isn’t a burden and can keep going with them, as it is to Noct needing a little advisory needling to stay on course and not fall back into his apathetic behavior from earlier.

In Gladio’s case, the line is a lot more cut and dry and easy to distinguish. There’s a clear difference between Gladio the Friend and Gladio the Shield. During chapter 10, Gladio is only a Shield. A retainer to his King. Not a friend. Which is part of why he’s so vicious in his comments. During chapters 11-13, he dials it back more and more, but still stays more on the side of ‘Shield’ than ‘Friend’.

The only person who doesn’t have that struggle is Prompto, because while part of the Crownsguard, he’s still Noct’s friend first and foremost. But he’s absent from chapter 11 onwards. So for most of chapters 10-13, Noct is alone. It’s a moment in time when he lost too much too quickly and he desperately needs a friend to help him, but he doesn’t get that. He can’t go to Ignis because he feels like Ignis has enough of his own problems to deal with, he doesn’t want to burden Prompto who’s already very clearly stressed by the situation in general and tries to help where he feels most useful (with Ignis) and he only has an angry Shield in Gladio, not a friend. All that game-play I pointed out earlier where Noctis is suspiciously alone? That’s a show of how he feels as much as the physical situation of it. He is alone when he’s separated from his companions and he feels alone even when they’re there. Because the ones following him now are not his friends, they’re his retainers and he’s not supposed to be Noct the Person, but Noctis the King.

Going back to that little piece of dialogue I mentioned earlier, well, it’s not part of a cut-scene, so we don’t really get much in terms of clues to interpret the characters’ feelings besides the voice acting. There’s no expression and little body language to go by. But the fact that Gladio’s comment is met with silence from Noct is already very telling. To me, it feels like he’s looking for at least a little comfort from them. He’s looking for reassurance from his friends. He’s been alone, unarmed, basically at daemons’ mercy and had no choice but to put on the ring everyone saw he could hardly bring himself to look at, much less wear. I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer he was looking to get then was something as simple as ‘you’re not alone or defenseless now, it’ll be ok, we’re here with you’ or something like that. Instead, what he gets is a comment about how ‘he finally acts like a king’ from the person who has been raving on him for not being ‘kingly’ enough the most before.  And I think that might sort of cement it for him (like it also sort of does for the player): he isn’t surrounded by friends at this moment in time, no matter how desperately he wants and needs it, even if they share some friendly banter in a cut-scene or two before that. He’s surrounded by retainers and he has to be their King, no matter how impossible it seems for him to do that.

And then, of course, the icing on the cake: getting sucked into the Crystal. Noctis is alone at that point as well, barring Ardyn. By the time Gladio and the others catch up, he’s already disappeared.

Here comes the kicker: Gladio, Ignis and Prompto proceed to attack Ardyn and try to kill him… and it’s honestly the first proper show of emotion all three of them have since chapter 11 that actually proves they care for Noct as a person, not just a king. They act like they lost not a king, but a dear friend and they’re understandably angry because of that. Which is heartbreaking because it happens at a point in time when Noctis can’t see it anymore. Just as the three of them were too late to see Noctis get sucked into the Crystal (and maybe try and fail to stop it from happening), they were too late in dropping the façade of retainer and act like Noct’s friends instead. (Again, with the exception of Prompto, because he doesn’t have that issue.)

It’s doubly heartbreaking when you consider Regis’s last order to them, too. ‘I ask not that you guide my wayward son. Merely that you remain at his side.’ Which is really just a fancy way of saying ‘I don’t want you to accompany him as his retainers, I want you to be his friends.’ No one seems to catch on to that, however, and when shit truly hits the fan, they do the exact opposite instead.

V) Reconciliation

Finally, one last point, tying somewhat to point I to finish this entire word vomit off. As we all know, there is no reconciliation scene between the four friends in the game, a fact that has been very bemoaned by fans. That’s just it, though. There’s no reconciliation scene between the four of them or at between Noct and Gladio… but there is one (even two) between Noctis and Prompto! In the main game, once you find Prompto in Zegnautus, he asks Noct if he was worried about him. Noct can respond with a choked up ‘of course I was… what kind of question is that?’ or try to tease and act like all is normal (the second one backfires slightly) but in both cases, it’s followed by an apology, which Prompto accepts and responds to with ‘everything is alright now’. It’s not perfect, but there was an apology, there was forgiveness, there was understanding and closure and actual reconciliation. If that’s not enough for you, Episode Prompto adds the post-credit scene I already mentioned above.

So, we do get a proper reconciliation between Noctis and Prompto. But not between Noctis and Gladio. Or Noctis and Ignis, considering they should have really talked about how Noct feels guilty for Ignis’s injury, too, in my opinion, even if they haven’t really fought or anything. There’s still a kind of rift there. Which means Noct reconciles on-screen with one friend out of three. You really think the developpers would make one scene and then ‘leave out’ or ‘forget’ another? I find that hard to believe.

In conclusion

As many narrative and story-telling issues as FFXV may have, I honestly don’t believe the lack of a proper reconciliation between Noctis and Gladio (or Noctis and Ignis if you think they need one) is one of them. It looks far more like it has been done on purpose, because while they both try to act like they’re good and everything is back to normal, the fact of the matter is that it’s probably not true. They’re still at odds and Gladio only really realizes he might have gone too far in Zegnautus, but at that point, he doesn’t really get a chance to talk with Noct before the latter disappears for ten years into the Crystal. Which would mean the two of them never actually made up between chapter 10 and the end of chapter 13. This fight of theirs remained unresolved until it was too late to do anything about it, something that gives Gladio even more reason to attack Ardyn as savagely as he does in the Crystal’s chamber. Because he can finally admit to himself that maybe he was a bit out of line and he probably wanted to talk it out with Noctis, maybe even wanted to apologize, but in the end, he never got the chance.

Then ten years pass during which Noctis is in Reflection and Gladio gets to live through the World of Ruin while waiting and hoping for his king to come back. Ten years is a freakishly long time to not see a dear friend of yours and bringing up a fight you never got to get closure over after that much time is just not something people do. Especially since it’s a post-apocalyptic world and they have world saving to do… and Noctis knows he’ll die. He likely doesn’t want to bring up the painful past at that point because really, what would be the point? He already has very little time left as it is. Best try to use it to have at least a semblance of happiness in what’s essentially his last moments with his friends. As for Gladio, after stewing over it for ten years, a part of him might need to talk it out, to get proper closure, but if Noctis prefers to pretend it never happened and that everything was fine, then who is Gladio to begrudge him that in what’s essentially his last moments? In that regard, I feel like Gladio’s character made a complete one-eighty in chapter 14 (and I’m obviously only looking at the original chapter 14, not the additions the Royal Edition made because those feel tacked-on and like you’re playing a mesh-up of two different time-lines, but that’s a rant for another time). Where in chapters 10-13 he was nothing but a Shield, in chapter 14, he tries to be a friend more than a Shield, though he obviously still takes his duties seriously.

TL;DR: There are many details in the game that seem to point to the conclusion that the lack of a proper reconciliation between Gladio and Noctis post chapter 10 was on purpose. That they never actually made up and that while their bond didn’t break, it suffered some serious damage, which shows clearly in later chapters. That Gladio realized he might have gone too far a little too late and that by the time he was planning on sitting Noct down and talking things out with him and apologizing once things calmed down, it was a lost cause because he lost his chance the moment Noct was sucked into the Crystal without any indication if or when he’d come back out. Which is honestly depressing and heartbreaking, but at the same time, looking at character interactions and stuff, it makes a sad amount of sense.

[gaiapaia]

Kermit and Friends: Alexander Octopus Cortez

Since Kermit and Friends Sunday Church Services began, Elisa has shared her story a few times about how she was chastised by the Christian church she was attending before bringing back KAF.

KAF Church had a new attendee this week, a lovely Christian woman by the name of Marie. When Marie heard how Elisa had been treated by her church, she was disgusted, as am I every time I hear it. 

Here’s where I might sound a little judgmental and conspiratorial, but it doesn’t surprise me that Los Angeles churches are the type to turn people off from God like that. I’m from the south, Marie is from the mid-west... and the churches we’re familiar with would NEVER treat Elisa with such condescension. 

But finally, yes, FINALLY Los Angeles has a church that can be trusted. It’s name?

THE KERMITARIAN CHURCH!

That’s right baby, we have an official name for our church now, and man... is it ever so beautiful and perfect.

Oddly enough, Elisa still remains to get judged in her very own church! This time by Muslims, not Christians. What happened? Well let’s review the show...

Church kicked off with an awesome introduction video Elisa made. I really loved it and I look forward to seeing more stuff like that in the future. Very fun!

Elisa then talked about chance encounters and how God places each person in our lives for a reason. I agree to an extent but I also don’t think it’s too wise to hop in the car with strangers just because you’re invited somewhere. So please be careful with that in the future, Elisa! God blessed us with free will and there are evil humans out there who take advantage of that amazing gift. We shouldn’t judge people but we also can’t trust everyone we come across.

As mentioned above, Kermit got a new friend this week in the wonderful Marie. She was a little shy on the show but I can tell she will become more comfortable over time. Hopefully she returns next week!

We got our weekly call from Barry Boss next where he asked if the audience would enjoy seeing a sex tape between he and Elisa, and he also claims he’s working to get Elisa a TV talk show in Miami. I would have to vote no on the sex tape, but here’s hoping he gets that TV deal for her!

After the call, Elisa opens up about how she became smitten with the animated octopus from last week’s show, Alexander Octopus Cortez. Elisa has this quirk of falling hard for voices she’s attracted to combined with personalities she deems humorous. It’s very cute but it has never led to anything good romantically... unfortunately, AOC did not turn out to be an exception.

Elisa wrote this unbelievably creative song for AOC. I’m not exaggerating or kissing butt when I say the lyrics were truly brilliant and hilarious. I was amazed by the song, but AOC? Not so much. 

Turns out AOC is not just an animated octopus, but a gay animated octopus well into his 60′s or 70′s. He has zero interest in Elisa, leaving her heartbroken yet again. Hopefully though AOC continues to visit the show, as he will be a good personality for Elisa to have fun with.

Moving on... DJ Smooth made his immaculate return to Kermit and Friends this week with a handsome new haircut. He was less troll-ish and actually participated in the show in a very entertaining way. He has potential to be a great addition to the church and I hope he attends every Sunday!

Laurie the Muslim also returned to the show this week for the first time in a while. She brought a couple of Muslim friends with her (Mohammad and Boahan) and there was a nice conversation about what inspired them to be Muslim and how it’s benefited their lives.

We also got to meet a new friend of Kermit by the name of Pete. Elisa met Pete on Facebook where he was ranting about masks being used as a political agenda. Pete seemed very sensible and may become a voice of reason on the show if he continues to attend Kermitarian Church every Sunday, as he made rational points any time Elisa went to him for his opinion. Same goes for Darron the Pharmacist, who also had a nice little appearance on this week’s broadcast.

Elisa also received a couple of pleasant phone calls this week from her old KAF love interest Gonzo and also from KAF legend, Kleenex. Hopefully in the future those two will click the Streamyard link to attend church rather than call in so they can speak with other members instead of just Elisa. Remember, Streamyard works just as well on a smart phone as it does on a computer. It was great hearing from them though!

Next up is Corey and all hell breaks loose.

Corey admittedly has done a lot of naughty things in the past. He’s received nothing but coal from Santa Claus for years now. However, at Kermitarian Church, the slate gets wiped clean and EVERYONE is welcomed to attend and hopefully to repent. Including, yes, ThyCorester. And for two weeks straight, Corey has done nothing wrong. 

The fact of the matter is, once Corey cammed up, it was Laurie who rehashed the drama. It was DJ Smooth who went on the attack. It was Johnny B who criticized. All it takes is a smile from Corey for people to lose their minds. Why? Why allow this man have so much power over your emotions, especially when he’s not doing anything? Forgive him and move on. If you say nothing negative towards the guy, there’s a chance he won’t start in with his nonsense. It takes two people to be cordial, and so far Corey is the only one willing to try to be cordial. 

So yeah, most of the rest of the show was bickering between Corey, Laurie, Smooth, and Johnny B. Was it entertaining? Absolutely, but did Corey start it? No!

Because Elisa allowed Corey and Laurie to trade insults and accusations toward one another, Laurie’s friend Boahan became very critical of Elisa for the way she was running the show. She blamed Elisa for Corey and the chat’s words, she said Elisa was milking for drama instead of trying to have a loving church, and she basically stormed off afterward, not giving Elisa a chance to respond to her. Laurie then pretended to be offended by Elisa calling her ‘Laurie the Muslim’ just because her friend was offended by it. Of course Laurie takes the side of her new Muslim friend over the woman who has loved and supported her for nearly 5 years straight. Makes complete sense, right?

From the very beginning, Elisa has said Kermit and Friends will welcome ANYONE. She wants ALL walks of life to come together on this show and be friends. Is that possible? Logic says no, but Elisa is a dreamer and optimist, you can’t tell her anything is impossible. That said, I’m sure she understands having such different personalities will raise conflict. The good thing about conflict is that while it does lead to entertainment, it also leads to resolutions. However, the people arguing have to be open to resolutions. If they’re not... that’s not Elisa’s fault. 

Forgiveness is the key. Forgive Corey. That doesn’t mean you must forget, but forgiveness and being cordial is the best way to deal with him. It will also help with your mental stability since your mind will no longer burst into flames whenever you see his face. Seriously, to the Corey haters... just let it go already.

Anyway, besides that, the show also featured the return of Jason Deeh Pitre, and Johnny B. Jason looked awesome as always and gave us a nice little tune, while Johnny B did a beautiful karaoke performance of the song Peace in the Valley. DJ Smooth also got creative this week with a funny little poem about Corey, and William Quigley cammed up while in the shower and did a hilarious dance number for the audience during an argument between Smooth and Corey.

As you can tell, it was a crazy episode, even crazier than last week. I loved it. KAF continues to be my favorite podcast with my favorite characters and my favorite host... I can’t wait for next week! :)

[lisalowefanclub]

Multiplicity and what identification and representation means to Us

Madeline: I don’t remember there being many cool, attractive, and overall desirable but not fetishized (bye yellow fever) representations of Asian people in mainstream media while I was growing up in the early 2000s. The Asian media I did consume was introduced to me by my dad, so you can imagine the kind of outdated and endearingly weird characters I was exposed to as a kid. Think blind Japanese swordsman Zatoichi or humanoid child robot Astro Boy, both of which originated in Japan around the 60s. As for celebrities, I occasionally heard people talking about Lucy Liu or Jackie Chan, but only as defined by their stereotypical Asian-ness. My point is that this kind of cultural consumption fell into one of two categories: that of obscurity, which suggests that cultural objects are created by Asians for Asians (bringing to mind labels like “Weeb” for Western people who love anime), or that of hypervisibility grounded in stereotypical exoticism. You’d be hard pressed to find a film that passes the Asian Bechdel test.I didn’t discover K-pop until coming to college when I became curious about who my white friends were fawning over all the time. Since then, it’s been really neat to see how K-pop has become popularized as one of the many facets of America’s mainstream music and celebrity culture, especially when artists write and perform songs in Korean despite the majority of their audience lacking Korean language fluency. This suggests that something about the music is able to transcend language barriers and connect people despite their differences. Today it’s not uncommon to see Korean artists topping Billboard’s hot 100 hits, being interviewed on SNL, winning American music awards, gracing the cover of Teen Vogue, or being selected as the next brand ambassador for Western makeup brands like M.A.C. If you were to ask your average high school or college student if they know Blackpink, BTS, or EXO, they would probably be familiar with one of the groups whether or not they identify as Asian.What does this mean, then, for young Asian-Americans to grow up during a time when Asian celebrities are thought to be just as desirable as people like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, or Michael B. Jordan? What does it mean to see an Asian person named “Sexiest International Man Alive”, beating out long-time favorite European celebs? What does it mean for popularity to exist outside of the realm of the racialized minority and for it to build connections across minority cultures? Of course, fame can be toxic and horrible-- it is, at times superficial, materialistic, gendered, fetishized, and absolutely hyper-sexualized-- but I for one think it’s pretty damn cool to see people who look like me featured in mainstream American culture.I’ve found that throughout the semester, my understanding of Asian presence in America (American citizen or otherwise) has been deeply shaped by our discussions of identity politics and marginalization, another class I’m taking on intergenerational trauma, and my own identity as a Laotian-American woman. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the similarities between American proxy wars in Korea (The Forgotten War) and Laos (The Secret War), both of which involved US bombing of citizens in the name of halting communism. Taking this class has challenged me to reconceptualize how we make sense of mass atrocity in relation to a pan-Asian identity, especially when contending with how trauma and violence can act as a mechanism for cultural production, and I look forward to exploring this more in my thesis. 

Cyndi:  K-pop is always just the beginning. Enough in and of itself, any interest in the genre at all reinvigorates the consumer to become more engaged with the world in which it exists. Two years ago, I got into a big, but in hindsight pretty silly, argument with my mom when I started going to a Korean hair salon (because of my K-pop delulus / Jennie prints) instead of seeing Maggie, our Vietnamese hairdresser who I can usually only see twice a year on our bi-annual visits to California to visit extended family. My mom told me the Koreans don’t need our money, they are already richer than we will ever be. Who are ‘the Koreans’? Who is ‘we’?? Is every person of Korean descent doing better than every person of Vietnamese descent in America? And #why is my mom being A Hater? Surely, sharing our identity as ‘perpetual guests’ in America should create some sort of solidarity, or at least, allow for transitory economic collaboration??? I give my money to white people all the time: to McDonald’s (Cookie Totes), to Target, to Swarthmore College. 

K-pop cannot be the end. As much as I enjoy the music, the show, and the celebrities, I also know in my heart that the current international interest in K-pop will not last. As an almost perfect and perplexing exemplification of modern global capitalism, the industry will over-expand and thus wear itself out. I always see the subtle disappointment on my language teachers’ faces when they ask me how I came to take interest in Korean, and I have to answer ‘K-pop’, because that is the truth; that is not where I am at now, but it will always be how I began. It has become clear to me that this disappointment is not just a generational difference. Maybe these old people are jealous of pop stars like how I also have to question whether I am secure in myself when I see a 14 year old accomplishing things I as a 21 year old could never accomplish in my long life. I am coming to understand that part of their reaction comes from the fact that there is a fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, that pop culture is ephemeral, but they have lived their lives as entirely theirs. Casual or even consuming interest for the parts of culture that are bright, and clean, and easy cannot ever stand in for true racial empathy, though it is where many of us start. Identity in K-pop is merely another marketing technique, but to the community of fans and lovers, it is something that is real, lived, and embodied. I find that looking at K-pop always brings forth my most salient identities in terms of gender, race, and sexuality. As much as female group members express affection and jokingly portray romantic interest toward one another, would it ever be accepted if these jokes were no longer jokes, but lived realities? Even if the K-pop industry itself did not seek to produce fan communities of this magnitude, these communities that have been founded in response to it are here to stay.  Lowe argues that “to the extent that Asian American culture dynamically expands to include both internal critical dialogues about difference and the interrogation of dominant interpellations” it can “be a site in which horizontal affiliations with other groups can be imagined and realized” (71). A recent striking example is Thai fans’ demand to hear from Lisa on the protests -- a primarily youth-led movement against the government monarchy--going on in Thailand. Although she is, of course, censored and silenced on this topic, the expectation is still there; fans are holding their idols to a standard of political responsibility. 

Jimmy: I haven’t really paid much attention to K-pop until working on this project. Sure, my cousins would do anything to go see BTS perform in person, but I didn’t care so much. Or maybe, I was just not saturated with the cultural zeitgeist. Whereas they live in the center of a cosmopolitan city which imports and exports, my hometown hums white noise. Increasingly, though, K-pop has entered into my life and the wider American cultural space. Now, K-pop tops the charts and is featured on late-night talk shows. Whether or not you are a devout follower, you have probably encountered K-pop in some form. It was not until I went to Swarthmore that I have “become” Asian American. Back home, my friends are primarily either white or Vietnamese-American. And even though I did recognize that I had an “Asian” racial identity mapped onto me, I did not consider it to be based on any politics. After engaging with and working within  Organizing to Redefine “Asian” Activism (ORAA) on campus, as well as taking this course, I have a better grasp of what it means to rally around an Asian American identity. It is a way to organize and resist. Reflecting on my political evolution, I feel comforted and alienated by the cultural weight of K-pop in America. It is amazing to see the gravity of cultural production shift away from the West. And to have global celebrities from Asia is great. Yet, K-pop is limited as a platform for Asian Americans to create identity. What are the consequences when mainstream ideas about contemporary “Asian” culture are still perpetually foreign from America? Is Asian American community just built around transnational cultural objects like K-pop and bubble tea? Does the economic and cultural capital of K-pop held by its idols obscure or erase the heterogeneity and multiplicity of Asian Americans? 

Jason: The first time I heard K-Pop was when Gangnam Style came on during a middle school social event when everyone is standing in their social circles doing their best not to be awkward when teacher chaperones are constantly staring at the back of your head seeing if any wrongdoing would occur. At that time, I could never imagine the K-Pop revolution that would occur within the American music industry.  Anytime I turn on the radio it is only a matter of time until a BTS song will start being blasted from the speakers. It is crazy to think that K-Pop has become so widespread within American popular culture that mainstream radio stations in Massachusetts are so willing to play K-Pop, even the billboards of 104.1 “Boston’s Best Variety” are plastered with BTS, because they know that is what their audience wants. Eight years ago, during that middle school social Gangnam Style was more about being able to do the dance that accompanied the song rather than the song itself. This has completely changed as more and more people are finding themselves becoming devout supporters of K-Pop. This class and project have continuously been pushing me out of my comfort zone by engaging in literature that I would never have read and discussions that I would never have imagined participating in. I have even listened to more K-Pop over the past couple of weeks than I had ever before in my life. I was impressed by myself when a song by BLACKPINK came on and the radio host said here’s some new music that I knew that the song was from their first album that came out around a month ago. I am grateful that I have been pushed out of my comfort zone and “forced (by having to actually do the homework)” to engage in the material of the class. Who knows how long this K-Pop fascination will last in American popular culture, but I am glad that I could be a part of it rather than letting it pass me by and staying within my comfortable music sphere of country, pop, and British rap.  

[alittledizzy]

:08 - Dan is proud of how bleak they are. (Later tweets that their style is darkfuzz core.) 1:05 - Phil brings out the reward and Dan shames him into eating a marshmallow just because. 1:57 - Dan making Phil laugh in the middle of a sentence. 2:28 - Phil says the next one is Dan - the next one is a crying man. Really adorable sheepish (?) grin from Dan, while Phil just unashamedly laughs. Phil being able to joke about Dan and Dan being depressed now is such a nice transition from the awkwardness when Tom joked about Dan being depressed in the Truth Bombs video. I definitely feel like this is more the humor Phil uses with Dan when it's just Dan. 2:47 - Painful virginity losing part - full on repressing priss face Dan smile there, what kind of recall was going through his head? 3:48 - Phil immediately declaring the couple in the picture as not old, lmao. Feeling that recent birthday, eh? 3:58 - And clearly on date night what they do is "have a few drinks and just... chat over the breeds." (Further proof: Dan says they can relate, with the Ribena on ice.) 4:38 - Phil dismissing the entire 'how to be an educated man' wikihow as boring, because those aren't things Phil does. 4:44 - Phil says one of the drawings is Dan. Phil is correct, total throwback to 2009-2011 Dan with the festival bands and the straight emo fringe. 5:21 - Meme pop quiz; Phil demostrates how to block out the haters. 5:44 - Dan demonstrating his makeup knowledge by talking about highlighter to make 'anime eyes.' 6:00 - Dan ignores his own gut and goes with Phil's gut, which is wrong. Phil growls and bites the nearest object; I mean, I guess it wasn't his slipper at least? Or Dan's slipper. 6:28 - Phil had an interesting reaction to the gay and lesbian part. He seemed nervous but unlike most other moments in videos where something kinda gay is happening, he actually looked like he was trying to think of something to say instead of just going full poker face. It was nervous, but not uncomfortable-nervous, and he did actually say something. ("Wow. Yeah. That's how to understand it.") I think if Dan hadn't moved on Phil might have actually made a second comment? And he's got a tight but obvious smile even after Dan moves on, too. 6:38 - Cute little Dan voice asking Phil how he dances in a night club. Phil never wants to go to a nightclub ever again in his life. 6:56 - Dan calling Phil out for stalking Joe Sugg's instagram story. I love that mocking tone from Dan, and it definitely makes me think Phil's made comments about Joe Sugg (privately, to Dan) before. 7:06 - Phil is afraid of the sad questions, pulls his shirt over his mouth - then lets his shirt drop when he realizes it's not actually a sad one. 7:29 - I want to shoot this moment right into my veins, it's so fucking cute. It's nonsensical and Dan and Phil are their weird brain-twin best. I also love how natural Phil's voice and hand gestures are here. (ba-ba-ba-badook) 8:30 - Dan and Phil contemplate 'how to touch a girl.' 8:41 - Phil is offended by Dan's chest poke and how it lacked passion; nipples are apparently now fully safe territory for them to go after? 8:42 - Dan's office stare right after is great, too, since he's got the tiniest of little smiles happening. Yes, he did just poke Phil in the tit, and there's nothing we can do about it. 8:49 - Dan quotes Aristotle. 9:03 - How to Draw Art for your Dan and Phil Fanfic: the wikihow article someone is definitely gonna write now. 9:15 - Dan makes a brief attempt at arguing that the answer could be phone sex. Phil is firm: this is not phone sex. 9:34 - Dan slamming every redditor for their internet history re: how to be the type of nerd that girls love. 9:50 - Dan offering genuine advice. So many jumpcuts here. 10:11 - Dan says roleplay as Pinocchio; Phil goes back to the mpreg place even though this question has nothing to do with actual babies. 11:23 - Phil goes straight for the sex joke, talking about throwing bombs all over the bedroom - while looking directly at Dan, who has a momentary wide eyed panic look (11:25) before he recovers smoothly. 11:29 - And oh my god! This part! I think I've watched it like 20 times. Because in recent history what we've had is Phil making innuendo while looking at Dan or talking directly to Dan, and Dan ignoring the innuendo. To me this says that Dan usually just isn't prepared or doesn't know quite how to meet Phil's boldness head on. But here! He fucking! Does! There's a span of about 2-3 seconds of silence and he gives the explosive oral line. Phil immediately says "Stop." while still grinning. 11:46 - Dan says shoot a cheating boyfriend. Mmm you sure bout that. 11:53 - Phil singing Lion King. 12:00 - Brief moment of their voices sounding really good together. 12:18 - Phil says the next picture represents him. Dan's already got the same sheepish smile from earlier when Phil did the same thing for Dan and got the crying man? I think he saw the cat with the moustache picture and his mind went to furry RIGHT away, and was doing that repressed smile at Phil being a furry. Genuine Phil smiling too, not covered with his hand. 12:22 - They jump cut past the first answer (how to spot a catfish) only to include the second one (how to accept your boyfriend's interest in pornography) and don't bother even reading the rest of the answers out loud. What a statement that is? Dan says "FURRY" and then won't make eye contact with the camera.  

[yuzuria]

for 1, komahina, pekozuki, kirizono and for 2 komaeda and kirigiri. sorry if its too much;;

not at all!! i appreciate spamming me more, thank you oliver~ ily

001 | komahina: (i’ve had this meme before and answered this but i’ll do it again and see if some stuff changed hehe)

when I started shipping it if I did: a lil after dr3 ended and i fully got back in dr fandom after 3 years o(--(

my thoughts: always the first spot in my heart, i always rant about them in twt and i don’t think i can ever fully convey what i feel about them but they’re the most canon ship i’ve ever had and it gave me fulfillment ha ha ;;;

What makes me happy about them: all of their interactions are significant and sheds light on each of their development, komaeda continues to push hinata forward even after his death and meanwhile hinata destroyed komaeda’s toxic worldview and mind you, didn’t give the hope to komaeda but made komaeda realize the hope is within himself and overall their rship conveys such a strong message. komaeda may not be the one who made the final act to make hinata move on and face their future but he’s the one hinata’s with in that future 

What makes me sad about them: facing the other is like facing oneself and their flaws which makes this ship really complicated because they argue a lot even if that’s the process to becoming better people where komaeda’s pushed to stop accepting what comes to him and learn to change himself while hinata needed acceptance within himself, but because komaeda offed himself their rship ended rocky like a broken wild rollercoaster and it was thrown over and we’ve seen how much komaeda’s death affected hinata because hinata only thought that he wouldn’t see komaeda anymore after the killing game over not because he died, what makes me sad is this complex exploration will always be limited in the fandom bc people will see it as abusive or unhealthy or for yaoizz sake from either haters or fans, it’s sometimes sad to be in this fandom and see all misinterpretations and hate all around but ha ha #justfandomthings

things done in fanfic that annoys me: the ridiculous fanon characteristics, you know what are they, too many to mention, i hate most of their interpretations im a really cranky grandma as a result with fight or flight response to their content online

things I look for in fanfic: rn i want more tdp

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: the people i dont mind for them are already dead (matsuda (which in my heart is komaeda’s canon first love) for komaeda  and natsumi for hinata) 

My happily ever after for them: dr3 sucks but they already have the happy ending i could ask for, just... hopefully they came to terms and closure from the simulation and are in whatever situation they think best for their future, not even me can dictate it for them

who is the big spoon/little spoon: hinata/komaeda

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: having dates in animal cafes...like cat cafe....dog cafe..hedgehog cafe... *sobs*

001 | pekozumi

when i started shipping it if i did: has it been last year or early this year i cant recall

my thoughts: they both have a problem being selfless and looking out for others over themselves and i think it balances out if they’re the one who looks out for each other... 

what makes me happy about them: their tdp is so good!! koizumi taking a picture of peko smiling and making peko realize the things that make her happy is so pure.... 

what makes me sad about them: we didn’t get to see a resolution with you know... “i killed you for my master who killed your former girlfriend who killed his sister...” 

things done in fanfic that annoys me: it doesn’t exist

things i look for in fanfic: ANYTHING

who i’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: nope, their major ships are lowkey my notps so no thanks

my happily ever after for them: i want to see them explore the world together, koizumi taking pictures of smiles as the world is being rebuild while peko looks for her own happiness recovering from her attitude with seeing herself as a mere tool

who is the big spoon/little spoon: they switch

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: koizumi learns to love taking selfies only with peko bc they make embarrassed faces but they think the other is v cute so they do it often

001 | kirizono

when I started shipping it if I did: also in 2016, i saw them beside each other and it shook me how blind for so long for not noticing them

my thoughts: tragic highschool sweethearts

What makes me happy about them: even though they didn’t interact once in dr1 we have enough idea how they would act towards each other, they both can read people well and are both reserved and dedicated to their talents and those are, but in their class pictures they looked close so i’ll hold on to that they were lovers before the killing game and sayaka died without them remembering it, also their one (1) interaction in tdp is precious,, they can read each other so well and are concerned for each other uuuu;;;

What makes me sad about them: they. didn’t, interact, AT ALL!! UNTIL TDP AND THAT UMBRELLA POSTER  SPIKE MADE. 

things done in fanfic that annoys me: i havent read much but from what i’ve read eeee it’s fine but not my flavor (i want more angst and more mundane situations...)

things I look for in fanfic: non despair au where they go in adventure and fall in love, hpa days where they fall in love, when kirigiri remembers their hpa days and grieve, au where naegi dies instead of sayaka and she becomes the protag (i’ve had this idea before drv3 okay)

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

My happily ever after for them: kirigiri holds onto sayaka’s memories and doesn’t marry/have a relationship with anyone (fuck naegi) until she dies and reunite with sayaka..... or sayaka lives... pls LET SAYAKA LIVE I’M CRYING SO MUCH 

who is the big spoon/little spoon: switch

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: card games

002 | komaeda

how i feel about this character: my dearest angel

all the people i ship romantically with this character: hinata, matsuda, kamukura im trash

my non-romantic otp for this character: sonia, kirigiri, kuzuryuu, koizumi, amami

my unpopular opinion about this character: komaeda isn’t gaga for kamukura because he’s the embodiment of hope and talents, it’s quite the opposite lmao, komaeda believes in natural-born talent and the will to make it flourish and improve which kamukura neither isn’t so it’s so so so boring when people only thinks of kamukoma this way, komaeda is capable of hating kamukura, in fact he’s more likely to hate kamukura than love him because of his passive listless attitude despite being capable of turning tides

one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: what i wanted in canon already made magi happen so i don’t expect much anymore bc kdk isn’t the best person wrapping up his characters that’s why it’s so convenient 60+% of his characters are dead

my otp: hikoma

my cross over ship: komaeda/amami for that fwb au i have... also platonic komaeda/tae (gintam) where they cook together and make everything on fire

a headcanon fact: komaeda’s first love is matsuda, komaeda’s house/mansion isn’t empty but rather have a huge well-kept collection of his eccentric tastes and things he got via his luck and remember each story behind them, how many people was caught up with his bad luck or what he experienced

002 | kirigiri

how i feel about this character: my bestest girl

all the people i ship romantically with this character: sayaka

my non-romantic otp for this character: komaeda, dr1 girls, sonia

my unpopular opinion about this character: ppl barely talk about her so idk what’s unpopular or popular... maybe i just don’t see naegiri as a romantic thing or tonaegiri as a trio

one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: be an actual good character in dr3 like who she is in dr1

my otp: kirizono

my cross over ship: no

a headcanon fact: she rides a motorcycle

[toonsforkicks22]

TAWOG-The Rejection

Harold Wilson couldn’t understand what Nicole saw in that chubby bunny. Well, actually, chubby was an understatement. Harold had seen ships with less cargo compared to Richard Watterson.

The rainbow-sporting individual narrowed his eyes, staring across the lunchroom where one of the school’s beauties sat. He remembered the earlier years of middle school when all Nicole wore was her martial arts uniform. As plain and gaudy as it was, he had to admit it had been rather adorable on her. That was Nicole when they were all twelve. Now in high school, he began to notice even more that such a lass was practically a godsend.

And fate was cruel not to bring her into his arms. Instead, fate brought her into the sweaty, fat arms of that momma’s boy Watterson kid. Harold watched in disgust as Nicole offered the rest of her food to that pink rabbit, as if she hardly remembered that he already had ten times the amount of calories she had eaten. Her smile was sincere, her flirty offer to spoon feed him her mashed potatoes made Harold’s colorful body redden with rage.

However, he took the time to admire the beautiful blue cat as well. Hair down and held back by pink clips, and that pretty purple sweater that bared one of her shoulders. Her outfit seemed to match perfectly with his own, a sweater of highly expensive value. Just as Harold felt they could be as well.

Before she met Richard, Nicole Senicourt was an unapproachable beauty. Not to say she was a man-hater or anything, it was just that her interests were 100% focused on success, and appeasing her life-planning parents. Harold heard her folks expected her to marry a man of the medical field in the future. Well, he might as well call them mom and pop if he ever personally met them, because that was going to become Harold’s career.

Yet Nicole still laid her heart for the oaf who obviously wasn’t going to get into college.

No matter how hard he or any guy tried, she friendzoned every single one. Harold hated that term. He hated to be reminded that a popular guy like him could not attract the entire population of women. But he didn’t care for other women at this point. He only desired Nicole. She was intelligent, witty, pretty, and incredibly strong in both body and mind. He recalled that time he thought she was running toward him. He tried to act cool about it, sending her his usual pick-up lines, but deep down he was overjoyed that she would finally date him.

How wrong he had been when Nicole just abruptly ran over his face, hardly even recognizing his presence. What made it more painful was how that had been the day she met Richard. Harold would have gladly taken her out to dinner, yet she was appreciative of a dang nut (he overheard her confess this gesture of Richard to one of the girls at school; probably that Jackie person or whatever). While his family was not as wealthy as the Yoshidas, Harold knew he could give anything Nicole desired.    

And that woman chose the guy whom she was willing to shovel mashed potatoes into.

Harold fought every urge to walk over there and use another one of his successful pick-up lines on Nicole. Well, not the “Have you lose weight? Your head looks bigger.” one. His face was still healing from those recent slaps…

He tried not to puke his lunch as Nicole wiped Richard’s potato-covered face. Dear God, he ate like a wild animal! A wild, ugly animal! How could such a beauty like Nicole think that was cute?

“Hey, man!” He turned to see one of his bandmates greet him. “Don’t forget the party this Friday at my  house! All the best girls are going to attend!”

Harold said nothing, glancing back toward the blue cat whose fingers linked lovingly with Richard’s.

“All the best girls, huh?” the rainbow-colored man asked, a satisfied look on his face. ______________________________________________________________________

The party was actually nice for a middle class neighborhood. After Harold parked his expensive ride across the street, he witnessed the front yard overwhelmed by practically everyone from school. Beats erupted from one of the music students who wanted to have a career as a DJ, and the tables of food actually looked appealing. What made it even better was that his bandmate had been right: all the best girls were present. And they were all dressing super nicely.

Harold offered his most suave smile, hands in the pockets of his designer jeans as he strolled toward the event. He high-fived a few buddies on one side, winked and clicked his tongue to some girls on the other. These were the kind of girls easily charmed by him, and Harold could have flirted with them already, but his focus was only on one girl.

As he entered the open door of the house, there was hardly room to roam around. Balloons were rather a cheap attempt at a bash, but they made the entire living space look more lively. He could hear bottles of soda fizz open, and the loud crunches of chips being devoured. Guys and girls raised their voices high out of excitement and thrill, especially on the dance floor while the music increased volume. Harold gave the usual flip of his long, colorful hair.

However, his mouth slowly fell open when he saw Nicole. She stood in a corner, away from the craziness of everything, merely hovering right next to one of the buffet tables. The blue cat wore a yellow summer dress, a white jacket hugging her frame. The clips were gone, allowing her hair to fall to one side of her face. But Harold certainly wasn’t complaining.

She appeared rather unsure of herself, as if she couldn’t understand typical high school parties. She wasn’t with any of the girls at the moment. The best part was that Richard was nowhere to be seen.

Harold’s heart gave a hopeful thump, as if fate was finally going to grant him the beauty he vied for since 7th grade. It could be like the movies. Girl meets guy at party, they talk and dance; and when the party is near its end, guy offers girl to take her home. And then stuff deemed too inappropriate for something rated PG-13 would probably ensue. Harold tried not to think about it, although his drool betrayed him. 

~

Nicole plucked another chip from the saucer and engulfed it. The party was nice, and all her classmates and friends were present. She only wished Richard could be here. He said he was coming, and probably was just running late due to his protective mother. She hardly noticed a flirtatious rainbow-ed lad sidle right next to her, his eyes trying to meet her own.

“Hey, girl, no need to get lonely,” he expressed with his usual charm. “I’m already here.”

When their eyes met, the fantasy of teenage love vanished as she merely scowled at him.

“Okay, what do you want?” Nicole asked begrudgingly.

She stiffened a bit when Harold’s arm laid on the wall behind her. The blue cat could have given him a black eye already for invading the space between them. She could practically smell mints off his breath, not that it was a bad thing. But just like in middle school, she knew what he was up to.

“So where’s your lard-eating boyfriend tonight?” he teased. “Bet he must have dumped you for an all-you-can-eat spree at Joyful Burger, am I right?”

Nicole’s expression hardened and merely pushed him back. He grunted for a moment, but was not perturbed by this. However, that was the first time they made any physical contact since the day she ran over his face.  

“Richard’s just late,” Nicole insisted. “He did say he would meet me here,” she added, glancing worriedly at her surroundings.

Harold still leaned toward her. “You know, if he doesn’t come, which I’m pretty sure he won’t, perhaps I could be of some assistance.”

She huffed at him. “As if that’ll lead anywhere for us!”

With that she turned on her heel, stomping away from him. Harold went after her, merging into the crowd just as she had and trying to find the blue-furred beauty. He squeezed and pushed past other students, refusing to lose Nicole again. Finally, he spotted her exiting out the back door of the house, leading to the other yard.

Once Harold reached it, he found that the back yard was empty of people. He found Nicole leaning against a nearby tree, her eyes to the moon as she hugged herself from the mild breeze of the evening. She looked so majestic and graceful, all she needed now was a Prince Charming around her arm to make the image complete.

“Nicole,” Harold said, dropping his flirty demeanor as he approached her. She didn’t budge, but still gave him a dirty glare. “You know, I really had hoped you’d come to this party. Because, girl, all I wanted to do was see you, a beauty I’ve known since we were twelve. Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

The blue cat scoffed. “Oh, believe me, it tells me everything. And if you think you can just sweep me off my feet like the immature amateur you are, I bet your mother couldn’t look at you without feeling disappointed!”

“Hey, keep my mother out of this!” Harold whined. “At least my mother doesn’t go planning my entire future of probably taking over the world or something!”

Nicole frowned. “Touche.” She then looked away from him. “What are you even doing here, Harold? Don’t you have some airheads to blow?”

“Okay, first off, no,” Harold retorted. “Second, I want a girl who can be real smart with me.” He offered a genuine smile toward the female cat, extending an eager hand toward her. “A real smart beauty who knows how to entice me with sharp words I probably wouldn’t understand but pretend to anyway.”

Nicole merely scoffed again, rolling her eyes. “You can be a Casanova all you want, but it’s never going to work!”

Harold felt a burning rage inside. “Don’t tell me you still think highly of that inflated piece of bubblegum! Even more than me!”

“What girl could ever think highly of you?” Nicole shot back.

“Tons of women!” he argued, throwing his arms up. “Practically millions! They adore me, worship the ground I walk on!”

“Feels more like those women are willing date anyone who’ll hopefully marry them with a large bank account in the future,” Nicole said with disinterest.

The rainbow teen inhaled before breathing out slowly, certain steam could escape his nostrils. Nicole was super witty tonight, and he found that absolutely hot no matter how much it aggravated him.

“Well, I don’t care about those women!” Harold insisted. “It’s you I want! Criminy, Nicole, I love you!”

This time she lifted up from the tree, and leaned toward him. However, instead of anything passionate Harold hoped for out of all this, she merely gave him the deadliest stare any girl could give him.

“Love, Harold?” she repeated. “You really think this could be love?”

“I’d give you the whole world if I could!” he promised desperately. “Well, probably at least Arkansas...” Harold thought, pondering the possibility.

“That’s what you’ll say first,” Nicole pointed out. “But later on down the road of life you’ll become a despicable person whose taken everything he’s loved for granted.”

“What?” he exclaimed in distraught. “You’re crazy!”

“Am I?” she challenge. “I bet in the future after we marry and have kids, you’ll just toss me aside for a younger woman after you think you’ve gotten a billion dollars when in reality it’s actually a forged check that was played as a prank to get back at you as vengeance because everyone knows you’re a jerk!”  

Harold blinked. “What?”

Nicole exhaled, rubbing the side of her forehead. “Look, Harold, as much as I want to appreciate your ‘feelings’ for me, I’m with Richard.”

“Oh, come on!” he shouted, unable to control his jealousy. “What does he have that I don’t? At least I still have my father!”

The blue cat wanted to scratch his face for saying that. After they met, Richard confessed to Nicole how his dad just disappeared one night to get milk. He admitted he was still waiting for him and that milk to come home, even though it’s been almost a year since that night. Nicole did everything she could to comfort him, even though Richard assured her that he and his mom had already picked themselves up afterward.

“True, he may not have his father around right now,” she admitted. “But he does have everything that I’ve always wanted in a man.”

“I have everything and more than what he has!” Harold cried.

“You can tell yourself that for as long as you want,” Nicole told him, her voice suspiciously calm. “Even long after you marry someone who’s probably going to chain you like a dog to discipline that thing you call your pride. You may have a lot of things that would make most woman want you immediately.”

Harold just looked at her.

“But I’m not most women,” she said, her expression hardening. “And all the things you have don’t measure up to what makes a good person.”

He could feel the color drain from his face. Literally because some of the color just dripped down his legs unto the grass. It was a cloud thing.

“Those kind of qualities that I want in a man,” she said briskly, “I see in Richard, oh, so much.”

The wind seemed to get colder as he just gawked at her. His mind jumbled from quick pick-up lines to last-minute reasons why he think Nicole was wrong about him. But nothing came out, his voice empty as his heart. They just stood there, facing one another. The beautiful cat’s arms folded, her blue locks slowly flying across her forehead due to the weather.

“Nicole!”

Both turned just in time to see Richard standing in the doorway. Harold glance back at the blue cat, and his heart could not descend any further as he saw her face. Her expression of hatred had converted to one of sincere adoration the moment she saw Richard. Never would she ever give a smile like that to Harold no matter how much he tried.

“Richard!” she exclaimed happily. “I was wondering where you were!”

“Sorry...” the pink bunny said shyly, playing with his fingers. “My mom had to make sure I was well-instructed about emergency in case something happened tonight. Like last week at Joyful Burger’s all-you-can-eat spree. Oh, hey, Harold!” he greeted with a friendly wave.

Harold said nothing, and Richard hardly noticed the expression of wanting to die on the rainbow guy’s face.  

“And let’s be clear on something else, Harold,” Nicole said quietly to him. “You may think of me as just some beauty. But mess with me or Richard, and you’ll be dealing with the beast.”

With that, she walked over to Richard. Harold could only stand there and watch as some other guy engulfed her in his arms. He could not look away as they shared a kiss, and he was pretty sure she was using some tongue just to make it more obvious she and Harold would never be.

They returned to the party, Richard unwittingly closing the door on Harold. The heartbroken teen stood there for what could have been hours, still grasping what could have been if Nicole had just stopped running and met him instead. 

  Something I thought of after watching “The Choices”.

[charlierejouis]

My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts on: Criticism and Art

I know what some of you are thinking: Wouldn’t that be a better thing to talk about on that other blog you run? Isn’t this a series from there?

Well, while I do think that my followers on @natsubeatsrock could definitely benefit from reading this, I think that this is an issue that extends farther than the Fairy Tail fandom. So while I’m going to use Fairy Tail as an example, this can go for a lot of things.

By the way, if you want to hear more about this idea, go to this really long essay about anti-snark, which was a partial inspiration for this post.

Stop me if any of these statements sound familiar. (You can't because this is text, but bear with me.)

“If you think that it's so bad, I'd like to see you try to do a better job.”

“If you have negative things to say about Fairy Tail, you should keep them to yourself.”

“Mashima works hard to bring us new chapters every week. How dare you bring down his work?”

“If you don't like this series so much, why don't you just read something else?”

“Kill yourself.”

Yeah, that last one was kinda extreme. I should stay off Youtube...

Otherwise, I see comments like this all the time.

Usually, someone who tries to defend Mashima from the “haters” will say something along those lines and get more notes than this post will probably get. And every time someone does, I cringe. Usually more because of the people going “Preach!” in the notes for the post than anything in the actual post.

Eww…

Of course, that’s not to say these are good arguments. Hence the rest of this post.

I don't normally do this, but let me say why some people might think that I shouldn't be arguing these points. Everyone has a bias behind their arguments. However, with this argument, there may seem to be a conflict of interest that I feel is necessary to address.

I am an art creator. More specifically, I am a musical composer. If you don't know what that means, I write music. I do a lot of other musical stuff, but I enjoy writing music the most. In fact, you might find a few pieces that I've posted here if you look hard enough on my blogs.

From the perspective of a composer, I totally understand the appeal of this arguments. I don't want someone who doesn't know the functional difference between an A sharp and a B flat (or, at the very least, that they sound the same) to try and devalue the hard work I've put into my work. Especially considering that, whenever I put notes on a page, I put a piece of myself on the page.

It's even worse when people don't know the struggle. It's been said that it takes minutes to consume art but hours to create art. I've spent weeks, months even, working on single songs. It's a combination of things that are hard to explain without going into too much detail.

So, why can I still say these arguments still fail?

Because they’re not about content being criticized. They’re about the critic. The problem is that the person making these arguments are essentially saying that the person who is criticizing something is unqualified to do so.

Think about the first one. It's impossible to say anything bad about a series if you're unable to create something as good or better?

How is it possible to have taste for anything if you can't have problems with something without being able to make something like it but better? Simply by having taste for something, you are saying that “I think this is better than that.” You may never vocalize or understand that you are doing so, but that's what's happening nonetheless.

Also, why does this always only apply to people who are saying bad things about the series? Why is it that I only can't say anything bad about Fairy Tail unless I've made my own manga series? Shouldn't it also work the other way around?

No one goes around and says “Stop saying good things about a series unless you can make your own.” Heck, imagine if someone said, “Stop saying anything about anything you can't make.” Again, how would we be able to have any taste for anything if we can only say things about things we can make?

As for the third argument, it honestly doesn't matter if there was a lot of hard work put into something if it isn't good. There are many instances where something that wasn't well made becomes popular and stuff with more thought put into it.

And often, as any honest arts creator will tell you, you'll work hard on something and realize how bad it is. Then, you'll show it to someone who isn't an art creator and they'll love it. The fun is usually figuring out who's right.

Now here's where it gets interesting. As an art creator, I value criticism differently than you'd probably think. I appreciate compliments from anyone and constructive criticism is always good. However, the criticism of the unintelligent means little to me. And often, I ignore criticism that is meant to be critical.

For example, I play electric guitar. I won't listen to people who don't like how loud I play a certain heavy rock piece. That's the point. However, if I'm told to put down my volume down because I'm causing audio issues, I definitely will. 

What is tricky is hearing what is meant to be constructive criticism that is not constructive at all. For example, one person I play with had the nerve to tell me that I was not creative enough with the intention of being helpful.

What?

I did appreciate one of my jazz instructors telling me that my own original solo skill needs to be developed. He explained that I sound like I'm searching for notes to play instead of playing a cohesive line. That hurt to hear, but I appreciate that more than “you’re not creative”, even if that was what the first person meant. 

And, as an art creator, I don’t even have to listen to any kind of feedback. As shocking as it may sound, I don’t necessarily have to listen to people regardless of their opinions of my work. While the internet allows for more connections, it also allows people to distance themselves from people they don’t like. 

Say I decide to take my music to the public. If I post music videos on Youtube, I can turn off comments. If I have a social media account, I can block people I don’t want to hear from. I can even swear off social media. If I sell my music online, I can ignore any and all reviews entirely.

Even if you want to argue that doesn’t stop criticism because people can send me their complaints through newspaper reviews, fan letters or in-person, I can still ignore criticism. I don’t have to read newspapers. I don’t have to share my address or have a PO Box. I don’t need to interact with anyone who only knows me through my music. With the advent of self-publishing and self-production, especially considering music, I don’t even need to have anyone help me with the creative process.

Now, what I’ve just described probably sounds depressing to some of you. Not being able to listen to any input on your work is probably disturbing. Sure, you get rid of the “haters”. But doesn’t your art suffer as a result? 

That’s the point. I will admit that this is an extreme set of examples and that not listening to any criticism ever can cause an art creator never to grow. But, as an art creator, an important skill is being able to weigh out criticism. It is important to recognize when criticism is meant to encourage your style/work and when criticism is trying to discourage on your style/work.

Mind you, I say this as someone who took writing music seriously about 4 years ago. Hiro Mashima’s been making manga for longer than many of the fans in his core demographic have probably been alive. This guy has a Twitter account and gets messages from fans over all kinds of stuff on tweets about games (I know because I follow him). I’m pretty sure that by this point, anything bad that I have to say about Fairy Tail means very little him.

As a side note, some of you might be wondering why I’ve been using the term “art creator” instead of “artist”. Maybe this is just me, but the term “artist” implies visual arts of some form. I feel that the term “art creator” is more inclusive to other forms of arts. It includes people who make music, like me, others who film and edit videos and those who write stories or poems.

Now to that fourth comment. I feel like this defense is misguided. I don't think you should waste your time with something that you don't enjoy. There's plenty of great anime and manga out there. I'm taking my time reading three series, but I read each new chapter about three times each week and I often have to go back and remind myself of events from past chapters.

But let me ask you a question: Do you honestly think I would still be here if I didn't want to be?

Many people criticizing Fairy Tail are fans who have realized that this series is not as good as once thought. Heck, you can go through my posts in chronological order and see me be more cynical of Mashima. While some are here just to rag on the series, many of us criticize Fairy Tail because we want the series to be better than it is.

And honestly, at this point, is it even worth it to go? Fairy Tail is only a few months away from ending at this point. What would be the point of dropping the series now?

I think the worst thing about these arguments is that the people using them have a great opportunity to argue for the series but argue against the critics. If you genuinely think the series doesn't deserve this much flack, it's probably better that you prove why then stop all criticism of it.

In my last edition of this series, I mentioned that there is a similar problem with Sword Art Online and its fandom. Digibro, one of my favorite anime YouTubers (which probably says a lot about me), has gained a lot of fame by ragging on the series. In fact, I linked a few of his videos in that last post and he expressed similar qualms with the phrase “Why can’t you turn your brain off?” that I have with the first phrase. (read: I said almost the same thing)

Recently, he’s made the point that his popularity doesn’t come from being negative about the series, but by talking about the series. In fact, it would be better for him to say good things about SAO than to say bad things. The problem is that no big Youtuber has proven the “merits” of SAO.

The same is true about Fairy Tail. There are tons of people ripping Fairy Tail online. However, there is not a whole lot of people making a defense of the series. The biggest person on the Internet I know that might (Glass Reflection) has yet to finish the series and I don’t know if he still would. 

Instead of less negative opinions about it, the Fairy Tail fandom needs more people to give good reasons to like the series and/or give a good defense for the problems people have for it. And as weird as it may sound, I actually want people to prove that Fairy Tail is really good. I want someone to justify following this series for years. 

But I’ve seen plenty of arguments supporting different things about Fairy Tail and almost all of them range from just off to illogical to “Why is this an argument people use and believe?”. About the only things that don’t are for unpopular ships and some characters. But no one I’ve seen has made a great case for this series. A lot of the people that I think could are too busy telling people with negative opinions to shut up.

See the problem here?

In Conclusion:

If you think that we're wrong for not praising this series, then, instead of asking for less discussion about its flaws, create more discussion about its merits. Make good arguments that the series is better than me and other folks think.