#but can you treat him like an actual person and like. Not a weird caricature of himself? or an extension of Wil?

[shikai-the-storyteller]

HE'S GONNA DO THE AFFAIR PHOTOS BETWEEN ETOILES AND PAC LMAOOO

[mmprviolet]

Why I love Earthspark

Spoilers ahead

Female characters treated like people and not weird or afterthoughts

The child characters act like children and not mini adults to please boomers

The Decepticons have more than just Card Carrying Evil

Starscream's abuse is finally taken seriously for once and without woobifying him

Megatron is Scottish

The terrans are cool

NB rep for both terran and human

The main human family are Black American and Filipino

Seriously when was the last tine we saw an interracial pair where both parties are nonwhite?

Dot is a badass, we learn about her as a person, disabled but treated with agency

Alex is also a badass and a bumblebee fanboy, yet we also learn a bit about him

Dot and Alex 🤝 Tom and Maddie = healthy relationships in classic kid properties

Elita is also a badass she's also closer to her personality than the weird trope of making her a villain or fridging her

Bumblebee is a struggling young adult and not a infantilized annoying caricature

Actually his arc seems to be one giant rebuttal against the trend of making him Kid Appeal by having him struggle with being a mentor and dealing with kids

Breakdown is Sonic the Hedgehog

The main human villain is a legitimate threat without being a villain sue or boring

The other main villain is literally named Karen (and also a legit threat)

Optimus Prime is back to being funny and not a overly serious messiah, angry old man, Nerd or cop

Soundwave's revenge bod

Skywarp and Nova Storm are girls and can put up a fight they also have more relevancy than u can say with TFA Blackarachnia

Scratch that Skywarp in animated media again and gets to use her powers

Dot and Mo have natural hair and even wear bonnets

If you look past Mo's rather uncanny design she's actually really cute and lovable

Robby is cool too

Thrash and Twitch hmmm love seeing two characters of both worlds embracing all their heritage

TWITCH'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT especially her dynamic with Megatron

He calls her little bird

Nigthshade. Just Nightshade. Cool altmode cool personality, doesn't sugarcoat their identity (it's not 5000% perfect but still very great to see)

Really good message about respecting history while also thinking for yourself and new generation not making those same mistakes

the old generation gets to learn and grow too, the only ones who don't refuses to

Bringing in characters like Tarantulas, Hardtop, basically characters we haven't seen much of

Love how the experiences characters go thru aren't easily wiped away a la Grimlock and Hashtag both experiencing PTSD from the harm inflicted on them and allowed to feel those emotions

Steve Blum is Starscream again but still sounds fresh and not rip Prime beat for best

The cultural details while not 5000% perfect are pretty great like league above past shows

Like you can tell more than one writer of color is in the room

More nonwhite VAs instead of the usual 3-4 max

Angered the ultra conservatives

Thrash is Hunter and Kid Andrias

Jawbreaker is funny as hell I also liked his abilities and dynamic with grimlock.

[decepti-thots]

Character ask game: Tarantulas

one aspect about them i love: I love how DRAMATIC he is. Tarantulas considers himself the centre of his universe and he acts accordingly, right? He is the main character of his life. Everything he does is the most important thing anyone is doing and so he treats it with this gravitas that just makes him delightful whenever he's on the page. As far as he's concerned, Prowl's life begins and ends with when they were interacting and everything else is a footnote subordinate to them. There's something really great about a character whose absolute indifference to almost everyone else results in them being this almost... excessively self-realized person. Tarantulas is completely in tune with himself, I doubt he really has much capacity for self doubt... at least, until Prowl fucks that up. I think of that whole situation as being this fluke occurrence where something outside of himself managed to worm its way in and so he just has no idea how to deal with missing it once it's gone- it fundamentally changes him in a way he doesn't really understand, which is why all he can think to do is try and get it back despite everything that makes it a bad idea. I have a lot of thoughts on that but I will spare you lest this be 746362 pages long usidhdjjkdf

one aspect i wish more people understood about them: Tarantulas only wants Prowl to come back to him by way of Prowl agreeing to. Oh, his idea of what counts as "agreement" is phenomenally broad; he'll blackmail, torture and coerce that out of him. But Tarantulas very specifically needs Prowl to say "yes" before he's satisfied. He is trying to make Prowl admit he wants to work together again. It would be completely hollow if he didn't get that "yes". Even if he had managed to run off with him at the end of Sins, you can imagine it would have just been an extended version of his attempt to prise out that yes. I can't imagine a version of events where Tarantulas delights in Prowl being unwilling and miserable; that would probably just make Tarantulas equally miserable in a different way. It's proof he's wrong about them.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character: Tarantulas has read Wreckers: Declassified, while he was hanging around pre-Wrequiem. He's really mortally offended on Springer's behalf because it's TERRIBLE, like it's really fucking dumb stupid propaganda that anyone ought to be able to see is not how any of these people really are. Springer is described like a one dimensional caricature and he hates it. However he has still read it like, eight times. He doesn't have a lot of other ways to find stuff out about Springer, after all. Mostly he finds himself really annoyed with Prowl for deciding that the best way to deal with their creation was to treat him like one of Mesothulas' bombs and hand him over to the military, which had definitely not been what Mesothulas planned. (He may have been deluding himself slightly that it wasn't what Prowl planned.)

one character i love seeing them interact with: I can't just say Prowl. OK, Verity, actually. He just DISDAINS her so much. But then there's the weird bits where he refers to her in a way where it's like. Are you projecting Prowl's betrayal of you onto her? Of Ostaros? Talking about how he used and discarded her, how she's someone vulnerable who Prowl failed to protect. I would love to dig into that sometime. That almost repulsed recognition he feels with someone who he so clearly sees as beneath him at the same point his feelings of having been undervalued are coming to the surface.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more: I wanted to see him interact with Shockwave SO BAD. Chinhands. I am so fascinated by that implied connection. I am on a one person mission to make other people interested in the idea of Mesothulas having had a connection first to Senator Shockwave, actually. But also, Shockwave would be like, THE ideal person in Mesothulas' eyes, I feel, because he's a person who acts in ways that are primarily motivated by very clear principles due to his shadowplay. He exemplifies the point-A-to-B way of doing things; you have a goal, you find the route to that goal that works, and you do it. If you want something from Shockwave and you know what Shockwave wants, as long as you are also amoral, you can pretty much always work out a way to slot into that if you make youself useful, and I imagine for someone like Mesothulas who sees other people on a macro scale of inputs and outputs that fit his needs perfectly.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character: Tarantulas really loathes Impactor. Except. Except that Impactor saw Ostaros and couldn't kill him, and there is a tiny angry unwilling part of Tarantulas that is aware on some level that he's grateful to Impactor for that. He can't completely stamp it out. Infuriating.

[spongebob-connoisseur]

Do you have at least any suppose headcanons to how Slappy met his Master (Nosferatu)? Or was there already an origin episode about that somewhere in The Patrick Star Show?

Because to be completely honest, I wanna know how exactly did Nosferatu met his butler and why we've never really seen Slappy before until his first debut around 2019.

Oh I DO actually! Here's one from character AI that I like to imagine happened

Jokes aside, I think the reason why Slappy didn't show up until 2019 is because they didn't think of adding him. I know Kaz is a fan of Peter Lorre and wrote Slappy into the show as a little tribute because every cartoon as a Lorre caricature/impression of some kind.

But if I was to give an in universe answer, I think Slappy is probably just busy. He works for Nosferatu during the night and sleeps during the day. I would imagine it is rare to see Slappy out and about during the day unless he has something specific to do during the day. I imagine you could only rarely see Slappy around town during the daytime. Slappy practically dedicated his unlife to Nosferatu. He doesn't seem to have anything else to do beyond that. I doubt he even has enough time for Slippy because of his job. Slappy and Spongebob are alike so I can assume Slappy is as obsessed with his job the same way as Spongebob is, and you already know Spongebob would be at work 24/7 if he can. Same likely goes for Slappy.

As for how Slappy and Nosferatu met, I like to imagine the little scenario in Character AI is what somewhat happened. But on a serious note, it is canon that Nosferatu in Spongebob is an alternate universe to the original 1922 movie. Nosferatu takes the ship the Schooner to Wismar to spread his plague. In the Spongebob universe, the ship never makes it to Wismar. Instead it sinks and you can see the Schooner in the background when Sponge and Squid goes to Nosferatu's castle.

I like to imagine Slappy was there to witness the ship sinking/found the wreckage of the ship and he recovered Nosferatu's coffin. I think Nosferatu instantly drained Slappy and turned him into his undead familiar and Slappy being the weirdo he is, just kinda rolled with it.

I actually remember my earliest headcanon for Slappy. I always imagined Slappy is prone to getting attached to people. Slappy is the town's weirdo after all. I can imagine he's not particularly liked and that he's very aware that he is so outcasted. While we know Slappy has no personal qualms about it, I can imagine it might cause him to cling to people who do treat him "decently". Especially when he was alive.

I also like to imagine he was alive during the 1920s or 30s because the Nosferatu movie came out in 1922, what if the ship sank then? Or in the 30s when Peter Lorre began his film debut. This is unrelated but its just a thought. I like to imagine Slappy was born around the turn of the 20th century.

I can imagine being an alive weirdo is way worse than being an undead one. It must've been particularly isolating and he must've struggled to make friends amongst the living. So the fact that Nosferatu was willing to take him in, give him a job, befriend him, and gets his weird ways must've been a godsend.

So Slappy works as a familiar to Nosferatu. He gets his very first best friend, and he has a place to live, a stable job. Also being undead means he csn befriend the dead, and it really opens up slappy to a much more accepting friend group. All because of Nosferatu. Its no wonder Slappy practically worships him. Also slappy and Nosferatu work really well together. Aside from the fact that they're both undead, they seem to share a similar sense of humor, though Slappy does go too far sometimes. Still they both make great friends who love the macabre and pranks. And Slappy is pretty accepting, who else would Nosferatu get to work for a vampire? Someone who wouldn't run away screaming when dealing with particularly gritty or bloody work? There are many advantages to having a Slappy.

Even if that means he has to put up with Slappy's clingyness and bad puns.

[cosm1cbrownie]

Okay, this is gonna sound inconsequential... but this actually reveals how large swaths of, what I dub, "Cap-not-Steve fans" Do Not Understand Steve Rogers

I don't like September 28th (or w/e the day was) as Steve's birthday either (January 3rd winter baby born of hardship is so much more symbolic) but anyone begging for Steve's real b-day to be America ca-caw 🦅 🇺🇸 does not get him tee bee aich¡

And really it speaks to just how much Marvel has (to this day) flanderized Steve into a generic cardboard cutout Mr. Murrica Sweet Home Alabama Man that his "fans” can get mad at any time Steve finally gets humanized like a real person and not a 🇺🇸🦅 propaganda bland white bread blank slate

the name "Captain America" was in-universe just a propaganda dancing stage show persona that Steve was put into, he hated it and wanted to actually fight for real. Every "Cap" thing should be treated as a foreign imposition that Steve has to muscle past in order to be a Real Hero.

A core (but often forgotten) part of Steve's character is him being treated as a joke even after the serum at first, and this is in part of his foil-ness with Bucky, who was in the military first and given the more dangerous and bloodier missions while Cap is pushed out to look good for the military propaganda camera crew that followed them around. A huge part of the Spectre of Captain America is that the identity was superimposed onto Steve and he was forced to play a part so he can strive to be a Real Hero too, and repeatedly a lot of those Real Hero moments are of Steve being in defiance to the flag that the Cap persona was made to serve. Steve's most human moments is when we remember that he was a person before he was told to be "Cap". So, ofc July 4th ain't his birthday lmaooo.

a lot of yall onhere&twt seem more about making him a "whimsical" unironic Sat morning cartoon/caricature of unrionic 🇺🇸🦅 propaganda, but that's literally when Steve's character is most disservice and least memorable. Him being a regular person sucked into the machinations of military and propaganda to then defy & forge his own identity through it is when the character is human and compelling

I'm not sure if you're the same person from last time, but I want to say smthn rq: his birthday is July 4th because it's fun and whimsy to do so, it was just fucking silly dude it's not that deep!!

The one of reason they chose Steve was bcz his birthday landed in July 4th, not he main reason but its a key fun little tid bit that doesn't need to be changed because it's LITERALLY his birthday. (And the fact that like,, his mom told him that the fireworks were "for him?" AWH. LIKE DONT REMOVE THAT THATS KEY TIME WITH HIS MOTHER-- It doesn't contribute much other than to say "hey your birthday is in independence day you might be viable for this cap thing alongside being a generally great dude lmao" changing it to September 28th doesn't add much other then removing fun little stuff like his july 4th birthday because marvel wants dumbass MCU syndication and makes everything boring and no-fun because of how the marvel movies are set up like a weird mishmash of All the worst parts of ults and Hickmanvengers alongside removing all the fun bits.

Also Chris evens is a Zionist I don't trust that fucker as cap anyway don't bring that shit over here 😭

Plus, on the part where you said that he "hated" being cap you are WRONG. dead ass wrong. MCU!Steve hated being cap, because it was a trait copied from ults.

Normal Steve (616 Before civil war, AA, MAA, emh, ma, you get the idea, even Hickmanvengers and ults Steve) all enjoyed being cap because they were able to be a moving force for young people and as we all know if you've read the comics steve loves doig stuff as cap and teaching kids and making people say and helping people and shit! He love it! He likes helping people and he has a strict moral code he abides by!! helping people isn't a job he just wants to do it because he can and he will and it's the same reason that the avengers aren't coworkers because they desire to do these things (helping people, seeing kids, saving the city,) because they chose to be that force that could guide people out of bad situations and HELP people with the power they have. MCu!Steve acts the way he does because the people writing him don't get his character and it seems to be neither do you.

The thing is is that Cap suffers from the fact that most people can't tell the different between the mask and the man behind it and that was a clear internal thing he struggled with as he comes to terms with living in the ultra modern 21st century 😭(and even then I have alot of gripes with the fact that people still think that Steve doesn't know how to operate technology: shut the fuck up he's like in his mid 20s he can figure it out easily he not a old cretin he has good reflexes and memory it shouldn't be that hard, also: watch The Episode "Super adaptoid" from the cartoon avengers assemble , or go watch the entire show while your at it, genuinely. he's the best characterized Steve we've had in such a long time)

As much as he is the personifying thing of a flying flag and some adaptations go to that stuff as being the core of his character it is only a small part of what is a symbol for peace and I think you don't realize that because on multiple occasions he disavows his captain America identity(Sentinel of Liberty, Y'know when he handed his Cap identity to Sam???) to help people without the ties and I think that's something alot of people forgot that despite the fact that due to the entire of who Steve is it wasnt the suit that built who he was and what he represents it was his character and choices.

That man is not a blank slate. He represents more than the war he faught in and the country he faught for and saying he's just that is a misservice to his character and who he representss outside and inside of the suit, any suit.

End of Ted talk uhhh (explodes) watch avengers assemble and pick up a cap comic from like.. pre-90s idk if you want I'll give you a reading list?? Read Man out of Time first though, yeah?

[north-park]

About the Barbie movie, I feel like when people say Butters would be Ken they mean that as a dig at Butters, like "No, Butters is an awful misogynist! He's not a good person!" but from what I understand Ken being misogynistic in the movie had a lot to do with him being just ignorant of what the patriarchy even is, thinking it has to do with horses, and that's why he fell into toxic masculinity? (I haven't seen the movie yet but that's what I've heard.) Which I feel is actually accurate to Butters' personality as often when he's doing something horrible it comes from being misinformed or unaware of how wrong what he's doing is and not an actual place of malice. So I don't think some people saying Butters is Ken is the horrible label they intend it to be. Not really sure why I'm sharing this but it's a thought I've had for a little while and I guess your post just gave me a chance to mention it to someone.

Yeah i totally understand what you mean and i agree!

I don't know if you want to ever see the movie but here's a little summary of Ken's story:

Ken is Barbie's love interest, his character was born to be just that, all his desires amount to wanting Barbie to notice him and to fall in love with him, Barbieland is run by Barbies and Ken do nothing, I think it's worth mentioning that Ken's love for Barbie is very.... realistic and not really how a kid would potray a couple with their dolls, he is very jelaous and possessive of her, doesn't like that his Barbie (there are many Barbie in this movie but he is in love with the MC Barbie) gives attention to other Kens or other Barbies, wants to do boyfriend/girlfriend things despite not understanding it either, he is just a friend for her and Ken is pretty conflicted about it

In Barbieland his role is pretty minor, all professions are run by Barbies and only Barbies and what Kens do all day is standing on the beach doing beach things and tecnically don't have rights or homes (Ken is NOT homeless in the Barbieverse, i think this is just a jab to the fact there is no Ken's house toy IRL but, uh, it raises a lot of questionsabout this world), basically imagine the usual "what if gay was the norm" video but with genders instead, but despite all being a pretty dystopian place Barbieland is a very nice to Ken, but it's not enough once Ken goes to the real world to follow Barbie's journey, without her permission

Once arrived in the real world, this is where Ken's arc really kickstarts, in this world he sees men are treated better than women and he, really, really likes it, he isn't just an equal to Barbie but even treated better than her, Barbie hates it because the real world is so awful and misogynist to her but instead he tries to understand why this world is like this by reading books (which is kinda weird now i think about it, the dolls don't know even how to drink but they can read real language?) about the patriarchy and horses, an animal who he gets really obsessed with and symbolized masculinity in movie, but it's no "perfect" for him either, he tries to land an high profile job like being a surgeon or a CEO with no qualifications for it, he can't even return to his old "beach" job in the real world, which gives him the idea to return to Barbieland and make that virgin society in his Patriarchy Dreamland where men rules and girls drools and Barbie loves him like she should

Once it's Barbie's turn to return to Barbieland she finds out all the Kens rule it now with an iron first and they brainwashed all Barbies into being misogynistic caricatures of their old selves, who do nothing but serve and stroke Kens' ego and just are their girlfriends with no aspiration or profession (this is basically where the Wieners Out plot is centred, more or less)

Yadda yadda, but the Barbies overthrown "Kendom" (which is a cool ass name c'mon) and everything returns to normality even if now all the dolls seem to have more self-awareness now, the Kens want rights now and to be given the same opportunities as the Barbies but Prez Barbie just accepts it halfway and the narration says maybe one day the Ken will have the same power women have in the real world? (Greta Gerwin's frail libfem mind would explode in a million of pieces if you told her about Margaret Thatcher)

Barbie rejects Ken's romantic feelings forever but is still willing to help him and figure out his own role in the world, this is where she asks him sorry for everything which angered a lot of people because she did nothing wrong and Ken didn't asked forgiveness either, but I kinda get it because Barbie and Ken have been best friends since forever and you sometimes have to ask sorry for nothing in friendship, and Ken has been suffering from the same existential dread as she did if not more this entire movie, but i get the anger because Ken was a dick to her, enslaved most her friends, stole her HOME, threw all her clothes out and just made a pretty embarassing scene just to humiliate her, and made her cry. :/

Film ends with Ken accepting he can't always get everything but that's fine too, he is "Kenough", MC Barbie decides to leave Barbieland forever and go find in the real world what her ending really is and turns into a real human able to create an idea instead of just being one, i kinda liked that despite Ken liking the real world more he stayed in Barbieland because living in the real world still would mean going throught hardship and sufferings and in reality he just wants it easy, but Barbie is stronger, she is ready for more..... i think? If the movie wanted to make our Barbie an human she should have found something for HER beside a couple of friends instead of just finding life beautiful because.

Which is where my ultimate problem in Ken's character in this movie relies, Barbie starts as a blank state, in her journey towards humanity she builds her personality piece by piece thanks to the people she meets like Gloria and Sasha (the human characters who honestly deserved to be the real protagonists of this movie), but Ken just kinda starts with his own personality? Which is just sorta of messy, it really makes you wonder why it's not Barbie herself to sing a song or read a book about an animal she found interesting, when Ken turns Barbieland into Kendom it start looking way more similar to the real world which i really hated, the idea the real world is for men and a childish dreamland is for women is just a bunch of stupid bullcrap

The most interesting personality trait this Barbie was given is that she geniunely believes she invented feminism and that she was the best thing to happen to women when the characters themself kinda tear her down on that, but still love her for the joy and sense of freedom she brought to people, sadly the reason this pretty cool plot is just brushed off is because Greta Gerwin herself believes that she invented feminism and is the best thing that happened to women, not Barbie, herself.

[feralgodmothers]

I can’t bring myself to hate Christopher. I know it’s popular to hate him. But it’s the same deal as dean? What crime did he actually commit except be the woman’s first love? And a reminder of who she was before the most popular fandom choice? I prefer Luke for Lorelai. But I can’t hate Christopher. Sherry whatsherface and Anna Nardini on the other hand….let’s just say I don’t take well to people willingly abandoning their children. And the less said about April’s two faced, passive aggressive mother the better.

Ps. I remembered that Anna Nardini’s actress played Mariano’s defacto stepmother and I am CACKLING!!!!!

I feel exactly the same way, anon. Like… to a T.

People in this fandom hate on Chris as if being flaky is the most heinous thing a parent can ever be. (I mean, hey - I’m glad they’re all in such a fantastic place where their standards can be sky high, and that they all have the perfect parents or whatever, but good GOD. We have to stop babying Rory so much. Like aww, her life isn’t picture perfect?)

I hate to come across as the person in the anti-Chris debate who’s like ‘other people have it so much worse’, but… I mean-

Come on. IT IS NOT THAT SERIOUS.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I would happily trade fathers with Rory in a heartbeat. (No take-backs though. I’d keep Christopher, and she can pass on my father to some unsuspecting sap like the demon from It Follows.)

He loves (and even likes) Rory and is glad she exists. That’s at least the first step in being a decent parent in my books. I’ll admit - my bar for fathers is probably a little lower than it should be, but even taking that into consideration - the amount of hate Christopher gets is ridiculous. I think if you took away the fact that he’s the main obstacle to a fan favorite ship, people wouldn’t be overly bothered by him. His only “crime” is that he wasn’t around in person regularly, but his situation is a little weird, tbh. He’s still in love with Lorelai, and she sort of loves him too, but she doesn’t want them to be a traditional family, etc. It would be kind of awkward to navigate that, but he still called Rory on the phone fairly regularly, helped pay for her education, and immediately rushed to SH and stayed up all night when Rory ended up in the hospital after the car crash (the first and only real injury she’s ever had if I remember right?). People who call him a “deadbeat dad” really need to look up what that term actually means. He was invested enough in his relationship with Rory that he actually got upset and was ready to fight with Lorelai when Rory stopped communicating with him and he believed that Lorelai was behind it. People argue that he only cares about Lorelai, and always shows up only because of her, but that’s clearly untrue. And you’re absolutely right - he gets the Dean Forester treatment. He’s the wrench in their preferred ship, so they exaggerate his negative qualities to rationalize their blind hatred. It’s insane (and more than a little annoying). To me, if you don’t like a character, that’s fine - but the least you can do is be honest about why you don’t like them. Don’t try to feed me your fan-made caricatures. This show gives us enough examples of actual bad parents without the fandom treating the middling ones like they’re the spawn of Satan. Why hate Liz and Chris when Jimmy, Sherry, Anna (and a lot of times, Emily and Richard) are RIGHT THERE? Plus, I think ASP felt the same way and tried to do some damage control with the fandom when she wrote Dean and Chris’ scenes in AYITL. I think Rory’s interactions with them (her monologue about Dean being a great boyfriend, and Chris asking not to be painted as “too much of a villain”) was a pointed hint on how she wanted the fandom to feel about those characters. Funny how people will respect her authority as the creator only when she conveniently aligns with their opinions. 😒

I think I hate Anna more as a person than as a parent. April may have received some collateral emotional damage (and I obviously don’t like that), but my main beef with Anna was her treatment of Luke. There was literally no reason for her to be so nasty to him or to be as possessive over April as she was.

Sherry was god-awful. It’s probably a good thing Chris chose to stay with her in S2, because if he hadn’t - Sherry might have left Gigi in a dumpster or something.

I think Sherry abandoning Gigi and leaving Chris to be a single dad served as a major highlight of Chris and Lorelai being the “timing was never right” sort of couple. They had an undeniable bond, and ended up leading parallel lives, 19 (?) years apart. If it wasn’t for Luke (and I say this as a hardcore Luke/Lorelai shipper), I think Chris and Lorelai would have been a no-brainer option for each other. Even though I love Luke/Lorelai more, I do love Chris/Lorelai - both together and separately (even though the writing in S7 made them a little weird). I think their relationship is very bittersweet and tragic, and they break my heart a little bit.

[banghwa]

Hey Frances, I'm new in the fandom and I'm still grasping some aspects of the dynamics here. I've been wondering for some time if one of the things that makes hoseok less popular than the others is because he is more "out there" as in he has some characteristics that people usually judge and label as gay and he doesn't lean to the sexy side as some of the others do. It seems like the guys can be queer for their fanfictions, but if they actually do something that just seems queer all of the homophobes come out to say their piece. I'm saying this because I saw someone saying people were being homophobic towards hoseok today after the long haired pictures came out, and I wanted to know from someone who has been here longer if it's always been like this with him

hiiii my love yknow what this is actually such an interesting thing you point out. maybe its bcs i wasnt rly in the right circles, but i find the "woobification" of j-hope is a rly recent development. from when i first got onto bts around 2016-2017 to around 2020 a lot of the talk around hoseok was that he was the "token straight." he's always been talked about like he's some hard douche frat boy which is. i mean its ridiculous obviously but also this like. caricatural idea of hypermasculinity that i never rly saw him as embodying, treating him almost like a palette balancer to the overtly racist and homophobic hyperfeminisation of the "shippable members". which is weird for SOOO many reasons but especially bcs like i said. i dont think hoseok ever rly gave that vibe. they all sorta leaned a little more on the macho side around debut but even then hoseok was filming himself dancing to gg songs backstage at music shows. maybe its bcs he's always been seen as "over the top" and so it was a way to counter that part of his "persona" that ppl maybe didnt find hot. or maybe to justify their disinterest in him bcs they dont find him easy enough to engage with (re: members they can ship are more enticing). i dont know tho and thats what makes this shift in the j-hope popular narrative so bizarre to me. before he was the hypermasculine bordering on homophobic comic relief archetype. now he's the hyperfeminine sassy bitchy symbolically homophobic comic relief archetype. and thats exactly it too, i think it comes down to ppl being "allowed" to be gay or similarly (re)imagined for the sake of fanfiction but the moment one falls out of or too closely in line with what that ideal is they turn their backs on them. maybe more than the shift in how ppl see him is the underlying homophobia in that normalized "characterization" of bts, where echoing anti-queer talking points is funny and quirky bcs its on kpop twitter or wtv. like anyone who finds themselves capable of making a homophobic comment about his long hair in his teaser of all things has likely been waiting for the opportunity to do so. ultimately it probably has very little to do with hoseok himself and more with that person and the culture of parasociality some parts of the fandom have cultivated into something rly awful. imo.

[good-to-drive]

I'm imagining they were all given a Rubik's Cube as a present/joke, and left to fiddle with it during a press conference.

PAUL:

Paul is immediately worried he's the only one who doesn't know how to solve it. He surreptitiously glances at the others, sees that none of them know what to do either, and calms down considerably.

He'll just pretend to try for a bit. Move a side here, a side there. Pause to stare at it in contemplation. Politely put it down and ignore it when he's asked a question.

That night he meticulously takes the cube apart with a screwdriver and puts it back together solved.

He casually mentions the next day that he solved it, but doesn't make a big deal out of it. He's relieved no one seems to care.

Decades later, he admits he took it apart. He makes it such a fun story. His fans are split on whether this is cute and silly like he seems to think, or if it's proof that this man so often stereotyped as cute and silly is actually savvy and clever and complex.

They also lament bitterly that he's so hated for this cute, clever story. That's how Paul is treated in this society.

Everyone else hears the story and thinks, "Huh, that's kinda weird that he did that," and never thinks about it ever again.

GEORGE:

Immediately obsessed.

The entire world disappears. It's just George and The Cube.

He can't put it down, but he also can't solve it. He tries a million strategies, none of them work.

He starts taking notes on what he has and hasn't tried, comparing various solutions, reading everything about group theory and manual and computer cubing methods he can get his hands on.

It's been several weeks now. He's shirking all of his other responsibilities, neglecting his loved ones. His family is worried about him. They don't know it's The Cube that's got him, he doesn't have time to explain.

Finally, he thinks he's developed an original algorithm to find optimal solutions. He tests it a few dozen times. It works.

He thinks, "That was fun, I guess," and puts the cube away and forgets about it forever.

Sometime after his death, the cube and the solution are discovered. It's framed as an expression of his fascination with unanswered questions, how an uncontrolled instinct to learn new things shaped so much of his life. It's a metaphor, really, and it's a very interesting and revealing story.

It's a guy solving a Rubik's Cube.

The story has no legs.

JOHN:

He tries for about 30 seconds before getting bored. He puts the cube down. He wants to talk to Paul, but Paul is busy pretending to solve it. No one is asking him anything. This is boring.

He takes out a pen and starts doodling little faces on the squares to pass the time. He forgets the cube when he leaves.

Years later, the cube is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has become a symbol of his wacky creativity and disdain for the rules, of an unpredictable mind and a childlike imagination.

People say it's the sign of a man who's only choice when faced with an unsolvable problem is to turn it into art.

They argue about whether any of the faces are supposed to be Paul (and you're fucking stupid if you don't think they all are, god.)

People also rage against the cube and the cult of personality around it. This same childish disdain for the rules caused problems for everyone around him, they insist. Those mean little caricatures of Paul are so petty, and actually, they don't look like him at all. John was obsessed with him, god.

It garners far more attention than Paul's cube even though Paul's cube is actually solved.

RINGO:

Immediately decides he can't solve it.

No, that looks really hard, and he's not the smart one, he's The Drummer. He plays it off with a self-deprecating joke.

He absentmindedly turns a couple of sides, just for something to do. Oh, if he turns this piece like that, and this one like that... and then if he....and then...

Shit. He solved it. He solved it.

How did that even happen?

Is he some kind of savant?

Are people going to expect him to be some kind of savant now?

This is so cool, but it also kinda sucks.... He doesn't even know how he solved it, he definitely doesn't know if he can do it again. Maybe he should mess it up. Choose to remain The Drummer, the dopey guy, to keep his newfound brilliance a secret to escape the expectations and closer examination that come with that kind of attention. Yes, he'll mess it up, that's the only thing to do--

Oh, wait, there's five other sides. It's not solved anyway.

Never mind, then.

Me and my brothers used to play this game where we'd make up how such and such a person would solve a Rubik's Cube (e.g. Alexander the Great would solve a Rubik's Cube by peeling off all the stickers so the whole thing is one color and that means he won, Stalin would solve a Rubik's Cube by having the cube shoved up Ernő Rubik's ass until he agrees to publicly declare that Stalin is the best Rubik's Cube solver ever in history) and I'd like to do a post like this for The Beatles but I suspect it would exclusively appeal to me and my brothers

[choppedcowboydinosaur]

Everything everywhere all at once review

This is one of the most unique films I have seen in several years.

It has several layers, it has intergenerational drama and trauma, Asian tiger moms, the multiverse, exploring themes of nihilism and existentionalism and just weird wacky visuals. It truly is a great movie and deserves all the awards it can get.

 It does Asian representation extremely well. In fact, it’s much better than Shang Chi in that regard. In Shang Chi the family dynamic is hinted at but never fully explored. Here you see the whole family dynamic explored with how the grandpa is an asshole towards his daughter; Evelyn, how Evelyn is frustrated in life and she takes that out on her husband and daughter. You also see how the husband and daughter react to it. The daughter is a lesbian and Evelyn isn’t really comfortable with it. Her husband, Waymond is considering a divorce because of the way she treats him. All these characters have to work their own problems out but it all feels genuine and sincere. They all feel very real and feel like real people. Even the IRS agent played by Jamie Lee Curtis feels like an actual person. You can easily make her into some government stooge that enjoys making people miserable and at first she seems like that. But as the film continues you learn more about her as a person and realize she’s just a person and is capable of empathy and not just a caricature. The characterization is very well done and the actors are very good at playing multiple versions of themselves. I mean this in the utmost respect since when you get actors playing another version of their character like in the CW superhero shows it always feels cartoony. Here it feels real despite how bizarre and wacky these alternate versions can be.

It explores nihilism, despair and the meaning in life. In the first act of the film you have Evelyn being Shanghaied to fight against this multiversal threat called Jobu Tupaki only to learn how meaningless everything is. Jobu Tupaki is Evelyn’s daughter from another universe where she discovered the mutliverse but in true Asian Tiger Mom fashion pushed her daughter too hard to the point she snaps and becomes this nihilistic multiversal threat. At first Evelyn is depressed because of this but eventually she starts to enjoy it since if there is no meaning to anything then she can make her own and do whatever she wants. This is in contrast to Jobu Tupaki who becomes depressed by learning everything has no meaning and in true anime villain fashion wants to end it all with the Everything Bagel she created. Evelyn is able to pull her daughter back with empathy and realizes even with how insignificant her life may seem she can still make meaning of it by doing laundry and taxes with her husband.

It has great comedy and fight sequences. One of the best sequences in the film that does this well is the butt plug fight. It is so creative, funny and intense it stands out as one of the best fight scenes in the movie. Which is saying a lot since the movie has many great fight sequences like the “Fight with empathy” sequence. I’m genuinely funny surprised they got away with doing the butt plug fight scene. The fights are so good it’s far better than anything in Shang Chi for how creative it is.

The multiverse angle is very well done considering how overused the multiverse as a concept has become in Hollywood. It blows Dr. Strange out of the water with how they use it. Each alternate universe feels unique and they have their own stakes and are not just there to solely be set pieces. One of the best alternate universes in this movie for me was the Racacoony universe. It starts as a joke when Evelyn is trying to explain how the alternate universe versions of themselves take over their bodies and she compares it to Ratatouille with Remy controlling Linguini. But she winds up mispronouncing it as Racacoony which her daughter corrects her on. Eventually as Evelyn travels the multiverse she winds up in an alternate universe where Racacoony is real. In that universe Racacoony works with his human friend in this Benny Hana style restaraunt. That universe’s version of Evelyn gets jealous and exposes Racacoony and he gets taken away by animal control. She feels guilty and helps the human get Racacoony back during the Fight with empathy fight sequence. It’s incredible how one joke gets turned into it’s own alternate universe with it’s own story. That and the Racacoony puppet is funny. 

Overall, this is a great film that deserves all the awards it can get. The movie is well written and so well thought out. It has all these crazy elements yet it never loses itself amongst the visuals. This is probably the best movie of 2022. This movie is a classic that will be beloved for years to come.

[annoyed-at-things]

A ML Rant

I’m getting this out of the way right now - I dropped Miraculous Ladybug a long time ago. I still look at fan content, but most of it is salt. I think looking at the show with everything people have brought up helps me appreciate the fans who actually make content better than whatever is going on. 

Which is why I hate that I have implied in my story that Adrienette is going to be canon, because whatever has happened has thoroughly soured the way I view the ship and I cannot see it as anything but toxic at this point. I am just doing this because Recklessness focuses on salting on Alya specifically, but I will get this out of the way right now before I upload the rest of the fic: I do not like Adrien Agreste and the way the show treats Marinette, but I need a good idea for an Adrien salt fic if I want to write that in the future. 

More specifically, I do not like how the women in this show are constantly treated badly so that the story which claims to ‘empower’ them can push whatever agenda they have. (More under the cut which I just learned how to add to my posts)

(Also I identify as he/him but gender is fluid so I’m not sure about that, but I’m sorry if I offend anyone at any point since I might not have the same worldview and experiences as anyone else, especially those who identify as women since this leans heavily into sexism and misogyny, but I’m willing to listen and learn so please feel free to tell me if I’m wrong at any point :D)

I have actually made a Powerpoint Presentation on why Adrien is a terrible hero but I stopped at Silencer because it was so frustrating for me to watch this show with a critical eye on a character which is never called out for their bullshit. 

I am not saying Marinette is perfect and there are certainly some moments which really make her come off as weird, but I want you to look back and see how many of these moments are driven by her ‘love’ of Adrien. I’m not going to list them because I have not touched the actual show since the trailer for Dearest Family dropped and my information might not be the most accurate because of it, but here are a few moments which I can list off the top of my head:

1) She gives up an opportunity to learn with one with one of the greatest fashion designers so her bully who makes a habit of akumatizing a large portion of the population of Paris could stay, so that Adrien can be happy.

2) She goes all the way to China, not so she can learn about her own culture and heritage, but for a white boy. 

3) She stalks Adrien and Lila in Onii-Chan because she ‘loves’ him. 

There are plenty of other degrading character moments which are thrown in because of Marinette’s love for Adrien which ends up hurting the story so much more. But even with these moments, Marinette is still shown to care. Yes, Animaestro was a mess, but with Frozer, Loveater and Mr Pigeon 72 she’s shown to be caring about Kagami’s relationship with Adrien even though she likes him. 

And that’s not talking about all the times where Marinette has to apologize and take the fall for Adrien’s mistakes and lies. Adrien doesn’t actually say sorry much, while Marinette does a lot (Link here). Marinette also faces consequences for a lot of things, even if she wasn’t in the wrong (Link here). 

Miraculous Ladybug as a show claims to empower women, but the only people they seem to empower are the men. They reduce so many of the female characters to bad caricatures of themselves and have no issue villainizing most of them. 

Chloe is seen as a mean girl with absolutely no character development at any point of time who continues to enjoy hurting people on purpose. But she did have character development and learnt how to be a better person. Unfortunately the ‘status quo’ needs to be maintained, so that can’t happen. 

Lila is a malicious liar who wants to see Ladybug defeated because she embarrassed her in front of a guy. First off, no. That’s such a terrible character choice and I’m pretty sure she was only introduced to make Chloe look better (Which she did, considering that most Lila salt fics include a Chloe redemption). 

Let me reiterate this: a teenage girl willingly works with a terrorist to get revenge on someone else who called her out for putting herself in danger so that she could impress a slice of bread. 

Audrey is seen as an uncaring parent who had no issue leaving her child. Yet they refuse to acknowledge that the Mayor, who was more present in her life, could have added to how Chloe ended up. They even refuse to acknowledge that how her parents treated her could be why Chloe is the monster the show makes her to be, writing her off as just a mean girl even as she tries to become better?

Sabrina is essentially Chloe’s slave, but that’s fine. She enjoys being friends with Chloe. 

And the show plays a lot of these degrading moments as jokes!

Hey! Marinette is under a large amount of stress and pressure! Marinette experiences a large amount of anxiety! Isn’t that just hilarious! 

And we’re supposed to feel sad when Adrien risks the safety of Paris time and time again when he chooses to goof off - or give up - in the middle of a fight because isn’t that so sad? Ladybug doesn’t love him, which gives him the perfect excuse to lead everyone on. He doesn’t get to see Ladybug often, so we have to be upset when no one is getting manipulated by a villain who doesn't care if the world ends as long as he gets what he wants. 

There is so much gaslighting and victim blaming in the show it’s not even funny.

Let’s make it clear: it is not Marinette’s job to cater to his emotions. Marinette is a superhero whose job it is to save Paris and keep them safe from a megalomaniac who has no sense of fashion. Marinette can realistically just show up to fights, win and then leave, but she doesn’t. She stays and she cares. And her caring doesn’t mean that she should become a pushover for a guy who doesn’t understand the concept of boundaries.

I do not care that Adrien is ‘sheltered’ and ‘innocent.’ Adrien was friends with Chloe since he was young. Adrien knows what she was doing was wrong. But Adrien didn’t do anything to stop her, only encouraging her behavior by laughing when she made Mylene cry at the end of Despair Bear. Adrien grew up around people as a model. And Adrien has been in school for a while, and by now he should have some sort of idea that the world does not revolve around him. 

Heck, even the costumes are less detailed for the women. Most of them wear skin-tight suits which can be color swapped to fit any other hero, while the male costumes have more detail. Ladybug is a 14 year old in a skin-tight costume. Ladybug, whose civilian persona is a fashion designer. 

I read a summary for Kuro Neko and any chance of me touching the main series again was thrown out of the window, because seriously? Marinette finally gets the partner she wants - someone who cares for Paris and focuses on the job and she suddenly gets ‘distracted’ because he’s ‘too perfect?’ Kuro Neko has shown that Chat Noir could have been a good hero at any time but chooses not to. 

And seriously Plagg? You blame her for Chat Noir giving up his Miraculous? Because she doesn’t pay enough attention to him? They both always showed up when there was an akuma before, but all of a sudden when she gives out the Miraculous that’s not something he does. 

Adrien has, on multiple occasions, made Marinette uncomfortable but that’s seen as a Marinette problem. Astr*c is so obsessed with Adrien - a white, straight, cis male - being ‘perfect’ that he doesn’t give a damn about his flaws and instead chooses to blame Marinette for every problem Adrien puts himself into and forces on others. 

And yes, I also cannot believe that I went through this whole post without mentioning Chameleon, but for all you salt writers out there please note that Adrien, who knows that Lila lies and who is supposed to stand for justice, looks at Marinette with disgust as she’s pushed to the back without any proof of Lila’s disability or any say in the decision to change her seats. (I know it’s really not okay for her to just accuse someone of faking a disability, but I’m not trying to justify that. I just feel like as the elected class representative she should be involved in a class decision, and her feedback should be acknowledged since they chose her to be the one in charge of class decisions. Also Damocles and Bustier suck.)

[sokkastyles]

An Analysis of Consent in Yue and Sokka and Katara and Aang’s relationship

Because I’ve seen some people make some false equivalences.

So here we have our pining hero. It’s nighttime, and this show LOVES to set stormy personal confrontations between two characters at night, particularly ones dealing with the romantic department (psst, it’s the moon symbolism).

In “The Waterbending Master,” Sokka engages in a tentative courtship with Yue, who returns his affections, but sends him some mixed signals. This culminates in the moment when she suddenly bursts into tears and runs away upon witnessing Pakku talk about his arranged marriage to Kanna. Sokka then goes after her so that he can comfort her and they talk about their relationship.

In “Ember Island Players,” Aang gets increasingly angry about his onscreen portrayal in the play, until he suddenly stands up and rushes outside. Katara goes to find and comfort him, and they talk about their relationship.

Yue: What do you want from me?

Sokka: Nothing. I just want you to know, I think you're beautiful, and, I never thought a girl like you would even notice a guy like me.

Yue: You don't understand.

Yue asks Sokka what he wants, and Sokka says he wants nothing. He wants to know her, and obviously he is hoping for more, but he doesn’t impose anything on her. He is modest and humble, straightforward and honest, and doesn’t assume that she should return his affection for her.

Aang: Katara, did you really mean what you said in there?

Katara: In where? What are you talking about?

Aang: On stage, when you said I was just like a ... brother to you, and you didn't have feelings for me.

Katara: I didn't say that. An actor said that.

Aang: But it's true, isn't it? We kissed at the Invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together. But we're not.

In the scene between Aang and Katara, in contrast, Aang immediately confronts Katara and places the burden of his feelings on her. He accuses her of saying something she didn’t say and Katara at first doesn’t even know what she is being accused of. He then makes assumptions about her feelings and their relationship, putting the onus on her to be responsible for his hurt feelings. I never thought a girl like you would even notice me vs I thought we were gonna be together. 

Both Aang and Sokka misunderstand their love interests in this situation, but the difference is that Sokka makes no assumptions about Yue’s feelings, and she actually reciprocates. Aang makes accusations towards Katara and she does not reciprocate.

Sokka: No, no. See, that's the thing. I think I do understand now. You're a Princess, and I'm ... I'm just a Southern peasant.

Yue: No, Sokka ...

Sokka: It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'll see you around, okay?

Sokka is fully prepared for Yue to say no, and tells her that it’s okay if she does. He accepts whatever reason she wants to give for turning him down, even if it’s a bad reason.

Katara: Aang, I don't know.

Aang: Why don't you know?

Katara: Because, we're in the middle of a war, and, we have other things to worry about. This isn't the right time.

Aang: Well, when is the right time?

Katara: Aang, I'm sorry, but right now I'm just a little confused.

Sokka tries to understand Yue’s perspective, while Aang can’t seem to understand Katara’s. Whereas Sokka gives Yue room to say no, Aang puts pressure on Katara, which naturally makes her feel less sure about her feelings for him and less inclined to reciprocate. You don’t have to say anything vs Why don’t you know? And I’ll see you around vs Well, when is the right time?

And then there’s the kiss.

Neither Yue nor Aang asked for consent. Both their partners are surprised. But body language and dialogue and actual clarity about what the two characters feel for each other make all the difference.

Katara’s body language during the conversation with Aang before the kiss is very closed-off and uncomfortable. She has her arms crossed, she’s fidgety, she’s turned away from Aang or only half turned towards him. And after the kiss, she pulls away immediately and looks visibly uncomfortable.

Then angry.

Katara: I just said I was confused!

Contrast that with Yue and Sokka:

Sokka: Okay, now I'm really confused. Happy, but confused.

Do we really need to explain the difference between angry confused and happy confused? Kissing Yue was clearly something Sokka wanted, and he doesn’t pull away from Yue afterwards. Contrast that with Katara immediately pulling away, putting her hand over her mouth like she’s shocked at what Aang just did, and running away in anger and hurt.

What Aang did was a violation of Katara’s consent, and is treated like one. Katara is upset afterwards, Aang reprimands himself afterwards, and they become more distant with each other afterwards until the finale when they suddenly decided they lurve each other. Yue explains to Sokka that she does like him a lot but that they can’t be together, although their feelings for each other only continue to grow from there.

Yue also shows an incredible amount of maturity when she tells Sokka that they can’t just be friends, because she has romantic feelings for him and it’s too confusing for her, and because she knows that even though Sokka is willing to be friends, he is hoping for something more. Contrast that with Aang being unwilling to accept Katara seeing him as a friend or little brother and seeing those statements as the worst thing in the world, vs his onstage actor declaring that he’s perfectly content with Katara’s friendship and that being treated like an insult.

The thing is, that this doesn’t even have to be a contest. Aang knew he was in the wrong for kissing Katara in that scene. He could have apologized, he could have decided that he was happy with being friends with Katara because his relationship with her was more important than his attraction to her. He could have made the decision that it would be too confusing and upsetting to be friends with her if he couldn’t be in a relationship with her. Imagine that playing a part in Aang’s path to enlightenment in the finale. Imagine him reaching a purer love for Katara and then Katara choosing to be with him romantically after they both have a stronger understanding of their relationship.

“Ember Island Players” just...really drops the ball in the romantic department, and craps on both Yukka and Sukka at the same time, by making a cheap joke out of Sokka’s grief over Yue.

I love Sukka, and one of the things that is great about it is that they actually communicate well and their relationship is not written as a source of drama. Most of the time. In “Ember Island Players,” though, we get this scene where Sokka shushes Suki, who obviously has no idea why Sokka is mooning (heh) over this other girl and gets offended by it, while Sokka is clearly upset. This is an especially weird scene since Sokka and Suki had a conversation about Yue and Sokka’s grief previously. Suki’s comment that she didn’t know Sokka made out with the moon spirit shows that she clearly didn’t know that Yue was the girl that he lost before. Suki is painted as a jealous, jilted caricature and Sokka’s grief is made fun of.

When I first noticed this, I looked through the transcript of the episode, because surely Sokka and Suki have a conversation about it later. They do talk later, but do they talk about this? No, they talk about Suki sneaking Sokka backstage to give jokes to his actor. Of course.

[just-antithings]

Some fandoms really are hellscapes and I just dunno what to say. People are getting so weird about headcanons now I fully expect to see 'DNI if you write anything diverting from canon' soon enough. Long story short, I write fics with a certain character as trans because he resonates with me and I like him very much. He is not canonically trans. I keep getting people accusing me of fetishizing him and only headcanoning him as such because he's small and somewhat feminine and I just want to scream 'I am literally transmasculine and have a small, feminine build so please go fuck yourself!" I'm not changing anything about his personality or making him into a caricature of himself, he's still the badass, powerful man he is from canon, but people read 'trans' and suddenly go "hm...seems kinda problematic that you're making him so weak and helpless" when I just wrote about him kicking in an assassin's face. Okay. Sounds like a personal problem, buddy. He's one of the most violent and brutal characters, and he can still be feminine while he does it.

And he -is- canonically gay so people get unimaginably nasty about how I'm erasing his identity...by shipping him with another man who loves and supports him, because that makes sense. This fandom is so so funny because the big preferred ships for antis are the age gap ones since the characters with the same ages are deemed 'abusive' and we can't have that. As a multishipper, I don't care, everyone is gay and the ships are my playground but whew, that sure is hilarious to watch. To argue over shipping pure things when literally everyone in this story has a kill count, most in the hundreds? Funny for a few minutes, at least, then I just go return to my teeny circle of reliable fandom friends like a hermit in the woods. Oh well.

All this from antis who love to shout trans rights from the rooftops. That's fine and dandy but what about how you treat actual trans people? I'd appreciate fewer death threats, thanks. I'm fine, honestly, and I've had a much milder time of it than most but this has been just a miserable experience for a fandom with only a few fics. What are people thinking will happen if you drive away all the writers? It would be nice if people didn't assume bad faith reasons for why people write or headcanon certain things? And for the record, headcanoning something for no damn reason at all is fantastic, too.

.

[mywritingcannotbestopped]

Dear Minorities of Tumblr

Hopefully this is the right title. This is something I have been thinking about for a while. This is also going to be pretty long and if you can hold on for the whole thing it would be appreciated. I want to preface this by saying this is coming from a POC writer and my goal in this is to create a place where minorities can share what we want to see in the media we consume. If this interests you, keep reading. I really feel this is important so I will add tags that wouldn’t especially be related, but are semi connected based on what I have read under them.

Every year, representation gets better and better. People get more willing to share stories (or are allowed to) about minorities. These consist of characters that are diverse, ethnically, racially, religiously, or disabled/handicapped or LGBTQIA+. Basically, straying away from the norm Hollywood has provided to us. There are more characters like us. However, it isn’t perfect. This isn’t really nitpicking, but sometimes representation can be lackluster, for lack of a better word. Representation that is used for the sake of jokes or to earn brownie points. There are two types of representation I would define this under.

The first is stereotypical representation. By this I mean the dreaded “representation” that is characters chalk full of stereotypes. Characters like this do more harm than good. Characters that give people a bad impression of what types of people are actually like. Characters that are treated badly, however this treatment is hidden behind the word “comedy.” A lot of shows kids in the 2000s-2010s grew up with were filled with this. A Youtuber I watch a lot who is also on Tumblr, @harriyanna, has a lot of videos calling attention to this (which are very good might I add). An example of this I think of a lot is in the Disney Channel show Jessie. One of the kids, Ravi, was of Indian descent. The other characters in the show, even his own family, would constantly make jokes pertaining to his culture and accent. Even as a little kid, all of these jokes rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t find them funny and I couldn’t understand why. Years later I figured out why. The show was trying to paint him as weird and undesirable just because of where he came from. I can only imagine how horrible that made people like him feel. Too many shows have done this to minority characters and have ingrained these ideas into people. In fact, writing this out, “lackluster” is far too weak a word for this.

The second type of representation I can only really describe as “a norm person painted as a minority.” I usually see this with POC, so I’ll describe it with that term. This would be like a POC that doesn’t show any traits of their culture. Not all minorities are fully involved in their cultures, this is not what I am talking about. These are characters that wouldn’t change at all if they weren’t POC. Regardless of how involved a POC is in their culture, they will always have experiences, traits, and knowledge they would not have if they weren’t POC or were part of a different culture. Without these aspects, a character kind of falls flat with representation.

Representation has a large impact on the way people see each other. If a person sees a type of person portrayed in a certain way constantly, they start to believe and expect it in real life. This is why good representation is important. It shows people less as caricatures and makes characters feel more alive. Now, where am I going with this?

A while ago I was doing research for a story I was writing when I came across a blog in the search results (this was before I got Tumblr). It was called Writing With Color. I’d imagine a good amount of people have heard of it. That day I looked through it for a couple of hours. I never knew something like this existed. It’s run by a diverse group of mods who give advice to writers who want to include good representation of ethnic, religious, and racial diversity in their stories. You can tell they put a lot of thought into the advice they give. @writingwithcolor is one of my favorite blogs on this site so if you haven’t heard of them I highly suggest you check them out.

What I want to call attention to is this post I found on their blog:

https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/621394779234861056/i-was-wondering-what-kind-of-female-black

This post has stuck with me for a while. It’s a long list of the type of black girls black girls want to see. Reading through it for the first time slapped me across the face in a good way. It was the physical representation of something lingering in the back of my head. It brought it forward and put these jumbled thoughts into words. Why is representation important?

From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a writer. As a writer, I wanted to be able to do one thing: share stories that would make people happy. This post made me clearly realize one of the best and most important ways to make people happy with my writing was to tell their stories.

Fact: good representation brings indescribable joy. I remember watching the Disney/Pixar movie “Coco” and trying to hide the huge grin I had on my face as a Mexican-American. It felt like watching my own family. It felt real. It felt relatable. At that point, I was used to the only representation of Mexican culture being someone having a quinceañera, which is lackluster when you think of everything else they could show. After that movie, I wanted everyone to feel that way, to have a story that perfectly captures a very important part of their life. It took me a while to realize I had the power to create at least one of those stories.  

Now is time for what my English teachers refer to as “a call to action.” I personally have questions I don’t really have places to get answered. This site is filled with diversity. My idea was that we could share our ideas and experiences in hopes that we can take a step towards better representation. Story writers can look at this and take it to heart. If you fall under one or more of the aforementioned labels, I would love to hear your responses. Also, please include your labels if you are comfortable with that. Feel free to answer both or just one.

I have two major topics to inquire about:

First question is what kind of role would you like to see characters like you in? You can model your answers like the post above as this question is inspired by it. What kind of personalities do you want them to have? What part in the story do you want them to play? Any unique abilities or relationships you want them to have? Go as far as you want with this. Also feel free to mention positions you wouldn’t want to see them in or are tired of seeing, as this could go both ways.

The second is what are the more casual things you experience in your life in relation to being a minority? This includes things such as the food you eat, the way you dress, things you say, any unique self-care practices, or everyday struggles. The things that if you saw a character doing would make you go “Hey, I do that!”

I’m not sure who’ll actually read this, but I really hope this post helps.

So if you actually made it to the end, I applaud you for reading through my chaos. Thank you!

[sepublic]

Boschmity, the Loveless Odalador

         Weird thought, but the Boschmity dynamic is basically Odalador, if the ‘Alador’ in this situation –Amity- really was what some viewers assumed him to be, at first glance; Just a tired, henpecked partner who’s just kind of going along with it all because they have nothing better to do, who would rather be doing anything else, and honestly doesn’t care for their ‘beloved’s’ antics and might occasionally put their foot down, if they think that partner is crossing a line.

         Obviously the actual Odalador dynamic has Al being fully loving towards his wife and supportive of her and vice-versa, even if he can get caught up in his own thing- But with how Odalia and Alador insisted that Amity be friends with Boscha, it’s kind of ironic… I wouldn’t put it past Odalia to have eventually set Amity up for some unhappy, arranged marriage with Boscha, had Luz never come into the picture, and Amity continued down that dark path her parents set out for her.

         So with Odalia constantly expecting Amity to sort of fulfill that family reputation and become more like her, it’s interesting to think that had Odalia gotten her way, Amity could’ve been in a loveless relationship with Boscha, one that sort of mirrors the shallow surface of what Odalador seems to be, but isn’t really- Because Amity is never going to be her mother, nor her father for that matter, and at best she can achieve a half-hearted replica of the two.

         But she’s her own person, and Amity isn’t going to be either parent, nor is any relationship with Boscha going to replicate the genuine, underlying trust and respect that Odalador has- It really would just be how some people perceive Alador’s apparent apathy towards his wife to be. The caricature of their relationship that it appears to be at first glance, without any true depth just below the surface.

         And likewise, while Odalia loathes Boscha’s mother, I wouldn’t put it past her to see herself in Boscha and recognize some of the similarities, and thus be inclined to groom Boscha as a fiancée for Amity- Because if Amity is most like her father, well that only makes sense! Odalia would be a lot more endeared to Boscha as someone she can see herself in, which, considering how Odalia made Amity to be more like her, in her own image, is incredibly dangerous…

         So then you also have Boscha dragged in and assimilated into this whole Blight family dynamics and mess, and pretty much nobody is happy. Amity definitely dodged a bullet, and dare I say, so did Boscha for that matter- Because while Boscha is terrible, I don’t think any kid should be forced to bear the brunt of any strict parent’s ambitions. Odalia would definitely be a very creepy mother-in-law who gets a little too close and personal, treats the child-in-law as some mirror to imprint upon.

         She’d totally overstep boundaries and maybe Boscha would come to some understanding of just how loveless Amity’s life has been, in its own way –because I headcanon Boscha’s parents as being mostly neglectful and hands-off- and there’s that suffocation for both kids of having to live what Odalia wants them to be… But never quite living up to that, and really being nothing more than the shallow caricature that others see them as, like the ‘Mean Bully’ they come across as- Boscha legitimately and by her own choice for the latter image, but still.

[eisforeidolon]

"Just look at how all his skeevy comments to Jensen are pointed implications Jensen is submissive to him, which is a fucking objectification power play." YES, well said, thank you. I'm so glad more people are finally starting to notice this and talk about it, because I've been observing this dynamic for years and been growing increasingly angry and creeped out by it.

I'm the cockles anon who sent you an ask regarding Misha's jacket a while ago and like I said I know a lot about the topic of cockles. One of my useless talents is that once something grabs my attention, I tend to remember every little detail about it.

So I have a mental catalogue spanning an entire decade now of every creepy, sexual, bdsm-related, objectifying, power-playing or otherwise inappropriate remark or "joke" Misha has ever made towards Jensen (and in general). Every con panel, every interview, every post or reply on his Twitter or Instagram where he has said something along these lines, I've seen it.

And it's... a lot.

That man is just giving me the worst vibes. Either ruthless psychopath who will do anything for money and to stay relevant vibes or just plain old predator vibes, if he really does have a sexual interest in Jensen, I can't quite tell.

And if we truly live in the dark time line where Jensen and Misha actually do have some kind of thing going on, then I feel sorry for Jensen. He could do so much better than Misha. And cockles actually being real would only add a whole other layer of creepiness to this already creepy and disturbing situation.

But most cockles stans don't see that. Quite the opposite, they get off on the idea of Jensen being in some weird bdsm-type relationship where he's submissive to Misha. If it wasn't already obvious from some of their more disgusting posts, tags, comments etc on Tumblr, you just need to take a look at some of the most popular destiel and cockles fanfics and authors on ao3, it's all "dom cas/misha", "top cas/misha" and "sub dean/jensen", "bottom dean/jensen" these days. And what feels like practically every other fic at least has a "dom/sub undertones" or "light dom/sub" tag.

And all of that can be directly blamed on Misha, for the most part. Jensen has always been one of the most heavily objectified and sexualized male actors or artists I've ever come across, but Misha has made it so, so much worse over the years. He truly makes me sick and I can only hope more and more people will open their eyes to just how much of a fucking creep and asshole this man is.

It really is creepy.

Jensen in particular does seem to have such a disproportionate number of people who just want to see him as a sex object and prop to bolster their actual fave. The actors don't care about being treated like horny sex objects in their fanfic, and their fanfic is totally based on what they "know" about the actors, so it's fine to treat real people like that! They're just "helping" the actors to feel free to publicly own up to what they already know, you see. It's one thing for the fans to do. A gross thing, creepily divorced from reality and blind to how one-sided their relationship to their idea of who the actors are is. But it's all part of having trouble divorcing fiction and reality and treating the actors, who are real people who live at least 90% of their lives out of the spotlight, like the caricatured characters in their fantasies constructed from sometimes wild "interpretations" of that other 10% we see.

It is entirely another situation to treat someone you actually personally know and have worked with like a mute sex object. They want to see Misha tweeting and talking about Jensen that way as "flirting" and intimacy, but it's not. It's not reciprocal, for one. If Jensen was responding regularly, that'd be one thing. Even negatively, it'd be a type of engagement. He doesn't, though, it's just Misha regularly making a public spectacle of himself by pointedly sexualizing Jensen for his own aggrandizement. For another, it does often specifically involve Misha implying domination or a lack of masculinity on Jensen's part; given the wider cultural context, it's pointedly demeaning and reductive of Jensen into a submissive sex toy. I.e. it's really about power, and using sex as tool to that end. Not only could Jensen do a million times better than Misha, that would be an insanely shitty way to publicly treat someone who was actually a partner. Shippers who don't want to see that are never going to see that, though. Especially since they themselves want to fantasize about making Jensen into someone more malleable that will follow their lead if they tantrum loud enough - like Misha does.

For a long time I waffled between thinking Misha was genuinely just kind of clueless and bad at thinking through the appearance and consequences of his actions, and suspecting that he was just using that kind of persona as a cover for being a calculating dickhead who cares about nothing but himself and his own ego. I've leaned more and more towards the latter over the years. I actually think Misha having genuine sexual interest in Jensen would make the whole thing a magnitude worse, because it's bad enough to sexualize someone you don't give a crap about either way as a power play, it's full on incel territory to do it because they won't let you possess them.