#but even though it came from the unhealthy obsession thing and also relates to fandom it itself wasn't actually unhealthy or anything like

[playingonedchess]

wonder if ill ever actually finish that bloody fanfiction

[mel-the-fangirl]

Toss A Coin to Your Witcher

Henry Cavill x Reader

Words: 2,362

I am so so so nervous to post this because this is my first time writing a Henry fic and I know that the Henry Cavill fandom is such a tightknit family, I hope you guys have room for one more hopeless Henry stan. I know this isn’t even half as good as the other Henry fics out there but I had this idea stuck in my head for a very long time.

Please like and reblog or leave me some replies if I should do a second part! Thank you!

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The makeup brush swept precisely along your cheekbone, covering it in a subtle shimmer. Production staff milled around behind you, testing sound, testing lights. Being an actor, these things were nothing new. 

"Now remember, say it with me," 

"Don't say or do anything stupid." you recited with your long time agent and friend, Marge.

You thanked the makeup artist and made your way to the set. 

"When have I ever said or done anything stupid though?" you asked

Marge looked at you appraisingly before replying, 

"There's always a time for everything. Now go on." 

The vibe on set dialled to a hundred when you stepped on. It was really flattering how they cheered as you plonked your butt down on the wooden chair, a red tarp was set up behind you and the studio lights surrounded the area.

"Ready when you are Y/N!" the producer aka the ring leader of this whole operation flashed you a thumbs up

You nodded, feeling the nervousness bubble up your throat. 

Surprise, surprise. You still got nervous in front of the camera. It wasn't hard to handle though, you took a couple of deep breaths and you were good to go. 

"Hey guys, gals, and non-binary pals! I'm Y/N Y/L/N. I'm here with Buzzfeed and we're gonna be playing Twenty Questions." you winked at the camera with your arms wrapped around the little jar that had your questions in it

 "Let's get started, shall we?" 

Eager to begin, you stuck your hand into the jar without a second thought. 

"I freaking love Buzzfeed, really. Especially Tasty, I mean, I don't cook. But," you shrugged, wiggling your fingers, hearing the tiny bits of folded paper move around in the jar. "I love watching people cook. Then I love eating."

Scattered chuckles broke out through the crew. 

After a few minutes of rustling around, you figured you’d just come clean, "Okay. Small problem." 

You lifted your hand, the jar coming along with it. The pieces of folded paper crowding around your encased wrist as you waved your arm. 

Another round of shocked giggles started up as a couple of assistants rushed to you and tried to yank the jar off. 

"This is too good," the producer chortled, "Mind if we keep this in?"

"Fine by me!" you watched intently as Marge rolled up your sleeve so one assistant could pour oil all over it. Eagle eyed, she watched as a drop of oil landed on the bottom hem of your sweater.

"Great job, Y/N. This sweater was a gift from that designer you met last week, he said he made it just for you." she scolded, taking charge by grabbing the jar with two hands

"It was an accident, Marge. It's not like I planned on getting my hand stuck in a jar today!"

With a tug and a pop, your hand was free and slick with olive oil. Marge landed on her butt on the floor.

"Marge!" you howled with laughter, helping her up

She straightened her blouse, all business but her cheeks were stained red with embarrassment. 

"Can someone help Y/N wash the oil off her hands? Let's get this show on the road, people!" she barked marching orders at the staff, clapping her hands as she went. She wasn't in charge here but no one dared to question her. 

You chuckled, knowing that this was a cute little anecdote you’d be sharing with anyone who was willing to listen.

A few minutes later, you were back in your chair, having a laugh with everyone. The jar incident already stripped away the majority of your anxiety so you were ready to go.

"Okay! First question!" you squinted at the strip of paper, "What is the most expensive thing you’ve stolen from any set you’ve been on?" 

“Well!” you widened your eyes at the camera, “Bold of you all to assume that I’ve ever stolen anything!”

Marge scoffed rather audibly, making everyone raise their eyebrows at you.

“Okay, fine!” you held up your hand. The stunning ring you had on sparkled underneath the lights, nearly blinding anyone who looked.

“I did a period movie a while back and they had these drop dead gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous pieces of jewelry. I wore this piece,” you gazed down at the ring fondly, “for the whole of the film and I just pinched it after we wrapped, I couldn’t part with it, okay? I’m like a fricking magpie, I love shiny things.”

The crew burst into fits of laughter, making you laugh along with them.

“To clarify! This is the replica the props department had made, a very expensive replica. I can see you freaking out, Marge. And no, you don’t have to call the insurance company.”

You were a big hit, to say the least. You had them in stitches every time you opened your mouth but all good things had to come to an end, right?

It didn’t matter how carefully you dipped your hand into the question jar, this next one was going to make things very messy for you. 

"What do you like to do in your free time?" you read out loud, tapping a finger against your chin

"There hasn't been much free time lately,” you chuckled, “Let’s see… I play video games, yeah. I am so obsessed with the Witcher, it's borderline unhealthy. I’ve read all the books and played the games so many times." 

"What do you think of Henry Cavill as Geralt?" the producer asked you

Henry Cavill.

Just hearing that man's name was enough to make the blood rush to your cheeks. You brushed an imaginary hair out of your face. From behind the camera, Marge raised a knowing brow.

"Well," you cleared your throat and sat up straighter

"To be honest, at first I was really skeptical about his casting. I mean, he is way too good looking. Like way. Way. Too good looking. But…"

"But?"

Your mind drifted to the first time you saw a picture of Henry Cavill in full costume. The white hair, the golden cat eyes, the intense gaze and all that leather? It definitely made you feel… Certain things.

You cleared your throat, propping yourself on the table with your arms. To be honest, your head was still in a Henry Cavill haze so you had zero control of what came out of your mouth next.

"I'd definitely toss all my coins to that Witcher. Toss a few other things as well."

Everyone in the room ooh'ed and whistled, delighted by your saucy reply. The ruckus snapped you out of it and your hand immediately flew to your mouth.

“Please tell me I didn’t just say that out loud.”

“You did.” Marge mouthed at you, trying but failing to contain her laughter

"So you enjoyed his performance as Geralt?" the producer pressed on, hoping to get more audience-raking answers

How many times were you going to blush during this interview?

"Oh, well, about that, I haven't really gotten around to actually watching it.” you admitted sheepishly, “But I've seen photos and some clips. Very impressed by what I've seen so far."

"You will watch it though, right?" 

"Oh, absolutely. No way I’d miss out on that! Henry Cavill is an incredibly wonderful, talented actor. I think he’s also a fan of the franchise so I have no doubt that he played Geralt to perfection as with all his other roles." you nodded solemnly, putting a hand to your heart

Everyone in the room with you caught on that you were gushing over the actor, the sly looks they all exchanged with one another were a dead giveaway. Too bad you didn’t notice before you could try and play it cool.

“Alright! I think it’s time for the next question!” you declared, swiftly plucking another question out of the jar

By the time it was all over, you had convinced yourself that your little crush-related blunder wasn’t even a big deal, it would probably just be a little footnote in that video. No biggie.

But, Jesus Christ were you wrong.

The video took a couple of weeks to edit and in that time, you were busier than ever. A movie you had just done was getting a lot of attention, your performance in particular had critics singing your praises. At that point, you were definitely getting noticed a lot more when you stepped out for coffee.

So, the timing was just perfect.

The second the video went live, your phone was going off non stop. Twitter mentions, Instagram tags, and articles. A few notable entries being:

“WATCH: RISING STAR Y/N Y/L/N GUSHES ABOUT HENRY CAVILL IN CHARMING BUZZFEED VIDEO”

“@geraskier-rights: Y/N Y/L/N REALLY SAID SHE’D TOSS ALL HER COINS TO HENRY CAVILL’S GERALT AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS”

“@geralt-of-vengerberg: Y/N The Fond�� is showing👀👀👀”

Marge sat on your sofa with your phone in hand, absolutely thrilled while reading tweets out loud. You scheduled a panic session with her over lunch once everything blew up.

“Oh my God.” you groaned, massaging your temples. “Marge, what do I do?”

“About what?” she didn’t even bother to look up at you

You plopped yourself down next to her, laying your head in her lap, “All that. It’s everywhere.”

“And? There’s nothing wrong with it, they all think you’re charming and funny. A true Relatable Queen.”

Was it your sanity slipping through your fingers? Or the overpowering embarrassment? You had no idea but whatever it was, it had you laughing until your stomach hurt.

Marge tugged at your hair, “Get it together, bitch. Jeez.”

“What are you so worried about anyway?” she asked, placing your phone on your stomach

You swiped through your emails absentmindedly, “I’m not worried about anything, it’s just that what if…”

You left the words hanging in the air, you might as well have been dangling from a cliff from how much colour drained from your face.

“What if what?” 

Marge shoveled some pasta into her mouth before noticing that you essentially turned into a statue right next to her.

“Y/N!” she shook your arm with a grip you were sure would leave some bruises. “What’s the matter?”

Wordlessly, you passed your phone to her, the comment from a certain verified account displayed prominently on Buzzfeed’s Instagram post of a little snippet from your video, the “I’d toss all my coins to that Witcher” part, naturally.

“@henrycavill: Dear Y/N, how many coins are we talking about here? Let’s talk about my reward.”

It was all Marge could do to not throw your phone across the room. Her eyes went wide, following your every move as you paced back and forth, a thumbnail in your mouth.

“That did not just happen, I did not just see that right now. I didn’t.” you babbled, your heart beating thunderously in your chest

There it went. Your very own ticking time bomb finally went off. Number of casualties? Just one. You.

“Okay. Just calm down, Y/N.” Marge caught you mid-pace, squeezing your arms

“Maybe it was a fan account. Tell me it was a fan account, Marge. Henry Cavill did not just hear me imply what I implied.” you grasped at her hand with your clammy one

“Well if he has a fan account that’s verified and has fourteen point five million followers?”

“Oh god.” you groaned, sinking to the floor and hugging your knees

“Oh, Christ.”

Marge hauled you to your feet and thrust your phone in your hand. She looked you hard in the eye, “Stop your whining and answer him. You’re Y/N fucking Y/L/N, one of the hottest people on the planet, start acting like it.”

You stared at her, eyes wide. Your chest rose and fell rapidly. Marge’s words started to make sense in your mind and adrenaline started surging through your veins. You nodded fervently, psyching yourself up.

“Fuck yeah.” you breathed, clicking ‘Reply’

“@yourinstagram: @henrycavill I know you take orens, crowns, and florens but maybe we should discuss further?”

Before you could even stop yourself (did you even want to?), your fingers already landed on the blue paper plane.

“I did it.” you exhaled, staring as the likes and overly enthusiastic replies started pouring in

“Fuck yeah, you did. Now, come on. Leave your phone. We’re getting drunk.”

More weeks passed and you actually ended up forgetting about that little reply you left Henry Cavill. You were busier than ever. Guestings, endorsement deals, and awards shows left and right. So, when you finally had a couple of days free, you decided you would set up camp on your sofa and finally watch Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.

You even threw on your Superman pyjamas, “What the hell.” you shrugged

If you were going down this road, you might as well do it right. Maybe you would even watch the Man from U.N.C.L.E after or would it be Night Hunter? The decision would have to wait.

You watched, absolutely riveted as the White Wolf battled against the kikimora, his silver sword hacked at the creature with unmatched expertise. You were only a few minutes in but you already knew you’d be stuck on that sofa for hours.

When the kikimora had Geralt pinned underwater with his trusty sword just beyond arm’s reach, you found yourself on the edge of your seat, one of your cushions in a chokehold.

“Come on, come on, come on.” you muttered as Geralt reached for his sword

You wouldn’t find out if he got it or not. A knock on your door literally made you fall off the sofa.

“Fuck!” you exclaimed, your hip was already smarting from the impact

Whoever that asshole was, you swore you were going to give him a piece of your mind. You stomped to your front door just as that idiot started knocking again.

You huffed and threw the door open then your mind immediately went blank.

“I am so sorry. Are you alright? I think I heard you fall?”

Oh yeah. You were definitely falling.

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You can find the second part here!

[ceoofanticatradora]

We need more anti C//A who are Adora stans (like you seem to be) so that people can understand that C///A is bad for Adora. Heck C//A is bad for Catra too, but the shippers don't seem to realize it. If Catra had been able to let Adora go maybe she could have healed instead of her festering and the abuse may have ended instead of escalated.

Hello Dear, welcome on my Blog and a big thank you for your message! Firstly I wanna apologize that this response is reaching you more than three full days, almost four later. Just real life getting into the way of my online presence (at least I got my A-Levels admission!) but I assure you that replying to you was on my To Do List the entire time. And while I could've typed something quick, I thought you deserved a full length response just as much as the person before you received. That goes for anyone really to ask/write me anything in the future.

Adora is a character that has flaws, her own interests, things she struggles with/is insecure about etc. but she also still works on being better (up to Season 5). This makes her relatable, fleshed out and overall three dimensional. Overall for me that makes Adora very likeable. Which is funny because when I first watched the show I thought of her as too goofy and felt like she as a character was overall just flat. Her character design did not speak to me either, the ponytail with the weird hair poof and these pointy shoulders of her jacket just really were not my taste. Isn't it amazing how perceptions can change?

As you can guess from that description I did not always stan Adora and she's probably still not my favorite character but over the almost two years I've been in this fandom I've grown rather fond of her. Other important characters to me are Kyle (a very relatable comfort character of mine, he learned to stand up for himself and others and I support that, f*ck Season 5 for barely acknowledging his existence), Lonnie (apart from treating Kyle badly (which I really do NOT support or excuse) I really love her, man, some women just do me like that, I mean she really stood up to Catra like that), Entrapta (I'm autistic too! It's great to have some representation, seeing the ableism/treatment she experiences in the show is not so much though), Seahawk (I don't even know why, I have some issues with his behavior towards Mermista at times but overall I love this dork), Scorpia (she reminds me of myself so much and I really wanna give her hugs, I'm so glad she chose to no longer let Catra treat her like that even though I will be forever salty she just immediately forgave her), Peekablue (I can explain this even less than Seahawk, especially since it was not even really him in the end but his existence somehow helped me cope with Season 5, without him I probably would've left this fandom ... and also my favorite color is blue) and Double Trouble (now there's enough people already critcizing how they're not exactly great Non-binary representation but this dramatic lizard will forever be in my heart, that reality check they gave Catra, basically slapping her in the face with facts was satisfying as h*ck, also I like lizards overall).

Now there's plenty of characters I like, dislike (or even hate) or am simply indifferent about but after all this is not a tier list but me talking about Adora, Catra and Catradora. Adora started off as this girl that was so sure what she was doing is right but once she was taught differently she was willing to leave everything she knew (except Catra, because she valued her despite everything) behind. And not only that, she broke out of the abuse cycle that Catra tried so hard to keep upright. And that is exactly what makes Adora such a good role model. She teaches children (or people) that:

Your past doesn't define what/who you are or what/who you can become

-> Adora used to be a Horde soldier and did not know where she came from, but nonetheless she found herself a family and became a hero that saved thousands of people

You can always change your mind and start a new life if you feel disappointed in what you are doing/who you are as a person

-> Basically the exact same point, Adora started a new life as she saw what the Horde really was and changed her mind about who to fight for

You deserve love too, be it platonic or romantic (or se*ual???) (If you're aro and/or ace just ignore the part that does not work for you)

-> While Adora for various reasons thought her only use was to please others and meet their needs and expectations (mostly due to Shadow Weaver and Catra) she learned to accept that she too deserves love and validation (if the love aspect would not have been focused on it being romantic love so she could smooch Catra in the finale this would've been a billion times better because she got love from her friends that showed her her real value)

You can walk away from something/someone, that does not make you egoistic/selfish

-> Adora walked away from the Horde, after Catra stubbornly refused to come with her despite many offers (basically Catra broke the promise, not Adora) from her too and that did not make her a "traitor" or "selfish", h*ck, Adora in the end did this for a bigger purpose too, even if part of it was her not wanting to live with such wrong morals

Your opinions, feelings etc. about a person/something can change and that is perfectly fine and valid, being able to change is part of what makes someone human

-> Adora's views on many things changed throughout the show: The Horde and the Rebellion, the First Ones, Catra, being She-Ra, herself, her priorities and so on ... she actually makes use of her brain, which is why Catra saying "Don't you ge it?" or calling her an idiot and dumb never sat right with me, she's a realistic character for shifting with her thoughts, feelings etc. and sometimes just does not fully think things through

You don't have to let other people treat you like sh*t (just because they have some issues they never worked through does not give them any right to let it out on you)

-> This point is obviously centered mostly around Catra and her abusing Adora almost every chance she gets, which is why Adora standing up for herself and not letting Catra blame her for her own decisions and mistakes is so important, "You made your choice, now live with it" is one of the most powerful lines throughout all the five Seasons

Now I'm sure there is still more to Adora's character than what I just listed and unfortunately almost all the points basically got pushed aside, well, Adora as a character got pushed aside in Season 5. All her growth, the things that made me love her, see her as great role model for so many people robbed of their value for the sake of making everything revolve around Catra. That brings me to her and how you are absolutely right that Catradora is harmful to both characters. Of course Adora is affected most by it in the end but Catra too is obviously suffering under the fandoms obsession and just the overall idea of them being romantically involved.

Just like with Adora the stans make almost everything about Catra over her relationship with Adora. She too can barely exist outside of it and if she wasn't the fan favorite she'd most likely would too be mostly in Fanarts that include Adora and not just her (if you google "Catra Fanart" most content is still Catra and Catra only but here and there Catradora still peaks through). But for whatever reason the fandom still views her more as her own person as the other ones? Catrouble and Scorptra Shippers might actually still get less hate than Glimmadora Shippers (I'm not denying they don't get any, they most certaintly do) which is just plain hypocricy and favorism. Kinda like the: A woman needs to be loyal to her husband and her husband only but if the husband wants to be active with other women that is perfectly fine because "that is just how men are" or how i like to call it ... sexism. Now in this case they are both women so it's not sexism but yo do get my point.

But much more importantly, Catra has an unhealthy obsession with Adora. Signs of that are for example:

Constantly talking about Adora, even when said person is not around (to Shadow Weaver, Scorpia etc.)

Obsessing over having control over Adora like in that one Episode "Are you kidding? I finally got control over Adora, I'm not giving that up!"

Building her entire character and her actions around Adora "We need to take Adora down", "Adora left me", "I'd rather see the whole world end than see you win!", also shown in Season 5 where she states she does save Glimmer only for Adora and not for Glimmer or to do the right thing

Getting aggressive or very emotional over Adora like clawing the wall, having nightmares etc. (destructive behavior towards herself and others)

Having no or barely any characteristics outside of her relationship with Adora like, we don't know her interests or likes and dislikes outside of being evil, obsessed with Adora, being abused by Shadow Weaver ...

Trying to force Adora to meet her needs and expectations regardless of Adora's owns

Sacrificing her oppurtunity to be happy in the Crimson Waste for the sake of her Adora obsession and being better than her at all costs

So yes, you were very right with saying that not putting Catra in a relationship with Adora would've benefited both characters. Catra could've learned to exist on her own, develop interests and a life outside of Adora. Learn to accept herself and eventually come to terms with her childhood abuse. She could've been free and not "the abusive cat girl that ended up with the person she unhealthily obsessed over to the point of no return" she kinda is now. Even if we ignore the whole "dating your long term abuser" part from Adora's side and "being rewarded" for horrible behavior, Catra alone is not giving a good example to people watching. As much as I dislike Catra, disdain her even, an ending where she is dependent on Adora, unable to stand on her own two legs after she led armies in war is not what I would wish for her, even with a decent redemption arc (that she did not get).

[marcilled]

[this is gonna be a big long post about minecraft youtuber drama... press J to scroll past this if you don’t care about that. lol. sorry]

idunno if anybody took my post the other day as me “cancelling dream for cheating in a videogame”, i posted it mostly out of bemusement of the whole situation, and because that video was really well put-together. (context: his 1.16 speedruns were disqualified by the minecraft speedrun.com moderators & there was a video & document explaining why).

I definitely don’t correlate cheating a speedrun w/ ableism, racism, etc etc. I already knew about a lot of nasty shit dream has done, like the video he did with Notch, and how all of his early content was about pewdiepie, just further normalizing those two to his young audience. I’ve always disliked him for those things, which I’ve been aware of pretty much as long as I’ve known of him, and he has never apologized for those things. It’s why whenever I posted about him before (which was... maybe once or twice?), I always say “don’t stan him or anything he sucks”.

I had no idea there was so much more to it honestly. It’s kind of galling seeing the full context now, because whenever I’ve seen any kind of criticism against him, it’s been him presenting it in an apology. I dunno why I wasn’t suspicious of this given what I already knew about him, but the guy seems to be very clever with how he damage controls any sort of possible controversy regarding him. He presents a really heartfelt, honest apology for whatever happened and gives a few cherrypicked examples of things that people said about him and says how wrong he was and how he doesn’t want to alienate his viewers.

The fact that it’s Dream presenting the evidence of his controversies, means that he gets to control how the conversation goes. Instead of a popular “mcyt” stan account getting to control the conversation, pointing out the shit he’s said and done, he addresses it in a livestream, and does not provide the original context. Huh, I wonder why. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want everyone to see that his mistakes are more than just little “oopsies”, it’s him being actively malicious and getting so defensive that he tells off anybody who could possibly disagree with his view of things.

While his actions and words are pretty horrid on their own, I think the thing that has me most concerned about Dream is... He seems pretty fuckin’ good at manipulating peoples’ perception of him.

-----

After the video about his speedruns being cheated came out the other day, he had this to say on twitter (this is his second, “personal” account):

Now, as I said before, cheating in a videogame isn’t at all comparable to racism or ableism. What I’m trying to point out here is his response to any sort of criticism.

The video he’s referring to is this one, published by Geosquare 2 days ago (dec 11th). What’s interesting to note here is how he singles out Geosquare specifically in this tweet. If you click on the video, the first few seconds establishes that it’s a video made by the entire Minecraft java edition speedrunning mod team (which is made up of a team of over a dozen people). The video and document was a true team effort from every single one of them, and it only got posted to Geosquare’s account (& got his narration) because he’s already a youtuber with a pretty comfortable amount of subscribers.

So, instead of pointing his ire (and those of his many, many fans) at the whole speedrun mod team, instead, he points it squarely on Geosquare, so that people have a convenient name to latch onto. He then accuses Geosquare of using his name as “clickbait” in order to get “easy views”, sowing the seed of this idea that Geosquare is doing this in an opportunistic grab for personal gain. If you clicked on the video and saw the description/pinned comment, you’d see that not only did Geosquare disable monetization on the video, he disabled monetization on his entire channel for as long as this drama goes on (and he knew there would be drama, dream made extra sure to threaten the mods with a video of his own in retaliation if they ended up banning him).

Then, in a reply to the first tweet, he says that there are “multiple moderators” messaging him saying the verdict was “biased” and that they may quit the mod team. He provides no evidence for this. However, if you click on the tweet and view any of the thousands of replies from his fans, it doesn’t matter that he gave no evidence, his word is enough. If you’re wondering, Geosquare and a few other mods have stated many times that it was a group decision on their part, and nobody had any question in their mind that Dream must have cheated. So... Dream, who are these “mods” that are messaging you? He won’t say.

Lastly here, I want to point out that in his next tweet on the matter, he makes this very bitter comment about how useless it was for them to investigate a “16th place run”. It’s a minor detail, but I think it’s worth mentioning; this kind of downplays how impressive his run was at the time. At the time he submitted his sub-20 minute speedrun, it was a top 5 run, in a very competitive category of speedrunning the game. In the 2 months since, several people have passed his time using new strats, but that doesn’t diminish the fact it was a pretty amazing “run”... if it weren’t cheated of course. But, I’m just rambling on about how petty I am about him cheating at this point so let me get back to the main point here.

If you see the numbers on these tweets (hundreds of thousands of likes), you’ll understand why this is pretty scary for those speedrun mods. The same day this happened Geosquare joked around “I’ve only gotten one death threat so far!”. Dream’s fanbase is unparalleled in minecraft youtube, and incredibly sizeable for a youtube channel overall. If you’re not familiar with this new wave of “mcyt” minecraft accounts, it’s... it’s pretty much exclusively because of Dream’s fame. He’s the driving force of minecraft youtube content right now. Any youtuber who even breathes near the guy blows up in subscribers & views. His minecraft server, “Dream SMP”, is like... it has a legitimate cultural impact, whether that sentence disgusts you or not. Especially for young gen Z kids.

The point I’m trying to make is, ever since he came onto the scene in early 2019, he’s grown and grown at exponential rates, and I can’t understate the kind of influence he has on not just his own fans, but the fans of like. Pretty much anyone who is plugged in to anything minecraft youtube related right now.

People have discussed this before, but Dream’s sudden rise to fame happened shockingly quick. So quick that it’s almost impossible it were by accident. He’d spent something like a year or two studying how the youtube algorithm works, how famous youtubers grow their popularity, etc. He spent a lot of time studying, and it paid off for him. It makes me wonder if he’s studied how youtubers deal with controversy as well. Because it seems like he’s doing everything right to keep his fans “loyal” to him.

So I think it’s not unreasonable to say that it is pretty goddamn concerning when he reacts to criticism like this. His immense fanbase, who are often worryingly obsessed with him, of mostly impressionable kids... It’s a recipe for disaster, in the hands of someone so entitled and immature.

I think what really has me worried, though, is a video he published to his second channel the other day. Recently, he published a video about his “stans”. The entire video essentially boiled down to him disputing claims that “dream stans” were toxic, or that stanning people or “stan culture” was creepy/unhealthy. He spent a lot of the video comparing stans of content creators to passionate fans of football teams, and expressed repeatedly how he thought it was normal and OK to be totally obsessed with a content creator and engage in “stan culture”, as long as you weren’t being a legitimate stalker. He pretty much only talked about the positives of being a Dream Stan, and how positive the “community” is. The whole video painted this really idealistic image of what it means to be a Stan of a person, and fandom in general.

Now... I don’t know about everyone else reading this, but I found that video to be... incredibly creepy and weird. It completely ignores any actual arguments about how stan culture can be unhealthy, and how engaging so heavily in parasocial relationships can be quite damaging, especially to younger people.

But, mostly? It seemed like the whole video was basically designed just to reinforce the most unhealthy impulses of his stans, and reward them with the positive encouragement that he actually enjoys it when they are obsessed with him so much that they can’t imagine he could ever possibly do anything wrong.

And that? That is fucking dangerous for a person with such a huge fanbase to be peddling to their fans.

Surely, he must know- a great deal of his fans are so obsessed with him, that they think they know him as well as, if not more than, a personal friend. So that when he does something disagreeable and wrong, and he claims “no that’s not how it happened, they’re biased and trying to cancel me because they’re jealous”, they just take that at face value, because why would he lie? He’s so honest and genuine in his videos and livestreams!

This sort of behavior from Dream, along with his tweets I posted earlier, reads to me as if he knows exactly what he’s doing. I think he is purposefully insulating his fans from the truth of his actions, so that he can present this idealistic picture of him in their mind, so that it seems absurd that he would do something wrong.

I think it’s only a matter of time before it comes out he’s done something much worse, honestly. What it is, is hard to say- he’s already done so much that anyone reading this should rescind their support for him, imo. But, I know that none of this matters to his millions of fans. While I worry for them, I also worry for anyone who becomes a target of Dream. I could see this speedrunning drama being the start of a downward spiral for him. Things could get real ugly with all that minecraft clout getting to his head... I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

TL;DR, dream sucks, and not just because he cheats at videogames.

I apologize again for writing a multi paragraph post about a minecraft youtuber. I will not post about this anymore (probably) please do not unfollow me .

[heraldofzaun]

This is a post I’ve been thinking about making for quite some time, especially due to looking at how my own personal depiction of Viktor differs from what seems to be the general fandom interpretation - especially after the LoR cards released and gave us a few canonical acolytes.

I won’t beat around the bush here: this is going to be about why I personally believe that associating the Glorious Evolution specifically with headcanons about Viktor or his acolytes being trans, or Viktor performing gender-affirming surgeries, or things in a similar vein is a poor decision, and why I don’t include this interpretation in my writings. This isn’t meant to discourage people from writing Viktor or his acolytes as trans, of course - my Viktor is agender, although he’s not aware of it, and it would be absurd to say that his followers have to be cis - but I think it’s important to look at the implications that come from writing Viktor as explicitly someone who helps people relieve and manage their dysphoria through his work with the GE.

Firstly, no matter how you spin it: Viktor’s idea of the Glorious Evolution has always been painted in a negative light. I’ve done my work to portray it as idealistically as possible, but at the end of the day his goals have always been about removing (at the very least, negative) emotions from himself, as well as mechanizing himself and others.

“Desiring both to revolutionize his field and to eliminate the jealous human emotions which festered inside him, he engineered parts to replace and improve his own body... He saw himself as the patron and pioneer of Valoran's future, a future in which man would renounce his flesh in favor of superior hextech augmentations.” (Original lore.)

“He saw human involvement in any part of a process as a grossly inefficient aberration - a view that put him at odds with a great many of his fellow students and professors, who saw the very things Viktor sought to remove as the source of human ingenuity and creativity.” (New lore.)

“Jayce reported the incident [of Viktor creating a device that allowed someone to “effectively control” another person]  to the college masters, and Viktor was censured for violating basic human dignity - though, in his eyes, his work would have saved many lives. He was expelled from the college, and retreated to his old laboratory in Zaun, disgusted by the narrow-minded perceptions of Piltover's inhabitants. Alone in the depths, Viktor sank into a deep depression, enduring a traumatic period of introspection for many weeks. He wrestled with the ethical dilemma he now faced, finding that, once again, human emotion and weakness had stood in his way. He had been trying to help, to enhance people beyond their natural capabilities to avoid error and save lives. Revelation came when he realized that he too had succumbed to such emotions, allowing his naive belief that good intentions could overcome ingrained prejudice to blind him to human failings. Viktor knew he could not expect others to follow where he did not go first, so, in secret, he operated on himself to remove those parts of his flesh and psyche that relied upon or were inhibited by emotion.” (New lore.)

This, when combined with how Viktor has also always been intended as a more villainous character - his visual design language, voice lines, and how he leans into the “evil Russian scientist” stereotype all confirm that - mean that from an out-of-universe standpoint, we’re meant to see his ideas as wrong and misguided. Multiple other champions have lines specifically about how he’s wrong - Ekko calls him “everything wrong with Zaun”, Camille (who is morally grey at best, and a cold-blooded killer at worst) calls his work “quaint”, implying that it doesn’t go far enough for her liking, and Heimerdinger makes the point that without humans, no one will be left to appreciate Viktor’s work. It doesn’t matter if Viktor has good intentions - the narrative tells us time and time again that his path leads to a very dark place, especially in new lore where he’s comfortable with violating free will for the sake of preventing death.

It seems obvious to me that a character who auto-amputates as a way to cope with overwhelming emotions, who decides that emotions themselves are a burden, who is repeatedly described as having an obsession with the Glorious Evolution regardless of lore, who is described as who you go to when you’re desperate in new lore... is clearly someone whose surgeries (at least of himself, where they are implied to be unnecessary - again, auto-amputation) and end goals are supposed to be read as a violation of human nature and dignity. Here we pivot to talking about trans issues in specific.

I’m of the firm belief that it’s not a good idea to associate gender-affirming surgeries, HRT, or any other thing used for transitioning with a character whose surgeries are supposed to be read as a violation of the human form. This plays directly into the anti-trans idea that transitioning is, well, a violation of the human form. It is not a good idea to write the man who cuts off his own limbs to poorly cope with his emotions as a patron of trans rights. It’s drawing a direct parallel between Viktor’s auto-amputations, which we are supposed to read as not only a very bad thing and the product of obsession, but arguably self-harm, with life-saving medical care.

(There’s also the issue that some people seem to assume that transhumanism is, in any way, inherently related to being trans - but that’s a whole other topic that I don’t feel very qualified to write on. I consider myself someone interested in transhumanist concepts, when applied appropriately (i.e. not ending up in eugenicist territory), but I am far from an expert on transhumanist thought. I think it’s enough to say that no, they’re not related. They’re just two things with the same prefix. Please don’t confuse the two.)

In my opinion, Viktor should not be seen as someone whose work is a direct benefit to trans individuals. (Again, not to say that Viktor can’t have followers who are trans. But please, please consider before making him the person that they go to for help with transitioning. The man doesn’t even have a medical degree, and his canonical work is described as being all about function over form. He’s not the surgeon you want.) I don’t think that Viktor’s gender identity, whatever it may be, should be associated with his obsession with the Glorious Evolution - or at the least, it shouldn’t be portrayed as a positive association. (In the sense of Viktor using the GE/his own surgeries as a positive affirmation of his gender... I’m struggling to precisely define this at the moment, apologies.) The GE is, textually, an unhealthy coping mechanism.

(There’s maybe something to be said for a Viktor who has disassociated himself so far from humanity that he no longer considers gender applicable to himself... but please, be careful if you write this. I’m speaking as someone who’s agender: I’m tired of my identity being used as shorthand for someone or something becoming or being nonhuman. I’m tired of people treating Blitzcrank being reskinned as a they/them pronoun user as something revolutionary, if they themselves don’t use those pronouns or aren’t nonbinary. I’m not going to pretend that I’m the arbiter of what people can and can’t write, but I’m tired of seeing myself - as an autistic and agender person - represented solely by unfeeling aliens and machines and whatever else, and being told that it’s good, actually, because any representation is good representation. I’d like for people to be more mindful in what they write and promote, but I think that this is becoming a tangent.)

I guess it comes time for me to defend my own depiction, then, since as I’ve mentioned above I do write Viktor as agender. I admit that I want to see aspects of myself in the characters that I like, but I also strive to be aware of the implications that these aspects may have. My Viktor’s gender identity has absolutely nothing to do with his idea of the Glorious Evolution - he has no dysphoria that he attempts to relieve through his surgeries, he does not see roboticization as a way to move past the gender binary... he doesn’t even realize that he’s not a cis man, because he hasn’t had the time or tools to introspect on that aspect of himself. (He’d be rather confused if you told him that people generally tend to feel as if they’re a certain gender - he’s just... himself.) I’ve written him in this way to try to make it clear that he has always felt this way about himself - that the GE has nothing to do with it - and that it has no influence on his actions as the Machine Herald.

There isn’t really a good way to wrap this up. Again, I am not saying that Viktor or his acolytes shouldn’t be written as trans, nor trying to stop people from writing that - only that their transness shouldn’t be directly associated with his idea of the Glorious Evolution. I think that we need to be mindful of what kinds of tropes that our depictions can fall into, and in this case a non-mindful depiction of Viktor as trans can seen as equating being trans to what’s easily read as self-harm/a violation of human nature. I doubt that anyone genuinely intends this association, but it can be made regardless, and so I prefer to keep the two concepts wholly separate in my depiction.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. I’m willing to answer any questions that arise from this.

[drake-the-incubus]

This is a gift for @striderhell from the Homestuck Secret Santa 2020 (@homestuckss). I was aiming for 3000 words but uh, Dirk as a muse didn’t want to continue exploring the concept of gender given his rigid but philosophical nature.

I hope this was good, and if not just gimme a shout and I’ll try and come up with something better. 

Word Count: 1521 Fandom: Homestuck Characters: Dirk Strider, Roxy Lalonde Relationships: Dirk Strider & Roxy Lalonde (Platonic/Friends)

Additional Notes: Roxy uses He/Him and They/Them, I’ve never finished the epilogues but I love NB Rox. Dirk uses no pronouns in this, as I wanted to try that out. 

Please enjoy Dirk exploring his gender. 

Sometimes in an effort to define ourselves, we feel trapped to conform to some rigid aspect or label in hopes to reach an understanding of who we are. At times this process can be frustrating and dissatisfying. Other people take weeks or days, and some of them take years or never figure it out. 

Perhaps gender, as a construct, can’t be fully understood, but we can understand ourselves as people without it. The tale before you, is only a short of someone who wishes to take a journey many end up doing, and most have never encountered.

Dirk was sitting in a cafe on Earth-C, sipping on a coffee in between tinkering with another pair of shades. The goal was updating and adding a better set of graphics, hoping to add some additional features to make things easier.

It had been a while since the Prince of Heart had seen the rest of the gods. Jake would visit once in a while, and they would have a friendly spar or talk. Roxy would message once in a while, letting Dirk know any spicy news about the rest.

Dave would randomly show up, they would stare each other down before both Striders would give a thumbs up and go their separate ways.

Rose would often come by, trading witty banter and wisdom. Both of them struggled with the massive impact of their god tiers and would often talk about it to one another.

Today though, Dirk decided a change of area would suit this project best, specifically needing to leave the workshop and enjoy some caffeine. Recently a problem developed that would continue to nag at the Prince even through the night. Lack of sleep was the reason why Dirk had picked a coffee shop. It made the most sense.

Gender did not.

Dirk had been going through a lot lately, and when Roxy had come out as trans, it had been taken pretty well by most of them. Not that it would be different if Dirk came out either, but rather that would take knowing what was going on.

This was a laughable moment, since they all had beaten the game, made it out and enjoyed their own little home in the midst of nothing. Creating entire worlds and civilizations with the help of their space and time players, but Dirk was sitting there, in a cafe, trying to figure out what gender even was and how it related to the god’s own identity.

Pronouns were hard, but so was even figuring this shit out. Making a copy of your brain at thirteen was much easier than figuring out if you’re cis or not, and Dirk didn’t know.

The more it was thought about, the more the thought cropped up, what if it turned out the being Cis wasn’t the result. Dirk was absolutely sure about not being a chick, nothing really appealed about that, but then again there was a very similar feeling over the current gender.

Man, agender or woman. Those were the categories that presented themselves currently. Working harder to connect the shades to the newly built chip, Dirk jolted when suddenly Roxy sat down across the table.

“I called out to you, but you didn’t answer.” He said leaning over and looking over the project. “I was wondering what made you change location, you’re pretty adamant to work in your workshop Dirkie.”

“I needed to think, which I was doing when you were calling out to me. Thinking so hard about creating a new line of orange pop with more caffeine than this cup of coffee that the world died out and I was left to only the one set of thoughts for once.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, and crossed his arms. “Really now? You think that I can’t tell something bigger is going on in that Strider head of yours? You’ve come up with projects while having a philosophical discussion with Rose and texting Dave a rap battle. You’re the king of multi-tasking, which also means your attention is usually divided more, and you’re attempting to put a wire on the wrong side of that.”

Dirk frowned and sighed, putting the project down. “Well, I can’t get nothing past you I suppose. I guess one thing that’s on my mind is how much I miss AR, since he was a good source of introspection, then again I have no idea if that would have helped in the first place.” Tapping fingers filled the space between them as the Prince looked outside at the billions of humans and trolls walking over the streets.

“I’ve been contemplating what gender is and how I relate to it since you came out as nonbinary. It’s been making me think about what is my gender, and I’ve come to the conclusion none of them really fit, but that’s also something to worry about since that means I don’t relate to any of the options-“

“Before you go on a long tangent, I want to ask, what are the options?” He interrupted Dirk while cocking his head.

“Agender, man and woman.” Dirk said bluntly, staring at Roxy. The laughter that resulted made the god tip the iconic shades down to stare at Roxy with deadpan orange eyes.

“I get greeted by your eye colour, score! But no, you got it all wrong, gender isn’t rigid categories, it’s a spectrum. You can’t define it by strict labels and there’s too many to count. So you don’t fit in three, there’s millions of genders. Some might not have a word for it right now. I’m nonbinary, but that’s because I’m not a man or a woman completely, I’m somewhere in the middle, closer to a man if I were to describe it as like, a sliding scale. So don’t be in a hurry, and don’t worry if you don’t figure it out.”

“I need to. Not knowing makes things difficult. I know it might be unhealthy to obsess over, but ever since I made Auto Responder, I had the need to understand myself fully and everything about myself.” With an elbow on the table, Dirk took a hand and raked it through the mess of hair. Having done so more than a hundred times earlier, the Prince was sure it was a complete and utter mess at this point, and would need to be taken care of at home.

“Well, I have a list of some of the other more known ones, maybe one of them check out for you?” He offered a tablet.

Dirk took it, and looked over the list of options and each description of it, mumbling under breath before placing the tablet back down with a definite, “I’m going to use Genderless for now and see what happens.” It looked interesting, the excerpt specifically outlined not having a gender at all due to neurodivergence, rather than lacking a gender or having no gender, different from agender. It didn’t feel much different from everything else, but nothing did. Having several of the entries be defined by one’s neurodivergence was weird, but the more thought placed into the concept, the more it felt real to Dirk. Rather it meant that the Prince would have to take Rose up on her offer to get a fully evaluation soon, even if both of them came to the conclusion Dirk was probably neurodivergent and that it wasn’t impactful with how the god had lived life before the game. 

“Are there any pronouns I should use for you?”

Pursing lips, Dirk gave a shake of the head. “None preferably. I think I need more time to actually think everything over. I have no positive or negative feelings for anything on there, and so I’m debating on if I’m everything or not. I can figure out how to make an exact replica of my own brain as a teenager, create robots, plot out the exact way I can kiss Jake and even save everyone's lives getting into the game. I’ve designed complex interactions to lead to the outcome I desire, and I can’t even pick a gender. This is quite frankly, ridiculous.”

“You don’t gotta. Dirk, it’s not about just picking a gender, it’s about figuring out a big part of yourself, and something most people don’t do for yours. You figured out you’re gay, now you’re figuring out what else you could be.” He placed a hand on Dirk’s and gave him a smile. “Whatever your result, I’m here for you. Even if you later think you’re a Cis man I’ll still be here for you. We might be siblings but we were friends first and that matters the most to me.”

Dirk gave a snort. “This is so fucking corny, but thanks Rox. I appreciate the love and support. Maybe I can treat you to another coffee since I feel like if I don’t buy one soon I’m going to be kicked out for making a mess of a window table.” Motioning towards the table, and standing up, the god stretched out. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Caramel Macchiato please.”

“Gotcha.”

[iristial]

Thoughts on Tokusatsu Gagaga

Most relatable drama ever. If there was a season two, I would like to see the adoration fans have towards face actors/actresses, and the online tokusatsu community in Japan (just the surface of it though, it could get messy haha)

It was also super encouraging. Lately I’ve been feeling jaded and insecure when it came to toku fandom, and this series reminded me that it doesn’t matter what other people think. What matters is what makes me happy - be it ships, interpretations of the shows, and so on

I just really needed that reminder

I love how every episode has something new to learn, and it all ties to the themes of liking what you like regardless of age and gender, and never giving up

i.e. the final episode has Nakamura avoiding her troubles but that brought forth a whole crop of other problems, like Damien briefly losing his respect for her, and the mistakes she made at work. Not to mention that her mother’s criticisms (chasing after her hobbies will result in her being alone) cropped up in her co-worker, Mai, leaving the workplace to get married and have a child, and the same could happen with Yoshida. But when Nakamura confronted her problems, she was reminded that Yoshida would always be her friend - and discovered the latter didn’t like children; she could be there for Damien, to avert what happened to her growing up; she could decide whether or not to make amends with her mother, who experienced the pain of giving up what she loved for reality and used an...unhealthy coping mechanism, to say the least

“Even when the memories are gone, the feeling of love remains.” “Does love for something really disappear that easily?” “I’m glad I found you again.”

I thought this was supposed to be a happy little drama, not something that made me cry four times in a row on a Friday night. I’ve been deceived

While Magiranger is the tokusatsu of my childhood, my Emerjasons were Build and LuPato. I didn’t grow up with them but they aired when I had to start a new chapter in my life and couldn’t deal with the pain of my main fandom at the time (SHINee, Jonghyun). They’re the reason why I love tokusatsu as much as I do now, and they reminded me that my love for a show I only ever watched at my grandparents’ house had never faded

Nakamura’s mother is definitely overbearing, emotionally abusive and I still don’t like her, but I do understand that she tried her best as a divorced single mother (social stigma surrounds around that too) and her heartbreak stems from her best not being enough for her children. Hopefully she’ll get better in the future for her children’s sake

The people around Nakamura all represent the type of person she could be in the future

Damien is the innocent boy in the target demographic for tokusatsu, but his parents think it takes time away from his grades - in contrast to Nakamura, whose mother deemed tokusatsu for boys and wanted her to fit her ideal of femininity

Maasaki is the gender-swapped version of Nakamura whose mother was accepting of his interests, and yet he’s aware of the social stigma about him liking a magical girl anime. If anything, I think it highlights that even if Nakamura’s mother was fine with her toku obsession + it didn’t cause Nakamura to have trauma seated in things like backpacks, phone calls, and clothes, Nakamura would still have trials to face irl

Yoshida is an older, senior fan version of Nakamura, whose presence encourages Nakamura that people who love tokusatsu in adulthood will exist

Kitashiro is what happens when Nakamura becomes too concerned about other people’s opinions. It results in personal unhappiness

Miyabi is the Nakamura who’s open about her interests, though there’s the danger of thinking fellow fans are willing to announce it like she does (and it almost cost her friendship with Kitashiro)

Nakamura’s mother gave up her love for beautiful things to support her family as a single mother, but tried to relive her youth through her daughter and denied the latter’s personal joy. Basically, if Nakamura were to comply to her mother’s wishes, it may cause a cycle of unhappiness in the family

[the1rei]

Little Moments: Reboot Chapter Nineteen: Speaking my Language By  Ericobard and shadows59 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Ben 10 Series Relationship: Ben Tennyson/Gwen Tennyson Some Additional Tags: Bullying, No proofreading, Family is Drama, Long burn

Summer’s over and school is in session, made worse as it is middle school.  Amidst the troubles of the new year Gwen finds something she’s always wanted and was beginning to fear she would never have, a friend.  Except Ben of course. 

Read my review below:

Why is Gwen still going to an elementary school?  It is directly stated in the story that Ben is in middle school, "Middle School blows. You're so lucky you don't have to deal."  They are identical ages, so they should be in the same grade as they were in the original, or an explanation should be given as to why they aren't in the same grade.  Gwen's school is a K-12 school; it wouldn't be called an elementary school.  

Gwen answering her phone in school and her receiving no repercussions for throwing away the note Mrs. Adams wrote to her mother shows that scene in chapter eleven was completely needless.  It should have ended after Gwen's viable scolding.  

" - even old Squid Face was this horrible!" I suspect Shadows59 meant to say 'wasn't' here.

The phone call in the middle of school and the deluge of texts that they exchange is supposed to show that they are a sweet couple that is very affectionate with each other.  But it ends up coming across as they are obsessed with each other in an unhealthy way, so much so that they can't go very long without contact of some form.  Even with young infatuation, couples need time apart so they can continue to be individuals, but Ben and Gwen come across as clingy and co-dependent.  She even calls the phone a 'lifeline' to Ben as if she'd die without him.  This wasn't the case in the original, and Shadows59 came across as a much more mature author in how he depicted a healthy but highly romantic love between two kids.  

Flint continues to be a caricature of a creepy guy.  He just says disgusting, hateful things so the reader will be disgusted by him and hate him, but any reader that understands this will just see him as a shallow character with no substance.  Antagonists need to have well-reasoned motivations behind their actions, and yet for all the times the story has brought up Flint, it never tells the reader why he is the way he is.  

Additionally, the things Flint, an eleven-year-old, says are highly sexual and complex suggestions.  It's not the mere perversions of a boy who would say something such as 'show me your panties.'  Instead, he suggests an advanced form of sexual degradation play, which further raises questions about why he is the way he is.  

Even non-prestigious schools had computer labs and teachers who were experts to deal with them long before 1999.  Even with her affinity for computers, it's unrealistic that Gwen would have then said teacher or would be called in to deal with an administrator's computer.  Said computer might even be too old for her to understand at all.  Honestly, I feel like I would let this pass if the story was more like the show and not trying to be a serious story.  

Gwen comparing the reactions she gets from kissing Ben, her love interest in the story, to the reaction a younger brother gives to his older sister when she kisses him is, odd to say, incestuous.  These two reactions should not be comparable because the reaction she should be getting from Ben is one of a peer who hasn't come around to discovering the romantic feels he has for another peer.  The other is the reaction of a younger sibling at getting a kiss from an older sibling who is, in this case, Gwen peer.  So not only does this compare Ben and Gwen as sister and brother but also Ben as being younger than Gwen, making their romance come across as highly inappropriate.

In the original, Gwen has social anxiety, which prevents her from talking to Michelle at first, and it's only when she thinks of Ben is she able to encourage herself to be open the new girl.  This is a very relatable problem, and Gwen displays her courage and willingness to follow another's example, like a hero, overcoming it.  In the reboot, Michelle asks one innocent question, the first thing she has ever said to Gwen, and Gwen is ready to judge her as being like Marci.  Prejudging anyone is a very unheroic act, and Gwen has to remind herself that Ben wouldn't do something like that to convince herself to give Michelle a chance.  

It's unclear why Michelle finds what Gwen says funny, why it makes Gwen "crazy," or why this makes Michelle like Gwen.  In the original, Michelle is shown to be as lost and alone as Gwen, so it's natural to her to like the person who reaches out to her, on Gwen's own accord, and offers to show her around.  In the Reboot, Gwen has been conscripted by the principle to interact with Michelle and show her around.  That can be a fine way to bring to people who will be friends together, but the story of the original is stronger.  

Having Ben's liberal parents protesting a new army base is a weak stereotype.  It is a stereotype as no reason is given for them not to want the base built.  

It makes no sense that Michelle, probably before she was 11, would be able to sneak out and go to a protest that turned violent given that when Gwen came near violence in this story, teenagers and adults treated her like a toddler.  

Gwen comes across as bad friend allowing Marci to pull Michelle away from her with putting up a fight to get her back even though she knows Marci is lying, and she is abandoning Michelle to Marci's lies and possible bullying.  Instead of doing anything to stop this, she just sits down and feels sorry for herself, thinking badly of other people, especially Ben.  Gwen isn't concerned with Michelle; she'd not watching the new girl make sure Macri's not making her feel uncomfortable or anything, instead just assuming that she would fall for Marci's corruptive influence.  

There is more overuse of italicized text in this chapter where it displays translated speech.  First, this visual clue that Gwen hears translated speech weakens the story, because in the original, where the speech was not emphasized, the reader is confused with Gwen as to what is happening, but because we already know or can guess that something is happening we're just waiting for Gwen to figure it out.  This distances the reader from the character's situation unnecessarily.  Second I am left wondering what would happen if Gwen was in her plumber suit, speaking to someone on the phone, in a different language, and emphasized what she was saying.  I assume the universe would implode, or explode, or both.

Marci's using the word cousin in place of boyfriend as a jab at Gwen's relationship with Ben would be good if it didn't require Gwen to understand french to be effective.  Marci has been established to be able to speak some french, but Gwen hasn't, so there is no way that Marci would know Gwen would understand her.  If Gwen couldn't understand what she said, then it would lose a lot of its punch.  It's a cause of the scene being written from the author's perspective instead of the character's.

"she was going to drive through a perfect little nose" Don't try to blame reflexes when there is clear intent on the part of the character.

Gwen anticipates that Michelle is going to leave her for Marci several times, and it's only after she refuses to several times that Gwen starts to trust her.  The foundation of their friendship is Gwen constantly mistrusting Michelle.

Every time Gwen nearly explodes on Marci, I'm just reminded of how much healthier she dealt with her anger in the original, channeling it into little pranks she pulled on Marci with her magic.  

"I kind of like the one I have - " Shadows59, you probably meant to say 'ones' here.

The previous chapters had Max leave and created a great deal of drama.  Erico even stated, "Grandpa is gone... They have nobody else they can turn to... They only have each other..."  Every indication in the story and the co-author indicate that Max is gone, and yet he just shows back up in the story like none of the drama of him leaving in the previous chapters occurred.  The original lacked that overly dramatic element, so when Gwen calls Max to find out why she can speak french, it makes sense they can just talk to him, whereas in the reboot, it doesn't.  There's no pay off for all that drama.

"Some part of her - most of her was sure it was Grandpa saying that something came up and she felt sick at the idea. She missed him. She'd been missing him since he disappeared and how could he? None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller..."   Shadows59, you should consider revising this section.  It isn't clear what is meant by 'Some part of her-'  Because that is unclear the 'None of the eight weeks made that bit any smaller...' part isn't clear either.  Additionally, the sections are separated, but they feel like they are part of the same thought and are referring to one another without clarification.  

"No!" "No!" Shadows, you either repeated the "No!" accidentally here, or the two knows don't need two sets quotation marks.  

"He was just Ben and hers and she wasn't going to share him, not even with Michelle..." This shows that Gwen has a very unhealthy attachment to Ben that goes far beyond romance and young love.

"He was just Ben and hers and she..." There should probably be commas after 'Ben' and 'hers' as they are separate statements.

The added content for Michelle doesn't add much to the story of their friendship.  Some might have found it sudden that the pair met in this chapter, and one chapter later, we're best friends, but that at least was marked with a time jump, so the development of their friendship could take a mundane pace normally in the skipped time.  Here their transition from strangers to best friends really does seem sudden, and there's no real reason why these two because so attached after just a few hours.  There's no real reason for their closeness save on Gwen's part because she notices that Michelle is somewhat like Ben, an unsettling fact given how obsessed she is with the boy.  

Ben and Gwen sound like old people talking about 'kids fashion these days.'

"she was so much faster and back on her feet before she even got any water on her skirt." It's physically impossible to pour water all over someone's head while their head is in your lap and not get wet.  

I'll just say there is a big difference between Gwen staring a little because Ben is shirtless and her ogling him while describing droplets of water running down his muscles.  One is appropriate for an eleven-year-old, and the other is not.  Once more, I just think these characters are older in Shadows59's mind, not that he's trying to be inappropriate.  

That ending is so cute, I love it.

-Erico

"...carries much more depth and heart because Michelle's first day and Gwen's first day back address it from Gwen's perspective." This sentence makes no sense.

You make it sound like Gwen is taking advantage of Michelle's uncertainty.  

It makes no sense for Gwen's classmates to ostracize her for doing things for the school staff; all students get called to do such things.  So unless the faculty is ostracizing the other students and only calling on Gwen for help, the students' opinion of her shouldn't be affected by that.  You are also showing just as well as I that Gwen has an unhealthy attachment to Ben when her focus is getting the day to get back to him.  An attachment that again, goes far beyond healthy romantic attachment.  

So what I hear from you is that Michelle is guarded because the concern she sees from people is usually because she is her father's daughter, and its more their concern for him, or his opinion of them, then it is for Michelle herself.  This isn't expressed in the story, and while it would be difficult to do so while locked in Gwen's perspective without creating awkward dialogue, it is still possible to express it.  For instance, by Michelle extending her father's gratitude instead of her own, or assuring people that she will tell her father what a good job they did.  

You talk about Gwen and Michelle like they are going through the friendship equivalent of love-at-first-sight.  This is a trope that is used, most commonly, by poor writers to establish romance first and justify it later, but real friendship, like real love, is slow to start.  The original had that at least in feeling; the reboot has chosen to forgo it instead.

(As always, please go leave Shadows59 a nice positive review he won’t delete.)

[heartshapedstrand]

Not meaning to be rude or anything, but I was wondering what makes you see compatibility in Sam and Heartman? I've always seen Sam as too standoffish to reciprocate anything and Heartman being more needy than he could handle.

So here’s the rub, I sincerely hope you weren’t trying to be rude, cause, I dunno, I do still feel like your wording was a bit… rude. But that is okay. Its my choice to be a little offended, but I’m not gonna hold that against you.

Let’s break things down, starting with canon. 

Canonically, Sam shows little interest in anyone, and onlykind of opens up friendship-wise with Fragile, being playful with her over the cryptobiotes, and allowing her to touch him, willingly, because of story-drive necessity.

Canonically, there IS no romantic relationship for Sam, after the loss of his family. Fragile came a hair closer to being a possible canon ship, and I know there are people who can put up a decent argument for Deadman as a possible canon ship, but. Kojima left everything open ended on purpose. He left it open for each person’s interpretation, just like the story, the ambiguity of it gave everyone a different perspective on what happened. Some people saw Amelie as a manipulative, unfeeling monster (me), and some people thought she genuinely didn’t want to end the world. Its opinion, its perspective. Moving on.

Canonically, no, there’s nothing to truly show there’s any kind of interest between Sam and Heartman. But that is the point of fandom, to take what we know of canon and extrapolate from it the possibilities of deeper relationships. It’s true that in canon game story Heartman and Sam’s interactions are few, so those no room to see more development of their friendship dynamics.

So, my perspective on the compatibility of these two starts with these things:

They both have suffered the loss of their families.

Neither of them were interested in the “reunite America” bandwagon. 

Heartman was a father once, he could offer Sam advice on caring for Lou

Sam gave Heartman his first step in moving past his grief and obsession

You used the term “standoffish” to describe Sam, and I can agree for the most part, Sam is standoffish, but to everyone he doesn’t know. He was like that with Fragile, Deadman, Mama, Lockne. But. He did thaw a little to each of them because for one reason or another, he’d come to care for them. Heartman is the same.

However, Heartman is the only person in-game Sam willingly talked about the loss of his family to. Deadman looked up his records to find that information, and when he brought it up, Sam was terse and didn’t want to talk about it.

With Heartman, it was Heartman himself speaking about the loss of his family. Sam relates to his loss, the sentiment that he’s “already dead” by saying “I know that feeling. Lost my family in an accident.” Only then, does Heartman mention he’d read about Sam’s history. It’s that interaction and dynamic that gives me the idea that there’s potential for at the least a deeper friendship than some of the others. 

Stepping to the next thing, the fact that they share the lack of enthusiasm for “Reunited America” also gives them a connection. Heartman’s only desire to work with Bridges and the UCA is that he has access to the chiral network, and research materials. They keep him set up in a remote lab with equipment he needs for his medical issues, and lets him carry on toward his eventual death as long as he’s providing them with his findings in the meantime. I think that gives Sam reason to relax a bit, around Heartman. And, it was Sam’s coming that I think was Heartman’s first step to moving on from his endless search for his family. I wrote all that out in this post a week or so ago, go give it a read if you like. 

And as for Heartman being needy…. I mean? He is starved of human contact, god only knows how long he’s been at his remote lab without contact from another living soul. He’s a bit awkward because of that, and I suspect he’s always been a little strange. Most scientists are in games or other media, pretty sure its a trope, even.

But! Heartman is a grown ass man, he probably knows he’s a bit needy, but also had self-control. It’s clear that even though he does want to talk to Sam about more than the research, Mama’s corpse, and whatnot, he doesn’t invade Sam’s boundaries. Two different times, he tries to shake hands with Sam, and once, he vaguely offers him a hug. My feeling from it was… He’s a scientist, and he’s fascinated by Sam for a number of scientific reasons. Testing his boundaries was just one of the things he could do to analyze him unobtrusively. 

Once he had a feel for Sam’s personal space, he never tries to invade it, just offering thumbs up or down as a gesture of social interaction without the need for physical contact. If Heartman was needy, to an unhealthy degree, he wouldn’t respect Sam’s boundaries.

And lastly, post-game, Heartman was a father once. And as far as we know, Sam’s never actually handled babies or children. He clearly didn’t trust returning to the heart of the UCA after violating a directive by the ‘president’ of the UCA. 

Heartman worked remotely, away from the rest of the Bridges/UCA people. He had knowledge, he had room to spare, and we also know he would spoof the system to hide conversations from the UCA’s 24/7 surveillance. Why not call on him to help?

As for romantic/sexual shipping, well. We don’t actually know what attracts Sam or Heartman to anyone, do we? 

Hell, that crush you had in high school, do you remember why? Was there a reason? You see that one person, and suddenly there’s a flutter in your stomach, but why? Did their smile make your heart skip a beat, did the way they wore their clothes make you a little hot under the collar? I love nicely shaped shoulders, and men with wide hips. Why? I have no clue, but it’s what I like. It just is. It was a spark, something inside me said “this is attractive”. Hell, I had a crush on the biggest bitch in my school. I hated her personality, she was a bitch to everyone but her friends(which i was not), and she was a snobby rich kid. Pretty sure she didn’t even know I existed, but every goddamned time I saw her, my stomach fluttered, and I couldn’t function when she was in my presence, and I’d blush if I was within 5 feet of her, even though she never even glanced my way. Why? I will never know.

Sooooo. Why not provide that spark, myself? No, it isn’t canon, but so what? Neither is Sam/Fragile, or Sam/Deadman. Or Sam/Higgs, which is the popular ship in the fandom so far. Other than the heroxvillain trope, how the hell would we ever see Sam/Higgs together? Hate ships and enemies to lovers ships are out there, though, and they make delicious art. ;]

Ya wanna know an even less likely ship? Higgs/Heartman. Why? Because I can. Deal with it. 

ANYWAY. I’m frank, sassy, and sometimes an ass. But, I hope that this gives some insight into why I think Sam and Heartman could work out as a ship. 

And I keep typing, but that’s just how I go.

The ship isn’t perfect, either. I have shown, and plan to continue to show, moments where there is friction between Sam and Heartman. Sam still has trouble with touch, sometimes. Sam will push Heartman away, and at some points Heartman may feel hurt by that, even though he knows its not his fault.

And Sam does have trouble showing emotion or talking. Heartman will experience frustration with that. Sam broods, and if Heartman can’t deal with it, Sam will run off until he’s done brooding.

Also if this was sparked by the silly post about Samantha Spade, I was having fun, i tagged it with my tag for things that are silly, said tag being “ ;;shenanigans ”. It’s the first tag I put on the post. Please don’t take anything I post with that tag seriously, I like to have fun, and my goofy little hopeless romantic heart was a flutter at the silly idea.

P.S. If you wanna continue to question my view in compatibility between characters, you can keep throwing those question to me. As long as I’m not getting hate, I won’t be giving hate. If you don’t like my answers, I can only politely suggest you find someone else to bother.

If you wanna know me better, I am actually a really nice person, fiercely loyal, and fun to plot and chat with. Come talk to me, I won’t bite, I promise. ;] 

Oh, and I’ve always loved rare pairs. They need love.

[theshinsun]

1. as far as im concerned Kagami never left at the end of last game, that was an extended dream sequence... 2. i also totally agree with you that Kagami is prolly vers, if anything, and it was also MY PET PEEVE when people pinholed him into being a forever bottom at the peak of knb hype. 3. you keep teasing your long list of ships for Aomine PLEASE do him for the character thing lol. So far all your opinions are sending me into a realm of GOOD VALID VIBES

Omg thank you!! (I agree end of Last Game is not canon… or if it is he came right back the next year or smth I refuse to accept he just left forever. And I’m really glad to see the problem of Uke™ Kagami seems to be in decline these days… fewer people are writing for knb in general, but those that are seem to have an idea what a real gay relationship is or at least make him a fucking person and not a walking stereotype, and that’s encouraging to see). 

Also thanks so much for sending Aomine! …Strap in for this character essay tho I’ve been known to never shut up about this boy once you get me started.

How I feel about this character

I honestly… can’t even explain it anymore or even try to justify it but Aomine has had a bigger impact on me than, I think, any other character I’ve seen to date. I don’t even know what it is, I do relate to him (and project on him *cough*) but like, there are other characters out there that I have more in common with, and I like his whole arc and aesthetic but it’s nothing revolutionary, so… your guess is as good as mine. 

Whatever it is, I’ve been obsessed with this guy for over half a decade, and lately even as the KNB fandom falls into decline, my feelings are not they’re just getting stronger. His development over the course of the series is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever seen, (that one bit at the end of the Touou/Seirin game with “I want to practice” and his later conversation with Kuroko hit me in the fucking chest every time), and I love how even though he’s portrayed as cold, uncaring and rude, it’s still understood (at least by anyone with some nuance) that that’s not what he’s supposed to be like, and underneath the distant, kind of dickish front, he’s hurting a lot. I’ve talked about the degree to which he cares about people before too, but I still have to give a mention to the ferocious level of protectiveness this guy has for his friends. I could go on about him for ages, tbh, and maybe someday I will write a for-real structured essay to try to get it out there, but the bottom line is I love this character, I have for a long time, and likely will continue to do so long into the future.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Okay here we go… I ship this guy extremely liberally, even with people he’s never interacted with (hell you could mention any random character and I could probably see my way clear to shipping them with him somehow, I’ll still try to explain my logic if I can). Prepare yourself.

Kagami (of course, AoKaga is the OTP and definitely the one I’ve devoted the most time to, they’re just the best together I’ll never get tired of seeing them figure their shit out over and over)

Kuroko (I may be AoKaga on main, but I’m still such a sucker for the tragic romance between these two, and sometimes it just hits me over the head like a sledgehammer how much I love their relationship. I’ve also got a lot of feelings for AoKagaKuro, they’re such a perfect trio and I need to invest more of my time in the OT3)

Kise (I was a bit late to the game on AoKise, but I definitely see it now. I love their dynamic and how imperfect their relationship would probably be, the complexity of it. sign me up)

Momoi (I don’t see a lot of AoMomo love anymore, but I’ve still got a soft spot for it, childhood friends are my weakness okay)

Midorima (they’re so different but that’s what makes it interesting, and I love the idea of neither of them knowing how to show/tell the other their feelings and being awkward stubborn shits together)

Murasakibara (they almost never interact but I just think they’d have such a soft cuddly relationship and be really chill together… lazy Sunday mornings sleeping in and hanging all over each other that kinda thing)

Akashi (kinda same as Akashi/Kagami, I think the difference between polished upper-class Akashi and scrappy city boy Aomine would be hella interesting… though I’ve also got some angst ideas for them as a couple, after how things went down at Teiko… abandonment and whatnot)

Imayoshi (I got pulled into this ship HARD by Lysapadin’s A Firm Hand series and now it’s no longer a guilty pleasure ship and is actually something I’ll talk about in the open, just… the power dynamic fuck me up)

Sakurai (I fuckin love the idea of an anxious Sakurai crushing hard on Aomine and not knowing how to tell him but when he finally plucks up the courage and prepares himself for imminent death Aomine’s actually pretty chill about it… plus they’d be adorable together tbh)

Wakamastu (you know it’s gotta be enemies to lovers. not just bc I’m intrigued by the love/hate relationship itself but if you look past the attitude issues these two would actually probably have a lot in common. also I’m really interested in how their dynamic might change with Wakamatsu being captain and all)

Susa (idk but there’s one throwaway line in season 3 where Imayoshi says about Aomine “actually maybe he likes you” and that’s enough for me. bring me the rarest rarepair my body is ready)

Kasamatsu (it wasn’t supposed to be SERIOUS but they got me. That moment in the Touou/Kaijo game where Aomine helps him up and “you’ve really done it now, senpai” is legit, plus these two would be such a good-looking couple, honestly.)

Mibuchi (give me the pretty boys. I have no excuse for this except maybe their interactions in my own damn fic again)

Nebuya (sometimes shipping can be as simple as hey I want them to bang right. also they’re both humongous dorks under their respective rough exteriors and I love them)

Moriyama (they bond over liking girls at first and then they’re simultaneously like wait a minute… more Touou/Kaijo ships pls)

Nijimura (I have this idea of them reuniting late into/after high school and Aomine still calls him captain out of habit and Nijimura’s like relieved and impressed to see how he’s developed since the mess at Teiko)

Himuro (they Never interact but they’d be so Petty and Snarky sign me up)

Haizaki (twisted, but I’m interested it’d be so unhealthy and awful bring it)

Hanamiya (even more twisted tbh but there is that moment where Aomine confronts him… and I’m here for hate sex just as much as your typical romance)

Inoue (who, you ask? I know he’s such a side character and no one remembers him, but he’s a big reason for Aomine’s downfall at Teiko and they seemed to be buddies before that, I’d be interested in some kind of reconciliation between them, or a romance, ya know whatever works)

And then we get into crossover territory… MOST of these are not my fault they’re just things I’ve seen and adopted for myself

Kuroo Tetsurou (someone made a moodboard for them, and now I can’t stop thinking about them in a relationship, like damn… it’d be such a beautiful mess I wanna see more of it)

Oikawa Tooru (I’ve seen art, and also the light. These two damaged angsty prodigies, one sharp as a whip the other dumb as bricks, but both of them sassy and nerdy as hell. I could see myself getting addicted to this ship if I took the time to write it out, and I just might)

Yamazaki Sousuke (can’t lie, they look good together. I’ve seen more than one art piece of them interacting and I have a Mighty Need.)

Matsuoka Rin (angry lonely talented boys finding solace in each other’s company? you know that’s my shit. also shark teeth and cop AUs hells yeah.) 

Tanaka Ryuunosuke (I don’t know where the fuck this idea came from but I thought of Tanaka trying to pick a fight with “shitty boi” Aomine while in Tokyo and then losing his shit and here we are)

Terushima Yuuji (this one is purely physical… they pretty, I have no other reason, but also this absolute fuckboy, these two would be such a train wreck and I’m here for it tbh)

Yachi Hitoka (okay picture this Giant Terrifying basketball player trying to be less giant and terrifying to tiny shy Yachi and tell me you don’t just want to see that happen. I get Legosi/Haru vibes.)

I’ll spare you the rest of the ideas I’ve tossed around, because past this point it becomes pure crack (if it hasn’t already) but you get the idea. Throw a character my way and I can probably talk myself into it that’s the power this guy has over me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My non-romantic OTP for this character

K considering the List… it shouldn’t be surprising that I also consider this person a romantic candidate, but you know when it comes to non-romantic OTP it’s gotta be Momoi. Platonic or romantic, the way she’s stuck with him all those years and his obvious protectiveness and love for her and how (even though he claims to like big tits) he never even once starts to objectify her in any way, it’s so important to me. Momoi is Aomine’s redeeming factor when he’s at his worst, and she goes to bat for him even while he’s actively trying to shake her off and still tries to protect and help him when he refuses to accept it, even when it means they fight. (Also Kuroko saying “Aomine’s probably looking for you” after their argument puts to mind Aomine running through the rain calling Momoi’s name and that is just… pure). These two have the kind of unshakable long-standing friendship that’ll probably last them the rest of their lives, and no matter what context or form it takes, I can’t get enough of it. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

I’ve harped on enough about the fandom’s portrayal of Aomine as a one-note asshole who doesn’t care before, so let’s see if I can change gears a little bit here. 

I honestly don’t agree with… the persistent idea people seem to have of Aomine being a narcissist or obsessed with himself? Like yeah, he’s self-absorbed and egotistical, no question, this is not to say he hasn’t got those flaws and others besides… but that’s not the same as being like, physically attracted to yourself. Part of me suspects it was a “the only one who can fuck me is me” joke taken too far, so that now the idea of Aomine being in love with himself is just ingrained into the fanon culture, but if you look at the show itself, personally I don’t see it. If anything, I would think he’d have some self-loathing issues to work through (and that’s part of the reason he gave for skipping practice, he doesn’t want to be the way he is, and specifically says he doesn’t want to increase the difference between him and everyone else). But hey, that’s just my opinion. I’ll get off my soapbox now.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I mean he says he and Kagami are postponing their match, after their brief one-on-one when he gives him the shoes, and then we never get to see it… Tbh just more street ball with this guy would be great, since it’s what his whole style is based around. Even if he’s just playing by himself… or hell, maybe since he thinks no one at the high school level can beat him, we could get a scene of him trying to go up against adults. Maybe he still beats them and his despair worsens after that, but then it’d have more meaning, and at least we’ll have seen that he’s tried and is not just giving up before he’s seen all of what he could be up against in the future. Plus, picturing Aomine going five-on-one like Haizaki did against grown-ups and still slaughtering them is something I’d pay money to see. 

[girl-in-the-library]

Viktor Nikiforov is lonely

It’s time to talk, once again, about Yuri!!! on Ice, because that’s basically all I think about.

We know Viktor is lonely, that’s a fact. But the depth of his loneliness is really hard to grasp, I think.

Some people characterize it as depression. I have, in the past, and I think there’s truth to that as well. But more importantly, I think, is that Viktor feels unanchored in his life, and he’s floating (skating) away.

This is going to get long, so more under the cut.

A lot of people headcanon that, before Yuuri, skating is all Viktor has. And once again, I feel there’s some truth to that. He has Yakov, he has his rinkmates, but we only see Yuri, Georgi, and Mila. Georgi seems too caught up in his own drama (to be fair, we don’t know much about him) and Yuri and Mila are kids. They’re not really friends.

There’s Christophe Giacometti - but I think the fandom overemphasizes their friendship. What I saw, upon my most recent rewatch, was a friend, but more like a “work friend.” Someone to hang out with and get drunk with and maybe even gossip with when they’re together at competitions. But not someone to text or call when he’s lonely. Not someone who he can just talk to about boys. They have fun when they’re together, and that relationship is important to both of them. But they see each other as skaters, competitors, first and foremost. It’s clear that Viktor and Chris haven’t talked since the last time they saw each other when they see each other again at the Cup of China. And sure, they’re both busy with skating and coaching and what have you. But a call between friends is not hard to do, especially in the months after the last skating season, but before Viktor shows up to coach Yuuri. And again, we don’t really know. We don’t know what happened in those months. Maybe they did talk and hang out. But that was not the impression that I got.

Who does that leave Viktor with, then? We don’t know anything about Viktor’s family. We may find out more in Ice Adolescence, or we may not. Viktor has Yakov, who he lived with for a time and trained with (and who is clearly important), and Makkachin. That’s not enough. Viktor has no peers. He is at the top of the world in skating and people love and idolize him, but who does he hang out with? Who does he call at the end of a long day to complain to? Who does he go out for coffee with? Maybe with Georgi, or even Mila - though he seems to only talk to Yuri about skating pre-series. But we don’t know.

Then there’s Yuuri. In spite of him feeling like he was working alone until he met Viktor, there are a lot of people there for him. His family, Minako, Yuuko and Takeshi (even though he clearly hasn’t talked to them since he left Japan), Phichit. He also has acquaintances - like Ketty, who was the one who made him the song back when he was at school and also wrote Yuri on Ice. He said things were awkward between them AFTER he didn’t use her song, but that clearly implies that there was a time where they probably hung out. He also has rinkmates, like the girl who hugged him, and the other rinkmate in the hospital who he was at least close enough to visit there and be anxious about. Even if he wasn’t close with his rinkmates, they seemed to have each other’s backs. But like I said, Viktor has rinkmates too. For Viktor, those are not enough, because that’s all he has, but for Yuuri, they’re smaller pieces of his support system.

I relate to Yuuri a lot, for a lot of reasons, but in this particularly instance, it’s the understanding that even though I HAVE a strong support system, I still feel alone. It’s cutting, it hurts, and it is really, really hard. But that doesn’t mean the support system isn’t there, just because I’m not using it properly. But I think Viktor is in more dire straits. I think, before Yuuri, he has Yakov and Makkachin and skating. And that’s not a support system.

Viktor gets his “L words” - Life and Love, from Yuuri. From the night he entranced him at the Sochi banquet, to skating Stammi Vicino, to coaching, to falling in love, it seems like Viktor has much more joy in his life since Yuuri came into it. Again, it’s hard to tell because Viktor is not the POV character, and we don’t see too much of his background. But even he said that he got those “L words” from Yuuri. He implied there was an emptiness to his life beforehand.

But here’s where things get tricky. Because, based on what we see, everything that Viktor has emotionally is tied up in Yuuri. And, if this were a real life relationship, and not an idealized, fictionalized one, that would be scary. Viktor still has Yakov, and he has a new friendship (ish) with Yuri Plisetsky, and he has Makkachin. But if that wasn’t enough before, it’s still not enough. He has Yuuri, and Yuuri seems to be his everything.

I think, to an extent, Yuuri feels the same way about Viktor. They’re wrapped up in each other to the detriment of their relationships with others. But Yuuri still has his family, he still has Minako, and Yuuko (who he’s reconnected with) and Phichit. And he even said that being with Viktor has made him realize the love and support he already had.

But without Yuuri...Viktor has nothing. That’s dangerous. That’s codependent. And yes, I think they’re both codependent, and if something happened to Viktor, Yuuri would break, but he would survive to eventually put the pieces back together. But if something happened to Yuuri...I don’t know if Viktor would survive. Because if one person is your everything, if you lose that, you have nothing.

And maybe I’m projecting too much. Maybe none of this actually makes any sense. It’s based on a lot of assumptions, a lot of “I thinks” and “I don’t knows.” And honestly? Lots of fictional relationships are like this - this wrapped-up-in-each-other codependency. 

We get 12 episodes with Viktor and Yuuri. 12 episodes to watch them fall in love. And we really don’t get enough to make the determination that I’m making here. Their relationship in canon is good and beautiful and strong. But in the fandom, there’s a lot of things that make me think it’s not healthy. I’ve written them too. This is only something I’ve recently started thinking about because I think about this show too much. It’s not something I necessarily see when I rewatch the show.

Viktor is lonely. We know that. That’s a fact. Maybe that’s all it is. And with canon, maybe that’s all it needs to be.

But I think as a fandom we have to be conscious of how we characterize our boys, to not turn life and love into the be-all-end-all of their lives. Because fiction influences people, and if young readers idealize the general fandom conception of Viktor and Yuuri as so-in-love-nothing-else-matters, they might not recognize that that can be unhealthy in their own, real life relationships.

I don’t know. I love my boys. But I was in a relationship where, as much as I tried to deny it at the time, my partner was my everything. And when he broke up with me, I was unstable for 3.5, 4ish years. I’ve only rebalanced my life in the last two. So yeah, maybe I’m projecting. But I’m ALWAYS projecting on these characters. Maybe I’m over-identifying. Projecting on fictional characters is something everybody does, to an extent.

Canon Viktuuri is good. Canon Viktuuri doesn’t really give an implication of codependency, except in tiny snippets of “maybes” from a life Viktor has that we really know nothing about.

But I’ve seen the codependency in fandom works. I’ve probably written codependency in fandom works, unintentionally. And I think, that’s something we need to work on, as a fandom.

This post got away from me a little bit. At first, I just wanted to talk about how I don’t think Viktor and Chris’s relationship is all that close. But it definitely turned into something else.

Maybe I’m wrong. I’m not saying all fandom works present this codependency, just that I’ve seen enough of them that I’m worried. And as an worrier with a propensity for over-identifying with the yuri on ice characters who I spend more time thinking about than almost anything else in my life, I felt the need to write this out.

Maybe it’s just my obsession with yuri on ice that’s unhealthy. I’ll have to check on that.

[nadziejastar]

Pence: Do you guys think we’ll always be together like this?

Olette: I sure hope so.

Hayner: Huh? Where did that come from?

Pence: Oh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud.

Hayner: Well, I doubt we can be together forever. But isn’t that what growing up’s all about? What’s important isn’t how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?

Pence: Get that off a fortune cookie?

That’s easy. The reason I think KH3 did more damage to Axel/Lea than KH2 is that Axel’s attachment to Roxas was glorified in KH3. It was presented like we were supposed to find it endearing and perfectly healthy. But even in KH2, Axel was presented as dysfunctional and more than a little pitiable. He kidnapped Kairi and wanted to turn Sora into a Heartless again, just to see Roxas. None of this was ever meant to be seen as a healthy display of friendship. It was meant to show that Axel was a broken person, with a few screws loose. Roxas cried (through Sora) while saying goodbye to Hayner’s group. But Axel didn’t get a real goodbye scene until the Final Mix version. And even in that scene, Roxas was calm and at peace. Axel was the one who was broken up. Nomura and the writers knew that Axel’s relationship with Roxas was questionable and unhealthy. They wanted to give him interesting development regarding that.

It’s why I personally didn’t start truly loving his character until the arc that was building up to KH3 (Re:CoM, KH2FM, Days, BBS, Coded, 3D) was created. And I developed a new level of appreciation for him after reading the novels. That’s when he became fully humanized to me. And the reason is simple: his tragic backstory. The fact that a grown man was calling two kids his best friends was supposed to be seen as SAD, not something to celebrate. It was a symptom of his arrested development. After reading the novels, it was even more clear to me that Axel was intended to be seen as a maladjusted person. He lost his childhood and is stuck at 15-year-old in a lot of ways. You know how some people have daddy issues? Well, Axel had “best friend issues”.

Wendy: Listen, Peter. I’ve got something to tell you… I want to go home to London.

Peter Pan: What are you talking about? Why would you want to do that? You’d have to turn into a grown-up. Besides, goin’ on adventures is a lot more fun! If you go back to London, you’ll have to leave the nursery. You’ll grow up and we’ll never see each other again!

Wendy: I know, Peter. But… I still want to go home.

Peter Pan: I came to rescue you! And you don’t care if you ever see me again!

Wendy: No, you don’t understand!

Peter Pan: Suit yourself! And while you’re at it, rescue yourself! I’m leaving.

He was extremely damaged because of what happened to his best friend. It caused him to feel hatred and despair. He was stuck in the past, unable to move on from his childhood. Lea and Isa were just two innocent kids. Then one day they are kidnapped, experimented on, forced to join a death cult, and obey every command of the “Superior” under threat of death. Lea’s best friend was subsequently brainwashed, possessed, and branded with a giant scar of death on his face. His personality became unrecognizable. He changed from an innocent kid into a sociopathic robot incapable of feeling friendship or love. Or at least that was heavily implied to be the case before KH3 turned them into “apprentices” (what a crock).

Axel was a sorrowful person. He cared about Roxas and Xion…but he didn’t actually want to be best friends with them the way he wanted to be with Isa. Lea became best friends with Isa when he was a normal, well-adjusted, happy teenager. Axel became best friends with Roxas and Xion because he was a lonely and emotionally broken adult who couldn’t process the trauma he experienced as a kid. Even as a teen, Lea saw Ventus as a stray puppy. Isa and Lea were inseparable. They hung out all summer and did homework together. They ate ice cream and played frisbee. Normal stuff. They were happy. Axel was always fixated on the past. He doesn’t come on many missions with you in Days. But they made DAMN sure that he came with you to Neverland.

“Are you worried about her, too, Axel?”

The question slipped out before he could stop it.

Axel eyed him in mild surprise. “Of course I am.”

But his voice was still oddly low. Running into Saïx had brought out a different side of him—and that side was a little scary.

He wasn’t interested in Roxas romantically. He wasn’t even really obsessed with him. He was a lonely, miserable person, with a best friend-shaped void in his heart. And he was desperate to fill it. He really couldn’t relate to either Roxas or Xion on an adult level. He never expressed his deeper feelings to them. Axel’s relationship with Roxas was a lot more nuanced and realistic than it is made out to be. It had many shades of gray. This is the event that led to Axel calling Roxas and Xion his best friends. Saïx brought out a side of Axel that Roxas found scary.

“You wanna know?” Roxas quietly waited for the answer.

“It’s because you two are my best friends.”

Axel had said before that he didn’t have a best friend, Roxas remembered. But now it’s us…?

“Got it memorized?” A smile played at the corners of Axel’s mouth. “The three of us, we’re inseparable. You’re my best friends.”

Then he’s all smiles. Even Roxas was confused about why he was calling them his “best friends” at that moment. Roxas really didn’t understand Axel and couldn’t tell what he was thinking most of the time. He never shared anything about his past with them. I always found it fascinating that Axel murdered a bunch of people in Castle Oblivion, then came home and hung out with Roxas and Xion. They never saw that dark side of him. Ever. They never knew that Axel was best friends with Saïx as kids. Axel’s talk of being super-duper bestest friends with them was his attempt to cope with the pain of Isa getting Norted. I don’t think the fandom really appreciated this, though. Most people seem to have taken it for granted that he really became genuine best friends with Roxas and Xion, that he wanted nothing more in life than to be with them, and didn’t care about Saïx. But that wasn’t the case at all.

Roxas: I hope we always have each other.

Xion: Yeah…

Axel: What’s gotten into you?

Roxas: I just…want these days to last forever. Hanging out, the ice cream, the sunsets…

Axel: Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we’ll still have each other…even if things change and we can’t do this anymore.

Roxas: Yeah?

Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?

Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.

Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.

His words to Roxas and Xion were so similar to Hayner’s because their time together was supposed to be impermanent. Things inevitably change. They don’t need to hang out with each other every day for their time to be meaningful. It’s more important that they’d always remember each other.

Axel suddenly broke his silence. “Well, even if things change, we’ll never be apart—”

“—As long as we remember one another,” Xion finished. “Right?”

Axel’s encouragement from ages ago echoed in Roxas’s head.

“Don’t worry, Axel. We’ve got it memorized.” Xion grinned at him.

“Just checking.” Looking at the sunset rather than her, Axel munched his ice cream.

When given the choice to leave with Roxas and Xion or stay, he would have stayed. That’s why he said this to them yet again. What Axel really needed was to heal from his past and be with someone who it was more appropriate for him to spend every day with. He needed to “grow up”, but Roxas and Xion first needed to help him heal and remember how to believe in order for him to do that. He also needed to get his best friend back. That was non-negotiable.

Peter Pan: Are you sure you won’t change your mind?

Wendy: Peter, I’m sorry. But I really want to go home.

Peter Pan: I was afraid of that… Everyone grows up—and grown-ups always forget. First you’ll forget what it feels like to be young, and then you’ll forget about me.

Wendy: How can you say such a thing, Peter? I’ll never, ever forget you.

Peter Pan: Sure, that’s what you think now. But when you try to remember me, the memories will be gone. You’ll forget—little by little, one memory at a time. Once you’re grown up, there won’t be a single memory left.

Sora: Don’t say that. Memories—even important ones—don’t come back to us whenever we want them to. But that doesn’t mean the memories are gone. It’s more like…like they’re sleeping. So when the right thing comes along and wakes the memory up, we can remember it. The memories engraved in our hearts never go away. I’m sure of it.

Lea had a dream of Roxas before he woke up. He was sitting on the clock tower eating ice cream, acting perfectly happy. Just like he always did in Days. “Best friends forever”. But…he’d been lying not only to Roxas, but also to himself. He wasn’t happy during those days spent on the clock tower. He doesn’t even like the taste of sea-salt ice cream anymore. His smile always belied his true feelings. It was to mask the pain that he was running away from.

Silence fell over the room. He paused in his munching to stare hard at Riku, then finally asked, “What is Sora to you?”

The question caught Riku off guard. He groped for words. On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. 

“Sora and Riku are best friends.”

Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.

“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”

“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.

“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.

Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.

His sleeping memories of Isa awakened after he went to Castle Oblivion. He knew deep down that he was using his relationship with Roxas as a crutch to stay in Neverland and to not grow up. In KH3D, he knew that unless he dealt with Isa, he’d never move on. So, that’s why I think KH3 had a much more damaging effect on Lea’s character than KH2. By making him just as fixated on Roxas as he was in KH2, and making him totally unconcerned with Isa, you keep Lea in Neverland. He doesn’t grow up or mature. He stays an emotionally stunted man, unable to move beyond the age of 15. His arc was rendered totally pointless. It sent such a juvenile message and ruined his character for me. He was totally dumbed down as a character. I can see why you feel the way you do, especially when Axel/Roxas is the most popular Lea/Axel ship. I feel the way you do about him in KH3. I just don’t think he was supposed to turn out this way.

[free--therapy]

Hi I'm the anon who asked advice for dealing with worries about the nsfw content that I watched. Thank you for always being so kind and helping me.

I kinda want to ask for your opinions on something that I've been thinking about if it's okay.

The other day, I was just scrolling twitter in the manga fandom which is like Japanese black and white (not colored) comics which are really famous in the anime/manga community. I came upon this post by a fan who was mocking other fans for shipping and supporting an adult character of the series with a minor character of that same series.

I realized that in the anime/manga community, many many things that are totally inappropriate or unacceptable in the real world are shown pretty commonly and since I've been watching it for years now, I've sort of become desensitized to it. Since it's just animated or just drawings, I don't really take it seriously when it comes to the inappropriate behaviours of the characters that are normalized. But when I think about it, some anime/manga content available online is really questionable honestly because it shows romantic/sexual relations between children and adults and most fans don't bother questioning the morality of it since it's not real, I was the same tbh

However recently when I saw someone actually speaking against it, I realized that there are some fans who don't like it at all because that would definitely be wrong irl. But even so, I really can't find myself bothering all that much about it being right/wrong. Does that make me a crazy person?

I think of it as the same as any animated content where any seemingly inappropriate actions are not taken seriously whether that be violent, romantic or sexual unless the characters are shown to suffer from it. As in, if the characters seem okay with whatever's happening, I don't bother thinking if its okay for their age, etc. because it isn't real and doesn't involve real people since it's just drawn or animated.

Of course, I absolutely do not support any of that stuff including seemingly paedophilic content in real life in any shape or form but when it's animated, I don't bother at all (I say this because it's kinda a common theme in anime/manga). It's like I'm not against it nor do I really support it. I just don't mind watching either way. Am I crazy to think like that? Am I too desensitized? Or is it normal? Am I supposed to not watch or is it okay?

It's only recently that I've started seeing some fans are starting to speak against it while most others don't seem to mind either. What do you think about this?

Hello Again Anon,

I know exactly what manga is, I had a phase in my teenaged years lol. I also know exactly what you mean about some of the questionable content too when it comes to manga, anime, hentai, etc., and the stuff people put online whether fanmade or actually published.

It's definitely easy to believe that those sorts of things are harmless because it's all drawings and not real people, but I feel like it can be very similar to watching p*rn because it's still showing you an idea of something explicit, regardless of whether or not the people involved are real. Of course with anything that can be created/drawn, things can get pretty crazy and imaginative, depending on people's interests, kinks, perversions, and whatnot. I do feel like there aren't a lot of limitations and criticism placed on these things because they're forms of "art", but at the same time they are presenting content that can be disturbing to others because the themes they present are definitely real and happen in real life. I do feel like it can make people desensitized to the topics of perversion, p*dophilia, and other explicit things, much like p*rn does though, and can almost act like a gateway into those kinds of content if people turn their interests in them into unhealthy obsessions.

But like the other nsfw stuff you've seen before, I don't believe it's indicative of a perverted or disturbed mindset because a lot of people start consuming it out of curiosity. I think when one then blurs the lines between obsession and curiosity it's when it becomes a problem. It can make people think it's okay to enjoy those sorts of things because the people involved are not real, but like I mentioned above, the ideas and themes are very real.

I wouldn't let this consume you either. You had a healthy curiosity with these things and as long as you're aware that these sorts of content can lead you down a certain path and you know the line you need to draw in the sand for yourself to make sure you don't head down that way, you'll be okay. You have to be aware that just because the characters involved don't act like anything is wrong, doesn't mean that what's happening in them isn't wrong. It takes a lot of discernment outside of the content to realize what is and isn't appropriate. A lot of the time people create these things to try and normalize them to show how seemingly harmless they are, but they're obviously biased because it's an idea they've created out of their own interests in hopes to appeal to a certain crowd of people with similar interests. I hope that makes sense.

It's up to you to decide whether or not you should keep watching it. I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't do in this case, nor am I going to shame you or anyone else for being interested in it. I just want you to have some awareness. I don't think you're crazy for wondering and questioning it though! Hopefully you'll figure out your answer :)

[usuallycolorfulenthusiast]

Let’s talk about War of Hormone (yes, still)

I have finally congealed my thoughts about it, so here goes for anyone thinking about it still.

At the time the song came out, I was 100% okay with it because the lyrics reflected the very things I often thought about in relation to men. In fact, as a horny teen unimpressed with how my hormones affected me and made me obsess over men, I really liked it. 

The video I was not and am still not thrilled by, but that's a different issue I won’t address here since I feel its issues are much more straightforward. 

Now, I am a bit uncomfortable with War of Hormone... I mean I stand by my previous thought that gender not need be attached to it, but at the same time, I have to acknowledge that without disclaimer the lyrics can certainly objectify the other gender. I often naturally put the disclaimer (stuff like "that person is but a person! despite their hot looks") in my head so I projected that onto the song. Indeed, there could easily have been that same disclaimer in the minds of the people creating it, but as a released "statement", I have come to conclude that it really should be more explicit about it; otherwise, it's hard to argue against the objectifying nature. 

As for it being sexist, the argument for that from my perspective is that women have a history (and a present, too) of being objectified way more than men. Because of this, the song can certainly be viewed as part of systematic sexism while not necessarily being sexist as an isolated song. 

In conclusion, I am still on the fence about it. There are aspects I like about the song, but there are problems with it too. My love for it is now nuanced and a bit bitter, and it is likely to remain that way. 

As for the converse high lyrics “do not wear converse lows”... I find these to be perfectly okay? The song is a silly song about converse highs lol. I mean, I get that dictating women’s dress is an issue... I guess I can see it as problematic for teenagers trying to fit the perfect “type” of their biases... I guess I also imbued the lyrics with my own understanding of people (if someone is actually petty enough to care about you wearing converse high vs low they have some issues). Okay, maybe that song has issues too.

What sets me more at ease in general with BTS and sexism is the response from BigHit... while the first part had me more upset that they were issuing a non-apology rather than ignoring it even ( “could be perceived as ... regardless of intent” are common phrases used to defer responsibility and apologize without acknowledging the issue) , but the rest of it shows more reflection ( “we will take the criticisms and the points in question into consideration for future works. Through self review and discussion, we’ve learned that we can’t be free of societal prejudices and mistakes, as they are a part of each individual’s growth and experiences, things that are seen and learned in society.” ). The defining moment for me was when there was a clear statement of what was wrong with the lyrics: “we’ve also learned that defining a woman’s position or value in society from a man’s point of view could be wrong”. Coming from a label, such a blatant admission is pretty impressive. 

Something that touched me immensely was when I discovered RM is now getting advice from professors... he comprehends that he will not always be able to spot if there is something problematic with his lyrics and he cares enough to get expert advice on it... Honestly, I started crying when I read that.

What worries me more than the lyrics, though, is the denial of responsibility from fans:

“I am a girl - I see nothing wrong with the lyrics” - you do not speak for all women, and as mentioned above, just because something isn’t sexist in isolation does not mean it does not contribute to a wider trend that is harmful. As I said, personally the converse high lyrics are completely fine... but upon reflection, they do form part of a negative societal trend. Even on a personal level, we don’t always know what’s best for us or what affects us (or are unwilling to admit it). Abusees make many excuses for their abusers and often see nothing wrong with their abusers’ actions. (Not that BTS are anything like abusers, just an observation to make a point: just because we can’t see what’s wrong does not mean everything is okay).

“BTS didn’t mean anything by it” - I actually share this perspective. The second part is what worries me: “so it’s alright”. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. A huge part of sexism is embedded in the social culture. People weren’t sexist because they were evil. They weren’t sexist because they were trying to put women down. Back when women started to push for the right to vote, there were women who opposed this vehemently. There were women who were apathetic to it. The truth is that culture informs a large part of our ideals, so we have to be careful when taking part in forming/propagating culture (in us and in others). We will sometimes fail, but saying that BTS should not acknowledge the cultural role they play or the times they’ve come up short, just because they mean well, is ridiculous. 

An aside about objectification: If we consider it, k-pop fans often address and act this way to idols - declaring them to be “gifts”, etc, etc. 

I don’t think this is completely wrong - after all, most of us have a sexuality burgeoning in us, and especially as female teenagers it can often be denied, in many senses of the word - told it should be repressed explicitly (usually because of religious reasons), told it is less strong or that it is ‘normal’ for it to be weak compared to men’s sexuality (thus thinking it weird/not good when it’s not that weak), etc. So I feel spaces to express our sexuality/desires is great and sorely needed. 

On the other hand, the objectification of these idols can be severely harmful to them, and bad for society as a whole. Sasaengs are an extreme example of how bad this objectification (even if it’s not strictly sexual, still objectification) is. 

Male idols have it a bit better in terms of systematic objectification (they don’t consistently have, for example, 40 y/o women writing their lyrics or directing their MVs, while the opposite is unfortunately very pervasive for female idols), but in terms of unhealthy fan obsession I’d argue their experience is just as bad (if not worse, given that their fanbases are more demographically skewed by gender). 

Many kpop idols are teenagers when they debut, so the sexualization of them, both on the label’s side and the fan side is even more worrisome. Jungkook, for example, has expressed dislike for the overly sexual comments left about him under BTS videos. I don’t think many people in his position would feel comfortable with some of those comments. International comments, in particular, can have this issue as they have to overcome a culture and language barrier. Comments that are hilarious to me can easily be seen as crass and harassing once translated. A lot of the times it is done in good fun from a fan perspective, but to the idols themselves, it is totally different. (This is not necessarily limited to sexualizing comments - remember “Jimin has no jams”? this phrase remains funny to me, but I can never repeat it publicly since it affected Jimin to the point where Namjoon noticed and uploaded a BTS bomb called “Jimin has yes jams”; other common examples are the fandoms’ fixation on k-idols mispronounced words, which is cute to us but for idols straining to learn a foreign language is a deep shame.) 

It is important to remember that this online world is pretty much a part of the idols’ workplace, and there are places where it is more acceptable to express desires than others (BTS is probably much less likely to stumble upon a smutty Tumblr about them than they are to read a comment left in their fancafe or under a YouTube video). Here’s a good video discussing the grey lines between sexual expression vs. harassment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIJwyY_JyQU

[catnippackets]

PLEASE RANT ABOUT THE CHARACTERS BEING REDUCED TO ONE TRAIT I WANT TO K N O W

alright this got a bit longer than I intended it to be…all my salt came gushing out like a geyser….it’s under the cut for anyone who doesn’t want to see it. also it’s about Keith bc he’s the one I feel the most stongly about (believe me I have issues w how the fandom portays p much everyone but Keith bugs me the most bc he’s my favourite so he’s all I’m talking about here)

first of all it depends on who’s writing him tbh because generally I don’t see these things happening at the same time but he’s either:

1. aggressive, rude, and angry literally all the time

this bothers me SO much because he isn’t like this at all, and all the times he IS angry he has a very good reason to be?? he doesn’t hide his emotions with jokes, he’s not held back by anxiety, and he’s relatively young and thus not as practiced with managing his emotions. He’s a kid on the more quiet side who’s got so much placed on him and if you aren’t inclined to joke about it or anything then of course you’ll be more sullen most of the time. but aside from that, it’s already been shown in canon that he’s got a sense of humour, he can make jokes, he can be gentle, he cares about others, and frankly half the things I see him get mad at in fanfiction have already happened in the show and he didn’t get mad at all.

he’s definitely a hothead and has a shorter temper and less patience than others on the show, and he can totally come off as rude sometimes, but he’s not some sort of physical embodiment of rage which is how I see him portayed in too much fan content and it drives me up the wall. especially in modern day aus when the cast is under like maybe 10% of the stress they’re under in the show and thus even less reason for him to constantly be snapping at everyone like he hates all people for no reason. he’s not a social person but then again I’m not either and neither are most of my friends and none of us snap at each other constantly.

and then when it’s in klance fanfiction? it’s just really bizarre and weird bc the writer has Keith being a complete dick for no reason and then Lance for some reason always wants to be with him anyway DESPITE Keith treating him like garbage for no reason?? and then when they’re together Keith is still constantly insulting him (it’s always played off as affectionate nicknames like “idiot” and “asshole” like ok once in a while is ok but it happens too often to be endearing) and reluctant to show affection which is first of all super unhealthy and OOC for LANCE too, and second of all REALLY UNTRUE BECAUSE WE ALL WATCHED SEASON THREE AND SAW HOW KEITH TREATS PEOPLE HE LIKES (HINT, HE LOOKS AT THEM SOFTLY AND TRIES TO REASSURE THEM EVEN THOUGH HE ISN’T GOOD AT IT). so it’s just super icky on all accounts but especially icky when it’s in romantic situations

or he is

2. obsessed with cryptids and conspiracy theories

THIS INFURIATES ME THE MOST BECAUSE IT’S LITERALLY NOT TRUE IN CANON AND SOMEHOW EVERYBODY ADOPTED IT AND REDUCED HIM TO THIS AND THERE IS NO BASIS FOR THIS AT ALL EITHER AND I HATE IT SO MUCH!!!!

“but Selena! he had a corkboard in his shack with photos all linked together with string like a conspiracy board!” yeah because he was investigating something in the desert and organizing all his findings, if you were living in a shack all alone and started feeling weird energies wouldn’t you look into it too?? I’m not into conspiracy theories but I 100% would do that bc come on it’s interesting. This is the only conspiracy theory related event that he’s associated with and imo it’s not enough to turn that into his primary trait it just ISN’T

“but Selena! Shiro, his brother figure, was MIA and Keith got kicked out of the garrison, what if he got kicked out because he knew Shiro’s disappearance was a cover-up??” again that isn’t something that proves he’s got an obsession with conspiracy theories, it’s a single event and him knowing that they’re covering up something about his brother going missing and trying to figure out what it is?? Pidge did the same thing with her brother and frankly if something happened to my brother I would be looking into it too, and if someone tried to joke about how this meant I was into conspiracy theories I’d actually be offended bc how dare you take a traumatic event that I’m trying to figure out and imply that this is just something I like to do for fun

and the cryptid thing has literally no basis in canon at all so I have even less patience for this trope which is saying something bc I have zero patience for the conspiracy theorist trope at all

this is just a major pet peeve bc it’s not harmful at all and I know a lot of ppl enjoy it and there’s nothing wrong with it if it brings you joy but personally I cannot stand it!!! I hate it so much!!! SO MUCH!!! ESPECIALLY SINCE IT’S NOT CANON AND YET EVERYBODY TREATS IT LIKE IT IS!!!!!!! Every time a fanfic writes him as being obsessed with those things I just close out bc I hate it so much

I didn’t intend to spend over half an hour on this but once I got started I couldn’t stop and I gotta say I feel so much better after laying it all out

[akria23]

So it comes to an end

You know I often hear pieces like Make it Right the series being referred to as productions made by and for fangirls who wanna fetishize male-male love relationships. It’s often because you have these young hot guys together, in these stories that are thought to be shallow. And on top of it you have the fandom success of young girls who claim to be obsessed with these relationships and the fan-service that is often done for these productions. These are excuses people allow themselves to use to tear down or ignore the work that’s being done. I look at productions in America, that’s where I live, and I find that there are many people getting praise for things that aren’t actually praise worthy. For things that aren’t actually good representation for the people in the community. I look at stories like Make it Right and I find it funny that someone could disregard this series because it did more in the terms of Bisexuality than I’ve seen for 5-10 years. Just by actually having bi characters and understanding what that really means without no backhanded phobia that leaked in. The story is not just about male-male relationships. Within these perimeters these young men were finding themselves, learning how to love and be loved and love themselves.

My favorite relationship out of the show has always been Frame and Book, because I think their story was honest and necessary, taking that journey with them felt real.

The writer nor the director went into this with shallow intentions. It was very clear early on that they had a story and they wanted it to progress as it should. There was no love at first sight with this couple, no magical love makes everything disappear conundrum. Yes you get the feeling that secret feelings were under the surface, but no grand schemes. These were two people who had been around each other but weren’t exactly friends because they were on total different ends of the personality spectrum. Book, like his name, was very bookish. He’s a loner and an introvert. And although we find out why latter, he intentionally set himself apart from others. Frame, on the other hand, is very outgoing, very friendly and popular. He’s very extroverted and intentionally puts himself out there def sexually. We find out why he extends himself sexually later in the show, but one thing I really love is they didnt shame his sexualization. It’s not at all about shining bad light on sex, from the sex female worker to him. In fact his sex drive remains high after they get into a relationship. They never use him as the bad boy…they didn’t write him as the playboy who was a dick. He was a guy who had been emotionally hurt in a relationship and this led him to not wanting to enter that kind of pain again so his mindset was sex, not relationship, simple as that. He didn’t use his past experience as an excuse to treat others like shit. He didn’t toss away bed partners like they were trash. Or look down on others. In fact, Frame is one of the most genuine, caring, emotionally honest characters in the series. It’s this caring nature that helps him obtain the love of his life.

Back to the beginning: Frame said to Book in the first season, “If you are a star, you are a star that was beautiful when I looked from afar. But when I look closer, the more beautiful you are.” This line was only great because despite the cheesy structure, the scene does not come off as false at all. They did an amazing job of fitting it into the perimeters of them and making it work. Not only that, but, this line is one of the ones that I find fits their relationship so well. Def from the position of Frame to Book. Like I said you get these undercurrent feelings in the start. Not love, more - if he was interested…I would totally go there - type of vibes. That impression where it’s like, this guy isn’t necessarily a friend but when he’s around, I find his nature cute and interesting. The moment he finds out Book is actually interested in male-male connects, all bets are quickly off the table and we def see him making these moves and these gestures to build that bond between them. On Books end there was def a crush that was in place before they even became friends. Like I said, Frame’s caring nature got him the guy before he ever really knew he was ‘the guy’. We see these flash back moments of before and you realize that Frame has always been nice to Book, his niceness wasn’t served to get anything back. He would exhibit random acts of helping Book, or trying to include him into the group. Naturally these things moved Book, but because of his own past, because of his need to isolate himself and lock that part of him away, Book would have never crossed that line or made those interest known. Which is why their relationship happened as it did.

I’m a goner for consistency and not fucking up character. Luckily they did not mess up either for my babes when part 2 rolled around. I said I love FrameBook for its honesty, and I do. We leave part one with them being open about what wanting to be together and what that meant. But I also loved them for their internal struggles and hope those struggles sometimes top our honesty levels. We often want our partners to look at us a certain way, so we keep hidden things that we find shame in, things we want to forget. But when those thing still have power over us they find ways to slither back in our lives and prove themselves very present, and this was a problem Book had in season 2. His past relationships and the bad fallout that took place left him deeply scared with trust issues. Trust issues that invaded his relationship. When we’re reintroduced to Book he’s happy, he’s been isolating himself less, he’s on the path to being sexually free and accepting. However, he still exhibits signs that show all is not good. He still an extreme workaholic for some reason. He’s still showing signs that he doesn’t fully trust his partner even though Frame has never done anything to harm him or ever present something to the world that he wasn’t comfortable with.  It’s so strong, so powerful it knocks him out of his happiness, out of his moment of bliss, it rides his shoulder and whispers temptations of damnation in his ear. It doesn’t matter that Frame doesn’t deserve the lack of chance, that’s not how trust issues work and the show intentionally showed that. They highlighted the good moments of their relationship and showed the comparison of his prior relationship. This is because that’s how trust issues work, it ask that deep question of ‘didn’t I love and wasn’t I loved before I was betrayed and everything shattered.’ He did and he was and trust issues remind him that betrayal still happened.

Book had not only been betrayed in case of his lover but from the two people that was supposed to love him when the rest of the world turned its back, his parents. These people were honestly so disgusting. To stand in front of this young man and argue over who has to ‘deal with him’ after they’d already isolated him to his own livings and given him a set of rigorous rules that he would have to excel at or be out altogether. He was dealing with depression and his parents didn’t help at all. He would reach out to them and they would show no interest, ignore him or use the communication to force more stress onto the button of his emotions. His parents were one of his triggers to be honest, you def see this in that big moment, where he’s thinking and you just see all these things that have damaged him, and have been just unhealthy for him altogether.  A big part of the reason he distanced himself from Frame was out shame. Most people don’t want their current lover to see them that way, and when the video had been revealed the first time around the treatment he got from those around him stippled those thoughts of shame in his sexualization. He doesn’t want Frame to turn his back on him, doesn’t want him to look disgusted, or be disappointed. It’s easier turning your back on someone else than having them present you your grand fears. It wasn’t just the trust issues that led him to push away Frame, it was also his parents. Through isolating him in the first place, they coded within him this need to be alone when dealing with issues, this need to shut everyone and everything out and deal on his own. No one had ever been there to protect him, or stand beside him. Even with his need to be studious, while that is in part because of the demands of his parents it’s also because he knows he can’t forever rely on the finances of his parents – who use that as a way to threaten him. Book had to come to a place where he could face these issues head on, his parents were gonna love him or not love him. Learning to lean on someone, and trusting them to be there wholeheartedly. Standing up in the face of things he was ashamed of. Accepting his own sexual drive.

Frame seemed to match his name when it came to Book. He was a surrounding of love, care and patience. And it’s not to say he didn’t feel tested, that he wasn’t stretched to his limits. He was. His own fears were present in the reality of Books secrets coming to bite them in the ass. Being left behind, being cheated on or left for another. Frame was someone who was used for his looks and then to get passed that he allowed his looks to be the forefront of all his relations, never intending for it to get further than that with anyone. So of course his internal fear then becomes that his only worth his looks. Again it’s that thing on the shoulder whispering temptations of damnation. This time the question just becomes, ‘if I am loved for my attractiveness then doesn’t someone who is equally or more so attractive capable of taking from me the love I have obtained?’ And it’s also not about Book because Book has never cheated on him, nor has interest in anyone else, past or otherwise but that fear disregards that. Still, Frame remains loving and caring, even as he questions things. When we’re introduced to Frame this season he has moved in with Book. His grades have gotten better because he’s using his boyfriend as a free tutor. He’s extremely happy, and satisfied. His boyfriend has hit that glow up and he doesn’t know if he should look at him adoringly or with lust. He finds a nice balance of both. Frames unique mission has always been to take care of Book. He makes sure he eats when he forgets because of studying. He does these special things so he knows he’s loved. He stands beside him, with him, or for him. Tries to understand his depressive modes and his push back. Doesn’t criticize him, instead he tries to help him take those steps of getting back into himself and just being there. He wants Book to be happy, it’s as simple and as complex as that. He wants their future together, but he’s not naïve about it. He knows that because they are both men that this mean having to take certain steps, to have a certain determined nature, to be prepared for the battles that are promised to come your way.

They were good for one another, I mean yes they were flawed, but it made it that much more real. Sometimes people hurt us and that pain is sometimes so powerful that we retain it. We take it with us into our next relationship and this is always a damaging thing. Love is being courageous enough to face those internal wars within ourselves, not just for the other person but for the love of ourselves. The story of Frame and Book is a beautiful one, from the moment of discovering like of one another, to the sticky messiness of it all and deciding they want it enough to fight for it. Having those frank conversations. Just being loved, really loving someone and understanding what that’s worth.

I say this a lot, but it’s because I really mean it – Ohm and Toey really did a good job with and for these characters. They took it seriously. For Ohm to be so young when they started this project, I am extremely proud of him because he does such a good job with this craft. He was meant to act. He’s a great model, has nice screen presence, he’s very charismatic with the audience.  I hope he really tones his skills, and takes classes to further his gift because I think he can take it very far. Toey’s just one of those people that just slides into the character like he’s actually the real person. It’s not even like he’s acting. You forget that the character is a character because it seems like him. I really appreciate these two for being serious about their part, I’m always for being trying even when there are flaws because trying means you’re capable of developing of growing. I hope they remain as close as they have been. I would love to see them work together again, no matter the circumstances. I know gay is normally a way to enter the acting world and most actors never do a second production, but I wouldn’t mind see them again in anything. This has been a journey, I’ve been here since day one and it was something. I have to thank Toey and Ohm for playing the roles, the writer for creating the characters, the director for bringing the story to life, those who spent hard time subbing episodes – you guys are the crème del crème because without you my ass couldn’t understand the story. Last but not least, to video makers because videos of my ships help me love them more – I always find highlights of scenes and see them differently, or in a way that just hits home – and I love that. It was a great fandom - no bitterness. I’m gonna miss everyone.