#but my guy friend is basically a male version of me and makes the same jokes as me

[milkcutea]

i can't say this to anyone i know irl but i just realized that the bitch who has been DRAGGING my ass for the last two quarters has a crush on my friend--who is gay and taken--and wow her behavior makes so much more sense

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Is yugo a proshipper/neutral? Genuine question because they’ve done some… questionable things in the past (shipping frans, using slurs they can’t claim in a comic (the f slur).

I mean I came across a post that said they were pretty chill with someone shipping epic with freaking Xgaster in march of this year and I was like??????? (Dude?? 1. That guy is an alternate version of your abusive father. 2. He’s basically Cross’s father (y’know your canonical best friend?)  who also abused by him. like what????)

(here the link btw https://www.tumblr.com/yugogeer012/745992208927293440/im-very-interested-in-how-yugo-reacts-to-the-fact?source=share )

And I find it weird that they seem to chill about that, but if you try and bring up epic in any way possible they lose it since they have unbridled hatred towards him and his fans. (bonus points when someone talks about shipping epic and cross, heck shipping epic with anyone male tends to make them annoyed, despite some early art depicting epic FLIRTING WITH METTATON) 

(also here the link: https://www.tumblr.com/sanicpluushy/761634810556039168/can-we-see-epicsans-flirtin-i-do-imagine?source=share ,

and my thoughts : https://www.tumblr.com/talonsirgo/761779011986800640/this-is-even-funnier-when-you-scroll-down-to?source=share)

I'm pretty sure they wiped Epic and his papyrus out of the comic just so they wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.

At this point i've already blocked them for their hostility towards all things epic/epic being gay/shipping him with xgaster and the whole frans stuff. I mean dude, even comyet is grossed out by anyone trying to ship ink with a gaster or his fathers (who are gasters and aren't even related by blood. Not that it matter tho, it's stil gross).

Come on yugo. You're better than this

(oooh btw did you se my where i @ you?? I found some pretty interesting analysis on cross thats been agreed upon by jakie herself, unfortunately it was done by the creator of dreamswap eugh.)

I don’t know if they are or not, because shipping Frans (or used to) and using f slurs while they actively seem to really really hate any gay ships but is very okay with lesbian ships seems a little strange. Potentially fetishizing perhaps, although maybe they’re just annoyed if they were constantly bombarded with sans x sans questions and stuff.

I don’t know Yugo, haven’t finished reading any of the Epictale content and i haven’t scrolled all through the blog, so I can’t say for sure. Maybe someone with more knowledge on this can chime in.

Although, after reading one of the links you sent me, i think you might’ve misread something.

The asker and yugo didn’t say they shipped Epic x XGaster or were okay with that, they say were okay with Epic Gaster x XGaster. No alternative sons being shipped with alternative fathers, although DILFs (im using this word just because they are both fathers not because i personally want to fuck them 💀) who are the same person are being shipped and yugo at least doesn’t mind or doesn’t care.

I don’t know what their issue is with their own characters and people liking them, but I think yugo probably needs to set some boundaries with fans if they haven’t already.

rather than getting annoyed when people inevitably ship best friends and one of them is their character who they make flirt with men, perhaps they should just ask people to not send them questions about sans x sans ships, or crepic if it really makes them that uncomfortable. and if anyone does, just delete the asks or comments or reblogs.

getting annoyed when people bring up or ask about the characters you made seems pretty strange to me, it’s just a sign that people really like your character enough to be obsessed with them, but i can understand if they got annoyed if epic was all anyone focused on and not any of the other characters. but in that case, they should probably just delete anything they get about epic (from fans) they don’t want to see or answer.

but to allow your emotions and fans like of your character to cause you to change a story, or erase or get rid of the character, just to spite the fans/character or just so you don’t have to deal with them seems very odd to me. perhaps yugo needs to take a step back from the Epictale “fanbase” and stop engaging with it.

they can’t control what fans do with their work and characters as soon as it leaves their own eyesight, and they’d be better off not stressing over it. and fans should respect them, and stop bringing fandom stuff to them like ships or asking their opinions on ships—no one needs a creator’s opinion on a ship.

epic is a different thing, since he’s literally a character in the story, and a sans at that—which of course means people will bring him up and ask about him. if they don’t want to answer anything about epic, they should make that very clear and then don’t answer. Not answer just to give annoyed, passive aggressive replies. I think it’s sad when creators allow a fanbase to taint and affect their feelings about their work.

{ @talonsirgo }

[littlemisssquiggles]

Alright, I need to gush about Dandadan for a hot minute…

So this squiggle meister has hopped onto the Dandadan hype train. Ever since its anime adaptation release last year, I’ve been riding the high of my newest anime craze.

Not only am I all caught up on the anime (eagerly awaiting season 2 coming out this year) but I’ve also taken to following the manga; which I’m all caught up on too.

Speaking of which, the newest chapter of Dandadan dropped today - Chapter 181- and I’ve got some things to say about:

Firstly, the return of Unji Zuma. It’s nice to see that the Danmanru Arc wasn’t the last time we’ve seen our Umbrella King.

Zuma’s a cool character. I basically see him as a male Momo since the two share the same stubborn, headstrong yet surprisingly compassionate and loyal personality traits that make them really fun characters to watch further develop. In this squiggle meister’s eyes, Zuma is as much as cool older brother character to Momo as Jiji is.

However, judging by Zuma’s new look in the upcoming arc, I have a sinking feeling the manga is setting us up again for yet another wrench in the ongoing development of the Okarun and Momo love story.

I already made this point over over Twitter but ---

It CANNOT be a coincidence that Zuma, who was described as “Momo’s ideal type” cause he bares a resemblance to her celebrity crush Ken Takakura, now with his hair grown out and sporting a pair of glasses looks like a punk tough guy version of Okarun.

That can't be a coincidence, no? Like I said, I think the manga is setting us up yet again for another fake red herring love triangle and misunderstanding to further push the Momokarun ship into official couple status.

After all, we’re already half way there with Okarun’s recent confession.

Not to mention that last time, during the Space Globalist Arc, after the whole misunderstanding with Vamola, the first time Okarun actually admits to being in love with Momo is while “rejecting” Vamola.

I feel like Zuma is being set up to be Momo’s Vamola, y’know what I mean? I don’t know if Zuma is going to be confirmed to secretly like Momo.

I mean I hope not cause like I said, they have way more sibling energy to me than that of Momo and Jiji and Jiji is literally her childhood best friend and first crush).

But I do hope that Zuma’s presence will provide the catalyst to Momo professing her love for Okarun.

I mean, Zuma did over hear Momo whispering “tell me you love me” in her sleep and he gave her a look.

Surely, that’s got to come back sometime later just as how Momo’s “Lova Ya” note to Okarun came back, right?

While I doubt this will mean that Zuma will develop a romantic interest in Momo, if so is the case then I hope it will lead into Momo turning him down cause she will FINALLY admit that she’s already in love with Okarun.

THIS HAS TO BE WHY ZUMA IS BACK!

Outside of him bringing in a new arc, Zuma is here to be the FINAL PUSH for Momo to admit she loves Okarun. He has to be!

Zuma is literally the embodiment of everything Momo wants in a potential boyfriend. He looks like Ken Takakura. Underneath his tough exterior, he is genuinely courageous and has a benevolent spirit that drives him to go above and beyond for others in his care. Zuma is such a “good guy” that he got a whole school gang of delinquents to rally behind him. He is such a “good guy” that he’s even willing to help the poor Daiki kid with his curse.

I mean Zuma is just a really cool character.

And him being around again rocking dem big glasses and fluffy hair like Okarun is definitely gonna be confusing for Momo. At least that’s what I think.

Either way, I stand by what I said.

I think we’re entering the home stretch to Momo x Okarun being official.

I don’t know how many more arcs and chapters again it will take to get us there but we are getting there.

Zuma is the key.

If he isn’t gonna be yet another lying ass fake "potential love interest" like Aira, Jiji and Vamola all were then at least let him be a “real bro” to Momo.

I know he kinda blind right now but please let Zuma have the emotional wisdom to see through Momo’s BS of stalling her confession to Okarun and give her a firm kick in the ass with dem big Geta sandals he’s got on to get her to FINALLY return her feelings.

Bruh, we are almost to 200 chapters.

We need to see Momokarun canon before Luffy finds the One Piece. While we’re still young and our shipping hearts are still beating.

- LMS (2025)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, Miss Raven!

I hope you are having a nice day ^^

I was wondering since you don't have a Yuusona, have you ever thought making your own Yuusona like what traits, gender and personality would you have for them?

And how would their relationship be with Miss Raven would they be friends?

Sorry if I'm asking something you don't feel comfortable answering just feel free to ignore it. I'm enjoying your work and I'm new here so I hope I wasn't a bother! Love your work 🫶

I’ve thought about making a Yuu of my own on more than one occasion. However, I’ve never been a fan of the roles designated for self-inserts… It’s hard to commit. Even if I were to make my Yuu less of a Yuusona (ie just Me but in the Twst world) and more of an OC (an entity totally separate from myself), I always lose motivation somewhere along the way.

That’s of course not to disparage anyone who has a Yuu though!! I just personally find it a struggle to design around a somewhat predetermined identity. There’s less freedom in a Yuu because they have to meet certain parameters in order to “make sense” in the story. For example, Yuus are generally from our ordinary world and magicless. I don’t like having those limitations (and though I could go against it, I’d refrain in order to not break canon lore). That’s why my first Twst OC is very far removed and exists as her own thing.

For fun, here’s some of my scraped Yuu concepts, including doodles. They're not really "Yuusonas" though, more like original characters that happen to be filing in for Yuu:

Yuu 1: Mad Scientist Yuu

The earliest iteration.

This Yuu is ~16, male. Considered nonbinary at one point too.

The notes in the image basically describe him. Germaphobe, has lots of band-aids (because he is accident-prone), constantly tired + has dark undereye circles due to excess stress and lack of sleep.

Frequently seen in face mask, lab coat, and latex gloves.

“Don’t bother me” energy. Very curt with people and just wants to be left alone.

Claims to be an egalitarian because he “hates everyone equally”.

As the story went on, he would have learned to lighten up and work with others too. Basically, the same arc the NRC students have.

I didn't think too deeply about what his relationship with Miss Raven would be like... Most likely, he just dislikes and avoids her like he does the rest of the NRC population.

Yuu 2: “Robert Philip the Divorce Lawyer” Yuu

Twisted from the divorce lawyer love interest in Enchanted 😭 YES, I SAID WHAt i SAiD…

This Yuu is 35ish, male.

Has a very girly young daughter back home. She is basically his motivation to return.

His ex-wife left him. (YES I AM KEEPING THIS LORE.) Has sworn off love since then but is dating another woman for practical reasons.

Very anti-romance and anti-fairy tales.

Somewhat grumpy.

Logical, pragmatic. Some would say calculating.

Constantly arguing with Crowley because he knows his rights and how many laws Crowley is violating/j

He wouldn’t have been a student but more like a faculty member and father figure to the NRC students. By being in Twisted Wonderland, he helps to mentor the boys as though they were his own children, and the boys in turn teach him about magic, imagination, and believing even in seemingly impossible things.

Had an idea about him finding true love in Twisted Wonderland too; this would basically be his Giselle. Maybe a kind lady from Foothill Town??

Robert!Yuu was going to be sort of a secondary father figure to Miss Raven. Crowley is her real guardian, but he's usually not fulfilling the typical duties of a guardian so Robert!Yuu has to step up. In a lot of ways, Miss Raven reminds him of an older version of his own daughter so he has a soft spot for her. He also tries his best to advise her on life and boys. I imagine that he and Miss Raven have that Hades and Megara scene where she's gushing about Hercules and Hades goes, "Please. HE'S A GUY!!"

Yuus 3 and 4: Twin Yuus

The bangs they have are borrowed from Robert!Yuu because I liked them and was too lazy to try something new out—

They’re brother and sister, both 17. I wanted to play around with the concept of multiple Yuus in Twisted Wonderland at the same time. Twins because they are supposed to be “a mirror image” of the other.

The theme these two would explore is gender, particularly expectations vs reality.

They come from an old money family; each twin has very traditionally gendered expectations placed on them but their secret is they swap places and pretend to be the other twin so as to get out of their own responsibilities, as the girl is tomboyish and the boy is more feminine.

They continue this act in Twisted Wonderland in order to "protect" one another, but their relationship becomes strained with each OB. For example, the male twin would become increasing protective, feeling like it is his responsibility to keep his sister safe. This would earn him his sister's ire since he never smothered her before. The twins would eventually reconcile and come to reach a middle ground regarding one another's expression of their gender and how that informs their behavior toward one another.

In another variation, only the male-presenting twin would be isekai'd to Twisted Wonderland. It would later be revealed that "he" is actually a "she". The explanation that she provides for acting masculine is to rebel against the expectations of her family (who had arranged a marriage for her prior to her being isekai'd).

... But then there's ANOTHER twist 🤡 and it turns out that her "masculine self" closely resembles her actual twin brother (who is now deceased). The idea is that she partly acts this way as a trauma response and relies a lot on "speaking" with her brother for advice on how to move forward in Twisted Wonderland. Like, she has pretend conversations with him in her head.

Her character arc would have been centered around detaching herself from the expectations placed on her, as well as learning to let her brother go and become her own person.

ASDSBDABSDOSA I feel like Miss Raven would be so confused trying to keep track of the twins and/or the single twin's dramatic backstory. She'd be pretty cordial with them though! Maybe even tries to counsel them when they're fighting or closed off from others.

Yuu 5: Ara Ara Onee-san Yuu (WIP name is Sumire -> Suu -> her variation of “Yuu”, lol)

The best designed one, probably.

The only one with a proper name, too :v

She's 18 and female!

Started off as a joke between me and a friend. We were talking about how we think many of the first year students would be into "onee-san" types.

As you may or may not be able to tell by the design, she's meant to be a caring big sister character. Sweet, patient, and motherly. Even gardens and bakes! The type you know you can always go to when you need advice or comforting.

YEAH I GAVE HER DEAD ANIME MOM HAIR, SO WHAT???? The bangs swooping over one side of her face gives her sort of a mysterious air!

She looks very kind (and that's because she is), but she is also very air-headed. Like she'll pick up a worm and hold it in your face and ask you if you think it's cute.

Has a secret sadistic side. Not malicious and won't go out of her way to cause problems, but she'll gush about how she thinks you being frustrated or struggling with a task is "cute".

The arc Sumire would go on is one revolving around her status as the "older sister" of the group and finding a "pure" way of loving her friends. There's nothing wrong with having that role, but her issue is that she relies on it to be her personality and often gives away too much of herself at the cost of her own mental and emotional wellbeing.

It's like... codependency. She loves you because (whether she knows it or not) she NEEDS validation from others. And because she wants that validation so much, she forces herself to be someone she's not at her core. Someone agreeable and sweet. That becomes very taxing for her.

If she feels as though someone is going to leave her, she'll either love bomb or have a mental breakdown in private. TO BE CLEAR, this is not healthy behavior and she's supposed to grow out of this obsessiveness over the course of the main story.

By that logic, she's more manipulative and selfish than she seems at a glance. I guess you could describe her true personality as being yandere or even menhara?? But she usually masks it well.

Miss Raven has a history of falling for pretty smiles, so I think she'd also be a victim of this one. She would look up to Sumire as like "the peak lady" and the big sis she's always wanted. REALLY feeding into her secret ego there, Miss Raven... and Sumire, being herself, would just giggle and pat her on the head to keep that toxic relationship going.

[sinnabarmoth]

The LI's Sisters

I had this idea for a headcanon and can't stop thinking about it! If the LIs had a sister how would that sister interact with MC/you? I also came up with names for all of them just because I could!

Zayne: Zayne has a younger sister by about 2 years named Eviana who is just polar opposite of Zayne. Where he's sorta quiet and serious all the time Eviana is loud and high energy. You met Zayne and Eviana at the same time when you were kids. Eviana immediately called dibs on you as her best friend and would not let Zayne hang out with you two and whenever you did hang out with Zayne she was constantly blocking him from you. Then they moved away and you didn't see them again until you were adults. Eviana was the first to reach out and you got reacquainted with Zayne sorta through her and shortly after started dating him which kind annoyed Eviana. But in that way that your friend says she thinks your brother is hot and you look at him and see just an annoying creature.

"You're in love with my brother?"

"Yes."

"Really?

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"She's sure, Evi."

"No one's talking to you, best friend stealer!"

Xavier: Xavier and his sister are actually twins, his sister's name is Izarra. Now you met Izarra way before you met Xavier. You two went to the same university and met in class, became quick friends, you were also co-workers at this part time job at a little on campus cafe. She's a lot more bubbly and extroverted compared to Xavier. You knew that Izarra had a twin brother but you didn't really ever see pictures of him so you didn't know what he would look like outside of being a male version of Izarra. So when you met Xavier and started dating it wasn't until Izarra was trying to make birthday plans with you that you realized the boyfriend you had been telling her about is also her twin brother.

"What do you think of going to a club for my birthday?"

"Sounds fun! Wait, your birthday is the 16th, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Dang it. That's my boyfriend's birthday too!"

"You're kidding. You know I've never actually met this super hot boyfriend of yours now that I think about it."

"Oh right, here's a picture of him. His name is Xavier."

"...that's my brother."

"What?!"

Rafayel: Rafayel has an older sister named Damita who is a lot like him, has a lot of sass to her, a bit dramatic, but is more mature in that way being the eldest sibling/sister makes you. You met Damita before Rafayel when she stepped in to scare off a creepy guy hitting on you at the bar. Damita actually introduced you to Rafayel because she thought you two would get along really well. Despite introducing you two and being happy that you are dating she likes ragging on Rafayel and finds it hilarious when she ends up cockblocking him.

"Dame! You cannot keep barging into my house whenever you want!"

"Oh? Because you're busy making your masterpieces or because you might be fucking?"

"Both!"

"Hey, be nice to your big sister."

"She is only 14 months older than me! We are practically the same age!"

"And yet the only way you got a girlfriend is because of me."

"I'm gonna come to your house in the middle of the night and steal your wi-fi router and all your towels. I swear to god I will do it!"

"For fuck's sake..."

Sylus: Sylus has an older sister that is like 5 or more years older than him named Juno. Juno is 5' 11" naturally but 6' 4" when in stilettos, basically a carbon copy of Sylus personality wise with a resting bitch face that is absolutely terrifying. You didn't even know Sylus had a sister until he was lying in bed with you and he got a text from his sister telling him she was dropping by for a visit. Honestly, that is the only time you saw Sylus get close to scared. Juno adores you, spoils you when she stops by for visits, even flirts with you and you're not sure if she's joking or legitimately trying to steal you from Sylus.

"This shade of lipstick is absolutely perfect on you, my darling. Makes it hard to resist such pretty lips."

"Thanks for buying it for me. I normally wouldn't pay that much for a single tube of lipstick--"

"Think nothing of it. A beautiful girl like you deserves to splurge. I mean, when was the last time you went bra shopping? I bet you're long overdue and I could come with--"

"Juno, stop hitting on my girlfriend right in front of me."

"I'm just offering to take her shopping. No need to be so defensive." leans in closer to you, "But if you ever do decide my baby brother isn't doing it for you--"

"Juno! Knock it off!"

[ecoterrorist-katara]

You mentioned that your first ship was percabeth what did you like about it? I'm just rereading the books since I havent read it in over a decade and Im surprised how well it still holds up with the friends to lovers. Personally I feel like it did the subtle lines between platonic and romantic and how with each book the lines got blurred. I feel like with FTL its actually really hard to write organically because its hard to write that change from platonic to romantic without one side seeming like they are almost being convinced into it (usually the girls side).

hello anon!! Sorry it took me SO long to get to your ingenious ask. I was like "hmm haven't read PJO since I was thirteen, time for a re-read" and I just kept...getting sidetracked.

Even as an ETL enjoyer myself, I subconsciously took it for granted that enemies-to-lovers is inherently more toxic in comparison to friends-to-lovers. You're absolutely right, though, that FTL comes with its own set of baggage. For whatever reason, I've never extrapolated that baggage to the trope as a whole.

One of the critiques I often see of ETL is that F/M ETL reproduces heteronormative gender roles and power dynamics*. That’s true, but that's a risk in FTL too, like you said. "Guy falls for girl and pressures her to return his feelings" is very much a gendered dynamic. The friendzone is, by definition, unique to FTL ships, and there are many many well-known examples where a male character pressures his female friend to return his feelings and makes her uncomfortable: Gale and Katniss, Bella and Jacob, Katara and Aang, etc. To be clear, I absolutely don't mind if one party falls first in an FTL dynamic, but how that person conducts themselves makes all the difference. (I also don't think it's a coincidence that in the examples I listed, the only character to end up with the girl they liked was Aang...who was also the only character written by men.)

Also, this is a side note, but I think it's pretty funny that people think friends-to-lovers is inherently wholesome? Have we forgotten that Heathcliff and Cathy is a classic case of childhood friends-to-lovers? Less dramatically, I'm very partial to versions of Wolfstar where Sirius and Remus are both huge messes as a result of trauma/war etc and say mean things to each other.

Anyway...onto Percabeth. I loved Percabeth for the same reasons you do: I thought the slow burn was impeccably organic. I also loved the mutual pining. Even though the book was from Percy's POV, it was very obvious to me that Annabeth liked him, possibly even before he recognized his own feelings. The mutual devotion in their friendship felt really special to me and I never felt like romantic interest will jeopardize the friendship. Fundamentally, my favourite friends-to-lovers romances have this kind of dynamic: it’s fine if they don’t get together because their friendship can survive anything, but of course they will -- it's obvious to everyone!

A gradual slow burn friends-to-lovers is catnip to me, whether in original fiction or fanfic. I want to be salivating for the mutual confession! I want to feel the yearning! I want to giggle in a very high-pitched fashion and scream when they get it wrong! Some of my favourite fics, even in ETL ships, are actually FTL. My favourite Dramione fic of all time is Lionheart. As for Zutara, basically all post-canon fics are FTL: refraction, Katara Alone, The Horizon, Another Word for Alchemy, Half Asleep, etc. FTL is hard to write, but when it's done well? Chef's kiss. Delicious.

A lot of Ka/taang vs. Zutara discourse tends to fall along "do you prefer FTL or ETL," with the conclusion that if you prefer FTL you'll like Ka/taang...but it's precisely because I'm an FTL enthusiast that I don't like KA! I think it was written poorly! It stumbles right into the exact pitfalls of FTL you identified, and there are so many better FTL romances out there that don't rely on pressure as a source of conflict/drama.

Anyway: anon you've made me think a lot, and I'm very grateful! Big hug to you.

*Footnote: obligatory disclaimer that fiction is fiction and people can ship whatever dynamic they like.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/753405110589259776/note-spoilers-on-this-ask-for-anyone-who-hasnt

I’m this anon, and using your anon box to reply to a bad take in the reblogs of it lol.

1. aO3 treats the show and book series as separate fandoms for Bridgerton. My friend’s genderbend fic though is based on the books — thought I made that clear here. And yes book fans were being genuinely homophobic in her comments, not just her interpreting them not shipping it as “homophobia.” It was full of “get out of OUR tag” and claiming just writing a female character in a male version or shipping her male love interest with a guy was “misogyny,” exactly as I said. It’s a huge problem in the fandom. The main Reddit sub is so full of homophobia that queer fans had to spin out a separate inclusive sub called r/bridgertonlgbt. I’ve heard of people on TikTok being called “bourgeois degenerate” and “groomer” just for questioning why it’s supposedly such a dramatic and horrible change to make Michael into Michaela in the show.

2. Can we finally fucking retire the really tired, knee jerk “book is always better” attitude that has never been universally true anyway lol. The books Bridgerton are based on are pretty middling het histrom that repeat plots so much between them that that’s one of the big changes the show has had to make — just not have seasons 1 and 2 follow the same plot beats like books 1 and 2 did. The show has had to make a lot of changes just because it has a bigger audience than your average het histrom reader and while I haven’t loved every shift, it is overall better for it. Or just like, focusing on more than just each season’s main couple like the books only do — also better! The subplots are some of the most fun parts of that show, but also, it makes sense that people are going to continue to want to follow their favs from season to season and not just zero in on each couple. Yes I’ve read all the books. They simply are just not that great, TV is a different medium than books anyway and so certain changes are necessary, and frankly most of the loudest parts of the “book fandom” online who complain about the changes are people who read the books because of the show anyway. They’re all wildly inconsistent in what they consider acceptable changes: they’re largely on board with making the universally white books more racially diverse, but not adding queerness and gender diversity. Why is one ok but not another? Especially when a lot of them are ok with sad or bittersweet queer stories in subplots like Brimsley’s but not happy stories for main characters. Why is that, I wonder? A lot of people are pretending to be “book snobs” as a mask for bigotry, or just have bad taste, but regardless I think we need to get over the idea that stalwart defense of some mediocre and overly tropey romance novels is more elevated or intellectual and like the show isn’t an improvement in being less lazy about the cliches of that genre than the original author. (Seriously, I read a lot of romance novels, so this is not a knock on the genre as a whole or its readers — but the Bridgerton books are SO lazy and SO repetitive. Honestly I think a lot of the book defenders need to read more histrom themselves. Then maybe they’d see how weak and lazy those books can be compared to what else is out there.)

Fandom please learn basic things about how adaptation between different mediums works 2k24 also stop assuming that consuming a story in text form over another is an inherently intellectual activity

--

A pretentious friend of mine who loves Shonda Rhimes was going on at me a while ago about how she ~always reads the book first~ and then waiting for applause as if that's unusual!

She then tried to launch into how shocked she was by the books being... well, lowbrow trash, but she had some complex and boring way of explaining this.

I was like "Honey, you do know what a regency romance novel is, right? Right?!"

I mean, there are adaptations that are nearly exactly like the middle tier of romance novels. They're movie length and they air on Lifetime. This was a change not only of medium but of overall target audience and vibe.

[idialover]

!!NSFW!!!

My friends and I have a tradition of playing "does this character have sex" whenever we get into a new piece of media, because we always enjoy everything together, and today we spent a few hours discussing TWST charactrs. They found out that I now have a Tumblr blog and told me I should "post our very scientific findings for the interwebs" (Note that we are all between the ages of 16-17, so in the same age group as the characters)

Heartslabyul (general judgement): The virgin one

Riddle: no, and he somehow doesn't even know what sex is. You'd think he'd know with how much he studies about everything you learn in school, so even sex-ed but no, he doesn't know

Ace: gray area, no bitches respectfully, except maybe Deuce, but we couldn't agree on that, he would treat it as "it's just a prank bro, no homo"

Deuce: yeah, sure, I mean he's pretty okay looking, not often tho

Cater: he seems like he'd be a dicord kitten or an insta-thot, he tries but doesn't really succeed, maybe once or twice.

Trey: no, because he actually wears a fedora, unironically. "he's as bland as the flour he uses in his cakes"-my friend#2

Savanaclaw (general judgement): Gahdayumm!!

Leona: YES! absoulutley 100% just look at him, but he'd be one of those lazy tops, is very casual about it, there isn't a lot to say because it's just so obvious that he is 100% a sex haver

Ruggie: Hard to say, he has an Italian souding name so maybe no, he hasn't yet discovered that he can earn quite a lot of money that way, or maybe he has (we couldn't agree on this)

Jack: gay wolf boyfirend fantasy so yes, big buff man go brrrr

Octavinelle (general judgement): ehhhh, fish go brrr

Azul: this was a very hard one to decide but in the end no, no real reason just doesn't seem like he would have it, he's on that alpha buisness grindset

Jade: Yes becazse friend#1 said so (she's a strong Jade stan) and everyone decided to let her have this one, but everybody else generally thinks he is Asexual (friend#1 is also ace)

Floyd: yes, he is bisexual in wicked and scheming ways and everybody is aware of that. Chaos bi, him and Jade are two side of a coin, all or nothing. He flirts by messing with people, mostly Riddle but as I've already said Riddle has no idea what's going on and just thinks Floyd has it out for him

Scarabia (general judgement): This was the hardest one to discuss

Kalim: He is very lovable, but no, for unknown reasons, boy has 0 rizz

Jamil: yeah, ig, normal 17 year old guy, he isn't basic like Trey, but he just doesn't have time because of Kalim

Pomefiore (general judgement): slayyy!

Vil: Yes, and his standards are surprisingly not as high as you'd think, we got very heated about how people often mischaracterize him as a very vain but he just wants people to be themselves and best version of themselves. Good for cardio

Rook: yes, in freaky kinky ways (see Rook alchemy card) he sometimes has touble finding people who are into the same stuff as him

Epel: no, beacause he is an "alpha male" in the worst ways possible

Ignihyde (General judgement): you'd think they be reddit mods, but they actually tumblr sexymen

Idia: yes, he has that disheveled rizz, the more they look like they haven't left the house since 2015 the better. We stan broken men in this household(blog), only on halloween tho that's when his confidence get's a bit better and he becomes and active member of society

Ortho: he is a robot based on a young child! NO!

Diasomnia (General judgement): oooh spooky~~

Malleus: yeah sure

Silver: gray are (they demanded I make that pun, pls forgive me)

Lillia: He is the most slay character, an old vampire/fae obviously yes. He has a lot of experience, best sex haver he's so amazing, Lillia for the win

Sebek: no

Staff (general judgement): a very mixed bag

Crowley: someone somwhere slept with him, he is kinda usless but he gets laid, look at his vacation outfit

Crewel: Definetly, high standards but he is correct, he gets to have high standards, he is the perfect man, not a DILF but also not not one

Trein: yes, loyal to his wife (rip tho), good husband 10/10 would trust him, good man

Vargas: Yeah, he's a typical good looking guy, he has never had a long term relationship but he doesn't want one

Sam: We debated for a long time and decided that yes he does have sex

[offbeat-manga-ships]

this is a weird sort of thing to say but i am like. so deeply appreciative your blog isn't mostly m/m stuff. bc like you i don't have a lot of interest in m/m (for me though this is mostly because i love women So Much my brain sort of shuts off if the story doesn't have women in it, i basically never enjoy a story that lacks women) and a lot of other blogs or accounts i've seen of this time tend to skew heavily with yaoi works bc. well a lot more yaoi works get the "freedom" to be "grosser", messier, less saccharine bc people are a lot more cagey about what girls get to do in fiction across the board..... i really really am so grateful you've got so many recommendations for series that are more to my taste in general and tend to feature a lot of messy and interesting women! not to say that's like Why You Do It, but it's a really refreshing thing since almost every time I go to hunt something fucky down it's m/m. the sheer volume of m/m overwhelms other series but you're bringing those ones into view and i've found a lot of really interesting series thanks to how you run things around here so thank you so much......

ANON!!!! IT'S A SUCH A PLEASURE TO RECEIVE A MESSAGE LIKE THIS!!! because i don't know if you guys know, and to be honest i don't remember if i deleted that part to make it easier to read or not, but i'm pretty sure that in the first iterations of my pinned post i went a little bit into why M/M is not my thing. i am exactly in the same boat of having ALWAYS been more into female characters than everyone around me. my mother has always teased me for it, my friends have always had varying degrees of "huh that's curious" to "weeell i don't care. how about that male character instead?" i was the person defending sansa stark and loving cersei lannister. i was lowkey in love with sharpay while pretending i didn't care about her, my favorite character from percy jackson was and still is annabeth chase, i loved sakura haruno and rukia kuchiki the most, i fucking HATED when anyone said anything bad about leia organa in star wars and it just became a pattern throughout my life that i would come to fiercly love female characters.

i mentioned before how i started watching shoujo when i got the 12 yo version of Being Serious about anime, but i also need to give credit to getting female friends in middle school and even more in high school with whom i talked about romance manga (some also real BL enthusiasts, but they still read some of what i read. honestly, i think it always came a surprise to them how much i liked some stuff the anime fans in general tended to turn their nose up to). 

and i literally won't ever forget when my friend gabrielle showed me the pride and prejudice movie in 9th grade i think and i honest to god had no idea i could love something so overtly aimed at women that much. like, sure i've been casually watching cartoons aimed at girls (if you didn't have cable tv, you watched the cartoons open tv made available to you in the saturday mornings. and yeah i watched and enjoyed totally spies and powerpuff girls and thought kim possible was really cool, but my bread and butter was still ben 10, naruto, jake long, static shock etc. it wasn't just me in the house though. every relative i had at that point from mom to aunties to grandma and cousins: all of them women. we had plenty of girl movies and all of us got together to watch melodramatic soap operas in the evening).

but anyway my point is that i really opened up my personal media consumption after feeling such love for this "chick lit" movie (which of course is actually a great and important piece of western literature which became one of my favorite books not only because i'm still in love with lizzy bennet to this day but also because it's so SO DAMN FUNNY. i laugh out every time i re-read it.) i started watching romantic comedies, i watched series like pretty little liars and whatever seemed to have a bunch of girls in the cover lol and yes, i started reading even more romance manga. even with my 12 yo shoujo watching, i still wasn't fully into those shows. i really liked some of the protagonists (much love to misaki ayuzawa, nanami momozono, haruhi fujioka and risa koizumi but i also could not be fully into whatever was transpiring between such cool girls and those guys LOL). but it was because of the influence of my girl friends and exchanging ideas about what manga to read that i fully found my place in smaller niche romance manga with odd couples and interesting women. 

and it's not like i'm not capable of enjoying media with a lot of guys in it, so i'm a little bit different from you in that regard. i have plenty of favorite male characters and one of my favorite movies ever is master and commander: the far side of the world and that has not a single woman in sight except in one picture and one 5 second shot 💀 obviously, it's not my only favorite movie (they're mostly dominated by women too). as a bi person, of course some men catch my eye once in a while and it's true that sometimes (though it's rare) it's a m/m couple that gets my main attention in a random piece of media. and that's because i'm not like a person with any agenda. i'm fully and wholeheartedly following my instincts (basically a somewhat lighter version of you. my brain also kinda shuts off when it's all the same old Men At The Forefront business and i have to work towards trying to care lol) and it just so happens that i think girls are fucking cool. i don't know if i've said that already, but the main reason i decided to stick with tumblr even though i didn't initially get the appeal of it was because i could find a lot of lesbians here LOL and true, some of them were fujoshi but a lot of them honest to god liked female characters and saw their appeal as i saw them.

and just to wrap this up, i want to clarify that me clearly having an involuntary preference for female characters was not one of the reasons i laid down on that other post when i said why i wasn't as drawn to m/m but it was basically just because i was trying to list reasons that had to do with what m/m had to offer me and not just what it lacks. i sincerely try to approach any story with an open mind and an open heart and i have done that many times even though i realized soon enough that seeing those trope-filled romantic scenarios between manga boys is just really not for me. if you're curious about the type of m/m i like, it's basically the unexpected kind in random non-lgbt media with (probably) tortured men in it and a severe lack of women and it always has been. which is why going after specific m/m media doesn't appeal to me as much (though i can still enjoy it. i really really loved watching the interview with the vampire show for example and even though i didn't like louis/lestat — as i hadn't liked then watching the movie years ago —, i still loved the characters and enjoy a few other m/m pair possibilities).

i'm sorry i went on this whole thing with this many words, but i just want to say, not only do i see you anon, i am you!!! if this blog is for anyone, you are at around the top of the list of people i wished to reach and knowing i could help and connect with someone else who feels the same way i do is such a warm and priceless gift. i understand your frustrations of female characters being more limited very well. not only because i love them, but i abhor any injustice since i was 3 apples tall and that has bothered me since the first signs of the development of my critical thinking skills. but ultimately i also can't help but love manga and i want to find the gems and celebrate varied, complex, weird or even toxic female characters and their messy relationships as much as i can.

[m4sonn]

ℐ 𝒹ℴ𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃ℴ𝓌 𝒽ℴ𝓌 𝓰𝓸𝓭 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓈 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓰𝓸𝓭, 𝒹ℴ 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓁ℴ𝓋ℯ 𝓂ℯ？

⚣———————————————————————⚣

⚣———————————————————————⚣

𝐽𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑠𝑡

𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦

𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑢𝑚𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦

𝑆𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡(𝑠?)

𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓／𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒, 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑

𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝙽𝙾𝚆 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 － 𝑀𝑐𝑐𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚

⚣———————————————————————⚣

I’ve been known for basically half my life to be someone who slept around a lot, my friends joke about me having been with every girl in Tulsa. I don’t take it to heart though because it’s true, I do sleep around a lot, I admit it. I was raised in a church, one that when anyone differentiated from their perfect little stereotypes they’d be shamed and belittled. Honestly, I couldn’t really care less until I was singled out for my particularly sharp teeth and ears. They said I was a spawn of Satan, I leaned into it. I mean, it was soon debunked but still.

Even though I’m no where close to religious now it still lingers in my mind. Materializing in little whispers in my ears and thoughts in the back of my mind. It’s weird, I mean, I swear I hear it. All the time. It’s like it’s fucking haunting me. Usually, when I feel guilty I just find another girl to screw and make the thoughts go away for a bit. It hurts. It hurts my head. I want the thoughts to go away. Maybe if I wasn’t sinful they would go away

Every time I look in the mirror I remind myself more of her. I can’t look in the mirror without being haunted by her image. I can’t remember anything about her until I’m seeing her in me. I was always called her little mini, her clone, the male version of her. I can’t. I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it. My mother, a crazy religious freak and a hypocritical narcissist.

She was hyper religious and was always lecturing people for their unholy actions but when I was younger she’d kick me out of the house for hours so she could invite guys over. I guess I take after her, yknow, I’m a whore too. The only difference between us in appearance was my ears and my sharp teeth, I got those from my father. He died when I was young, I miss him. He was much better than my mom. At least I think. I can’t remember much about him, my brain blocks out most of my childhood because it was so bad I guess. I don’t remember much about my father but I remember the feeling I got when I was around him. I felt warm, happy, and I do remember that he would take me places, even though we didn’t have much money.

⚣———————————————————————⚣

Passionate nights together have been ruined because of me, sure I like Johnny and I want to be with him but I can’t stand the feeling of touching a man. I want that sexual relationship with him, I want a romantic one too but I can’t help but run when I get too close. I can’t stand it. Sure we’ve had hazy fucked up drunken nights where we’d grapple around and feel each other in the room that buck lends me but none of those nights are passionate. They feel like every other hookup I’ve had, just for some quick release.

“Dallas what’s wrong.”

He had never called me Dallas before.

“What…?”

“You say you love me, you say this and that but you only ever show me any affection when you’re drunk. What is wrong.”

“I-“

“And none of your bullshit either, you dick. I don’t want excuses.”

I hesitated for a minute. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t wanna tell him about that whole religious shit, it would make me look weak. But at the same time I felt like I needed to justify everything. I just… I don’t know… I unloaded everything for the past 17 years onto Johnny. He just listened. We were silent after that. Pure silence.

I thought I did something wrong. I just sat there silently. I mean, I went a lot more in depth with him than I did here. I talked a lot more in depth about what my mom used to do to me and what happened at the church. Maybe I said too much. Maybe he thinks I’m not a man anymore, maybe he thinks I’m not masculine anymore. But to my surprise he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t know this ha-“

“It’s ok. It’s not your fault so don’t apologize. I don’t want pity.”

It came out more rude than I intended, more of a snap than anything.

“Ok… uhm… I….”

He didn’t seem to know what to do, he looked over to me and he hugged me. I froze up and just stared before gently placing one hand on his back to reciprocate his affection.

“How about we go to the drive ins…? Yknow… de stress a bit…?”

“Yeah… uhm… that sounds good.. I’ll ask buck to borrow his car..”

“Huh? We always just sneak in?”

“I don’t know… I just… Don’t wanna have to be near other people right now..”

“Ok.. I’ll pay for our tickets”

“No, no, I’ve got it, you shouldn’t have to waste your money on me..”

I asked buck, he said yes, and we went. We were quiet for the first part but eventually we went back to normal. I was a bit more comfortable with him after that, yknow, as a couple. I don’t know why. But it felt good to be able to be with him without any shame. Well… with less shame. It wasn’t completely gone but it was better. We still didn’t come out to the gang for years, though.

⚣———————————————————————⚣

Bonus:

Jan. 27, 2014

“Hey Dally, Pony found this new book called the goldfinch, he wants me to read it. Says it’s good, wanna read it with me?”

“Not really, I don’t read, but I’ll sit with you while you do.”

(Can be interpreted as either their future or modern AU)

⚣———————————————————————⚣

[wheneclipsefalls]

For that Spider and Ma Neteyam thing, actually gonna write it down because why not.

1 version

Kxolo is out, he was reluctant to go on a hunt party when Spider, one of Neteyam closes friends was there.

He made sure the two wouldn't leave the marui, leaving some warriors who were on rest that day look at the two.

Without making it obvious by making those stand outside the marui, he just told them "make sure no one goes outside"

Spider and Neteyam couldn't bother less, they just wanted to catch up on the other, even tho Neteyam really wanted to make Spider have a tour of the clan.

But even Spider was on Kxolo side, and kept telling the younger how they would have go once the hunt finished.

Spider and Neteyam were playing when it happen, Neteyam went into heat meanwhile they were playing wrestling.

Spider panicked not knowing what to do, in the past it happened for Neteyam to go into heat meanwhile they were togheter, but fortunately his heats were really short and they always had someone else with them.

But now he was alone.

"Stay here, i- i go call for help" Spider said leaving the marui

Neteyam told him about this omega girl he became friends with.

But before Spider could take distance from the marui, he was stopped by some older warriors.

Who hissed and snapped at him, Spider was educated to always respects elders, this didn't mean he didn't try to run when a knife was pointed at him.

"Go back into the marui, demon" one snarled at him

"I-i will just help, call the olo’eyktan, Neteyam is in heat a strong one too"

The elders looked at eachother before laughing "Yeah and you think we take this as an excuse? Go.Back." this was definitely the last warning and reluctantly Spider went back.

He found Neteyam even hotter and desperate then when he left him.

It hurted Spider to see his best friend in that state, it looked like it hurted in a painful way.

"The-they didn't belive me when i told them about you" Spider said, he felt ashamed that in the back of his mind - a primate part of it - found this hot, and this made his length awake.

"Help, i beg you, Spider help" Neteyam could only say

"No, i-i can't im not your mate" Spider said but even tho he came closer to the other, carresing his legs for any kind of support and comfort.

Neteyam saw it differently, and he whimpered against the touch, without warning he came on top of Spider pinning the older down easily.

Before Spider could even realise what was happening, he and Neteyam were kissing (he had to take the mask back every minutes but worth it) and Neteyam was milking Spider out.

After a few minutes of Neteyam riding Spider, Kxolo came back.

He watched for a few moments before his instinct came in.

It was a screaming match between all of them three.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

"I am in heat, you weren't there" said Neteyam still going on with pleasuring himself using Spider a toy basically.

"Why didn't you call me?!"

"I tri- fuck, i tried but they almost stabbed me" Spider said with a grunt " 'Teyam you going to break my hips in this way"

"You shut up before i kill you" Kxolo hissed and the blonde

Which was responded with a grunt "Uh yeah? After I'm done fucking your mate"

"That it your dea-"

"Can you guys shut the fuck up" Neteyam screamed stopping his movements too.

Both the other mans stopped and looked at the thin male that was still on top of Spider.

"What did you say, baby boy?" Kxolo asked taking firm grip of Neteyam queue

"You can't talk to us like that bro" Spider said with a hiss, spanking Neteyam ass which let the man moan.

Kxolo and Spider shared a look, which made Kxolo sight in agreement.

Then they started doing it

Version 2

Same dynamic, Kxolo is out hunting and Spider and Neteyam are left alone.

Only that Spider is the one going into heat (in the other humans had only one gender, in this both humans and na'vi have a second gender)

Spider went into heat, which made Neteyam panic.

Spider never got into heat meanwhile they were togheter, plus Spider didn't have a mate to help him in this moments of pain.

"I'm gonna ask for someone help, wait here" Neteyam said trying to re assure him, but Spider wasn't pleased with the idea of a random alpha doing it with him.

Still Neteyam didn't listen to him.

"Guys help, my friend just got into heat an-"

The responds wasnt positive; there were younger alphas who just hitted puberty that drooled at the only idea of a so tiny omega but they were to young, there were alphas that were sure humans didn't have heats and then there were the ones who didn't want to with a "demon".

Neteyam came back into the marui, only to find Spider cry in pain.

He took matters in his hands, and started pleasing Spider in every way that Kxolo pleased him.

Kxolo came in the marui finding Neteyam eating out Spider.

"Fuck Spider you taste so so good" he moaned

Kxolo had to admit it, seeing two omegas together and one of them being his mate wasn't really a thing he thought would turn him on so quickly.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He asked suppressing his feelings for a moment.

Neteyam was scared for a good second before saying "he went into heat, a powerful one and no alphas wanted to please him, i couldn't watch him soffer"

Kxolo's eyes went to watch the blonde, who was painting and twisting under Neteyam, they're eyes locked and Spider silently begged Kxolo to end his pains.

Kxolo sighted before coming closer to the other two, petting Neteyam on the head "such a good boy you are ' Teyam, so thoughtful of you wanting to help your friend." Neteyam leaned into the touch.

"And you, oh you poor little thing, want my help?" Spider nodded vigorously

Kxolo smirked, this was gonna be a lonnggg day indeed.

-

Okay done, what do you think? What do you prefer?

Wow...I am literally rendered speechless 😦

The fact that you basically just wrote fanfiction based off of my story🤯 I'm blushing so hard!☺🥰 I also went into this thinking it would be just a cute little thing and then I was knocked off my feet with smut😂😁 You are amazing babe

Both of these are so interesting but I tend to lean towards the first one since I can imagine Kxolo's angry reaction clearly in that one. Plus Neteyam in heat is always a weak spot for me💛

Its going to take me a while to recover from this! Thank you for taking the time to write so much for me😘😘 You amaze me, love💕

[meissaiph]

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

nnnnnnnno, but kind of! so funny story.

if you knew me on here like 5 years ago, you might know I have an OC named Tesla (love that guy). so. Tesla's name/personality and Orion's basic physical design come from the same OC I made in high school lmfao. (new Tesla's appearance is 100% straight up based off my irl best friend)

but

some time like 2 years ago, I did these 2 Doodles.

the first one (left) was just sketching and seeing where it took me, when I remembered the half up poofy pony top knot I'd given Tesla's original original design, a thousand years ago. I gave them the name Orion and had this whole idea for them to be one of Lucifer's generals displaced when Demi defeated him and united Hell and Faerie.

but then that story kind of faded, I never quite got into generation 3 the hbo sequel sequel of that story,,,, maybe some day I'll do the netflix reboot version or something but.

for a very long time Orion was just a very dope name and a half decent design on my fridge. I have a good feeling about this version, though. "The Hunter" makes sense in this context, and I have a decent idea of a backstory for them. the only thing I've changed about those doodles and this Iteration is that I've made them heavily female-coded instead of male, and they've got a brown suede jacket now

[storkmuffin]

Reading your thoughts on queerness, fan service and emasculation, lemme just say that kpop idols could be the straightest people to walk this earth, but they'd still get shipped in a same sex pairing. All it takes is a look, a glance, a brush of hands between members for a new ship to be birthed. They really don't have to lift a finger but I guess they wanna bank that parasocial content so they give us a lil something to work with 😏

As an international fan, the emasculation of idols is something I reflect on. I mean, I'm a staytiny with a Han bias so I've watched a LOT of video edits with 'Han is a babygirl'. At first, it seemed amusing, then it became utterly relentless messaging and a statement of fact.

Han is a young Korean man; I don't know how he'd feel seeing endless babygirl videos of himself. To me, it's no coincidence that he's started working out, bulked up a bit and got tattoos.

This all reminds me of a visual gag where Lisa Simpson is reading a copy of Non-Threatening Boys magazine 😄 Kpop idols fit the mould in that respect! It's probably why San gets told off for not smiling enough.

Oh friend you win at nuance!! Thanks for sending this note. A couple things:

Shipping canon straight fictional men has existed since Star Trek the OG version, and there's a long tradition of that in the West. As an enthusiastic and unironic Riverdale fan, I had a wonderful time during the pandemic making friends with tumblrinas who got me into shipping two characters on that show that maybe have like, I dunno, five actual encounters, none of them in any way explicitly romantic in a seven seasons x 20 episodes show. So yeah. The urge to ship is actually superfun and delightful and unstoppable. Agreed.

동방신기 재중 (TVXQ Hero Jaejoong) who as a 2nd generation Idol (debut was 2003!!) has made some elder-statesman type statements about the Life of Idols. He said that there comes a point in every male Idol's life, at around 25 or 26, that he thinks to himself, But I'm a grown man, actually! and they do stuff like bulk up, show themselves to fans without being clean shaven, and do more 'radical' (well, for his generation of Idol) things like get piercings and tattoos, as a way to 'break out' of the cute, clean, wholesome image they debuted with as teenagers (when most of them debut). I think it's actually similar to female Disney child stars who want to be adult pop stars showing up in tight clothes with their buttocks out when they suddenly change their concept to sex symbol/ grown woman. My point being - it's not just the overseas fans that do this to male Idols.

We also cannot, at all, ignore the horrible impact of Burning Sun, and the suicides of Sully and Goo Hara, all of which happened in one year, in 2019. Taken altogether, there was some noise about how this was really the end of Kpop, the end of Idols, etc because of the filth and chaos. And right after that was the pandemic when the Idol industry, which makes at least 10% and up to 30% of its income from live concerts and events, had to basically go No-Contact and figure out how to survive. I think male Idols are under very powerful directives to just behave like boy scouts, and be unthreatening for as long as possible.

Aaaannndd there's all the other stuff I said, too, which I don't need to repeat. ^^;;

As for Han and the Stray Kids - The image he actually projects is one of sensitivity and fragility, isn't it? That's the impression I have of him. He's of the physical type of Korean guy who is quite common, actually - we have a lot of people who look barely 18 until they're 30, and sometimes beyond. So the impulse to babygirl him is understandable, and at the same time, like you, I assume that at some point (if not already) it's going to get really suffocating for him as he matures both as an adult and an artist, and as an 'elder' in his own industry as they launch new batches of Idols who look up to him and regard the work he's done as being 'classics' and 'standards.'

[viasdreams]

omg via SPEAKING OF CAN I TELL YOU ABOUT MY SITUATIONSHIP????? I'm gonna do it anyways

so basically when the school year started (were in our senior year) we had the first few days online since there was some construction happening at our campus and our coordinator was like "yo!!!!! here's two new kids mm everyone say hi :3" and these two ppl were from another school with the same system like ours and two kids from this school came in our junior year

turris out that one of them was kinda ish bullied at his previous school BY THOSE KIDS and in our glass group chat on Whatsapp they were kinda like making fun of him (????) so my friend group and like privately dm'd him and were like "oh if u want someone to talk to were here!!!!" and they all voted me to send the message 😨

and I was also like of ur bookshelves are cool bos his bookshelves were on display from his webcam and he was like "oh thanks!!!!! they're mostly self help books 😝" HELLO ????? RED FLAG ??????? but I had ignored that unfortunately </3

but yeah no we started talking about our favourite books and all and we were like "oh how about we exchange books when we meet irl in like two weeks" which ended up happening but like. this is where the weird part comes in brace yourself

I randomly brought up Percy Jackson and he was like "omg I love pjo and I was like "same !!!!l one of my childhood friends looked EXACTLY LIKE PERCY 😄 had a crush on him for a while bcs we were in a play together" (which he did btw. Zac if ur reading this pls follow me on insta) and TELL ME WHY THIS MAN GOT JEALOUS OF 10 YEAR OLD 200 ANON FOR LIKING A 5 FOOT GUY WITH BLUE EYES HELLO ???

but yea:/ this man was like weirdly possessive (???) over me (?????) and at one point he was like I only remember six birthdays, my family and u when we had literally only been talking (TALKING) for like three weeks :O my birthday is this week (I'm officially turning legal 😝) so lets see if that's true!!!

BUT THEN HE GOES

"oh yes I have a crush on one of our juniors !!! :D"

HELLO ??????????

but yea its a LONG story that ive told one other person (excluding my irl friends bcs they bear witnessed the entire thing) and even that one person was subject to a 20 minute voice note rant lol

its so funny bcs EVERYONE was like "dude he's like proper crushing on u" and it was to the point where I believed them

but yes thats a very condensed version of the thing :3 ty for listening

-200 anon

OH AND DID I MENTION

this dude would come to the chem lab while I was doing experiments just to keep me company???? Ima very conservative ? idk if that's the right word, i just don't spend time in male company unless they're my family, for cultural and religious reasons) person and so that was just weird bcs I had invited my female friends to keep me company (he wasn't even in the room when I told them to ?????) and he just randomly showed up: O

theres more lore to it but I have my term exams in a WEEK so I should get studying ^3^

oh…yikes

getting jealous of 10 year old u is crazy i fear

he just seems like a desperate weirdo😬 stay away from him!!!

also happy bday !!! <3333 and good luck on ur exams!!

(also r u british 😮)

[smokeybrandcompositions]

Somebody That I Use to Know

I know a guy who got Red-Pilled after his wife cheated on him. It was the second time he was cheated on by a spouse and dude just said f*ck it! Full MAGA afterward. It’s wild to see because I’ve known this due for, like a decade and change. He was never a cat who had any strong opinions one way or the other, and tended to kind of follow behind whichever cat in the room had the strongest male energy, but he was a good dude overall. Kind of a weenie, but not terrible in any way. And then he moved to Idaho, like a lot of other White folks, to get away from “California”. Not California, as in the State, but “California”, the Elitist, Liberal hellscape most ignorant Conservatives seem to have built my home up to in their own mind. It’s a crime to these people that we value intelligence, diversity, and equity. I do not, for the life of me, understand why so many of these Right Wing Cooks, have such a hate boner for California, but that’s something to ponder for a different day. I just read an article going into the Trump plan to take his entire campaign by leaning hard into the gender gap. He is basically courting all of these Manosphere types while, simultaneously, infantilizing women. It’s wild to see. How do you plan to win this election, by telling woman they won’t have to worry about abortion anymore because he’ll make sure you’re all happy? While taking credit for overturning Wade in the same goddamn breath? Who’s that for? The Red-Pilled guy I know.

See, this wasn’t a one-off thing for him. Moving to Idaho set in motions the slow, racist, devolution of someone I once proudly called friend. Now, it’s “I know a guy.” He sends me articles from the New York Post, never Fox News because he knows I don’t even consider that sh*t worthy of rebuttal, but didn’t understand that THAT Post is just the print version of Fox News. We once had an argument over something he read in the Epoch Times. I’ve seen that rag before. It’s the most Ultra Conservative garbage you’ll ever see, but stupid people think that, because it’s printed on newspaper stock and they see their favorite Senator carrying it into the Chambers with them, that it’s legit. The Epoch Times is not legit. It literal Chinese Propaganda. It’s published by the same cult that puts on those Shen Wu shows or whatever. They are so radical and violent, China kicked them out. I think they own a compound up upper New Jersey and basically bought off every local politician a la Scientology so they can do their weird, abusive, Chinese cult sh*t in peace. But this guy I know thought that was news, that the sh*t printed in that trash was something to actually believe. Like, mans is against Kamala Harris because she hasn’t done anything as Vice President. What the f*ck has ANY Vice President done? He then hit me with the whole Black or Indian nonsense. That was the first time anyone said that sh*t to me and, having been absolutely infatuated with a Blaxican for the better part of two decades, it was plain to me that Harris is both? Like, it was a question for because of how goddamn obvious it was. Not for this guy I know. For him, it was a point of contention, a proper issue. Neither one of us keyed in on the fact that though is she/ain’t she rhetoric is just good old fashion racism. I did, a day or so later, and asked him about it. He never answered. Which leads me to the fact that the guy I know is just plain bigoted now.

Ever since his wife stepped out on him, the guy I know has just been outright malicious. Like, he was always kind of weird about race, most White people are, but he was still pretty cognoscente of how to maneuver within minority spaces. His best friend and first love was a person of color, so he had an understanding of his privilege. Mans moves to Idaho, gets surrounded by ninety-six percent White people with an errant Mexican on occasion and Black folks as rare as f*cking naturally occurring platinum, he he’s about that “Shut up and Dribble” life. Like, WAY back during the whole Black Lives Matter movement, he was one of these assholes that tried to make the disingenuous argument that AL Live Matter. Of course they do, dick, but your White lives aren’t getting gunned down while jogging and choked out but cops in front of the bodega, are they? Nope, my BLACK lives are, and they have been since we were f*cking forced here! The protests are ruining the game of basketball, a league predominately Black and raised in environments identical to those of where George Floyd was killed. Hell, a former NBA player KNOWS Floyd! Stephen Jackson grew up with the guy! But excuse the hell out of us for protesting during your racially muted escapism. Value the Black body but not the Black life. Shut up and dribble, is it? That guy I know dismissed every argument, every point that we, as a culture were making during that summer, because there were riots. Bro, what the f*ck else were we to do? I asked him that, point blank. We’ve been peaceful. We’ve passed legislature. We did the sit-ins and arm-in-arm blockades. What did you respond with? Dogs, hoses, and guns. We pleaded and you beat us. But we aren’t entitled to a tantrum or two every, what? Fifty years? Really?

How do you go from having Black friends to f*cking fighting Critical Race Theory in schools? How can you have a wife, sister, cousin, best friend who has experienced the cruelty of male entitlement, and support Wade being overturned? I have an IQ of one hundred, fifty-four. Less than two percent of the population has an IQ score higher than one hundred and thirty. I’m usually the smartest in the room, wherever I go. I can learn anything, do any job, as long as I have a month or less to process the procedure. My Black ass is brilliant but, according to the guy I know, any job I get is because of DEI. Like, I WORKED with this dude. He knows me. He knows how intelligent I am but, because of the Red-Pill, I’m here to fill a guv’ment quota. How do you just allow yourself to be manipulated by the worst people you know (Republican Politicians and f*cking Andrew Tate types), into dismissing your own firsthand, personal, experiences? How do you let Trump convince you that the Haitians are illegal and eating cats, when the opposite of that is true? When the eaten cat in question magically reappears in the basement of their owner’s house and she admits on TV the story was nonsense? How can you support a blatantly racist bill, laughably performative, trying to make it illegal for the undocumented to vote on threat of government shutdown, when it’ already illegal for them to vote? None of that makes any f*cking sense if you stop and think for just a second but I don’t think that guy I know wants to think anymore. I believe he’s fine with some weird strong man telling how to live. I believe he wants to be that in his own family because he had his masculinity shattered for a second time. I think the Red-Pill is a means for weak men to “take back their power”. And above all, I think that sh*t is gay. Like, legitimately homosexual behavior. How the f*ck do you, as a man, let another man, tell you how to treat women? How to live your life?

[smokeybrand]

Somebody That I Use to Know

I know a guy who got Red-Pilled after his wife cheated on him. It was the second time he was cheated on by a spouse and dude just said f*ck it! Full MAGA afterward. It’s wild to see because I’ve known this due for, like a decade and change. He was never a cat who had any strong opinions one way or the other, and tended to kind of follow behind whichever cat in the room had the strongest male energy, but he was a good dude overall. Kind of a weenie, but not terrible in any way. And then he moved to Idaho, like a lot of other White folks, to get away from “California”. Not California, as in the State, but “California”, the Elitist, Liberal hellscape most ignorant Conservatives seem to have built my home up to in their own mind. It’s a crime to these people that we value intelligence, diversity, and equity. I do not, for the life of me, understand why so many of these Right Wing Cooks, have such a hate boner for California, but that’s something to ponder for a different day. I just read an article going into the Trump plan to take his entire campaign by leaning hard into the gender gap. He is basically courting all of these Manosphere types while, simultaneously, infantilizing women. It’s wild to see. How do you plan to win this election, by telling woman they won’t have to worry about abortion anymore because he’ll make sure you’re all happy? While taking credit for overturning Wade in the same goddamn breath? Who’s that for? The Red-Pilled guy I know.

See, this wasn’t a one-off thing for him. Moving to Idaho set in motions the slow, racist, devolution of someone I once proudly called friend. Now, it’s “I know a guy.” He sends me articles from the New York Post, never Fox News because he knows I don’t even consider that sh*t worthy of rebuttal, but didn’t understand that THAT Post is just the print version of Fox News. We once had an argument over something he read in the Epoch Times. I’ve seen that rag before. It’s the most Ultra Conservative garbage you’ll ever see, but stupid people think that, because it’s printed on newspaper stock and they see their favorite Senator carrying it into the Chambers with them, that it’s legit. The Epoch Times is not legit. It literal Chinese Propaganda. It’s published by the same cult that puts on those Shen Wu shows or whatever. They are so radical and violent, China kicked them out. I think they own a compound up upper New Jersey and basically bought off every local politician a la Scientology so they can do their weird, abusive, Chinese cult sh*t in peace. But this guy I know thought that was news, that the sh*t printed in that trash was something to actually believe. Like, mans is against Kamala Harris because she hasn’t done anything as Vice President. What the f*ck has ANY Vice President done? He then hit me with the whole Black or Indian nonsense. That was the first time anyone said that sh*t to me and, having been absolutely infatuated with a Blaxican for the better part of two decades, it was plain to me that Harris is both? Like, it was a question for because of how goddamn obvious it was. Not for this guy I know. For him, it was a point of contention, a proper issue. Neither one of us keyed in on the fact that though is she/ain’t she rhetoric is just good old fashion racism. I did, a day or so later, and asked him about it. He never answered. Which leads me to the fact that the guy I know is just plain bigoted now.

Ever since his wife stepped out on him, the guy I know has just been outright malicious. Like, he was always kind of weird about race, most White people are, but he was still pretty cognoscente of how to maneuver within minority spaces. His best friend and first love was a person of color, so he had an understanding of his privilege. Mans moves to Idaho, gets surrounded by ninety-six percent White people with an errant Mexican on occasion and Black folks as rare as f*cking naturally occurring platinum, he he’s about that “Shut up and Dribble” life. Like, WAY back during the whole Black Lives Matter movement, he was one of these assholes that tried to make the disingenuous argument that AL Live Matter. Of course they do, dick, but your White lives aren’t getting gunned down while jogging and choked out but cops in front of the bodega, are they? Nope, my BLACK lives are, and they have been since we were f*cking forced here! The protests are ruining the game of basketball, a league predominately Black and raised in environments identical to those of where George Floyd was killed. Hell, a former NBA player KNOWS Floyd! Stephen Jackson grew up with the guy! But excuse the hell out of us for protesting during your racially muted escapism. Value the Black body but not the Black life. Shut up and dribble, is it? That guy I know dismissed every argument, every point that we, as a culture were making during that summer, because there were riots. Bro, what the f*ck else were we to do? I asked him that, point blank. We’ve been peaceful. We’ve passed legislature. We did the sit-ins and arm-in-arm blockades. What did you respond with? Dogs, hoses, and guns. We pleaded and you beat us. But we aren’t entitled to a tantrum or two every, what? Fifty years? Really?

How do you go from having Black friends to f*cking fighting Critical Race Theory in schools? How can you have a wife, sister, cousin, best friend who has experienced the cruelty of male entitlement, and support Wade being overturned? I have an IQ of one hundred, fifty-four. Less than two percent of the population has an IQ score higher than one hundred and thirty. I’m usually the smartest in the room, wherever I go. I can learn anything, do any job, as long as I have a month or less to process the procedure. My Black ass is brilliant but, according to the guy I know, any job I get is because of DEI. Like, I WORKED with this dude. He knows me. He knows how intelligent I am but, because of the Red-Pill, I’m here to fill a guv’ment quota. How do you just allow yourself to be manipulated by the worst people you know (Republican Politicians and f*cking Andrew Tate types), into dismissing your own firsthand, personal, experiences? How do you let Trump convince you that the Haitians are illegal and eating cats, when the opposite of that is true? When the eaten cat in question magically reappears in the basement of their owner’s house and she admits on TV the story was nonsense? How can you support a blatantly racist bill, laughably performative, trying to make it illegal for the undocumented to vote on threat of government shutdown, when it’ already illegal for them to vote? None of that makes any f*cking sense if you stop and think for just a second but I don’t think that guy I know wants to think anymore. I believe he’s fine with some weird strong man telling how to live. I believe he wants to be that in his own family because he had his masculinity shattered for a second time. I think the Red-Pill is a means for weak men to “take back their power”. And above all, I think that sh*t is gay. Like, legitimately homosexual behavior. How the f*ck do you, as a man, let another man, tell you how to treat women? How to live your life?