#but... idk my own entertainment comes first with my blorbos

[goatmilksoda]

OK fuck it new ship its Thylkius its Thor, Sylvie, Loki, and Mobius its the worst possible outcome for the entire fandom and only fun for me. It's problematic in all the ways and nobody wins except me who thinks it's absolutely hilarious.

[yumedoca]

Are your opinions on UY characters that dont get the spotlight often, like nurse sakura, cherry, kotasu cat, benten or oyuki, ifntheres one i missed pls tell me i love hearing your analysis

Hai there, hope you're doing great!!

Sorry this is a bit late, I had some events to attend the past few days..! And thanks!! It makes me happy to hear that you like my rambling :)

As for my thoughts on the other characters, I love most of them actually!! I love love love Sakura!!! I especially love how well her character is structured: through design, through her backstory, through daily life and relations and even how well her name suits her lmao. I really like how she has a background where she was really sick as a child (till we meet her), and how her being a miko, nurse and counsellor (she has three fucking jobs and I love it) has her help others since she knows how it's like to have problems (physically or psychologically). Sakura counselling might be my favorite bit though, just seeing how she helps guide mostly the students is really nice and I wish it was appreciated more. And don't get me started on how she is the perfect straight man to the craziness of the others. She was part of the craziness at first (from her intro to her earliest nurse days, Ataru straight manned instead), but it seemed like RT thought Sakura straight manning was much better while Ataru was cemented as the funny man in their dynamic and it suits them so well. The sane Sakura having to deal with everyone's BS (esp Ataru's) is my favourite thing lol. I also really like her relationship with Tsubame, him being the dumb to her smarts.(The remake plays down Tsubame's idiocy btw and it disappoints me so so much) They're that one couple we all ship without knowing it lmao. The chapters which focus on them are really nice, esp that one with the ghost girl who interfered with them and Sakura got super jealous lmao, it we interesting side to see from her and it was really fun :)

Oh shit, I rambled so much about Sakura, I forgor this ask wasn't just about her, I'm so sorry lmao, she is in my top three UY gals for a reason XD

I think up next in UY blorboism to me (who aren't main characters) would be Asuka. Idk, I just love her, she is so cute and so silly. I think what put her in the blorbo category specifically were these panels: one where Asuka made her own armor from a military tank or something idk and she looked so cute while wearing it!!!! And the second is from the arc where Asuka goes to school and she wears a pair of broken glasses in the final panel of the arc which looks super funny and silly XD

Asides from that, I love her voices, both of them!! They sound so soft and sweet!! And her shtick is very entertaining and chaotic, I love all her chapters!!

I think up next in terms underrated characters I love would be Benten and Oyuki. They both have personalities which bounce off well on other characters and especially each other. They're like my #1 Yuri ship in the series, but even in a platonic sense, they're dynamic is really good!! I need to draw them more, lol.

That's it for characters who I feel are widely underrated.. this post would be even longer if I talk about everyone in detail so I'll just speedrun my thoughts on the ones you mentioned plus a few others...

Ran and Ryu are two characters who I feel are really popular which is why I didn't mention them above. Ran's bipolar nature is so good and funny while her growing understanding and reconciling with Lum slowly is really sweet. Ryu is one of those characters who I wish was treated better because I feel like she deserves everything she wanted but her stupid father comes in the way. Ryunosuke's character is one of those things I wished was done better. Give her all the sailor suits, bras, swimsuits, skirts, etc. she wants!!

Cherry is really funny, like in a way he's basically Ryunosuke's dad but done so much better. The amount of moments where I've wheezed laughing cause of him is way too many too count. I like Kotatsu neko, he's cute and it's funny how he's one of the strongest characters!! Ryoko is another one I like because of how insane she is lmao and Inaba is so so sweet!! Meanwhile, Rei is hilarious and his cow form is so silly XD

I also really like Rupa and Carla too, Idk, the way they're supposed to mirror AtaLum and their crazy dynamic captivates me.

And I guess I'll stop here! There are others, but this is already super long so I'll end it here!!

[azumasoroshi]

watched the first two episodes of oshi no ko a while back (REALLY FUCKING GOOD, ive been a manga reader for a while but i stopped reading the recent chapters and basically forgot everything except for the major points and god it’s so satisfying to have the adaptation remind me of what i’ve forgotten in the most beautiful way possible)

but this post isnt about onk, it’s about izaya!! izaya orihara!! lets fucking goooooooooo izaya idol au!!!! i cant get this flea out of my BRAIN

i was about to open a new canvas to draw some more shizaya stuff for my animatic that im never gonna finish and i was like huh. maybe i should draw onk fanart. and then i remembered this art of venti genshin impact with ai’s eyes and i remembered thinking man i hope this becomes an artist trend for people to do with their art blorbos! and then i was like OH. guess i could contribute to the trend by drawing izaya with ai’s eyes

and then i started thinking and i was like huh. Ai’s never experienced love from her parents, doesn’t think she knows how to love or how to express it, doesn’t get attached to others easily, is a perpetual liar, became an idol because she hoped she would learn how to love - oh hey doesnt. that. sound like izaya. just a little bit. not exactly, her character goes into more learning how to love/that she can love while izaya’s character is i can love but only impersonally because i’m afraid of getting hurt and his arc would be learning to let his walls down for his own good

SO for izaya idol au, izaya would become an idol because he wants to experience love, or something along the lines of “there’s no greater demonstration of parasocial love and foolish decision making than in the idol industry! ahaha~” and probably “idols are perfect liars and i need to put myself into their shoes so i can become an even better liar and close myself off to any possibility of falling in love that could ever exist”

there’s a lot of reasons he might want to become an idol, really. there’s so much corruption and behind-the-scenes dealing and lies and facades and shit in the entertainment industry that i think izaya would eat for breakfast. he would LOVE witnessing that shit and making his own shady deals and stuff and occasionally ruining lives and watching people rise and fall down the rankings and tear each other down. plus the people who are in it for passion rather than money are fascinating as well. psychology student’s dream really- i mean what this is definitely about izaya and not me projecting

plus he definitely has the looks for it (narita would hard agree given how many times he’s indirectly called izaya attractive through other characters. we love a canonically hot king)

now i need to make everything shizaya because i’m not okay but i have no idea who shizuo would be lmao

like you could make him some up and coming manager (no age difference stuff here sorry lmao) or a fellow idol (doubtful. shizuo can act cute but i dont think he could dance) or an actor like akane/kana or a streamer??? like memcho (my favorite character)

a mangaka/screenplay writer/writer in general could also work but i feel like you’d have less reason to interact with idols that way

idk how japanese idol groups work for men in particular or if there’s even like a market for that :sob: id have to look into that if i actually started making stuff for this au

alternatively izaya crossdresses as a female idol and somehow no one realizes. except for shizuo. that would be hilarious actually. he refuses to do swimsuit modeling or other provocative stuff and his fans are like “oh?? the brazen kanra-chan is unexpectedly shy?? how cute” and he plays into it but inwardly he’s like. god i know exactly how im gonna go out with a bang when i retire. and shizuo watches him playing at being shy on tv knowing that that motherfucker is planning to strip on his last days as an idol

anyway this is just me spitballing ideas but ill definitely write at least a concept/intro fanfic of this at some point so stay tuned lmAo im just about to run out of writing juices on ABAON so i gotta transfer my energy somewhere else and where better than the idol!izaya au

[xamaxenta]

I just need you to know that your existence is good for my mental health. Thank you for being authentically you. Thank you for posting the "ultra bonkers shit." Whenever you warn your followers about the rest of the contents of a post, it's usually followed by the kind of things I want to see most.

I was feeling ashamed of myself and my place in fandom, because of my "weird interests" that "no one wants to see" and was fighting back against it and had a bunch of normal arguments like they tell you to make in therapy and then had the thought about the fact that my favorite tag of yours is the one for the stuff you consider most taboo. My own most taboo writing has the most hits of any of my stuff on AO3.

This shit is the backbone of fandom. If I want to read your words, even when you say they are ultra bonkers, someone wants to read mine. Shame has no place here. Thank you for being a good example of that.

This is legitimately one of the kindest things anyone has ever said about me and my online presence

Thank you to you too for being authentic to yourself anon

I get it, its hard to go balls to the walls about certain content because in the year 2k23 people —overgeneralisation here and i am not singling out/targeting any age group except maybe minors who should be very careful about the content and things they consume online that may or may not be tagged (hopefully they are, sincerely tumblr remains the best social media platform for this that ive been on that has such an extensive personalised tagging system) — uh back to year 2023 and people find faults in ALOT of things and disregard the tags

I find it unfortunate that authors on AO3 get the brunt of this a ton like ayo the tags? Exist? I know we dont like thesis length tagging but they are there for a reason I think its silly authors have to put additional disclaimers in the summary/chapter notes for extra coverage just in case someone doesn’t properly process their tags, a silly necessity

At first before i started the “xam screams about (ultra) bonkers stuff” tags i was also a little ashamed and definitely nervous like will people like this? Im not entirely sure so I will do my damn best to prevent upsetting anyone, but I cant cater to everyone who decides to follow me (thank you btw why but im grateful) and the exploration of taboo topics makes me happy if that makes sense

Does liking and wanting to discuss/explore/create content around subjects like this make me or you a bad person, no because content creation esp fan content is self indulgence, fanfiction and fanart of a prexisting piece of media is self indulgence and hedonism at its finest

Its why we even have arts and entertainment culture in the first place and should you so desire to attach your heart to a special little blorbo of your choosing, a lovely precious (pathetic) meowmeow if you will, then its not uncommon to want to put them through the wringer, why idk probably psychological reasoning jargon needs to be here but i just woke up and I can’t explain this part very well bc this is a personal experience im speaking from

This got really long but I agree with all your points, angst tropes that lead into dead dove trope etc are the backbone of fandom whether you like it or not, theyre just as present as fluff and everybody lives aus its just how it is

We’re all pretty similar when it comes to enjoying the same fandom spaces, people just dont wanna admit it haha

[katyspersonal]

because blorbos are for the girlies and waifus are for smelly men... or something like that idk

i just dont really like how some people convinced themselves their way of enjoying characters is better than that of others

i'd even go as far as to say some of thrm are just as shallow in their treatment of the charas they claim to treat better but thats another story

Hmmm... Very good take, anon. You nailed it. Poor Maria is basically a mascot of more shallow and toxic type of fans - they will think that "unlike us filthy misogynists" they AAAAACTUAAAAALY respect her... only to completely ignore her nuances as a complicated and tragic character and simplify her to angry, rude, badass woman that enjoys killing and being a bitch to all men but girlies are good. Like, okay, if all you can say about the character is how much she loves women and murder, and all you can draw for her is her smooching Adeline with a lesbian flag background - sorry, but this is ALSO pretty simple. This is ALSO one-dimensional, same as some gamer bros drooling about how much of a 'waifu' she is and not being able to draw anything of her besides horny fanart with her clothes being skin-tight so we all can see her boobies and oddly thin waist or something.

And yes, when you figure that the ONLY rebuttal they can use against the accusation of being simple AS WELL with their vision is 'well but [demographics] is not oppressed and horny gamers from reddit are worse just because they're cis het men lmaoooo 😭😭😭' - you also figure the problem. That they make it about ideology and some sort of activism, revealing that they do not care about "respecting the complexity of the character". They are very much okay with character being simplified and not explored past like 1 trait (2 if they are feeling REALLY generous)... but only as long as the way to simplify the character itself matches THEIR tastes. Reducing character's entire personality to masculinity and sexuality good!!! Reducing character's entire personality to being a potentially good gf/wife and sexual appeal bad!!!

No, you are not "respecting the character". You are doing feminism activism in front of my salad the fandom, which is a place for ALL types of fans to go to, and ALL takes to be shared. The only requirement to be part of the fandom is to be a fan of the source material - in it's entirety or a part of it!

_________________

At the end of the day, there is nothing criminal in simplifying the characters. I am not a fan of one-dimensional takes myself - I like to deep dive and analyse the characters, I like seeing every single corner of their life and personality and purpose in overall lore! I like complexity and various aspects of the characters shown, not only one side of them! I can be bitter in my own autistic way, but it is about preference, there is no point to be made about who is "right" and who is "wrong" in how they treat fictional characters. They are not real and do exist for our entertainment and happiness FIRST of all - whatever makes the person happy. Just like how I get sorta bitter when people draw Malenia with huge honkers and thin build - but I will also be bitter if Micolash is prettyfied (I mean the ingame status quo, he could have looked prettier when he was healthier). But do I also think artists are allowed to invest their time and effort in what they personally enjoy, without hassling over "respecting canon"? Of course!

The sentiments can coexist. They SHOULD coexist, in fact. Not having an opinion and preference and equally liking everything is probably not a good sign... unless you are a fan of a character so rarely acknowledged that you do love anything at ALL about them, ahahahah. Someone's way of enjoying the character is not "better" only by the virtue of being more representative or canon-accurate - objectively. It comes down to preference. What I love about us Mico simps a lot, actually, is that those of us that prefer canon Micolash in all his ugly, hideous, sickly glory is that we do not make it out to be some loud political statement, accusing artists of "lookism" or "ableism" or literally... anything you could pull out of the fact that a dude that looks like a corpse got a makeover fsdhfsdh Get creative! Maria fans can get creative with seeing "misogyny" and "dyke-hating" in the places where it doesn't exist! So, let's also use our imagination.... NOT!!!

We just pout and say 'you are not REAL fan' as a joke. It is always. just. a joke. The more avid fans of iconic female Soulsborne characters should learn from us to own up for their subjective preferences instead of starting weird ideological fight over whatever lady they claimed THIS time.

[pianostarinwonderland]

Could you do character option bingo for the octotrio

[From here!]

Jade’s can be found here! Azul will be saved for last, so this will just be Floyd.

Floyd

Ah Floyd, the first Octavinelle character I liked but now my “least” favorite in Octavinelle. 💃 I didn’t like Floyd to the point I’d say I stanned him, but I found him cute before Jade and Azul ever appealed to me. In fact, until now, Floyd has the most 'blorbo' energy to me because he's cute. Idk how to describe it really 😂 but that silly grin makes me want to punt him into a wall then hear him laugh out loud, idk. But either way, that Floyd era was short lived, and I started stanning Jade a week after I liked Floyd. XD So my Octa bias journey really went Floyd -> Jade -> Azul.

Still, I like Floyd. His mood swings may be hard to predict, but he’s living for himself. I admire that he doesn't really care much about how others think of him. He's living according to his own rules, he's following orders when he thinks that it will result in something fun, and if something bores him and the end result of that something would be boring, he won't do it. That takes courage, to do things for yourself without caring about what others think. There should be respect for others, of course, but at the same time, I love that Floyd can just do what he wants to do without worrying about people's judgment.

If he wants to achieve something, he can and will put his mind to it. I think that detail made Floyd cool in my eyes for the first time. Imagining him walking with such an easy yet confident gait beside Epel in his beans day card, talking about practicing basketball for three days straight like he’s pointing out the weather, he was more than the laughing moody eel I was familiar with.

Something that I do notice in the fandom is how Floyd is infantilized or seen as "cute boy who can do no wrong". I've seen people think that Floyd's squeezes are just adorable hugs, and a lot of people have called Floyd "dumb".

To an extent, I can sort of agree to Floyd being "cute boy who can do no wrong", but only in relation to the Octavinelle trio. Floyd is an honest guy. He isn't really into all the trickery and such. Now, he isn't honesty's paragon or what, but you don't have to think too hard when you're talking with him, and as long as you manage to entertain him or don't outright offend him, you're gonna be fine. Jade and Azul on the other hand... 🤡 you can get your mind fucked with those two, and it's not sexy.

But at the same time, Floyd isn't really the most merciful kind of guy either, and he is intimidating for a reason. Don't forget the beginning of chapter 3—he squeezed the poor mob student when Azul told him to, and the guy collapsed. Floyd can inflict harm, and he isn't going to be sorry about it, especially when it brings him entertainment.

Floyd is in that weird space between "I think they're deeper than what they seem to be" and "not as deep as they seem". I'm still on that detail about Floyd not liking the feeling of being restrained 👁👄👁 and combined with the name of his UM being called "Bind the Heart", it just makes me want to know if there was anything in his life that happened that made him hate restraints, that influenced his current behavior to be so liberating, that made his magic bounce magic away from him, like he's refusing to be hit or even captured by something. And is he hiding a part of himself that's got emotional baggage? Sometimes I wonder that because man, what if he's the type of guy who just forgets about his pain most of the time until one day, it all just comes down on him? I tend to live like that, and when my heart hurts that day, it hurts.

But on the other hand, I like to think that Floyd is also just vibing. He's gone through his character development, he's semi realized and in a secure place with himself for the time being, and he can be this cool senior who will stop at nothing to be on the top.

[versegm]

Hi ! It’s been a while seeing your fate posts wanting to get into it - but with that last post about fate series levels…! Do you like… recommend getting into it ? And with a particular series ? Or is it the kind of media where you’re like i adore it but i wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy

I wholeheartedly recommend the Fate serie. It is, and I mean this completely unironically, one of the best series I have been given to eat in years.

Usually when I make headcanon or meta posts about a given serie, there is a large amount of wishful thinking and self indulgence involved. I don't think Ariosto intended to write Orlando Furioso as a story about Angelica desperately trying to escape the narrative, but it is a lot more entertaining for me to read it this way. I am well aware that digimon is a children's cartoon and a lovecraftian horror story about the inherent corrupting power of light, it's just more suited to my tastes too imagine stories that involve that.

That's not the case with Fate. I am still very often self-indulgent and horny on main, but generally speaking when I say shit like "the protagonist of Fate/Grand Order is a normal person gradually becoming insane the further the plot goes" or "people die when they are killed means that if you refuse to let someone die when their time comes you are denying them the simple right to be a person" that is. Very textually what happens. The Fate serie allows itself to go all out on bonkers and/or horrifying concepts and themes, which is doubly refreshing in a world where media are slowly being made blander by corporations who don't want to alienate their audience and lose money.

That being said, it is a serie that has been going on for a very long time, so the writers like to reference their old works, make use of concepts they've foreshadowed 16 years ago in an obscure visual novel that never got translated, make full aus of their own stories, ect ect. So the joke of this post is that there are some Fate works you can jump in with 0 knowledge of Fate and you'll be mostly fine save for maybe a couple cameos you won't recognize, while some others will be fucking incomprehensible if you haven't eaten the full wikipedia page beforehand.

If you follow Lance's post, you can probably pick any work from level 0 to 5 and try to work you way out from here.

If you want my personal input, my entry point was Fate/Grand Order, and while I could make a whole post on its strenghts and weaknesses if you need one the important part is that it did a well enough job having a compelling story on its own while explaining the worldbuilding basics to me.

Fate/Stay Night (the visual novel) is the first title of the Fate serie, so it's a good entry point as well, but it is fucking long and frankly the first route has aged a bit so that's up to you. If you want something easier to digest to see what's Fate about and if it'll be up your alley, you can always check out the Unlimited Blades Work anime (which is an anime adaptation of one of the routes of the vn) or the Fate/Zero anime (which is a prequel.) I also know a guy who got in through the Fate/Apocrypha anime, so if you like Mordred specifically it might be your thing idk.

Honestly don't sweat it too much, Fate is very much a serie where you will revisit works you've already eaten and go "oh THAT'S who that bitch from episode 5 came from and that's why they made it into a big deal at the time" once you've got a bit more context. It's worth asking your friends if any of them are already into Fate so they might be able to give you insight on how blorbo #34 actually has SUCH a compelling backstory in an earlier work, but if you don't that's fine just go with the flow.

Oh yeah fair warning tho that Fate sometimes features some Anime Bullshit (that's a polite way to say "lolis") so if that's a dealbreaker for you be aware of it.