#hella long text

[tempural]

Changed fannish opinion. Mine? Appreciating the term "yaoi".

This 3am ramble will discuss "problematic" themes in art, sexism and racism/xenophobia. Crossposted from my mastodon/fediverse account.

I used to be one of those annoying "my glorious gay porn, their bad yaoi for GIRLS" people when I was an underage tf2channer. So I know exactly how those people think, and hope they grow out of it by the time they're 17.

It comes from:

Trying to impress your peers by rejecting nerdy weebery, like saying that western cartoons are better than anime (spoilers: its all cartoons).

Trying to present more masculine (regardless of transness or gender identity) by rejecting femininity as a safety mechanism. (We live in a Joker society)

Trying to make fun of other people's interests before they can make fun of your "cringe" interests. Spoilers, it's all gay cartoon porn and anyone who's not a internet addled nerd thinks its weird.

The funniest thing about the modern iteration of 'yaoi is bad gay porn', is that in Ye Olde Days, yaoi was the "bad gay porn" because it wasn't problematic enough to be cool! While now it's 'real m/m is good representation, yaoi is problematic"

The stereotype used to be that yaoi was too girly and full of flowery nonsense and melodramatic emotions and kissing. While the REAL GAY PORN FOR REAL GAY MEN full of snuff and age gap daddy kink and wolf rape. Gengoroh Tagame comics were popular "shock art" amongst the internet crowd back then ya see.

In [current year] it's more obviously xenophobic. Japanese terms like BL and yaoi are the "bad terms" used by "bad people". Meanwhile English language queer shows and books are localized as BL in Japan lololol.

It's never too late to embrace that everything and nothing is dank yaoi! I embrace the word "yaoi" now rather than any other label, because:

I like that it makes ignorant people mad.

It is nostalgic and reminds me of my youth reading final fantasy doujin scanlations.

I like the history of the term being applied to "comics with no point or plot" (from the perspective of professional editors) speaks to me. Lowbrow comics about dudes kissin'. I don't care if you can't find a deep message or world building. I have fun thinkin it up and making it.

I like this history of the term being used for "self-indulgent doujinshi" from the 70's-80's. Doesn't necessarily only apply to pornographic comics. And I like those decades in art 😼

I like to be oppositionally defiant and challenge people who have preconceived notions that all Asian artists draw in a certain art style, by using an Asian term. I know my art doesn't scream ORIENTAL to most people lmao, I got old teachers that told me that I should draw more "ethnically" to appeal to illustration/animation standards for non white artists. But the truth is I am very inspired by azn comics like Old Master Q and Dragon Ball and all those doujinshi I read as a kid, even if other people can't see it. #snowflakeChallenge2025

[hermit-frog]

[gemsofgreece]

A little more on Hellenism

The discussion has been going around quite a bit in the Greek tumblr community, so I am making a decision to be adding the tag #hellenism to relevant posts from now on, as a person who is in fact aware of what constitutes Hellenism and what not. I typically use a very specific tagging system however I am going to be adding this tag now too in an effort to purge the problematic appropriative usage of the word.

I am doing this because I realised the problem is bigger than I thought. I thought the term was misused by a tiny niche community, it turns out the misuse has been initiated and largely encouraged by - what else - western classicist academia. Therefore, many young foreign people may be feeling justified in the use of the term since foreign pages are often misleading and appropriative about it as well.

For example, one might feel relieved in using the term Hellenism due to Wikipedia featuring a page with the term as used by non-Greek speaking people. However, it is essential that in this case your research goes a little deeper. In the very same page, Wikipedia acknowledges the concerns for cultural appropriation the use of this term has raised.

Here are some crucial parts you should not skip in your rush to use the term:

First of all, take care how in fact Wikipedia makes (correctly) a distinction between the Modern religion """"Hellenism""""" versus the Ancient Greek religion.

We have to remember that this is technically a new entity in the context of structured orginized religions, largely innovating its practices now or trying to reconstruct older ones. This of course makes the use of the term "Hellenism" (= Greekness, Greek nationhood, the essence of being Greek) even more problematic, since we are talking about a new entity. A reinstatement of an ancient system of beliefs in an organised, structured way. Even if there have been historically individuals who subscribed to this belief system after studying ancient classics, the current religion which tries to structure itself, find its footing and sustain its spiritual community is very much a contemporary process.

Here are examples of how the word Hellenism was used in antiquity:

In short, Anglophone translators applying in non-English words whatever meaning they fancy with little evidence. True enough:

It is truly an English devisement through and through, the prototype word neither has a strict religious meaning nor - most significantly - an exclusively ancient one.

Moving on to the crucial part:

By the way, in case you think there is still not much uproar to justify giving up the term, that's only because I can guarantee you 98% of Greeks have no idea Hellenic Polytheism is practiced outside Greece, let alone by non-Greek people calling themselves Hellenes and calling the religion Hellenism. At the possibility that the religion expands and more Greeks get exposed to the news, rest assured they are REALLY not going to be supportive of the name choices.

We Greeks however are better aware of name issues occuring within the nation. It should be noted that just like it happens with every religion, especially at the time the religion is in the process of establishing and institutionalizing itself, independent groups of believers with questionable practices or beliefs may form. The Ethnic Hellenes are a big example, since many Greek devotees of the Hellenic Polytheism identify as such. Due to an unpleasant incident I was a witness to recently (I made a vague rant), I visited the main page of the YSEE (Supreme Council of the Ethnic Hellenes) and I was dumbfounded by the cascade of red flags I encountered. Ethnic Hellenes is also a problematic term, because it suggests non-believing Hellenes are not ethnic Hellenes. True enough, the very questionable nature is proven when they more or less admit in the main page that even though they "acknowledge" other Hellenes (AKA Greeks) as Hellenes, they consider themselves as "better" or "truer" at being Hellenes. Do I need to insinuate here towards what sort of political ideologies this is dangerously leaning to? They also openly admit that the primary goal of their religious community is to spread the religion to other Greeks. In short, prosyletism, a controversial phenomenon which was happily missed in Greece until now, save for the occasional Jehovah Witness here and there. The informational page has also historical inaccuracies and a very embellished opinion on Christian Orthodoxy.

The reality is that there are two options for us: either we entirely reject the concept of Ethnoreligion or we accept that Greece has TWO (2) ethnoreligions, Hellenic (Greek / Eastern) Orthodoxy and Hellenic Polytheism, although of course the latter so far has had the historicity but not the numbers. A reality where only one of the two can be the ethnoreligion simply does not exist and it is time both Orthodoxy and Greek Polytheism accepted this. (Of course they don't, each considers the other the root of all evil but anyway.) Furthermore, I noticed very recently that """Ethnic""" Hellenes are trying to attract other Hellenes with the notion that THEY care about the country and its environment and its culture, as if whatever befalls the Greek environment and culture happens with the blessing of the Greek Orthodox doctrine. But that is the policy in general, showing a community of Greeks loving Greece and Greek nature and Greek culture (mostly ancient but not only, but definitely with revisionism if not exclusion of the Orthodox contribution to it), as if other Greeks don't love these things as much, which attracts unsuspecting Greeks that are disappointed by the current sociopolitical mess. Like I said, there are things concerning me about how this is going to unfold politically in the future because it plays with the extremely dangerous and propagandist notion of "truer Hellene and less true Hellene".

My rant a few days ago was because I realised this due to said incident and I decided to write this to help you understand that you should take care who you take advice from, even if they have similar beliefs to you, but also to invite you to reconsider using such a pivotal term to Greeks such as "Hellenism". And because I am not willing to randomly give up this quintessential term for our identity to revisionists, Greek or foreign, which is why I explained I am going to be using the term in its intended way.

I am tagging @wordsmithic and @alatismeni-theitsa if they want to reblog this and help it go a little further, but I know they already use the terms hellas and hellenism more often than me in the tags.

*Having said all that, "Ethnic" Hellenes - who refer to their religion with the not-at-all problematic "genuine Hellenism" also disapprove of foreigners calling themselves Hellenes or practicing Hellenism, so it's extremely unlikely you will find a Greek being okay with it, regardless of said Greek's beliefs.

** We should also acknowledge that there are some significant linguistic barriers between Greek and English that are inescapable and may blur your understanding of some concepts. For example, Wikipedia in this very page says at some point "re-Hellenize Greek identity"

This is a factually wrong statement that can lead to all sorts of misconceptions abroad, such that might even cause issues to Greeks and their identity. What Wikipedia should say is "re-hellenize Romaic identity" and it would still be questionable. Not to be confused or conflated with Ancient Romans btw. But that's a whole another story that you don't need to concern yourself with. My point is that there are serious limitations in the way Greek culture and linguistics are perceived in Anglophone or other western academic research.

Let's end this with some pictures of Hellenism!

I tried to also get pictures from an english hellenism query on google but I was jumpscared so much by the politicisation, the one-sidedness and the western self-insertion out of nowhere that I decided against it :)

[spiderrcakezzz]

Must be nice to be an adult right abt now,,... . (/hj /hj)

(this is abt Sparklecare Btw)

[holydrakes]

Sometimes I thought about having SoMa be ambiguous af might probably have driven some fans off the fanbase, and had they been more concrete, some of these fans might actually stay around longer. Considering the whole dollop of tropes this ship had (I mean look at their fics on Ao3) I feel like it should have a much stronger fandom, but instead on twitter I kept only seeing it get mentioned whenever people are expressing how upset they are to learn this ship is just pure bait.

[manasurge]

Ogod, my schedule for the next two weeks are such ASS. wtf… I’m going to be SO FREAKING TIRED and so freaking depressed. I hate it I hate it I hate it.

[specialshinytrinkets]

What if Hella had crocs and a gun

Now we're talking!

Finally, after all these years, Bill Cipher Hella has a gun! (/ref) [Without apron under the cut]

[coffinsister]

I have the wild fantasy of being in a discord server with a bunch of friends where we talk to each other back and forth all day <- this is never gonna happen discord hates me and I'm terrible at quick texting

[mitski]

oh my god you mean to tell me this has been canon all this time AND I NEVER GOT TO WATCH UNTIL NOW??? 

oh my man i’ve been living under a rock. i binged watched volumes 4 ‘til 8, AND i have no idea how ya’ll been living with that cliffhanger for 2+ years.

volume 9 comes out on crunchyroll on feb 18!!!

[asherlockstudy]

It has always been one story

The last days I have been making some analyses based on Rhett and Link’s latest video “We Dug a Medium-sized Hole”. My realisation of what I have been explaining there led me to a new surge of excitement when watching their content. I have talked before about how much I like Hazel but to be precise I never watched the TikTok videos, I had only listened to the two versions of the song, which is certainly the best song they have written and performed so far in their career in my opinion. So a few days ago, my YouTube feed actually suggested the Hazel videos to me and, as I have been in this new RandL surge, I thought “why not”. I thought it will be fun and creepy, and it was, but once again I wasn’t ready for the hammer of realisation that fell right on my forehead. You see, being freshly out of my We Dug a Hole analyses, I noticed a load of similarities between the two. But even more importantly, I noticed numerous similarities between Hazel and the Lost Causes of Bleak Creek. In fact, what I mean by “numerous similarities” is that they are all essentially the same story, and the only thing that changes are the settings, the side characters and other secondary elements. So if this is the case, Rhett and Link have been telling one story again and again for quite some time and, in their words, have been somewhat disappointed at the reaction they did (not) receive from the viewers (Hazel), their difficulty to promote their story in other media (Bleak Creek) and now their decision to not have expectations so that they won’t get disappointed again (Digging a hole). But let’s say a few words for each of these major projects.

We Dug a Medium-sized Hole

Let’s start from the last one, which is also the smallest and most superficial project. It is a humorous video with a prepared song and a predetermined concept which is supposedly unscripted. I analysed it in excruciating detail a few days ago so I will just give you links to my posts “They Dug A Hole” and “The ‘We Dug A Hole’ Discussion”, which I would recommend because they will help make this post much clearer as well. Anyway, to summarise, here’s what goes down: Rhett and Link agree to dig a medium sized hole without examining this agreement and intent thoroughly and carefully enough to see if they are on the same page fully. They slowly get the hang of this, Link becomes very invested and loses control entirely. Rhett panics and tries to help Link get back to his senses and establish control between them again. Yet, if you remember this part from the “They Dug A Hole” post,

well, it had intrigued me then but it actually proved to be unexpectedly significant for real! Despite Rhett being the one who tries to establish control in the hole-digging process, soon he is the one to fall back into it the hardest. True enough, the second time it’s Rhett we see running the excavator. There are no other characters in the video, except for the mole who supports them but is accidentally killed. Rhett and Link have revealed this is the first of a series of similar videos (and songs, perhaps).

The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek

If you haven’t read their novel yet, well this is simply the best thing they have made so far and I definitely recommend it. I have always found it curious how little tumblr fans speak of TLCOBC, especially since it is RAGING with innuendo and symbolism that is not even subtle. I will give the story in very broad terms, however there are going to be some strong spoilers here because I don’t have another way to prove my point. Be warned. Of course here we have a different setting and the main characters are preteens. The setting is a dark twist of Rhett and Link’s actual childhood. Their small town with its extremely puritan, conservative community. The book has many characters but once again there is only one more character that can be considered as “main”, Alicia Boykins, their female best friend with whom they are secretly both in love. Well scratch that off, there is also Janine who is important, she is clearly Stevie’s character. But anyway. Rhett and Link have implied in a Mythicon that Alicia is a symbolic character who represents “their ideal selves”, “who they wanted to be”. So in short Rex, Leif and Alicia is a trio of best friends who live in this small Christian town hiding a dark secret. Leif falls in love with Alicia first and more profoundly, Rex a little later. Alicia is kidnapped and sent unfairly to a notorious reformatory school. Rex and Leif agree to save her but the whole plan goes wrong and Leif falls in a trap, in a very dark, deep and hopeless place, where Alicia also is, where you lose memory and the sense of self. (Won’t spoil more.) Rex returns to his town in utter panic and frustration and creates a master plan to rescue Leif. After a lot of allegories and adventures, Rex dives in the dark deep place and saves Leif (in a very romantic way btw). Alicia is rescued too. They confront the evil guys who control the reformatory school. They resume their peaceful life in their town. The book ends in a cliffhanger where Alicia sees something while bicycling that is a major sign that the cult / curse / that thing that was going on there is not defeated. So here we have as common themes: Link losing control because of how invested he was (in Alicia), Rhett panicking and trying to save him and correct the situation, and another main character who is a mysterious symbolism. It’s a little hard to be certain of what Alicia exactly symbolises, just like it is the case with the mole. What we don’t see in TLCOBC is Rex being the one to fall in deep the second time, but I bet this is the intended plot for the second book.

Hazel Macon

I watched this video a few days ago for the first time. Hazel is a fantastic project Rhett and Link came up with but the platform they chose to execute it on originally (TikTok) literally executed its chances for success. I will explain this in more detail. Rhett and Link promoted Hazel to the unaware GMM viewers by saying they were pulling an all-nighter to compose a song with their fans through TikTok. So they overestimated how many would go to TikTok for that. However, for those fans who signed up for this, they had already prepared a short movie separated in short bits, being uploaded gradually, telling a very creepy story. Here’s the plot: Rhett and Link start their all-nighter in the Creative House by uploading videos on TikTok. In order to get some ideas for their new song, they randomly choose the album Yearning by Hazel Macon. Link is confused because he does not remember this album, although Rhett argues confidently it’s Link’s and he acquired it in GMM (true). They play it and it is a haunting song of a girl wandering lost in a forest (as also evident on the album cover), waiting for someone to play her song, so she can be set free. They both hear whispering in the song and they figure it is backmasking (messages recorded backwards) so Rhett plays the record backwards to decode the message, to Link’s discomfort. Rhett says the message is there for a reason and he mockingly parallels it to satanic subliminal messages. He hears “I just want out. Just open the door. It’s been so, so long. I feel so lost. “ (Needless to say, this is in the official song obviously too.) Meanwhile, dead birds (crows) fall on their doors and windows every time they try to get out of the house. As they listen to the secret messages of the song, the girl vanishes from the album cover and they hear her singing from the back of the house. Scared to death, they see her emerge from the middle room (👀) . They try to hide in the kitchen where Link attempts to say something final and heavy with meaning to Rhett in case they die, but Hazel appears behind him and touches him causing him to fall into shock. She vanishes. Rhett stops playing the record but Link is now in a dead-inside state, the video suggesting Hazel is now inside him. Rhett roams the house but there is no way out as birds fall on every door. In a moment that Link escapes Rhett’s notice, Hazel reappears, turns Link into Harlan Macon, a reserved southern dude coming straight from the 1900s, and leads him to the middle room. Rhett follows in panic but there is nothing there when he opens the door. The Yearning album cover has changed and now it’s both Hazel and Link on the cover and on the record singing. Rhett in despair realises that he will have to play the record again, open the portal, find Link and save him (again, like in TLCOBC, see the trope?). As Rhett walks towards the door listening to Link’s voice from somewhere deep, he says “I don’t know if he can come out. I don’t think I want to go in there but I think I am gonna have to go in there”. This time when he opens the door to the middle room, it is an opening to a forest during a very dense night. It has a claustrophobic feel. Long story short, Hazel attacks him and turns him to Hardy Macon. However, when Hardy meets Harlan (Link), Harlan is “way too deep”, in Rhett’s words, he doesn’t recognise Rhett and he has assumed a different personality. Hardy!Rhett orders Harlan!Link to follow him, he bumps Hazel with a fallen branch, finds the door of the middle room and saves them both. Rhett immediately stops the record and Link returns to his normal self but has no memory of any of this. The album now has only Hazel on it again. Rhett tries frantically to get rid of the “Yearning” album but the “Yearning” album proves to be indestructible. It does not break, it does not melt and when he tosses it in the yard, it comes back.

Then there is a hilarious joke which Link now films; that Rhett is locked in the toilet for way too long, and Link thinks Rhett has shitted himself (however I bet the implied joke is that he was trying to wank it out, as a last resort solution to deal with Yearning). Link then explains to the fans how he still doesn’t remember the Yearning album and hypothesises that Rhett must have brought it earlier to him and ruined their entire evening. Link concludes that if he plays the record backwards again, he will decipher the message and be done with it. Rhett screams from the toilet but it’s too late. Hazel reappears and turns him to Hardy again. When Hazel and Hardy appear to Link again, the camera drops from his hands. The album which had turned to have Hazel and Rhett on the cover and record once Link started playing it again, now morphs into having Rhett and Link together, implying that they now both are lost in those woods with no way out. An unknown hand turns the record to play the normal version, by the Macon Brothers.

Notes and conclusions:

* It is important to note that all of these projects have an either neutral or bad ending. The most neutral one is the digging a hole one, where they have succeeded in making a medium hole but there is also the unintended massive hole behind them, which they choose to ignore. TLCOBC has a fake happy or ominous ending, as the threatening sign appears just when everything seems to be working out well. Hazel is dark and ends in melancholic despair - Rhett and Link remain trapped in that ominous forest hiding in the middle room of their house. These are not happy stories even though all feature Rhett and Link’s light humour (the fork in Hazel came to mind, this joke gets me every time).

* Alicia and Hazel clearly stand for the same or a very similar symbolism. They likely are the personification of yearning, of confronting the truth openly, of being free, as Rhett said Alicia was an allegory for who they truly wanted to be. In two of the projects, they are trapped female entities, whose steps Link follows.

* All of the projects were meant to be part of a series. The book ended in a cliffhanger. Rhett and Link had revealed in their EB for Hazel that they had more scenarios prepared to execute in the same way. Alas, this podcast was filmed before Hazel aired and apparently they were very disheartened by Hazel’s failure. Imagine all that I described, it didn’t take more than 76,000 views in TikTok and most video bits only made like 11,000 views, which must have been a stab in the heart. Ironically, they later uploaded the whole thing on YouTube, and it now has half a million. I mean it’s still not as much as expected for this type of production, but it’s better than the 70,000. In any case the moment was lost then. Now they return with the hole digging which they announced it is the first in a series of similar videos coming. They emphasised how they were determined to ignore the views this time, and even though they did not mention Hazel, I believe the concept is connected directly to the concept of the Hazel video series, postponed for two years after their disappointment. The videos tell the same story, accompanied by a song, but in totally opposite styles.

* Settings, secondary elements and characters vary - the main plot remains the same always in at least 2/3 of the projects at any moment. For whatever reason each time, Rhett and Link decide to do something that unexpectedly makes them vulnerable to a truth they either had not realised or hid well within themselves. Link is seduced or trapped by this truth and falls deeper and deeper, there is always this trope of him falling in deep, either because he wants to or because he has no choice. Link reaches a desperate, helpless state and Rhett realises that he will have to help him out of the situation. Rhett is always very scared and very panicked but in every version he is determined to bring back Link or bring him back to his senses or save him. Rhett struggles and he gets into this dark zone or loses himself in this seductive trap momentarily in order to get Link back. However, he succeeds. They are both back to normal, figuring things out properly. The success is short-lived as Rhett eventually realises he is in fact trapped in way too deep as well, that he is trying to fight something he cannot defeat. The moment he realises this, Link relapses again soon too. This of course is given in a very cheerful, carefree way in the digging video while the plot in the book doesn’t reach the moment of Rhett’s defeat yet.

* The traps in all projects share some common characteristics: the bright sun doesn’t make it clear at first but a hole in the desert is still a hole in the desert. The bigger and deeper it is, the harder it gets to escape it and beneath it there is just darkness and dirt. The forest in Hazel is accessed through a portal to the Creative House’s middle room, it is dark, dense, quiet and claustrophobic. The trap in the Lost Causes is the most mystical, underwater and deep and with other dangers looming as well. Another common element in the last two is the memory loss and losing the sense of self or consciousness.

* Does religion have anything to do with all this? Yes, lots. Is religion the only thing that has to do with all this? No…

* On a lighter note, the Hazel song slaps! It is so good that it is haunting even when played backwards!

* On a heavier note, I was already convinced Rhett and Link are hiding a message in all these projects. I am still not sure however, whether they want this message to be decoded by people or they just make it in order to vent, to get the sensation they escape for a bit the walls of the room, the house, the trap. Hazel is perhaps the boldest of the projects (although the innuendos in TLCOBC are the most glaring) as a main plot because Rhett himself in the video brings awareness into the fact that their song has a hidden, forbidden message that subtextually yearns to be heard.

PS. Just to lighten the mood

[aflockofravens]

I started watching Spy X Family and I didn't realize it was gonna be so fucking cute.

Fake dating/married is one of my favourite tropes ever. And I loved Mr and Mrs Smith. So this is right up my alley however.

I can just tell it's gonna be an extremely slow burn romance and I'm already dying. Loid and Yor are so flipping cute.

The JJK chokehold remains but now we get to add some slow burn, pining, and unrequited (but actually not) feelings (at least I'm assuming. It feels like that kind of prolonged misunderstanding).

Bring it.

[tempural]

❄ Fannish Origin Story:

Crossposted from my mastodon/fediverse account.

🐣 The Beginning

The first "fannish" thing I can remember doing is live action roleplaying Final Fantasy IV characters with my neighbor. We were still playing SNES games when everyone else was on the ps2 and xbox grind… She was Rosa so she could date the main character Cecil. And I was Rydia, and I had to date Kain. Which I was fine with cuz Rydia's cute and Kain was cool cuz he had dark dragon armor and shared a name with Kane my favorite wrestler.

(Looking back, Rydia/Kain is kind of an insane age gap ship (she starts as 7 and time skips to a vague adult age later, while Kain is always an adult) that SOMEONE could do something with. I think in canon Rydia wants to eff Edge though (not to be confused with COPE))

I developed an interest in Final Fantasy, emulating some of the other 2D games, buying FF7 for my cousin's ps1 for ME to play, and playing FF8 at my mom's friend's daughter's place. I never finished FF8 cuz it crashed and wiped all the memory at the end of the first disc lmao. As a wee lad, I looked up pornographic doujin for FF7 specifically, on a site called SoDaSexy. I was looking for Vincent Valentine doujin. I wasn't that interested in Cloud x Sephiroth, and I didn't feel anything for Cid x Vincent or Sephiroth x Vincent, but I acknowledged that I was looking for yaoi. There was a monster x Vincent Valentine doujin that drew my attention though!

I think that's where my strange snake fujo ways come from - I have an uke fave, but not always a favorite ship with a specific character. Sometimes you just want to rotate your fave in the torture cube. Mob x Fave, Fave in Distress, and Fave Zerkin' It are often my favorite flavor of work to look at. But it's hard to explain in words to people who prefer a ships to faves.

I also remember reading a non explicit Yuffie x Vincent fic on ff.net that caught my attention. One of my original Gorl Scout x Squidward ships? Sounds funny nowadays to say that a het ship was more interesting to me than most of the yaoi LOL. Hey i dont see gender, they played into the Spongebob x Squidward onesided agegap annoying thing I always liked in the back of my mind.

🐓 The Growth

I hung around /co/ and tf2chan for my next fix of yaoi, not posting, just lurking for art, pretty much just going with the flow of whatever other people liked and not forming my own taste quite yet. So that meant shipping stuff that I forgot what J liked for their dynamics now, like Riddler/Scarecrow. I have a better memory of what I liked about ye olde TF2 ships like Sniper/Spy and Heavy/Medic. But I resolved never to become one of those annoying underage fans who latched onto Scout for his relatively twinkish appearance to turn him into a uke bishie yaoi boy!!! How the turns have tabled. Now I base my entire personality around Scoutsonas and Gorl Scouts.

At the same time, I got into boomer rock after one-too-many sleepless nights of VH1 classic. And it was inevitable when looking up photos of my favorite hair metal yaoi boyz, it would lead to tumblr blogs. So there's where I found the RPF army I desired. I started developing my own taste at this point because the pairings were MUCH rarer. Like trying to find Vince/Mick (crue) :P

I posted some art on Deviantart so I could do something with a high school friend. There was a little boomer rock RPF niche on there. It was pretty godlike when you found someone who drew them as bishie anime boyz and had their explicit art locked behind a personal site needing you to google translate Japanese for the password.

I made boomer rock OCs to use my autistic collection of 80s musician stories in my head for something. Pussywhip vs The Penetrators. The Penetrators came from a Rock Band (wii) name we used. Pussywhip was like.. damn I wish I came up with "Faster Pussycat" yknow? Jizzy (Doctor Love), Saucy (not Dave Mustaine, used as my maplestory avatar), and Johnny (played New Vegas around this time too smir were the first ones. I still draw Vicky and Angus a bit. And still add to this universe to this day :P y'all know about my ScoutSpy ACID PUSSY band au?!?

🍗 The End

I am still using Tumblr to this day LMAO. I draw comics and cartoons for a living cuz I still need to draw the strange niche yaoi I crave but can't find. I am married to my lovely manwife because we found each other through strange niche yaoi online. Fandom can be cool sometimes.

[gemsofgreece]

A place for every month - commentary

This is directly inspired by a Daily Mail travel article, which recommends one Greek destination for every month, as it declares the country a year-round destination. I loved the concept but I do have some thoughts on the recommendations themselves. This is not to say I don't agree with the recs - all places mentioned are beautiful - but I am not sure they are the ideal option for the month their chosen for each time. The article focuses on avoiding the crowds which is understandable, however it also sometimes leads to missing the trademark summery places in summer and the wintry places in winter and... where's the charm in that, right? So I don't know what exactly the point of this post is, maybe some insider commentary on that overall good article concept.

January - Mystrás

Daily Mail recommends Mystras. Mystras is the Byzantine Castle City, the last Byzantine stronghold which also served as a capital for a while, the times Constantinople was sacked and fallen. It is a must-see medieval cultural site, however I would not pick it for January. The article does not explain the reasoning, but I believe it is picked for this month because it is in the southmost mainland, therefore it is a way to experience as a mild January as possible. Mystras is situated in a beautiful hilly region in the countryside that gets very green and beautiful in spring. January would be a relatively unremarkable time to go there. Furthermore, the surrounding regions are coastal and summery, so it's better to visit this region in late spring - early summer. It's not a tourist trap anyway. As for where to go in January, well, this is a tricky month. It is not the coldest month of the year - it has what's called "Alcyonides meres". This is a phenomenon of ongoing mild, pleasant weather in the midst of winter. Because it's hard to predict what facet of January you will encounter, especially when travelling from abroad, January is a good month to visit diverse destinations that look great both in mild and cold weather. Those usually are mountainous coastal regions in the mainland (i.e Magnesia - Mt Pelion, Pieria - Mt Olympus, even Chalcidice where Holomon is unfairly overshadowed by the beaches) or very large mountainous islands (i.e Crete and Euboea). Technically, Laconia (where Mystras is) can serve too, as it's where Mt Taygetus is, but all I am saying is January won't make Mystras much justice.

Mystras on the left, Pieria and Euboea island on the right. I realise I am self-nagating right now but look, of course it snows on Mt Taygetus and occasionally it can snow in Mystras as well, however just because there are photos of it, it doesn't mean it is as frequent an occurence as the ones I recommended. But like I said, weather in January is a hit or miss case - in general finding the weather you want in winter in Greece is tricky.

February - Patra(s)

Daily Mail recommends Patras because of its big Carnival Festival. This is a good choice. A visit to Patras in February can be combined with exploring the countryside around it, including the mountain town and ski resort of Kalavryta and a visit to nearby Corinthia, to Mount Killini, Feneos and Lake Doxa. February is the coldest Greek month to be sure, however it's still tricky because you don't know if you will fall into a typical cold February or an early spring. Other good recs for this month are all other regions with carnival traditions, such as Xanthi in Thrace or the west regions of Macedonia. And because it's February and those places, unlike Patras, are in the very north of the country, you are going to get the winter vibes well there.

March - Athens

Athens is a clever choice for March. The capital is located in the driest, hottest region of Greece, therefore it is smart to spend March there and avoid the spring rainfalls or the surprising cold March brings along in most other regions. Furthermore, Athens doesn't have significant summery attractions therefore it should be avoided in summer unless you want a pointless sunstroke. The article makes a valid point; if you are in Athens in March, you shouldn't miss the military parade on Independence Day. It's worth seeing. My only commentary is that March is a beautiful month, so if you have a lot of time available, it would be nice to spend some days in the countryside close to Athens, Parnitha or Parnassus mountains, the site of the Oracle of Delphi or Arachova. Again, March is a surprisingly cold month, sometimes as cold as January or even more! This means that while Athens may be almost warm, in the nearby regions that are full of mountains, it can be prolonged heavy winter.

April - Hydra

For April Daily Mail focuses on Orthodox Easter, fairly so. The Saronic islands do have a lot of Easter traditions.... but so does Kerkyra (Corfu) island, probably the ultimate Greek Easter destination. There's nothing wrong with Hydra whatsoever and both destinations are going to be sunken with visitors anyway. My only objection is that we are four months in and three out of the recommendations are from the same geographical region... Some variety, come on, guys. So, Hydra is great, Kerkyra is a great alternative far away and Chios island is another great alternative in the very opposite side of the country.

Easter celebrations in Hydra island.

May - Parga

Oh wow, we changed region, guys! Daily Mail recommends this coastal town surrounded by mountains for the end of spring. It's a good choice, though I will argue... it's May, you can go anywhere in Greece and be happy.

June - Corinthia

Oookay back to basics. Let's be real, the journalist either has spent 95% of their time in the Peloponnese or is secretly a southern Greek. I already recommended Corinthia as a combo vacation with Patras in February and I will stick to this. June is such an amazing month in Greece - save for the sudden thunderstorms - it's summer but the tourist masses haven't arrived fully yet. There are so many places to enjoy before Corinthia; beaches, islands! I don't mean to diss Corinthia at all, it has the stunning Feneos I already mentioned, it has the unique Corinth Canal and it has many significant archaeological sites, but those can be enjoyed throughout the year. Save June for something else, if possible.

See, Corinthia is amazing but earlier in the year is more charming than June.

July - Náfplion

Errr... the Peloponnesian sweep continues. Nafplion is one of the prettiest cities in Greece, without doubt. It has significant historical monuments and very important archaeological sites nearby. But, again, it's July, go to some island, go to a beach. Save Nafplion for autumn. Nafplion is indeed coastal and has several small islands nearby...but STILL, there are some places that are simply more ideal for July. The article probably wants you to escape the very hot, very touristy destinations in the peak season. I hear this, but there are some remote, lesser known islands that are totally worth visiting. And it's not like Nafplion doesn't have its fair share of tourists anyway...

See, Nafplion can work in winter...

August - Ioánnina

As a person who somehow it is always August when I visit Ioannina and I am perpetually on the verge of moving there, no, August is not the ideal month for this place. In truth, every month can be ideal for Ioannina because the city and its surrounding countryside is of outstanding beauty. But, again, it's August in Greece and you recommend a lake city inside a ring of mountains? This is for heavy winter. This is for heavenly spring. This is for dreamy autumn. This is for everything except AUGUST. I understand the heat and tourist avoidance but, let's be real, isn't this part of the charm? What's the point of coming in the heart of the Greek summer, if not to get a little roasted? This is part of the fun of going to a different place. Be careful, of course, put on a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, blast the air conditioner in the hotel room... but also get a little roasted. That's the deal. See some desert and water. Get some blinding sun and taste the salt in the air. Board a ship. I think it's a seriously missed opportunity if you are in Greece in summer and not experience it in its admittedly most ferocious might. It's also a little hypocritical, if you are willing to go to Hydra on Easter, then why not go to Tinos island in August? Like a second easter in the summer, the island's largest chuch, which is the major Marian shrine of the country and said to have been the place of many miracles, commemorates the Dormition of Mary and has a huge festival that attracts pilgrims from all over Greece and the Orthodox world. Landscape-wise, it is exactly the place you should be getting roasted in August.

Somewhere in Ioannina in what is certainly not August (left), Tinos island (right).

September - Crete

September in Greece is prolonged summer, especially in its southmost large and most diverse island. Crete is good for any time of the year, including September, no objections here.

October - Thessaloniki

This is a very correct one yet funny, because somehow it's like everyone has collectively agreed this is the right time to visit Thessaloniki. The second largest city of the country is a very loved destination amongst Greeks and is on the rise with foreign tourists as well. It is sometimes called the cultural and food capital of Greece, although to be fair Athens is not lacking in either. In any case, October is a good month for some city break, although it might be a little windy there. What's also funny is that Daily Mail recommended Athens in March for the military parade. Here's the thing, in Thessaloniki the military parade takes place in October! I don't know if Daily Mail is aware of this but it ain't letting you miss any big Greek military parade from now on XD Thessaloniki is in the north of the country, which has several forests nearby. It is a good time to explore the forests, while the first autumn colourings will be observed.

November - Santorini

This is where I flip a table probably. If it's your first time in Santorini, DON'T GO there in November. If you have been there multiple times, have seen all the important stuff, love it and now you just want to chill there forever, sure. Otherwise, it's a pity to see it in its most unremarkable season for the first time. Sure, the high season is getting elongated, the prices will be lower, but you will also be getting cold dark waters and cloudy skies. Please go to Santorini anytime from April to September if it's your first time. It's a really striking place, see it in its peak. As for November destinations, all the mainland mountainous and forested countryside is perfect for this month.

Santorini in definitely NOT November and, as an example, Kastoria in quite possibly November.

December - Mt Maenalo Ski Resort

Back to the usual suspect, Peloponnese. It wasn't mentioned the entire last season and I got scared. Arcadia is a most mountainous region of the Peloponnese, it is very beautiful and Daily Mail recommends its ski resort so...nothing wrong here. But it's December which is the warmest winter month, it's southmost Greece and Maenalo is almost ultra but not the biggest mountain of the region. The Kalavryta ski resort I mentioned for February is in a higher altitude. Kyllini and Taygetus are also bigger mountains than Maenalo. All I am saying is... it might not have enough snow yet in December. And here's the thing, Greece has bigger mountains and far more northern regions! So, for December, other ski resorts might be safer choices. On the other hand, Arcadia has many lovely traditional mountain villages that will be beautiful during the Christmas holidays. It's a good rec, it's just that many other places in very overlooked regions might have even more wintry and Christmas-y vibes at the time (i.e Parnassus and Arachova, Volos and Pelion ski resort, Trikala, Vasilitsa ski resort, Lailias Ski resort, Kaimaktsalan ski resort etc etc).

That was it! Any additional thoughts? Hopefully not from a Peloponnesian who wants to bite my nose off XD Huge love for this gorgeous region, it's only I wished for wider representation! Hopefully, this might be useful for aspiring travellers from abroad, perhaps it will help you develop a strategy or a certain way of understanding about the things you should be considering when travelling in Greece.

Many of the photos are from Creative Commons, but for some places it was pretty hard. All photos belong to their rightful owners.

The Daily Mail article.

[nulltune]

plots please maybe?

plots please,  open !    @resolutepath  ♡

SCRATCHES OUT THAT MAYBE BECAUSE CHAAARLIEE i'm always down for plots with u!!! ❤️❤️ you're always providing be with such great ideas so it's about time i get 2 return the favor!! >:3c

i am not up 2 date with genshin at all but i stare respectfully at your genshin muses always (me always learning more abt them thru ur portrayals and just absolutely loving it 🤧💖) and I RLLY ENJOYED READING YOUR HC POST ABT FREMINET WAHHH it made me wanna interact with him so bad!!! and also pat his head but i think that'd make him feel comfortable so i shall refrain u_u🙏 i think they both struggle with expressing their feelings and while freminet has the ocean hakuno has nothing- so methinks she'd be really curious about that! i read from the wiki that many people would ask freminet if he could do things for em so how would he react to someone who's just genuinely interested to know about his feeling about diving? 🤔 and i know absolutely want to explore emotions with them because i see some bits about freminet wanting(?) to be like an unfeeling machine and that'd be interesting to explore with hakuno who's more of the opposite- she wants to be more emotional and more human. add in their reasons for being like this and i just think it'd be really neat to explore!!

i've seen some stuff abt lyney and 👀✨️ (BASSBOOTED) CHARLIE AND LYNN BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH EXPLORING IDENTITY ?! listen i saw his line about the "real me" and i went So Bonkers. the one who knows his true self but can't express that and the one who doesn't know herself but wants to find it??? idk i feel like there's sooo much to unpack there and i am extremely intrigued!!!! on a lighter note though! wow lyney pls show this moon lady your magic tricks because i just think she would be so fascinated by it! 😳✨️✨️ it doesn't have to be anything fancy either! he could just take a coin from her ear and she'd be like O_O How Did You Do That. her expression is stoic but i feel like he could see her eyes all sparkly like ooh... ✨✨✨

thiis is gonna sound kinda wild but i want hu tao and hakuno to talk abt death!! :D SVJCJWFN HEAR ME OUT- hakuno's someone who very strongly does not want to die (even though she has no reason to live either </3) so interacting with a funeral director? it could be rlly neat! hakuno's living status is Weird(TM) but i think it'd rlly help her to understand that it's how you spend your life which is important- and that she should live it to the fullest! hakuno tends to be on guard and serious all the time so being around someone as playful as hu tao could really help methinks! 🥺 and for how calm and reserved she is, hakuno's got a pretty mischievous side so her pulling a (hak)uno reverse card and pranking hu tao for a change? very possible! and it'd when she least expects it too ✨️

charlie you were so gigabrained about bringing up bosacius btw... it'd be super interesting to see em interact with someone in the same boat and i especially wanna know their differences when it comes to this!!! i'm also peeking at your misc hcs for him and first of all I LOVE HIM 😭😭🫶🙏💖💞 ( and second of all- i love the difference in vibes?? temperaments?? whatever you call it!! bosacius having those naturally welcoming presence and hakuno just being so aware that she is not like that at all. for all her efforts to do so, she really struggles in making that personal connection with others and always feels isolated on some level so :,) i just wanted to say thaaat </3 there might be some comparisons that she unintentionally makes between em methinks, and she'd definitely admire him in a way + think he's much better than her 🥹✨️

i'm staring at kai and his genshinverse (but i'm also down with exploring other verses too >:3c) because as the darknight hero's no. 1 fan i need hakuno to somehow stumble on him fighting and seeing the similarities between his fighting style and diluc's!! and from there i really want em to talk about why they fight ??? hakuno only does it when necessary and she doesn't care about strength and all that- she really only fights out of self-defense/self-preservation or to protect something and idk i feel like that difference in attitude also reflects their approach to interpersonal relationships 🤔🤔 idk but i just think it'd be pretty interesting 2 explore! and ough man i just think if she someday found out about his past and upbringing then 💔💔 IT'S GONNA HURT and hakuno would have a lot of Thoughts(TM)

i also want to talk about elio real quick because i adore their interactions so far and i just think the concept of fate or destiny in general would be real interesting to explore with these two!! elio being like a slave to destiny has me all 👁👁✨️ and it definitely seems like a heavy weight to carry?? i can't even begin 2 imagine it 🤯  but i want to know more abt it!!! hakuno def would be curious too ! and like- her whole character is about identity and the free will to be who you are so i think she'd definitely wonder- if everything is predetermined then what's the point of making choices? definitely would be lots of mixed feelings abt that concept! on a sillier note, if hakuno finds out that elio has a black cat form then she would be 👁👁✨️ Especially Intrigued (<- cat luvr)

i read lynx's line about how "In the Landau family, things are quite simple: If you want to do something, just go ahead and do it." and the hakuno muse just went what i want to do... do i even have something like that....? 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️hakuno does have a tendency to overthink things though, so i think that kind of simpler way of thinking could be pretty good for her mayhaps! also maybe have em talk about socialization because hakuno would think that "aren't all socialization necessary..?" (<- girl who really wants to properly interact and connect with others) alsoo methinks hakuno would def ask lynx for some wilderness survival tips!! 🫡🫡✨️✨️ i think she'd be interested in seeing in exploring more of the world and it definitely won't hurt to be better at surviving! and imagine them exploring the snow plains together 🥺 could be fun methinks!!

also this is getting pretty long already BUT I JUST GOTTA SAY- i rewatched bnha recently so i'm staring respectfully at them 🥺✨️ big yes to the ideas from your post from a while back (ALWAYS BIG YES TO ALL DA PLOTS WE'VE TALKED ABT OKOK 🫶 I ADORE EMM) and i'm grabby hands at kirishima in particular just bc he is so your brand methinks!!! i think they both have issues with self-confidence and deal with it by doing their best to help others ..... idk just yet but i think that'd be p neat to explore!!!

[berryblu-soda]

girl i´ve been the victim of ADHD rooted bullshit that you can´t even imagine

[questioningespecialy]

Ok, hear me out... a 2D side-scroller where the first thing the game does is open up to you on the moon (but it's unrealistic enough to be a fun platformer) and tell you "find the sword". So of course you run forward in search of this thing a voice speaks of. Passing by landscapes, impossibilities, and meteoroids that shouldn't be and yet appear drawn to you with hostility. A single impact is all it'd take to end your journey. You are wearing a space suit in an oxygen-less environment afterall... right? And what's this... hum you keep hearing. Or is that a buzz? 🤔

Anyway, you eventually stumble upon a cave and reach the sword of aeiou. Touching it assaults your senses with inexplanations and bizarre manifestations. You've got no time to rest in your confusion, though. There's an endless repetitive-ass annoying-ass wtf-is-that-shit noise overstimulating you. So out you rush of the cave. Seeking to end the monstrosity uncontrollably. And you know you're getting closer. You can hear the damn thing even louder now! GAH! There it is! Screaming "uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" on endless!! KILL IT! But now you notice another! Mumbling "ebrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrb"! FIND IT NOW! Now where dafuq is that "999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999" piece of shit?! DESTROYYYY ITTTTTTT!

"mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark! mark!"

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

"5873459729852753355 5873459729852753355 5873459729852753355 5873459729852753355 5873459729852753355 5873459729852753355"

"123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789123456789"

"yuyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuioyuio"

the mOOn: a sENSORy landing

05.01 - The Ancient Blade