#how do people align themselves with fandom spaces so much

[coralhoneyrose]

Why Chrom Fire Emblem is The Husband of All Time: An Essay

SO. There was a screenshot going around of a reddit thread asking about how Chrom has managed to maintain such lasting popularity as a Fire Emblem husband even 6 years after Awakening came out. Given how beloved he still is another 5+ years later, I could not resist taking the opportunity to talk about just what I think makes him so great and endears him to players.

Character Introduction:

Let’s start out the same way Awakening does—with Chrom’s in-game introduction. This is one of the immediate ways Chrom sets himself apart. The game boots up and before anything else happens, Chrom is there expressing his unshakable faith in the player character. You take down the Bad Guy™ together, he turns and gives you this wide, puppy-ish smile and then you push him out of the way to take the hit from an oncoming spell in his stead. Right away you know this is someone your player character cares about deeply—and clearly that care is returned, because he’s immediately running over to make sure Robin’s alright.

Of course, as we all know, things go south very quickly after that. But as the cinematic plays out, and you proceed to watch yourself stab him in the chest, the *first* thing he does, the very first words out of his mouth are: “this is not your fault”. Chrom has just been completely blind-sided and arguably betrayed by his best friend, possibly his spouse, and his immediate instinct is to absolve Robin of guilt. He is literally more concerned about Robin blaming themselves for what happened than about his own imminent death. That alone tells you so, SO much about the depth of their relationship. It tells you both how deeply Chrom cares and how well Chrom knows Robin too. And not only that, but his final request, the ONE and only thing he asks of Robin before dying is that they will promise him they will escape from this place. In his last moments, his single “selfish” wish is for Robin to assure him that they will do what they can to survive. Chrom’s final request is for Robin to give him the comfort and peace of mind he can only obtain through the assurance that even though he won’t get out of there himself, Robin will. He just wants to be able to die believing they’ll take care of themselves and be alright—and knows them well enough to realize that unless he makes them promise, they likely won’t.

AND THEN. And then!!!! You jump cut to Robin waking up in the field with all the sunshine and Chrom’s smiling down with the softest expression and his ridiculously blue eyes. He lifts Robin up by the hand and pulls them right up to his face (because he has no concept of personal space, apparently) and OUUuuggh.

Those scenes in direct sequence make me so insane. You get Chrom’s life ending with Robin immediately followed by Robin’s life starting anew with Chrom. Chrom’s unwavering faith in them and his eagerness to extend his hand and bridge the gap between them from the moment they meet until his last breath. The warmth and kindness and love that Chrom treats Robin with is communicated so effectively in the first few MINUTES of the game it honestly makes me feel unwell. Showing how profoundly Chrom cares for Robin immediately endears him to the player. And he only gives you more reasons to love him as the game goes on.

Personality:

There can be a tendency in some corners of fandom to simplify Chrom to just being either a generic prince charming type character or a lovable himbo. I’m not here to police how other people enjoy him, but I will say that those characterizations fail to get at some of the aspects of his personality I find most compelling.

Chrom is deceptively nuanced. While there are certainly ways in which he aligns very closely with the standard jrpg protagonist, I suspect that a lot of his enduring popularity is the result of the ways he deviates from it too. He is brave and loyal and cares deeply for his friends, yes. He has profound conviction in his ideals and strives to do the right thing, as is typical for that archetype…but what makes Chrom so lovable is his determination to keep trying to be good in spite of the ways it does not come easily to him.

We see this in the Valm arc, when he’s struggling to reconcile his own beliefs about justice with his sister’s ideals for peace. We hear echoes of it when he talks about the horrors the Ylissean people endured at his father’s hand and how despite that, he has never been able to understand how Emmeryn forgave them for the cruelty they once directed her way. He has so much admiration for his older sister’s ideals despite the fact that peace is not his first instinct. 

When Emmeryn first sacrifices herself, Chrom is consumed with grief and rage, and it takes some time for him to understand why she made the decision she did. “Peace above all else” is just not how he’s programmed to operate…yet he wants it to be. If you count the drama CDs as canon, then that serves as another excellent example as well—where the message of his sister’s sacrifice is so lost on him that his first instinct is to respond to it with violence and prejudice and hatred directed at the very people she sought to reach out to. For a moment there, we see him veer from the person he wants to be towards what we as the player can only assume is the person his father left him afraid that he would become.

And yet he finds his way back. He stumbles, he lashes out, but his love for his friends and fear of losing more of those he holds dear is able to help him course correct.

I love that tug-of-war in him. I love that we get glimpses of the darker paths he could have gone down and that there are tangible consequences for his mistakes. Early in the game, we see Chrom lose control of his temper and how Gangrel and Aversa are able to take advantage of that to officially declare war on Ylisse. Chrom later tells Gangrel that were he alone, he can imagine losing himself in that need for vengeance but reiterates that it’s love that is able to keep him from succumbing to that.

And it’s not only that he’s able to stop himself from being horrible—his losses are the catalyst for him coming into his own as a leader. He’s able to pick himself up and hold himself together to see their troops through the rest of the war. And he manages that despite the fact that in the course of mere days, he lost both his home and his most important person and has been freshly saddled with the duty of ruling an entire country. That’s…a lot. And really goes a long way in demonstrating Chrom’s incredible strength of character and conviction. We get some wonderful moments of vulnerability where he confesses to being riddled with doubts about his own capabilities and worthiness, but in spite of that, he is still determined to try to be the person that Ylisse needs him to be.

All of this leads me right into another wonderful aspect of Chrom’s personality, which is that he is just…so driven by emotion. He feels DEEPLY, and while the narrative definitely uses that as a way to hurt him and force him to grow at times, something that really stands out to me about Chrom is how the story isn’t here to send a message that it’s wrong for him to be that way. Chrom’s big feelings are one of his greatest strengths in addition to his greatest weakness—they’re what saves his life and ultimately Robin’s too, if you go the sacrifice ending route.

And ya know what? I honestly think that’s such a breath of fresh air. I love how much he does NOT embody the emotional disconnectedness that you see pushed a lot of times with stereotypical masculinity. I love that he is the hero, and he's gallant, and very traditionally "manly" in a lot of senses…AND that he's also very emotional and guided by his heart. If you’re playing with f!Robin then you wind up with a really refreshing inversion of gender stereotypes from that: in which Chrom is the emotional decision maker and Robin is the more calculating and logic driven of the two.

Beyond his big heart, I can’t talk about what’s so charming about Chrom’s personality without touching on the ways he embodies a certain level of gap moe as well. Chrom is so stern and serious, as well as quite charismatic when he’s speaking from a place of passion. But on the flip side of that, we get to see him as an absolute bumbling mess when he’s out of his element. He’s easily embarrassed / flustered, self-conscious about his appearance, and often socially awkward where romance is involved. While these traits may seem of minor importance compared to the whole rant above, I think they’re really important for humanizing and rounding him out.

There are lots of other nuances to his characterization that go a long way in fleshing him out too. Despite being a prince, Chrom is blunt and completely unmindful of formalities. That, along with his impulsivity, definitely gets him into trouble sometimes. He’s melodramatic and blisteringly sincere. He’s a little bit clumsy and doesn’t know his own strength. He has a dry sense of humor and can be surprisingly funny. He’s optimistic and trusting—not due to naivete or stupidity but because he has decided that giving people chances and believing the best of them is an important value to him and one that is worth embodying in how he lives his life. 

Lucina’s presence in the story and his immediate and complete acceptance of her is an extremely effective way of demonstrating what an incredible father he is too. Honestly, he just has really wonderful relationships and deep admiration for a lot of the women in his life and that absolutely earns him points in my book (and I suspect in many others’ as well). When you look at all of that together, I don’t think it’s hard to understand why he’s so beloved.

Design:

Slightly less serious note here, but I think it warrants discussion regardless because character design absolutely contributes to player’s feelings about and interpretation of a game’s cast members.

And Chrom is…well, he’s eye candy, honestly. He’s got the nice, exposed arm, the messy blue hair, the completely nonsensical outfit he somehow manages to look handsome in anyway (his questionable sense of fashion is a charm point, okay?). Add in the square jaw and the surprisingly long eyelashes and he’s just. He’s very pretty. Idk what to tell you. Bonus points for the summer scramble cg where he has the most inexplicably flat butt of all time. And I really do believe that some of the oddities of Chrom’s design lend memorability to him and go a long way in setting him apart from other lords in the series with similar design concepts. The insistent asymmetry across many of his outfits, the fact he’s showing a little skin, idk it just WORKS. Chrom is hot, I don’t make the rules.

Relationship with Robin / the Player Character:

Last but not least, I want to talk about Chrom’s relationship with Robin.

I touched on some of this in his character introduction already, but Chrom is just…the biggest Robin stan. If Robin has only one fan then that is Chrom. If Robin has no fans it’s because Chrom is bleeding out on the floor with lightning in his gut. 

He just has such deep respect and admiration for them. He values Robin’s opinion and insight and thinks so highly of them and their ideas, often serving as an enabler in many cases (setting the boats on fire, the volcano, etc.). Chrom’s faith in Robin is SO unshakable that when his daughter tells him that Robin is going to be magically controlled and forced to murder him, his response is, “That won’t happen because Robin and I love each other so much that everything will somehow be okay. No, I will not elaborate.” And ya know what? He was RIGHT. Their bond DOES wind up being so strong that it’s able to change fate. The narrative is quite literally validating his slightly ridiculous insistence that him and Robin just care about each other The Most of Anyone Ever. He is Robin’s biggest advocate from the moment they meet when he defends them from Frederick’s suspicions all the way to the game’s close when he either assures Robin that their life was worth preserving or, as in the case of the sacrifice ending, that he will spend the rest of his own life searching for them until they return.

Honestly the fact that Chrom was willing to potentially risk dooming the whole world to the fell dragon’s awakening 1,000 years down the line just so he doesn’t have to lose his comfort tactician is WILD. For the game’s hero to literally say “we don’t have to defeat this evil for good, the people of the future can figure it out” JUST so he can keep Robin is absolutely unhinged behavior and I love it. I think it’s incredibly humanizing that he’s a little bit selfish about the people who are most important to him…that despite his willingness to sacrifice himself or run headfirst into danger, he draws the line at losing Robin because he’s already lost his most important person once and he’s not going to let it happen again. Chrom and Robin absolutely come across as a little codependent and a lot obsessed with each other and personally I wouldn’t have it any other way.

And then there’s his love confession to Robin. GOd...

I think that’s the most flustered Chrom appears in any content in the entire game…and it’s because he treasures their friendship so deeply that he is petrified about messing it up or saying the wrong thing. I love that he goes into their S support dead set on NOT telling Robin what is going on but the second he realizes that Robin is under the impression he doesn’t care about them or like spending time with them anymore he is so horrified and desperate to correct that line of thinking that he blurts out the full love confession on the spot.

He’s SO earnest throughout the whole thing, but then at the end he hits you with the whole “this is the best day of my life”, and the “You are the wind at my back and the sword at my side. Together, my love, we shall build a peaceful world, just you and me” (thank you Matt Mercer for your services), and the cg image of him staring right at Robin with what are basically heart eyes and. I just. There were no survivors.

That’s not even their only proposal / love confession scene either! The fact that the game gives us an entirely separate alternate proposal that’s more serious in tone is the icing on the cake. How many ships out there can say that they get not one but TWO canon proposals that are both that good? Truly no one is doing it like chrobin.

Closing Remarks:

Chrom is a well written and nuanced character who struggles and grows over the course of the story while always remaining true to himself and his ideals. His intense and unending trust, admiration, and love of Robin endears him to the player from the moment the game begins all the way to its conclusion. He is kind and good while still being fundamentally flawed (and it doesn’t hurt that he’s very handsome to boot). Bearing all that in mind, while the message of Awakening may be that nothing is inevitable, Chrom’s conceit and execution were always going to lead to MANY of those who play the game coming to love him and pick him as Robin’s husband…and there may be no greater evidence of that then the fact I’m out here writing all of this eleven years after the game’s release.

[rosegoldenatlas]

Dear all fans of Joel Smallishbeans, here is your weekly reminder that C!Joel is definitely a fae who is desperately trying to learn how to lie to fit in with everyone else.

Reasoning/evidence:

Look me in the eyes and tell me he doesn't give dragonfly vibes

He pulls tricks a lot! You know what else does that??? Fae!

He's a bad liar, fae trait.

He's a smol boy

His character traits change in fandom and canon spaces to match with the biome or habitat he's in. Body changing to fit nature?? Nature fae moment.

He has pulled so many people so fast, you know what creature is known to be inhumanly beautiful and charismatic? That's right. Fae.

Pretending to be a god is such a faerie move.

In esmp s2 he was the one to make Jimmy a sentient toy and convinced the entire server to play along. Fae curse also fae move.

Esmp s1 he was unaffected by Xornoth's magic, I dunno about you but that sounds like fae bullshit to me :/

Esmp s1 again, he worshipped a MOTHER TREE that BROUGHT LIFE to HIM AND HIS ENTIRE AREA. If you need a reminder, FAE ARE BORN OF PLANTS 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 AND FIERCELY PROTECT NATURE SURROUNDING THEM.

Esmp s1 again, He brought nature an plants into a mesa. Like c'mon man. He's a fae.

Esmp s1 again again, he hated Scott, a canon faerie from what I assume to be the winter court? (Judging by Rivendell) Joel would probably be from the summer court. Obviously as both are on two ends of the extremes they wouldn't clash very well.

-------------

Fae Joel lore and my 'evidence' aka fuck you he's a fae.

Joel is a summer court fae! Which also means he is Seelie. My reasoning for this is a combination of two things: personality traits and aesthetic

For personality he aligns with a lot of the Summer fae traits, he is kind and more benevolent than a fae from the Unseelie courts but is still capable of a lot more cruelty than the spring court. Fae of the summer court usually are rather frivolous and hotheaded. They hold politeness and manners highly but not as high as say the spring court. Fae from the summer court are more willing to cut losses and not force life. (Ex if the see a dying animal they would be quicker to put it out of its misery and feed it to another animal rather than spent long hours of trying to save it. They acknowledge death as a part of life and see more of the negative side of things but still choose to focus of positive aspects. Summer fae tend to lead a more arrogant and hedonistic lifestyle but do not enjoy pleasure at the expense of another happiness. They are more willing to spend time helping another than themselves.

As for aesthetic: Summer court colors are Forrest greens of healthy plants and rich golds an oranges of the sun, they also lean towards richer pinks and reds than spring fae. So you know, Mezalea, Stratos, his normal green?

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Headcanons to go with Fae!Joel

-Joel is definitely a fae who will spend decades learning how to lie like other creatures. He's still terrible at it because fae can't lie, but he has spent so much of his life around humans and other creatures able to lie that he has the capacity for sarcasm and white lies. He's still working on real lying though (see: Secret Life smp)

-He is immortal until proven otherwise.

-He's a dragonfly based fae with wings and antennae to match

-When Scott killed him in third life he definitely damaged Joel's wings and Joel wasn't able to heal them until he was off server. So he didn't really like him.

[dotthings]

Let me make this even clearer. Because Jensen and Misha both deserve better.

Given that we know they talk a lot about Destiel among themselves. They have told us, repeatedly. They've shared each other's perspectives with each other. They have an understanding.

Early misunderstandings and conflicts in pov aside (and do people want to keep circle jerking as if it's still 2014? Okay then. Have at it, but time moved on and you didn't): Jensen doesn't speak over Misha. Misha doesn't speak over Jensen.

Some things Misha has said about Dean or Destiel has resulted in Jensen stans attacking him. They always have some excuse--this past weekend it was because Misha acknowledged the idea of Dean and Cas having sex.

In the past, another example, backlash came at Misha for saying Cas saw love and acceptance in Dean's eyes.

(Which...sure does seem like the pearl-clutching about Misha's CR8 comments being too ribald is fake virtue signaling doesn't it, since even a statement from Misha wide open to platonic or romantic reading, that is 100% true about Dean, and how loving he is, how loving we know Dean is, how much we know Dean is going to accept and love Cas either way, got hatred aimed at Misha as if he had said something heinous. Tells me all I need to know about certain stans).

While Jensen's "Cas is an angel therefore his love is cosmic and unknowable impossible for humans to grasp let's not define it" and "open to interpretation" middleground to appease both sides and treading carefully for reasons, on a topic that's napalm in fandom (it shouldn't be, but that's the reality), might be construed as speaking over Misha.

But here's the thing!!! It's not!! From either of them!!

It seems very obvious by now that they decided Misha would be the loud one, with Jensen holding his cape, even if he doesn't join in , and Jensen walking a diplomatic middle line, also with Misha's understanding and support in turn.

When Misha goes off boldly about Destiel? People need to kick out that hate fantasy about Jensen being disrespected and Jensen must be wanting to punch Misha and Jensen must be so mad at Misha how dare Misha out of their heads, or get to the point where they can comprehend the difference between their own feelings vs Jensen's and quit projecting.

They didn't shut each other out. They talked about Destiel. They listened to each other. Highly likely, in fact, that they helped each develop or refine their talking points.

Neither of them has been shooting off their mouth about the other's character without having spoken to each other.

I don't have any hope for fans to stop the endless fighting and concern trolling and attacking either Jensen or Misha over it, needlessly, perpetually, but when it comes to Jensen and Misha...that's a hopeful space.

Misha's bluntness vs Jensen's carefully chosen middleground words complement each other are not in fact oppositional takes--they complement each other, there's room for both. They both know it's a mutually loving relationship.

Neither is trampling on the other's pov, and any views that don't perfectly align, they've already discussed and they respect each other.

These accusations at either of them are not true, they are not fair, and they both deserve better.

And now I'm staring right at a recent thing where Misha full on absolved Jensen of an accusation that various lanes kept throwing at him, and still weaponize, including Jensen stans who claim to be defending Jensen, because they want it to be true.

The response was manufactured drama where people called Misha a liar and doubling down.

They'd rather Jensen take the fall and they'd rather call Misha a liar than believe a soulless corporation that has been caught more than once exercising queer censorship could have committed queer censorship in a TV industry where it's common knowledge that queer censorship by broadcast TV networks happen???????

Wow gee can you feel the love in this Chili's. Great going. Excellent defense strategy. You're really such a big help. With fans like these, Jensen and Misha don't need antis.

A lot of it is agenda driven, and some anxiety driven, every lane's worried about other lanes react, because spn fandom is always a pain in the neck that way. Some people hate Destiel so much they need Jensen to be their antidestiel warrior they'll throw Jensen under a bus and stan for the corporation, or they're so anxious about how Destiel gets treated they blame Jensen and forever hold against him his past foot in mouth about the ship (which was a long time ago. Please stop punishing him endlessly when he's moved on and his perspectives are respectful, yet you're still stuck back there) rather than comprehending the actual systemic factors.

Jensen and Misha are both doing what they can to make it better.

They are trying to fix it!!!

People should show them more respect!!!!

[thelesbianpoirot]

your entire shtick sounds like ur a white girl terf lesbian loser who racefakes being Black just to get some credibility and pity for your virulent transphobia and internalised homophobic tendencies. youre so despicable that you gotta add some oppression to your unlikeable persona just to get pity. And if you are Black -- this is sad. The white terfies dont actually love you, you're a diverse little asset to them. Have the day you deserve.

You believe i'm a lesbian more than you believe i'm black? I can't be black because I disagree with you? And if I am black, I believe what I do because I want to be approved of by white people?

So I must align with white people to disagree with you.

Because only white people are capable of defiant "bad" thoughts? If you really saw black people as complete human beings instead of sock puppets for your causes, you would have space in your mind for black people who disagree with you outside of any relationship they have to white people. "Terfies" aren't an established group like a fandom, it's a label thrown at any woman in defiance of the current status quo. Conservative women who would sooner see abortion banned and every woman het married with kids, or apolitical horny lesbians/bis who watch porn all day every day, and go to strip clubs are classed as radical feminists because they know pussy from dick. Face it! Some of these women are black, brown, disabled, bi, lesbian, autistic, and have been or currently identified as trans. Rebel women are in every group. No group of women are exempt from your witch hunt. "The white terfies dont actually love you" How to admit your entire belief system is predicated not on arguments you truly believe in or facts, but how nicely people treat you, and love bomb you into their cult. Being black does not get you "credibility" in radblr orbit. It doesn't even get me pity, I keep getting random accusations of bigotry from within this same orbit for my other views. It gets you anonymous cowardice messages like this. It is not some bigotry free space, but I am sooner debated about bullshit than tokenized as an expert of race relations. Unlike faux tumblr "leftish" groups that treats every black person off the street like a trained activist if they agree with them enough, when many are ignorant scammers, much like themselves. Birds of a feather. Nothing was a bigger indication of my internalized homophobia than the years I wasted pretending I was something I am not, a male, or bisexual (willing to accept any genitals a sexual partner may have). I am a big o'l black lesbian woman and my happiness is not dependent on what foreign whites think of me. It is dependent on the success of my goal of world domination. Sincerely,

A defiant loudmouth Negress.

Hard to tell but that's my middle finger.

[yonpote]

I feel like people are conflating continuing the joke with invading their privacy… like no one is stalking them or sneaking pictures or bothering their friends and family asking about them we’re just continuing their joke that they set up within our fandom space. Which is exactly as we should be doing imo

yeah exactly. like i think when outsiders dont understand that we are in on the bit that makes some sense, but when it's PHANNIES especially phannies who joined post coming out???? it seems strange.

oh i didnt really explain why this kinda behavior is homophobic as well. (disclaimer: me calling an action homophobic is not the same as me calling an individual homophobic.) a lot of ppl use pj and sophie as a direct comparison straight couple example. pj has only directly called sophie his girlfriend once, and it was in the context reading someone's poorly written article about him lmao. otherwise, its known that they met in uni, have lived together since then, have worked on nearly every kickthepj project together, and generally their on screen energy is really sweet and funny. they also have a cat together and call themselves a family. it's not a stretch to say they're together in the slightest. in fact, it is just natural to assume so.

BUT when dnp who are now publicly out, have been very open about how much they mean to each other, have lived together since dan was in uni, have worked on nearly every project together (even in solo projects the other would help out behind the scenes), have a clear on camera chemistry together, had co-parented a fish, a pigeon, and several houseplants and possibly plan to get a dog or other pet in the future... suddenly it's wrong to assume anything.

i understand the fear that may come from having been in the phandom since when they were closeted and it was much harder to talk about it without seeming like youre aligned with stalkers or ppl who harassed their families or dnp themselves to reveal more information, but thats not the case anymore, and ESPECIALLY if you discovered them post-gay, it's such a flimsy argument to say anyone is breaching privacy in that way.

now there are still some like unspoken basic decency and boundary rules. you probably shouldnt be @'ing them in your smutfics or even your pretty innocent theories about them being super duper in gay love. dnp themselves understand that if they aren't being @ tagged in something, it's probably not meant for them to see, and even acknowledged that in the twitter memes video. but us talking about it in our own spaces, especially on tumblr where they arent on as much but also on twitter BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THEYRE NOT MEANT TO SEE IT, is not the same as being like hey @/danielhowell @/amazingphil do you fuck nasty i gotta know if you fuck nasty. (but even if i were to do that, i feel like its very clearly a joke lmao)

so like just dont worry about it, if you still personally dont like seeing ppl talk abt this stuff regardless, you can mute and block people, you can blacklist tags, you can curate your own experience to fit your needs and you dont need to harass other people into suiting your needs.

[orkbutch]

So I've been seeing A Viewpoint within the bg3 fandom occuring. And I gotta be honest. I disagree that the characters being bisexual in Baldur's Gate 3 means you cannot headcanon them as other sexualities for your own fandom content purposes. I think that's not reflective of how queer people and their sexual identities actually work, and its just antithetical to how fandom has always functioned, which is an exercise of imagination. I wanna clarify up front: I agree that someone saying that a character Can't or Shouldn't or Was Not Meant To Be bisexual because of whatever reason IS biphobic sentiment. The characters in Baldur's Gate 3 are canonically bi/pan, thats made pretty damn clear when you look through all their content. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about headcanons, au's; the kind of imaginitve play that is very much what fandom creativity is about. If you set a standard in fandom that depicting a character as a certain sexuality is Not Allowed, 1. you're kinda flattening sexuality in a weird way, like personally my sexuality is complicated as fuck and has changed over time, and 2. you're limiting creativity. And I think creativity in fandom is extremely important. It's the whole fun of fandom. Creativity is worth protecting and its worth establishing the nuance between Depicting A Version of Character who is X and Insisting That Character Should Be X in canon. Because like... we meddle with character's identities in fandom all the time. That's what headcanons ARE, they change appearance, social position, career, faith, species, traumatic experience, moral and political alignment, and SO much more. I think limiting what people can headcanon within fandom... is less fun! It's just less fun. Imaginative scope lets you do more, weird fun stuff. It lets you depict more complex interesting characters. Example: my Bad Nun AU. In that, Shadowheart identifies as a lesbian. Why is that? Because I wanted Shadowheart's experience within Bad Nun to specifically explore the history and context of lesbians within nunneries, especially how that manifested post Vatican II. These were also eras when 'lesbian' was more ubiquitos, had a different context and more flexibility; a lot of women that would probably consider themselves 'bisexual' now were identifying as lesbians, were in lesbian communities and events and spaces.

On that note: Flattening sexuality. You're gonna say people CANNOT depict these characters as ANYTHING but bisexual? That is not how most queer people's sexualities work. It simply isn't. I've identified as tons of different shit in my sexuality. I'm still not sure about it. For me half the time my "sexual identity" is just the words I use to communicate what I'm looking for, and that changes depends on What I Want at that time, what I'm looking to explore, my social context, ect. ect. like what. This isn't how sexuality works for real people. How are artists meant to be Creative and imaginatively depict real, complex, queer sexuality if they are restricted to depicting only what is within canon?? This is not how any other part of fandom works. Fandom art should work how all art works. If someone makes shit art, it gets dunked on and ignored for being bad or lazy or lame. If someone did Heterosexual Karlach fanfic, I would be like "what the fuck why" because they made Karlach less fucking cool. Het Karlach would be boring and thats More Egregious because they DECIDED to make her heterosexual DESPITE canon. But even then, EVEN THEN, I don't think that should be looked at as off limits shit, because I don't believe art should have many things off limits. Any limits must be very nuanced, because art and creativity is nuanced. Obviously my brain would go "het karlach? you deserve jail time and thats queerphobic", but I honestly believe creative license is more important than those feelings. I WOULD happily comment on their thing, "heterosexual karlach is boring, thats a shit idea" because I'm right

If you want good art and good writing, you need to protext creative license.

[crowtrobotx]

I know this is out of the blue, but thank you so much for being a real one 👍✨️

Like I have nothing against people who see Heisenberg as a gay man, they’re entitled to think that. But I draw the hard line at people who feel the need to bash others just because their views don't align, and then when confronted use the piss poor "it's just a joke" or "it's just an observation" excuses. If you're going to be a bitch at least have the balls to own up to it.

Anyway, loved your work since 2021 and wishing you all the good vibes. 🤗

Oh my goodness, thank you!!! This is such a kind message and I appreciate you so much. ❤️ Good vibes right back at you. I’m glad that my rantings have resonated with folks because sometimes I wonder if *spongebob voice* I’M the maniac. Getting dragged into this stuff really makes me feel like it sometimes, haha.

Yes! To be clear I also truly do not care what your HC’s are! I love that there are people for whom gay Heisy is their thing and I hope they are having fun and keep making their art/fic/etc! Even if I really can’t stand the popular fanon ship I’m so glad it exists for folks who enjoy it and I am not going to spend my time posting about what I don’t like/agree with when they’re not hurting me and I can spend my time on stuff I do like!

And like. I know. I KNOW a lot of these people are teenagers. And I struggle sometimes because “do not fight literal children” is a rule I try to live by lmao but I also really don’t like seeing people target and mock folks for harmless fun. (It’s on sight if a 25+ year old starts putting this shit in the tags tho. I know they’re out there.)

Still, it’s extremely weird because they always defend themselves with “it’s just a joke/it’s not that deep” or “oh my god no one is stopping you from liking x why are you so pressed 🙄 i can’t believe you’re letting my nasty opinions bother you just because i put them right where you can see them with the intent of insulting you.” 💀💀💀 Like what could possibly be the point of doing this if not to, at the very least, actively try to dissuade people you don’t like from engaging with the community? Obviously no one can stop me but if I know that there are dickbags out there who are going to vaguepost and make fun of me when I do, I don’t care how confident and thick skinned you are (and I am very,) it’s still going to sting!

People are not bothered because they’re disconnected from reality and think they’re really married to a pixel man, they’re upset because life is hard enough and you come into your hobby space to have a good time and then find lame ass idiots infesting it. I also think the whole “ohhh my god why are you so upset he’s/she’s not real!!” is a blatant attempt to discredit the hurt parties by once again insinuating that they are “crazy” which once again conveniently ignores multiple realities, chiefly that 1) most people are not upset by a simple opinion that their fave wouldn’t fuck them IRL, they are upset at the blatant meanness of the person making the accusations and 2) even if they are genuinely hurt by the thought because it’s a coping mechanism for them, why does that make it okay for you target them? What gives you the right to harass and mock people who are not bothering you? Do these people think they’re doing these folks a ‘favor’ by forcing them to contend with what they perceive to be some kind of delusion? Shut the hell up. Why do people decide it is their god given right to hold strangers on the internet accountable for psychological “problems” that they’ve completely made up.

Anyway SORRY I have a serious problem shutting the fuck up lol. I have never been good at phrasing my thoughts in a coherent way especially when I’m grumpy. I am very glad my little circle is full of awesome, open minded and levelheaded folks and not gatekeepers/weirdos (derogatory) who have decided that diversity of opinion in fandom is bad actually and that women and femmes specifically are enemy number one.

[b3m0r3ch1ll]

do you think telling people to, quote, “put a bullet in their skull” follows your morally correct alignment more so than shipping two fictional characters? blaming people who are practically just playing dolls with two characters who

A.) don’f exist

B.) are over 30 years old

isn’t a great thing to blame for something as serious as pedophelia. i’d suggest if you’re going to attempt to follow a moral code that dictates what people can’t and cannot do in a space that you’re free to block (instead of using it in a tag to purposefully be seen by said shippers you’re so vehemently against), then you should actually play by the moral code and not tell people to kill themselves (an actually harmful message) over characters who do not exist.

good day!

Too bad you made this anonymous, so i can’t block you.

 I refuse to take down the post, and while I do see that is sort of inappropriate to tell people to kill themselves over what is objectively fiction, is a little overboard, I stand by what I said. when you think about how big the Beetlejuice fandom is, you have to think about the many thousands of young children that are exposed to it every single day. Like it or not, there are some very young children online, especially Tumblr. When people post things regarding beetlebabes or just pro shipping in general, it WILL harm them.

Think about how moldable you were as a kid. Think about how many things stuck with you. Think about the fandoms you were in when you were younger. now I want you to think about the new generation who is currently seeing the waves of Beetlejuice and Lydia shippers flooding the Internet. The ship is NOT appropriate. no matter which way you shape it it is not appropriate. Beetlejuice met Lydia when she was 14 to 16. A child. He kept a picture of her as a minor on his desk and stalked her into her 30s when she herself had a child.

no matter which way you mold it. It’s not romantic, it’s not appropriate, and it’s creepy. also, them seeing Lydia and Beetlejuice being shipped and romanticized, especially when she’s CHILD, makes it more likely for them themselves to be groomed and take advantage of by sick freaks like the people who ship beetlebabes because they think it’s normal.

To actively support and ship that specific dynamic is so problematic. And you not seeing how problematic that is even if it is fictional, shows how ignorant you are. Fiction does in fact affect real life. Fandoms of fiction impacts real life. That’s why things like diversity and representation matter so much in television.

And I would like to add as one last note, I specifically tagged “Beetlebabes dni” and “proshippers dni”. I never once tagged the ship Beetlejuice x Lydia. I never tagged the ship in the first place because I don’t want those kind of people drawn to my content and my page. if they are following those tags, they are obviously looking for problems to be mad over.

But thanks for the ask! next time, make sure you do it with your profile showing, so I can block you 

[archivalofsins]

Okay, it's Mugram time. It took a while but I'm a much better writer than a reader. This is sarcasm I've had this in the back of my mind for a while and I've just gotten enough free time to really catch up on everything I was interested in. Sadly my attention is rather up and down with a lot of things. So, I'll be going over my first responses to the information provided so far and highlighting things that stick out to me.

Welcome to Gunsli and once again Star's notes on Mugram!

The Files

Es

Gunsli: In Mugram Es goes by He/They and is identified as a Demiboy. I just find this interesting in general. I also like how it's noted that Es believes without a shadow of doubt that all the prisoners within Mugram are guilty. Yet, is choosing to adhere to J's words and look into the prisoners and their circumstances further.

This is a good way to highlight that Es has a bias that's leans more unfavorably in regards to the prisoners from the jump. This stated bias also leads me to wonder about the last part of their file.

"Es plans on finding out the truth behind these prisoners so he can finally give them the verdicts they deserve."

Because it just screams of confirmation bias a little bit. So I wonder how he'll end up interpreting the audiences verdicts.

Es even has to catch themselves from saying murders in their first voice drama lines and instead state crimes. As though they themselves already firmly believes the prisoners are all murderers. This plays on the fandoms and my own particular habit of taking milgram very literally in contrast to those within the fandom who will take things more figuratively.

There are a lot of people within the fandom who like to stretch the meaning of the word murder. To be fair, this is something that is easier for people to wind up doing. Especially when they themselves have not experienced the loss of a loved one due to something of that nature. A persons comfort with discussing violent crimes more hypothetically is incredibly dependent on their proximity to the concept of violent crime or how likely they believe it is for these things to happen to them.

Someone worried about being shot isn't going to really care about comparing anything less than what causes an immediate end to their life or physical harm a violent crime. While people protected by the individuals who do the shooting aren't really going to consider what those people are doing murder but self-defense.

So, having Es course correct from murder to crimes broadens the idea of what the prisoners can be in Mugram for. Crime is a broader term that gives the audience more space to assume and doesn't necessarily have to involve someone dying. Unlike the original term murderers that can be taken in incredibly subjective ways depending on ones proximity and experiences with murder.

"Hello, prisoners. I am your Warden, Es. I want to know about the mur– crimes you have committed. I am here to decide on your crimes, whether to decide that you are FORGIVABLE OR UNFORGIVABLE. I am... Es... I am the Warden of MUGRAM."

Finishing up with,

"...Well, no matter, I’ll figure it out in the end and judge them according to the law–"

Making it clear that Es' primary concern is judging the prisoners within Mugram in ways that align with the legal system.

Star: Hi! First of all, I think this is the tallest Es I've seen- in an ocgram and in any of the canon works. Though the age range does fit. However, the way that both their description and quote is written leaves me to believe they will be more inclined to vote unforgiven regardless of what he finds out. Furthermore, it shows a stubborn nature- someone who tends to stick to their beliefs regardless of any information shown. Whether that be in the present or future.

It also comes off as Es being the type of person to look for loopholes within the rules they have to follow to get to his intended outcome. (I need to specify that I don't think this is a bad trait by any means- it makes him feel as though he's more willing to act on his own discretion. Which is something I think would be very fun to play with.)

I also like the aesthetic of using files to show character profiles! The brief glimpses I've seen of Mugram before seem to portray it in a very court of law fashion so it's a nice attention to detail.

J

Gunsli: In contrast, J (the Jackalope of Mugram) is young naïve and can't even imagine the prisoners committing murder. Even referencing the three years old age for J that was speculated to be Jackalopes canon age earlier in the fandom. Since many ran with the assumption that Jackalope within the web series only began to exist when Milgram started.

Yes, even though in Es' first voice drama Jackalope makes consecutive references to his age and alludes that he is, in fact, older than Es. By teasing them and wondering if they're too young to actually handle the themes that Milgram will be covering.

I think it's a nice dichotomy to have here while being a kind of subtle nod to that idea. Though I don't know how much we should listen to either of them.

Since they both have clear biases.

Star: I like J's fur pattern- it's cute! And I appreciate having a birthday for him. Though the fact that he wants to forgive everyone seems as though he's overly invested. Emotionally speaking, that is. I could say that there's also the possibility that he's negligent/unaware of the prisoners past a first impression? Since his quote-

"I mean, in my opinion, I'd just FORGIVE all of them. Some of them don't seem like they'd ever commit murder. But, it's really up to you, Es."

-comes off as rather flippant. However, if we refer back to Es' profile, it's implied with this-

He believes there is no doubt the prisoners are guilty, but they'll listen to J's words and try to learn about their lives.

-that Jackalope specifically asked them to enquire about their circumstances. So it's more likely that he's either too attached emotionally or that he is gunning for reformation instead, for lack of a better word.

The Beginning of the Choices

Gunsli: It's kind of weird that J says they're murderers then that some of them seem like they could never kill anyone. It's like, buddy, do you even know why they're in here? If they don't seem like they could commit murder don't call them murderers so definitively.

It seems like J is more so going off a script of sorts than information they actually have. Since he contradicts himself a lot.

Plus it kind of sticks to Milgram proper with the explanation and heavily highlights the forgiven or unforgiven title. It emphasizes it a lot. Yet when it comes to people dying I feel like the only people who can really choose whether to forgive that or not are the ones tied to those people.

Mugram focuses on the legal system. So, legally they could be pardoned or convicted/sentenced. To keep it unforgiven or forgiven makes it seem like what they did has no real legal basis. At least that's the impression it's giving off.

Star: It's... hard to put a pin in J's behaviour. Because, as Gunsli has said above, it could come off as reading a script. But then immediately contradicting it with personal opinions and not actually being that informed. However, it could also come off as... almost goading Es into doing due diligence. Though that might be extending the benefit of the doubt too much. It is a bit disconcerting when compared to his and Es' character profiles though.

Justice

Gunsli: Well, that at least confirms the growing suspicions I had about J. It seems he's kept here in the Milgram with even a room of his own. So he's really no different than the prisoners in that regard.

Es: What’s opposite my room?

Jackalope: My room! You can’t enter without my permission, though.

Es: Eh, I don’t plan on it. Plus, there’s no door big enough for a human anyway.

There wasn't a room for Jackalope in the original was there?

Star: I find it interesting that, in contrast to Milgram proper, J claims to not know much about the prisoners because it's restricted information. As opposed to Jackalope, who says he's just not invested enough. I wonder if this is intentional as a way to show that J isn't as high up on the scale as one would be lead to believe? But it does seem like he is pushing for Es to do their job, despite their clear lack of interest in acting outside of the confines of the law.

Es also comes off as fairly dismissive in this, which leans into my point about him coming across as stubborn. And less likely to take in information that contradicts their worldview.

Gunsli: This line highlights again how naive J is in contrast to Jackalope of the web series.

Jackalope: Well, first impressions reveal a lot about a person, so…

In Es' voice drama in the milgram web series around this time Jackalope says,

"A human's first impressions reveal about ninety percent. If I had the right I'd vote guilty without hesitation."

J just says that first impressions reveal a lot about a person. Jackalope is more specific about the amount of information it reveals stating it tells you ninety percent about the person. You can get a good grasp of them but Jackalope as he's prone to do leaves what information it gives up to interpretation. A first impression usually involves learning a persons name seeing how they look/present themselves. Yet it doesn't tell you how they think, feel, or ended up in front of you. That's the ten percent you find out over the course of getting to know someone.

J is a bit too immature to really hone in on what first impressions tell you and what they leave to be desired. So they just say they tell you a lot. Because he was probably told they're meant to tell you a lot by someone else.

J shows his ineptitude when it comes to how Milgram functioned here,

Es: Well, no matter, I’ll figure it out in the end and judge them according to the law–

Jackalope: Eh? According to the law? Well, if we just judged them according to the law, then there’s no point in you being here. [Es makes an annoyed noise] You should make decisions based on your own standards. Even if it's based on sex or love, I have no problem with it.

Es: …Let’s just move on.

When he dissuades Es from making judgments based on their preferences. Saying if we were judging them by the law then there would be no reason for Es to be here. This is something said in the webseries but it is swiftly brought up after that using the law as a reason for a verdict is actually still allowed. Because any bias is allowed and none are excluded.

Yet, for some reason, J tries to exclude the law as a basis. This could be because the prisoners here are already unforgivable in the eyes of the law. So, J has a vested interest in keeping the legal system out of it.

Or due to general naivety.

Since this is Mugram maybe the law is exempt from being considered proper criteria to cast a judgment through.

Judge, Jury, Executioner - Scene Transcript

Gunsli: It's interesting I'm not too concerned about Es yet though. I don't know enough about them and he seems like a bit of a hard ass. I don't really like rigid characters too much. I tend to like people who are more flexible.

Star: Reading this, Es moreso feels like they are trying to cling to some form of control/identity markers, despite him recognising that those roles don't fit. It also makes the continued insistence about voting the prisoners unforgiven seem as though it's an extension of those issues. That combined with the mental image they seem to have of the law and those who work within it. That being said, they know at least one thing about himself- he likes sweet tea! It's something small, but it is something :- D

However, they don't seem as confrontational as they initially come off. Since when J asks if they like the tea, he says yes- despite immediately thinking it's bitter. But also can't wait to see Es fall into dissociative patterns lmao

001: Mayumi Kubo

Gunsli: Weird that's she's arguing for everyone else's innocence but not her own. People tend to do that when they have something they feel guilty about or are trying to make up for. It's also kind of stupid she says that not everyone here can be a murderer. It's a prison of ten they sure as hell could all be murderers statistically speaking.

It's just not as unlikely as she's making it sound.

This might be their glitches voice line,

“You can’t be serious… They can’t be…” or “You can’t be serious… They can’t do…”

Star: Mayumi... doesn't seem as logical as she's trying to come off. Her logic would make sense if this was a normal 'setting'. But it's a very small group that have specifically been picked. So unless she knows any other connecting factors, she can't just presume that anyone isn't a murderer. Though her hidden quote is pretty ambiguous, since it could apply to both a court case or the discovery that someone has died.

Gunsli: They changed the autopsy report on her.

Star: -_- <- look of disappointment.

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: Mayumi isn't good at her job. Like she's a comedically bad lawyer. No wonder she couldn't as much as she says she could sway the court. I mean she fails to have any notable deductive reasoning skills and she isn't that charismatic. It doesn't seem as though she's that good with debate when talking within her voice drama either and she backs off too easily.

She just seems bad at this. Before even going into her music video.

I guess if it was a crime to be bad at your profession, then she deserves to be here. If those are Mugram's standards. Yet, failing to get your client off the hook and that client then being killed in jail isn't really a failing of the person defending that individual but the prison system. I don't consider things like that murder and never will. By that logic, the jury should be here as well. Because they're just as responsible, if not more so than this woman. Ya, know; since they decided to put that person there.

But let's talk about this real quick,

"So, don't even worry. I have the command and the proof in my hand. I'll make sure that these things will only sway in my favor."

Me when I lie. Mu Kusunoki core when she said,

"Hey, what if If I am a bad girl Don’t hate me. Don’t even try to proof from “After Pain”."

As though there was no fucking evidence to be found there except there was an abundance of evidence.

This is the opposite of that. She's saying she has evidence when her best argument is did you see my client do it. As though the witness' eyesight has any bearing on any other evidence the prosecution may have outside of that witness. This doesn't even discredit that witness whom she admits was across the street so wouldn't have been able to get a clear look at the situation anyway.

“I have to ask.” Mayumi stands. “Witness, did you see my client actually go over to the store, rob it, and leave minutes after?" "Well, I didn't see her rob it, but the alarm–" The witness starts. "You didn't see her do it." Mayumi points out. "Yes, but–" The witness rubs their neck. "You were across the street from the store; how would you know it was her?" Mayumi stares at the witness, who now is uncomfortably shifting before they finally breathe. "If you don't have any answer, then I guess my line of questioning is over."

No wonder her client had to serve time.

Like I recognize that she may be trying to establish reasonable doubt while the witness is basically going,

"Why did your client run then?"

But the witness is right. Why did your client run? Why was their leave conveniently timed with when the alarm went off? It doesn't look good to leave as soon as the alarm goes off. The fact that her client did that is more concrete than her debate of,

"Well, did you catch her in 4k?"

No I fucking didn't because I don't have cameras for eyes what the fuck type of question. In fact even with just having her perspective on this case. I'd still come out of this thinking she's gullible and her client is lying. Because her client has every motivation to steal. Her client is just running the old question of is stealing okay if it's for a good reason. Such as is it okay to steal food, diapers, or medicine for your family.

And the answer to me is yes, as long as you don't get caught. Once you get caught, it's up to the system to decide if you get leniency or not. However, since her client is vehemently refusing to admit they stole anything, she can't even make the argument they were doing it for a good reason. An argument that might have afforded them more leniency. Because they clearly did it like that's not up for debate.

On top of that, what her client stole is conveniently omitted. Again, this is a display of her being bad at her job. Because that should have been a focus of discussion.

"Your Honor, this is an outrage.” Mayumi stands up. “Surely you can find some leeway–" “It’s clear to me that after all this back and forth what my stance will be.” The judge bangs a gavel and Mayumi swallows with a frown. Don’t condemn anything I say Because I swear I’ll make them pay “...is GUILTY of the charge of theft.” The judge announces.

Her client winding up guilty is the only reasonable outcome here. Since the judge can't give leeway if no additional context on the offenders' circumstances are given. Her entire defense was attempting to disprove the person you were defending did not do something you at a point suspect they did yourself.

What did you think the outcome would be here?

“But, she was clearly innocent!”

Mayumi denial isn't good.

Because if she was innocent, you are just a trash lawyer. I don't even have all the details of that case, and I think your client was guilty because they had the motivation to do it.

Something they do not hide from you,

"Okay, I need you to tell me. Be honest." Mayumi exhales. "Did you steal from the store?" "What?" The client shakes her head vigorously. "No, no! I wouldn't do that. I went there to grab some snacks and medication for my sister. I wouldn't rob the store! I have a job and I'm the only source of income for them and I can't leave them because then–"

What the fuck did she steal to go to prison?

Like where are they where theft is this severe of a charge? Alright, Larceny is punishable with jail time. It's not a long sentence like a max three months to a year. At least where I'm from, but that's still dependent on the price of goods stolen and how often one has been caught stealing.

Source: CriminalDefenseLawyer

However from how it's consistently described as theft and stated to have occurred in a store. What her client did is instead shoplifting or where I'm from retail fraud. Which to be honest has much more severe of a punishment depending on the degree which is again determined by the price of the items stolen,

Source: Law Office of John Freeman

So, pardon me for asking but what the fuck did her "very innocent" client "allegedly" in her opinion steal? Like I hate to sound like I'm on the side of the prosecution here but I kind of am. Because Mayumi's entire defense is,

"My client didn't do this trust. Your honor my clients vibes are immaculate."

Which isn't good enough.

Still not guilty because I judge murders not oh there's this thing I feel bad about. If anything- the judge should be in here, not her, but still... This entire case is weird. Also, if Mayumi viewed this individual as innocent and I can poke an egregious amount of holes into why that may clearly not be the case it certainly doesn't make me trust her words on the other prisoners. Because she's a comedically bad judge of character.

Star: She comes off as very naïve. Both in terms of how much faith she seemed to have in her client and how she claimed she was going to get said client no jail time, without even bringing up motivation as a potential way to get leeway. She also didn't bring up the idea of a plea deal at any point, which didn't help her client's case. Though this isn't too surprising, given her attitude concerning the prisoners in Mugram. Assuming no one here could possibly be a murderer is a very heavy assumption to make. Doubly so when you decide to act as the advocate to get everyone out based on said assumption.

002: Masaru Iwai

Gunsli: I dare him to incriminate himself. I double-dog dare him to admit what he did on the mic. Only a chicken wouldn't do it. I bet he's too much of a coward to follow through. A real man takes any dare. But his file is right he's all bark, no bite- All kid, no man.

Possible glitchesd voiceline,

“SHIT! FUCK! This wasn’t supposed to happen! We should have left when we saw them – DAMN IT!”

Ha-ha loser did a dare and killed someone. Ha, ha point and laugh at the guy who makes poor life choices at the age of- NINETEEN. Ha that's ridiculous. That actually makes it so much funnier that's exactly what someone like that would be doing at that age.

Star: He's fun! I like him :- D. Should probably work on how headstrong he is though, that's gonna keep getting him in trouble.

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: Oh the restraint thing is interesting also the way he's describing this bet thing reminds me of the movie Nerve. That was a pretty fun movie I might watch that again.

Oh wait yeah back to this guy.

Star: It is interesting that mugram has a an in canon reason as to why the prisoners don't leave the interrogation.

Gunsli: I'm going to say this before I even read the song thing- If he's a bad gambler this is going to be hilarious. Mugram is just incarcerating people for being bad at their chosen occupations. Huh it's not good to cheat in card games.

These games are already incredibly predatory without this guy counting cards and bringing spares on him to up his chances. He's a shitty person. The casino already does what he's doing. So maybe he justifies his actions with that. Yet, that only works when he's betting in those areas. He seems to be betting with friends repeatedly and taking their money to the point of financially ruining them.

It doesn't shy away from that either, and it's not even like he's playing fair. Is it really a gamble when you always have an ace up your sleeve? But it doesn't seem like people are too bothered by his consistent winning.

Since two player call him on his bluff,

"The final two players call and Masaru smiles."

Call means to match a players raise. So it's not like they folded, which would have been pulling out entirely. This is usually why people raise to make the more risk-averse pull out.

This is also the reason Masaru states he raised,

"Was it a good idea to raise the betting amount? He wasn't entirely sure, but it would at least weed out the ones who didn't want to be here.  It was a little of a bluff, anyways. Glancing at his cards one final time, he exhales and stares across the table at someone."

To know for sure what he's doing here we'd need to figure out what he's playing. Which is impossible to discern because it's going by both blackjack and poker rules. Where Masaru seems to be playing poker and the other person with a five and ace is playing blackjack. Because there's no case in which one person in a poker game has only two cards.

So, what's more than likely happened is him and his friends were rigging casino games for quick cash.

They all played at different tables. They did this to save up money and may have probably split it amongst themselves. That or something went egregiously wrong when it came to describing these card games, but barring that being the solution-

There's evidence that Masaru and his friends are just running a casino scam.

Sorry, got distracted playing poker and blackjack with my father. But yeah him and his friends seem to be cheating at the casino.

He brings extra decks to add cards to the game if he's lagging behind,

"He looks around the room and walks back to his desk. He slides some boxes into his bag quickly and walks out of the door, shutting the door as he leaves."

This exchange implies his friends are in on it as well,

“Yeah, yeah. We know. You’ve told us many times.” One of the people who paid Masaru groans. “Seriously, I’m going to go bankrupt on this shit.” “Seriously? You should’ve just said. We’ll do a couple with you next time, dude.”

It's also highlighted that he grabs a box of cards from his bag during one of the games and he's shown doing card tricks. Him and his friends seem to frequent this place and could have ordered duplicate decks online or picked them up from somewhere else.

"Masaru instinctively ruffles through his bag to find what he had slid inside it earlier. A box of cards."

Masaru is implied to be better at this than his friends. Knowing when to toe the line and not draw too much attention to himself.

This can be seen here,

"He lays his cards out. Just a pair of normal cards, nothing special. Some show a similar hand, which isn’t too bad. There are a two people who both have a straight, which makes Masaru huff. Splitting the plot."

Only giving himself a good enough hand to stay in the game and split the pot. He's slowly building up to bigger wins as the game progresses. He does say in his voice drama that this is how he frequently makes his money and gambling isn't something that's consistently reliable unless someone is cheating.

His friends don't seem to be as good at it as he is though.

Since one of his friends says they're losing money and on the verge of going bankrupt- Which would have been a perfect time to go just don't play then it's luck based and if you're not winning you just aren't winning. Instead, they say they'll do a couple with them next time as though that could change the outcome. I mean, if they cheated successfully, then it could have changed his friends financial situation a good deal.

But it didn't work out that way; did it?

Instead, what seems to have happened was Masaru's associate was caught and pulled away from the table. Which could have led to all of them getting caught, his friend being arrested, or killed depending on the establishment and how it functions.

Still not direct murder. So, it's none of my personal concern how he decides to make his money and endanger his peers. They're all adults play stupid games win stupid prizes.

Star: Definitely cheating , though that isn't really surprising. With how confident he was making that bet in the interrogation.

003: Keisuke Izumi

“You should have known that wasn’t good for them. You should have known this wasn’t good for them. They’ve died because of you.”

Gunsli: Not to be that person but this guy kind of has the sort of personality I dislike. He seems like the sort to entrust things to others and then get mad when they don't turn out how he wanted. Sure he's trusting and cooperative but honestly it kind of comes off like he's only being that way so he can't be held accountable later.

The sort to say something like,

"I left it all to you! I trusted you to do this right-"

Or in this case you should have known. Nothing can ever really be his fault if he never commits to it himself.

Star: He kind of gives Muu vibes. At least in terms of how he seems to give leniency with the expectation that it will be returned to him. Idk if that makes sense though. Also it's interesting to note that whoever is writing these profiles up is unsure of Keisuke's gender- implying they are going off of an impression rather than any concrete data. This also implies it is J who is collating this information.

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: Oh, finally, someone who seems to actually have committed murder. Even then, it's kind of up in the air. Seems my first impression was right. He's someone who kind of just hocks things he could very well do himself on other people without putting much regard into the scope of what he's asking for.

If no one is speaking up about an incident then there's not much an authority figure can do about it. They're not all powerful and omnipotent. They can't punish students for things. They haven't witnessed themselves or based on hearsay from other students who weren't involved with the incident and refuse to get directly involved. This teachers hands are literally tied. So, unless he's doing something completely irresponsible like having the person doing the bullying look into it because maybe they don't know it's them doing it I don't see how the teacher is to blame.

Saying I thought you'd do something about this is as good as the teacher telling him,

"Hey if you really care about your friend I'd think you'd do something about it."

However, the teacher has to be a professional and just say,

"None of the students are discussing things with me honestly. So, until they do there's very little I can personally do about the situation."

Which frankly is something this guy could have done himself. Since he's witnessed these altercations he should know the names of the parties involved by this point. So why didn't he do anything else before escalating the issue to further violence. There are so many things one can do before attacking someone else.

Plus it's not like what he did was self-defense. It just seems like he decided to attack someone to the point of killing them simply to stick to his word. It's like okay you kept your promises. That's not always a noble thing and there were probably other ways for him to keep that promise without harming another person. Now this is under the speculation that he did kill someone and not just harm them because that is the implication. However, I need to make it abundantly clear I don't feel bad for him nor do I like his attitude.

He decided to mindlessly obey and rely on authority figures to solve issues for him and wound up being complacent in what was going on within his school. Honestly, he's more responsible than his teacher. The teacher at least did what they said they would. This dude can't get mad because he knows the teacher is telling the truth.

Because he's accepted that his friend is lying and dragging out the situation longer than it needs to be. Tgis exchange implies he's accepted that this is his friends decision so who's really being shady and to blame,

He glances up after a couple of pages and spots someone walking over to him. “Hey!” The person immediately looks up before frowning. “Hey, Keisuke.” “You wanna talk? I saw what was happening earlier and–” Keisuke hops off the brick wall and walks over to the person. I'll trust you just for a little longer "I'm sorry." "Huh?" “I don’t want to talk about it. I know what you saw and I know you wanted me to talk about it, but–” “Look, I get it.” Keisuke sighs. “Don’t worry, okay?” “Got it.” 

Also it's not like at any point he intervened either despite having opportunities too,

Keisuke begins to move away as the pitch darkness turns into the hallway of the school again.  He glances over at the classroom door and stares at something. Someone inside notices him.  "Hey, is your friend coming to save you?" Someone sneers. "W-wait, leave him out of this–" The person at the desk cries out. "Only if you do everything we say for the next day." "Fine.".

So, he just comes off as complacent.

He's just over here like,

"T3

"Teacher why aren't you doing anything?! You're supposed to be better than me because authorities are meant to protect people. Not other people there's nothing- I a person with no authority can do. So, I'm wiping my hands of any part in this. Plus, if I do a bad thing, it's not bad because I'm just keeping a promise. A promise you should have kept as an educational professional."

Likw okay brat. He really could have helped but,

"He's a kid, he's just a high schooler!"

I'm sorry I was in very anti-bullying schools, not because of the teachers but the students. Change starts with you sometimes. It just simply does. I got bullied because people told other people I was bullying them at points. Can you imagine someone coming up to you and bullying you like we don't tolerate your kind here- Bullies! And now you're just kind of here like getting bullied but also like wait a fucking second I'm not a bully- I'd bully me too if I thought that!

He could've thrown hands.

Other students didn't want to speak about the conflict get personally involved in the conflict then speak about it yourself. Fuck it, we can all go down together. Make it egregiously loud, get your parents involved be a problem that can't be ignored. Do it in the classroom if necessary. What the fuck is the teacher going to do to stop you? They can't even stop the other bullying. Be a disturbance. Make this teachers day hell until something is done.

This isn't the teacher's fault but this would give them something to work with and look into at least. Like if you give the teacher something to work with they're going to work with it. It's certainly more reasonable than murder!

Then being out here like,

"Oh teacher you aren't paying attention to this issue because every party involved is telling you there is no issue and that I'm a lying piece of shit. Something I know my friend is complicit in. Well I guess i just have to respect their choice."

This guy just seems like he doesn't want to get his hands dirty or in trouble unless he can get something out of it. Like in a I'll keep my word so you keep yours way. So, I don't feel bad for him or his circumstances because that's an asshole way to be.

Star: He seems like he's just trying to help for self satisfaction. And even then, only doing things that can be done passively. Granted, I might be biased because I already wasn't fond of this guy. Also, as Gunsli pointed out, he could have done more instead of relying on others.

004: Tomoko Shiratori

Gunsli: She seems nosey.

Star: I don't have much of a opinion on her.

Gunsli: Fair, not sure if this is right but-

This seems to be her glitched voiceline,

"How. How unaffected."

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: You know when you give people dirt on others it gets on you too. If she was so concerned about what her clients would do with the information she gave them then she should have been more careful. Saying I was just telling them the facts after can only get her so far. If she feels guilty about it then maybe don't work in trading and discovering other people's secrets.

She chose this occupation I don't feel bad for her.

This kind of just comes with the territory. So if it's just a case of her telling a wife her husband is cheating on her and that wife killing said husband. Yeah, it's not her problem and it's not murder. So, I don't care.

I just really don't care for indirect murders they bore me. It's like you could hail a taxi for someone or get them an uber thrn their driver could be a murderer. The driver could just decide that's what they want to do today. Does that suddenly make you responsible for how that person chooses to live their lives?

No.

Chances are she would have just hired another private investigator if Tomoko didn't do it. So I just don't care. This is a risk that can occur in her line of work if she doesn't like the risks and direct consequences of the profession she choose to go into get a different job.

That or actually do due diligence. If she believes a client of hers may wind up attacking the person they hired her to look into over the information you give them then just don't give them that information or alert the proper authorities of that risk. She didn't have to take such a sketchy job.

Again this is why i don't think of Milgram proper through an indirect lens it simply isn't murder. If someone didn't have the intent to kill another person and their actions didn't directly cause that persons death- I mean directly not in a domino effect or a butterfly flapped it's wings and a tornado formed way then that's not murder. That person is just living their normal life. The only participation awards for murder are accessories and abettors. Both of which are still more actively involved than this.

Star: Whether it counts as murder or not, she did not do due diligence. Furthermore, if she was really as suspicious of the job she was doing (as implied) she could have refused it, or put in any safeguarding measures.

005: Shun Minami

Gunsli: Not that concerned about her despite the warning. J is writing these and he's like three not the best judge of character a three year old rabbit or person. It's just like they seem to be hiding something I think you should vote everyone innocent they don't seem like they could do anything wrong. Alright buddy pick a lane.

Star: She kinda reminds me of that one Vocaloid song Super Hero

Ummm...I think it's this,

"Yes, it’s been done. Good we even now."

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: I didn't vote on them or any of the characters before Daiki- who I just voted guilty for no reason. But it's not his turn yet I thought it was but no this is someone else. Ahn they killed someone and it was for money but uh you're the jobs you choose. She doesn't particularly say they have to do this. I guess they could be lying because it starts on a stage with gun imagery but ends with her using a knife but uh that's none of my business really.

Again this just seems like one of those cases where enough isn't really known. So, I guess they deserved that 50/50.

Star: ... huh. Was she asked to kill the guy in the previous case?

Gunsli: Well there was a knife stabbing at the end of that so maybe. Damn the private investigators negligence really had a domino effect huh?

There's a quiet laugh and a stabbing noise.

Huh being shit at your job just does that I guess. Maybe next time investigate your clients. Because she didn't even know if that person was actually the others wife or not. So she could have just been hired to stalk someone for somebody else.

Star: It does seem like they dithered on whether they should kill him or not. Though I am curious what they'd need the money for.

Gunsli: I mean not to sound unsympathetic but a crime is crime regardless of one's personal motivations. No one really thinks about crimes objectively just in terms of what they find relatable or morally just themselves. It's kind of why so many cases of similar caliber have such varying verdicts. Put a criminal on a stand that a jury can't project upon and the more likely they are to actually wind up Guilty.

Even Es is only being nice to Shun because they were nice to him. That's the only reason he thinks they couldn't have done that. That's just how fickle the judgments of people are.

Star: Definitely, yeah. Though, to be fair, I'm just curious about it because this seems like a lot of effort to go through to get money. But that contrasts with the seeming delay of the killing.

Gunsli: I mean she went through a lot of effort to not get a real job and instead make money off of ending the lives of others. Furthermore she said she's only killed one person but in the song extraction the person says they took longer on this job implying they've done more.

So she just seems dishonest.

"Hey, you spent a long time getting this contract complete. Why?" The man asks, placing his head on his hand, his smirk still on his face.

I mean I'm curious about why she would need the money as well. But- again everyone here choose the ways they wanted to make money and live their lives for better or worse.

I just can't bring myself to feel that bad for them.

Star: Yeah, I agree with that. Which is why I'm just curious, not particularly sympathetic.

Gunsli: Ah, fair I thought I was being a bit too harsh on them but this is one of those not my business scenarios. So, I'm glad I didn't vote on it. Like I don't particularly feel like it's really good or really bad.

The situation is just there.

Star: Yeah. It's not really something to judge, especially at this point. Like they were hired. If she didn't do it, someone else would have. Which may be cynical, but it is what it is.

Gunsli: Hey it's just business at that point, baby. Either you're getting that bag or someone else is. So, I feel you there Star. His death certificate was pretty much signed and sealed the last thing it needed to be was delivered.

The saying is don't shot the messenger not the messenger can't shot you bang, bang.

006: Daiki Kawaguchi

Gunsli: Oh hey a dude to bully. I voted this guy guilty I had no reason to. I just heard everyone was innocent so far and that's pretty boring. It doesn't really matter he seems to be innocent anyway.

Star: He seems pretty defensive. Partially because he mentions that he's an office worker then immediately backpedals-

"I work in an office, but I really don't know if you care too much about that."

-and because he literally tells the listener to not say he's in the wrong.

Now onto the glitched voice line,

"I need to get her/him back, damn it!"

List of unnecessary/unlikely variations~

I need to get her/him back, fuck it! I need to get her/him back, need it! I need to get her/him back, kill it! I need to get her/him back, mash it! I need to get her/him back, cook it! I need to get her/him back, burn it! I need to get her/him back, tear it! I need to get her/him back, slap it! I need to get her/him back, hurt it! I need to get her/him back, roll it! I need to get her/him back, boop it! I need to get her/him back, will it! I need to get her/him back, wish it! I need to get her/him back, free it! I need to get her/him back, read it! I need to get her/him back, turn it! I need to get her/him back, tell it!

Gunsli: And that’s what Daiki did that day in exactly that order. It was fucked up what he did and those people will never be the same. The witnesses will need a lifetime of therapy. There’s nothing that can make them unsee what they just saw.

This man should not be allowed to cook.

Star: We think it's the first one, but we ended up doing all the rest of them because of the lack of known letters on that word.

Thoughts on Voice Drama and Song

Gunsli: I voted this person Guilty his thing hasn't ended yet I think. Which is probably good because I was just being a bitch if I'm being honest. I didn't even know who he was or what he did yet. I was just doing it for chaos reasons. But ya know I'll argue anything so let me just hope they suck real quick.

Damn I'm glad he sucks.

He is his own worst advocate. Like got damn I picked a good person to vote guilty. Oh cool fuck cops. Good enough reason I didn't need more but like I said with Kazui ACAB is a state of mind. It overwrites everything fuck this guy. I mean maybe he isn't a cop. He stole information from the police station and dishonorable discharge can be related to the military.

So maybe it's that but like he still sucks.

Like I know his sister is missing and maybe one of the kids here killed her can't say who. But ya know throw a dart a board I'd wager maybe Mia because people keep highlighting she's harmless and Izumi seems to have killed a guy.

Plus this dude keeps highlighting there are kids here and that may be because they're around his sisters age.

Or maybe Es is right and he did kill his sister and just doesn't remember doing it.

Star: Yeah, definitely defensive. Also, would be fucked up if Tomoko was the person who got the extra info he found-he feels very sketch though, even if we know he's trying to find someone.

007: Isamu Takao

Gunsli: On principle I distrust people who are super adamant about not meaning to be somewhere. Because if you really weren't meant to be here you wouldn't be.

This isn't like real life where false imprisonments happen. Maybe that is something that can happen in Mugram but that would be a structural issue at that point. Especial if they really did nothing.

But it seems like he did something to me.

Star: He's... interesting. They feel a bit suspicious, but that might be because his mannerisms feel reminiscent of how Mikoto tends to try and blow off stuff to avoid any potential wrong he's done.

Glitched line seems to be this,

"Ah-No, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen-" or "It– No, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen–"

Gunsli: Not the words of the most uninvolved party in the world.

008: Mia Fukuda

Gunsli: You ever not trust someone solely based on how they carry themselves and the color they're wearing. This is one of those cases.

I haven't read a thing yet and I just don't like her. That probably says something about me. Like I don't like the nervous quiet character trope. Which I don't. That's one of the reasons I'm still not that fond of Haruka.

So, the characterization is characterizing I just hate this personality type.

I literally typed this before reading her description saying she's nervous. So again the characterization is characterizing. Damn life is testing me she's a Pisces...

Unfortunate we share a sign...

Star: I don't really know what to think of her. So I'll just wait till I see more of how they interact with people in general before coming to a full decision.

This is her glitched voice line,

"I’m sorry."

Gunsli: Ahn... this is going to be one of those situations where I have to abstain simply because I just don't like her.

Those come up from time to time. Maybe I'll change my mind when I find out more about her but for now... Mmm nah.

No, I think I'm good.

009: Ryuu Seki

Gunsli: Bitch that's not how patient-doctor confidentiality works. You are in jail the existence of that does not stop your from being interrogated if a crime has taken place in which your or your patients are incriminated.

What type of bullshit? He just came here and lied. Well we at least know you killed a patient now.

Like the fact that he said this is more incriminating. We could have assumed it didn't even involve his job. But, he just made it abundantly clear it does in one statement.

So at this point he was either assisting his patients with suicide which in some places is against the law or killing his patience then claiming it was assisted suicide. However since he brings up patient-doctor confidentiality there's an implied sense of agreement or discussion between patient and doctor.

He could just be a liar though.

I don't trust him much at all since he started off on an untrustworthy note by lying about how patient-doctor confidentiality works.

Star: I don't trust him as far as I could throw him. And I greatly dislike him to boot. His whole quote about being a doctor and how that makes it easier to make hard decisions is. Incredibly suspicious. Not to mention an egregious leap of logic to begin with. It ends up coming off as though he's saying all this to gain a position of power/authority. Also, as Gunsli brought up, that isn't really how doctor-patient confidentiality works. It's also a common misconception that it is that people don't really look into. All of that makes it feel like he's lying about being a doctor in general.

010: Sora Mochizuki

Gunsli: Seems like an average engineer. From what she said she may be pretty well known outside of Mugram.

At least this comment implies that,

"Oh, funny thing. I didn’t know no one knew who I was."

Star: Can't really think of anything to say about her. She doesn't say anything noteworthy.

"It... It’s good." or "Ah...It's good."

[theangryjikooker]

https://www.tumblr.com/theangryjikooker/760174848978878464/i-hope-to-have-as-much-patience-as-you-do-because?source=share

It definitely has nothing to do with not having reading comprehension skills but everything to do with not liking what's being written. Jikookers are lashing out because someone is "destroying" their beliefs. I'm the same, a Jikooker who tends to firmly believe that Jikook are in a solid relationship for years, and every time they do or say things that doesn't at all align with the image I have of them in my head, I shut it down pretty quickly. Ignore, scroll past, delete, fast foward that specific moment and file it away mentally as "insignificant" and I make it a point to always avoid it in future. And then I go back to my safe cocoon which is "Jikook supporter" spaces where everything is rosy and everything JK and JM say and do is definitive proof of their everlasting love for one another.

And when someone has the audacity to point out the exact moments I work so hard to ignore, I get mad and I feel triggered to say something to counter them. If I cannot do that (as in if I genuinely can't think of anything to say to counter those very valid points they made against the possibility of JM and JK as a couple) I go to Jikook blogs to complain about what "haters" are saying about Jikook's bond, basically just asking them for validation. And when they do, the burning in my chest eases and I feel secure in my ship again.

That's the way it is. And it's so wrong, but I can't help myself and I think it's the same for many shippers, in any ship. It's hard to let go. Even when you reach a point where there's that voice in your head trying to convince you to be logical, there's this other side that just keeps on clinging and just wants to keep spiraling deeper and deeper into that safe space.

Because it really hurts, for some reason, to let go after believing in something so deeply to the point where it becomes a very important part of your life. But this is not a healthy way to live; we see it with how people have turned the fandom into a very toxic, unpleasant environment. We see it with how Taekookers have been harrassing people for years, have threatened harm on others as well as themselves, and are not above insulting the family members of the ones they claim to love and support. Jikookers may always boast about being sane and unproblematic compared to Taekookers, but I really don't think we are very far off from reaching that level of delusion and acting that way if the way they've started to react to Taehyung doing or saying anything regarding JK or even just the thought of him breathing next to JK is anything to go by.

So no matter how much it hurts, I'll force myself to read blogs and posts like yours and open myself up to spaces outside Jikook shipping (with the exclusion of Taekook shipper or solo stan spaces, of course) because I don't want to become miserable and toxic.

And I really wish Jikookers would do the same, try to be a little more neutral and logical, and that there would be more Jikook blogs on Tumblr like this one. This is how we'll be able to create a healthy shipping environment.

Interesting perspective, and thank you for sharing.

I know that one Jkkr isn’t representative of the masses, but while you’re not the first one to say so, you go into a lot more depth and vulnerability than I’ve ever seen any shipper say to someone who doesn’t align with their views.

I think I said in a much earlier post that I can empathize with how difficult it will eventually get for shippers if their idealized version of reality doesn’t match actual reality because they’ve dedicated a lot of time, energy, and emotion into what is arguably just a fantasy. Standard sunk-cost fallacy.

I think people who’ve followed me longer already know that despite saying what I do, I’m always open to the possibility that anything I’ve said is wrong/I’m wrong about them. I’m not particularly willing to hedge bets on it, but I’m vocal enough and often that I sound like a broken record to myself.

I think this is where I butt heads with a lot of shippers because my stance isn’t attached to the pride of being right; I just have opinions and share my observations and any glaring inconsistencies. With toxic shippers—as was the case since I opened this blog and why I started it in the first place—it’s their way or the highway.

Anyway—again—thank you. Food for thought for anyone else interested.

[gascon-en-exil]

Could you do 2 and 3 for the ask meme? What about 37?

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Not exactly a trope, but I'd like to branch out from the semi-canon-compliant work I've been mostly sticking to in my first fic. I feel like the later chapters, which are mostly set after the story canon has all wrapped up, are where I got to be among the most creative in terms of ideas and with what I actually wanted to see from these characters.

That's a big reason that I think that I might actually be able to follow up on this and turn it into a series, now that I've laid the groundwork for where and how this continuity does and does not adhere to canon. That's been fun on a meta level, as a (hopefully subtle?) way of working through issues I have with Octopath Traveler II's story aside from just writing meta about it like I would with Fire Emblem or most other properties, but eventually those issues run out and one is left looking at these characters and wondering where they should go next.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Omegaverse springs to mind. I can understand the appeal of it intellectually, in part thanks to @theeeveetamer who writes Omegaverse and talks about it regularly, but I've determined that it's not really for me. If you know anything about some of my other interests you'd think it might be...but nope. It might be a bit distasteful to pull my - as someone once derisively described it, specifically referencing me - "man in fandom" card, but I think a big part of my indifference to Omegaverse is that I do have an unfair advantage over many readers and writers in M/M erotic fic spaces. I'm actually gay and have quite a lot of sexual experience to draw on because of my offline work, which happens to align closely with the standard profile of (cis) gay smut in transformative fandom. As such I always look at Omegaverse and find myself thinking about comparatively more mundane kinks that accomplish the same goals, kinks that can fit more readily into a variety of fictional contexts and don't require a hyper-specific AU to function.

That said, I do find many of the common arguments against Omegaverse - that it replicates heteronormative dynamics, that it's adjacent to bestiality - to be quite dumb and not worth entertaining. Even when kinks aren't to my taste, I don't see much point in judging them.

37. Talk about your current wips.

I appreciate that you separated this one, anon, because it's one of those that's pretty awkward for me to answer at the moment. The fic I'm working on is only a WIP publicly at this point; I finished it around the time I posted the first chapter, and have only been making edits intermittently since then because I've been told that staggering chapters is better for engagement. Still, it's what I've got - so let's go with that.

Putting this story together and publishing it have certainly been interesting experiences, and I've gotten some positive feedback from the approximately ten other people who ship Osvald/Partitio. Part of me is annoyed that I chose to start writing for a rare pair in such a small fandom as OT2, and that I didn't start out with something like Dimidue or Ferdibert instead...but FE's settings just don't speak to me in the same way. (Also, back when Houses was the hot new thing I was writing meta and fending off fan wank, and later getting a feel for YouTube, so I was quite busy elsewhere.)

I discovered pretty quickly that I have two preferred modes when writing fic. The first is the same sort of meandering, almost fairytale-esque disassociated narrator voice like what you'd find in my ship meta that actually verge on short fics themselves, ex. my attempt at building the crack ship Diarmuid/Tristan. The second is dialogue, to the point that for several scenes, particularly later in the fic, I sometimes felt as though I were writing a play. I'm not great with action scenes, which is one reason I skipped over most of the ones that had to be worked around in canon. I did come up with a rather cheeky way to nod toward that in the epilogue...though whether anyone else finds it funny remains to be seen.

But yes - it's been educational, and I am now firmly in rare pair hell. There's an entertaining spitefulness to it: that while YouTube's algorithm has pushed me into being a dedicated FETuber with only the occasional vanity project on the side, over on Archive Of Our Own I'm becoming known for my work in a completely different fandom.

[arian-archivist-11]

My biggest ick is the hyper feminization of an obviously masculine character in a m/m ship. It's weird watch this happen so consistently, but then i realize that a lot of people in Fandom are young woman/girls so they project their understandings of relationship dynamics onto said ships. Or that the male artists who work in the Fandom themselves like a more masc/fem approach in their works. Fem interpretations are okay and frankly needed but for some people it seems they can't enjoy it without unesecarily projecting those qualities onto characters and take away their actual personality in doing so. A concerning amount of these people are young woman (attracted to men) who bulldoze past, and ignore the obviously queer relationship and themes they're engaging with, essentially making it cis-het light.

This isn't some "mlM FeTiShIZaTiOn" post because there are enough of those brain dead, thinly veiled misogynistic takes in fandom spaces, but that I'd really like to see more male/masculine/gay influence in fandom spaces. Because many of those girls are young, over-enthusiastic, and queer themselves.

As much as woman and girls do enrich fandom spaces I feel as if there is a lack of people who know how to handle, write, and draw masculine themes. A lot of us are in fandom spaces, but the people actually ruling narratives and influencing fandom spaces aren't us.

From tumblr, to tictok and twitter most Fandom and community accounts are rarely ever men/masculine aligned peeps and the ones that are, are usually not as popular and sometimes treated like they're anomalies. Many male accounts I follow for these ships and communities talk about how suprised people tend to be when they hear their gender because it's not common for men to be in these fandoms spaces. Even when those spaces are about us. The weirdest part is that reddit is the only solid place with gay/queer male oriented communities of large size and that is simply unacceptable. Not only because its fucking reddit. But the fact that there should be many more spaces oriented around us. God's know I need to just feel surrounded by understanding and similar people. Let alone someone in a worse position then my own.

It'd be everything to just be surrounded by people I share an essential part of me in commen with when I'm talking about silly needy stuff. And communities seem hell bent on ignoring us or being downright hostile.

This isn't even mentioning the not very disguised bigotry we face.

Some experience micro-agressive, and even bigoted behavior from peole who interact with them or their work. I hardly interact with anyone to avoid this kind of shit but I see it all too often around me.

Fandom is lacking a masculine presence. Even when we're the ones making the art and writing the fics, the people who run the massive blogs and accounts are usually never us. And when we make blog spaces and run them our precanse is treated as unusual or even met with varying degrees of indifference and anger.

Fandom has a problem with anti-masculinity and heteronormativity in how it enteracts with male/queer male stories. We owe ourselves some basic self respect to push back against unhealthy narratives and to let stories that value our masculinity thrive. And for younger guys in fandom to feel safe in being themselves when they interact with our spaces.

I've heared to many stories of guys pretending to be more fem or swallowing down complaints about content made for m/m relationships because they feel like their "taking up space" and "being too loud" by voicing their concerns.

I'm a pretty fem gay boy but I still desire to have a more masculine presence in queer spaces that are oriented around fiction. The sheer amount of nerdy accounts that are ran by really masc guys who think no one in non dudebro, cis-het spaces would be interested in them is heartbreaking.

Masc or fem you're appreciated and talente and you deserve to express yourself however you want. Trust me every time time I see a content creator post and image of themselves in a skirt or another showing off his jacket or fitness gains it acts as a little more inspiration to me.

Ideas of masculinity being threatening or incompatible with our communities is crypto-terf bullshit. If you want to be an openly masculine/male blog, account, or personality then be just that. One of the greatest barriers for masculine queer people is feeling out of place no matter where you go, so they deserve a space to be at home. To feel like their masculinity isn't dampened by their queerness or that they cause problems by being masculine and queer. Masculine queer people are my fucking world. Healthy masculinity that's unafraid to be itself is something I wish I had in my male "role models" growing up.

It's fun watching my favorite streamer talking about how hot boys are in the most manly-man, guy-dude way ever. Young guys deserve that recognition and relatability. We deserve role models and inspiration.

No more about, us without us. Even for simple shit like fandom.

(Also i find it really fucking interesting that with a rise of terfy, right wing puritinism in fandom there is also a rise of conditional ecceptance, homophobia and trabsphobia towards anyone male aligned. This is more widespread problem then I think is fully realized. There's an abnormal amount of push back to just our precanse.)

[religiononhellsite]

Human Interfacing on Tumblr & the Genealogy of Posts (Entry 02)

How do humans interact with Tumblr as a platform and does this directly contribute to the content being posted here?

Tumblr as a technology has not only served as a queer technology, meaning it is a technology used heavily by LGBTQ+ people and one which enhances queer epistemology with identity realness, fluidity, and ambiguity, but Tumblr is also an explicitly transgender technology given its unique position to allow trans individuals to document, educate, and share their transitions with others while also being able to easily interact with other trans people and learn about their transitions in educational and affirming ways. This creates an ideal environment where the quantity of transgender content has helped contribute to the quality of peoples’ transitions. Much the same can be said for the other marginalized communities - that Tumblr’s unique technology contributes directly to the quality and diversity of discourses and content (Haimson 345-346).

The trans-technology and subsequent blogging style of Tumblr also allows for openness, change, separation, and realness when it comes to transition blogs and other content. Openness due to the safe, comfortable nature of the site where sensitive information could be shared; Change for how bodies and gender transitions involve fluidity; Separation from everyday life and anonymity; Realness because of honesty about transition as well as discourse about gender creating new labels – like nonbinary or agender - for trans identities which have since become real in material and embodied ways (Haimson 349).

The ways transition blogs demonstrate these areas are not unique to the transgender side of Tumblr and represent any fandom, which may contribute to why there is also so much blatant hate speech or radical positions taken on the platform. Tumblr’s natural inclination towards openness, change, separation, and realness allows for the most honest expressions, for both good and bad. For examples of the positive side, see the two posts below (first one censored by myself to avoid content moderation).

Both of these posts demonstrate openness, change, separation, and realness considering what you see in the first person’s case where they shared a photo about their healing progression post-top surgery. Sharing such “adult” photos is important because they help serve as educational content for others who may be considering top surgery or who have gotten it and are trying to compare healing processes. Additionally, the post warning about a specific doctor and the patient’s experiences after top surgery is another important aspect of transition blogs and demonstrates how the #trans fandom on Tumblr cares deeply about supporting each other and forming a community of protection. Other marginalized groups on Tumblr foster a supportive and protective online space as well, which generally helps keeps others safe from problematic pipelines; this will be explored more fully later.

In the two posts below, both by self-proclaimed trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs), you also see aspects of those four categories, as what makes Tumblr a transgender technology also enables hateful content that may not be so openly shared on other social media sites or in the real world. TERFs will sometimes refer to themselves by that title, but more frequently use dog whistles like calling themselves Gender Critical Feminists/Gender Criticals or simply Radical Feminists/Rad Fems in an attempt to masquerade as legitimate feminists despite frequently aligning themselves with harmful and misogynistic right-wing organizations and beliefs (Pearce 681, 684).

More fascinating perhaps, is how one of the TERFs has chosen to use tags directly associated with the trans community. Using such tags as #trans, #transgender, #feminism, and #body positivity, are not uncommon from other TERFs under the #terf tag. Why would they do this? What this means is that someone simply trying to engage with transgender content and related tags can quickly find themselves directly engaging with TERFs or seeing TERF content. For people newly questioning their gender or seeking education, this can not only be a destructive pipeline leading directly to anti-trans/anti-nonbinary beliefs, but if followed long enough, to even more radical and dangerous areas of Tumblr as will be explored later. Moreover, vulnerable people being exposed to TERF ideologies is also dangerous because TERFs inherently downplay intersectionality and power dynamics in their “radical feminist” stances which only promote privileges such as whiteness, ableism, and cisgenderism, all while essentializing “womanhood” in ways which purposely exclude trans women but also excludes many cisgender women who are the very audience TERFs supposedly claim to be “protecting” from trans people. Ultimately this can put at risk someone exploring topics like trans issues or feminism on Tumblr because instead of gaining more awareness about the intersectionality of queerness and feminism, or power dynamics within different forms of marginality, they can come away with essentialist notions of identity and feminism which may cause them to actively work against intersectionality (Pearce 680-681, 683-684, 688-689). While there are few TERF scholars and most actual feminists are trans-inclusive (Pearce 683), exposure to trans-exclusionary ideas from self-identified feminists on a widely accessible technology may lead to far more people thinking that TERFs are the norm and not the exception when it comes to feminism.

Lastly, TERF ideologies also intersect on Tumblr with Christianity as witnessed in the above two posts, often in ways seemingly pushing back against conservative Christians and/or purity culture. However, as both prior TERF posts, in addition to the two posts above, show, TERFs produce a pseudo-religious devotion to “womanhood” that requires a series of qualifications to be considered a “pure” or “real woman,” thusly contributing to a “TERF purity culture” that is reified in places like Tumblr and TERF’s own supposed backlash to Christian purity culture. This “religion” is also evangelized on Tumblr as well by using tags specifically meant to intersect with other fandoms who, in most cases, want nothing to do with TERFs; in other words, “the sinners” who must be “converted” to #RadFem, #TERF, #gender critical ways of thinking. But even if TERFs are pushing back against traditional Christian purity culture on the grassroots level, are they actually unintentionally also contributing to it?

All these shared posts and the analyses of them are intended to show that Tumblr is interfaced with in unique ways contributing to unfiltered perspectives that cannot as easily be shared elsewhere. This culminates in posts, fandoms, and users frequently interacting with each other through shared tags thusly meaning content on Tumblr can be better understood as genealogies instead of the isolated and chronological-style posts occurring on other blogging/social media sites.

Works Cited:

Haimson, Oliver L., Avery Dame-Griff, Elias Capello, and Zahari Richter. “Tumblr Was a Trans Technology: The Meaning, Importance, History, and Future of Trans Technologies.” Feminist Media Studies 21, no. 3 (2021): 345–361.

Pearce, Ruth, Sonja Erikainen, and Ben Vincent. “TERF Wars: An Introduction.” The Sociological Review (Keele) 68, no. 4 (2020): 677–698.

[tlhgeek-blog]

The problem of Magic or more specifically Wizards.

Various authors have talked about how to use magic in storytelling. 

I have a concern when it comes to world building though. If your magic is limited and specific, such as allomancy or Haki for example, then the impact on society while significant doesn’t generally bring up concerns about how society overall functions. Versatile magic, like that shown in Harry Potter or as depicted in most Western RPG settings such as D&D provides problems when it comes to a society forming. Particularly in the case of Harry Potter where the insular society makes more sense when one considers how magic limits ones need for others.

What I mean by this is the ability to have a singular super ability such as enhanced durability or the ability to mentally command stone while useful does not on their own mean that you as an individual have all the tools you need to cut yourself off from society. A dedicated individual could but most people would simply accept the advantages they have and otherwise accept a place in society in return for it’s benefits. Things like food production, specialized skills, overall daily security, further education and entertainment. Wizards on the other hand... well let’s use the world of Harry Potter as an example. (Yes I know it is officially called the Wizarding World but that is a bit vague to those outside of the fandom) In that world while magic is not individually so powerful as to make someone a strategic concern, i.e. a wizard does not equal a nuke. On a tactical level they are monstrously capable and versatile. This applies beyond combat however, a wizard or witch in this world after only 7 years of training (assuming they take it even somewhat seriously) have all the skills needed to from that point on cut themselves off from society with very little effort. They can; form shelter, hunt and cultivate food(and duplicate it), defend themselves with any level of lethality they wish, repair virtually anything, avoid detection, produce or access additional living and storage space via bigger on the inside magic, and navigate flawlessly. 

The bar to cutting one self off from society is much lower at that point. Again there are still many benefits to society but those that would prefer to limit their connection to society for any number of reasons would now find it much easier to do so. That is ignoring the various disturbing racist attitudes and the slave race in that setting that explicitly takes care of many of the more mundane aspects of caring for oneself or ones family. Further insulating individuals from experiencing a society that may not align with their attitudes and behaviors.

Humans are social creatures yes but numerous studies and observations indicate that humans have an rough upper limit on the number of individuals they can keep an emotional connection and ‘tribal’ affiliation to. It is my perspective that one of the only reasons humans began forming groups larger and then much, much larger than they can personally care about is due to the benefits of a society producing benefits that a smaller group would struggle to produce.

In Harry Potter we see various insulated societies that in many ways leech off of the production of the larger society. Instead of using their incredibly useful and versatile abilities to integrate or improve the larger society that surrounds them, they prefer to form an insular isolated group that  becomes increasingly out of touch with the culture they formed from as well as reality. The only functional government of that society seems more dedicated to bureaucracy and cronyism than protecting or providing for it’s people to the point of near parody. With blatant propaganda and obvious corruption immediately apparent to anyone paying attention. Those in such a society often further factionalizing into their own peer groups of mostly like-minded individuals with dissenting voices marginalized or outright exiled.

That’s not to say that such a thing has to happen but, when a group of people are given a tool that opens up an incredible amount of freedom and capability to those that use it they have to also consider the ethical and moral choices they are making when they use it. In my experience the amount of people willing to take account of their own actions is disturbingly low compared to those that simply don’t care.

Of course you could replace magic for the internet and the modern technology and very little of my observation would change. The point is mostly that the more versatile and useful something is to humans the more it changes how they behave, even down to the things like putting up with a regular job around people they don’t like or paying taxes or paying for anything really. 

[mymp3]

some people are so fucking weird, fucking christ

[who-is-page]

Twitter is exploding with furries dumping the galaxy brain take "if you're alterhuman and you've ever drawn NSFW of yourself as your species then you're a #zoophile" and I am thiiiiis close to straight up picking someone up and throwing them directly into the ocean. It's such a phenomenally bad take. Discussion about it below the line, because I don't want to spam with a long-ass post.

Like, I'm guessing the disconnect is different definitions of what "zoophile" means, where in the alterhuman communities it's generally (though not always) used more to mean someone who supports bestiality, engages in bestiality, or publicly aligns themself with people who do such without necessarily vocalizing their stance on the subject politically. Meanwhile the (Twitter) furry community--judging from the reactions on hellsite 2.0, at least--seems to define "zoophile" as closer to someone who is attracted to any depictions of non-humanoid creatures. So things like traditional monsters (ex. dragons, werewolves, centaurs), modern fictional 'species' or characters (ex. sparkledogs, pokemon, Simba), and extinct/extant species (ex. Tyrannosaurus rex, giraffes, ladybugs, oak trees) depicted in NSFW art of a sexual nature all falls into the "zoophilic" category by furry standards, but the alterhuman communities don't really have a solidified perspective on such because we just don't operate in the realm of fictional content in that way. (A part of me wonders if that uber-broad definition of "zoophile" is why the furry fandom struggles so much with its missing stairs in real life spaces, like the bigger conventions... it's hard to focus in on people who are causing harm to other real people and animals when you broaden your definition of what constitutes as "harm" to such an insanely large degree.)

It's the difference between how content is treated by an identity group in comparison to how content is treated by a fandom. For a (non-alterhuman) furry, what you've drawn is a character, and that character is taken as a reflection of what you desire as a human. So if you draw, say, a minotaur, you're interpreted as wanting to fuck minotaurs within this scenario. But for the alterhuman, there isn't a distinction. That's not a character; it's them. That's them, or otherwise reflective of an internal, integral part of their identity, and it's not something they can just switch on and off.

And the justifications the furry fandom uses in its own spaces just fall flat when you bring them out against alterhuman artwork featuring the alterhuman in question.

1) "It's normalizing sexualizing nonhumans!" doesn't work for several reasons, most notably because the alterhuman community is so immensely small. It's quite literally impossible for our community to have a wide-reaching, substantial, lasting effect on the world around us. We do not have the capacity to change norms on such a massive level as to change the public zeitgeist around porn and if someone thinks that, they're genuinely stupid. More than that, it's a miniscule subset of a small community we're talking about here: not every alterhuman can draw or wants to draw NSFW of themselves, and of those that do, it's much more likely they're not going to publish their work to public spaces, further removing any chance of horny alterhumans somehow magically encouraging every American to decorate their house in Bad Dragon horse cocks, or whatever else "normalizing sexualizing nonhumans" might mean.

2) "Nonhumans can't consent!" doesn't work either, because...the nonhuman in the picture is the one who drew it, so clearly they do consent. (Even iif n this case it's just that they consent to be depicted in a specific NSFW way, because we also have to acknowledge that fictional kinks don't always transfer over to what people would be interested in IRL.) This also applies to the "Drawing NSFW of nonhumans is the same as drawing child porn!" argument; if the adult artist is depicting themself then...that's automatically not child porn, by definition! That comparison makes no sense, and I don't get why it ever even gets brought up.

3) "It's a red flag, it means you want to sexually abuse nonhumans in real life!" Aw yeah totally, let me go spank my fucking jalapeno plant to go get myself off (/sarcasm). That's not true anymore than someone being more likely to go on a school shooting spree because they play GTA, first off, and second off, what nonhuman does the art of themself prove they want to 'abuse' by that logic? Themself? (Honestly, this reeks of the same sort of anti-kink rhetoric aimed at people who engage in BDSM and are told that they're "abusing themselves," and this also doesn't even make sense within furry contexts, given that some of their community's most well-known zoosadists and zoophiles have all had anthro fursonas.)

All in all, it's a fucking stupid argument to even be having, and I'm facepalming over the Twitter furries even starting it. The real harm that we see going on in alterhuman spaces isn't happening on the pages of someone's horny personal comic about them and their medusan polycule; the problems are coming from the people who are harming actual living animals and who are encouraging others to do similar. And those are missing stairs our community is actually working to fix and deal with in a lot of spaces, which I'm damn proud of. We still have a long way to go and we're definitely not perfect in our perspectives all the time, but it's a hell of a lot better than just nonstop flailing around and crying wolf over something as stupid as some rando's private artwork of themself.