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cybernaght · 1 year ago

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The fandom echo chamber: fanon, microanalysis and conspiracy brain

As someone who has been in fandom spaces, on and off, for 20 years, I find some fascinating trends popping up in the last decade that I thought to be fandom-specific but clearly aren’t. So, I would like to do a little examination of where those things come from, how they are engaged with, and what it says about the way we consume media. This is a think piece, of sorts, with my brain being the main source. As such, we will spend some time down the memory lane of a fandom-focused millennial.

This is largely brought about by Good Omens. But it’s also not really about Good Omens at all.

Part one. Fanon.

The way we see characters in any story is always skewed by our very selves. This is a neutral statement, and it does not have a value judgement. It’s simply unavoidable. We recognise aspects of them, love aspects of them, and choose aspects of them to highlight based entirely on our own vision of the universe.

Recognition comes into this. There is a reason so many protagonists of romance novels have a “blank slate” problem. Even when they do not, we love characters who are like us or versions of us that we would like to be. And when we say “we”, I also mean, “me”.

(I remember very clearly this realisation hit me after a whole season of Doctor Who with writing which I hated utterly when I questioned why I still clung so incredibly hard to Clara Oswald as my favourite companion. Then I looked at myself in the mirror. Oh. Well. That would do it, wouldn’t it?)

Then, there is projection, and, again, this is a neutral statement. Projection exists, and it is completely normal and, dare I say it, valid way of engaging with — well, anything. Is the character queer? Trans? Neurodivergent? Are they in love? Do they like chocolate? Are they a cat person? Well, yes, if this is what the text says, but if the text does not say anything… You tell me. Please, do tell me. Because, in that moment of projection, they are yours.

And then, there is fandom osmosis, and that is the most fascinating one of them all, the one that is not very easy to note while you are inside the echo chamber. It’s the way we collectively, consciously or not, make decisions on who or what the characters are, what their relationships are, and what happens to them.

(Back when I was writing egregiously long Guardian recaps on this blog I actually asked if Shen Wei’s power being learning actually was stated anywhere in the canon of the show. Because I had no idea. I have read and reread dozen of fanfics where that is the case, and at some point through enough repetition, it became reality.)

We are all kind of making our own reality here, aren’t we?

Back when things were happening in a much less centralised manner - in closed livejournal groups, and forums of all shapes and sizes - I don’t remember there being quite as much universally agreed upon fanon. Frankly, I don’t remember much of universally agreed upon anything. But now, everything is in one place: we have this, and we have AO3, and it’s wonderful, it really is so much easier to navigate, but it’s also one gigantic reality-shifting echo chamber, with blogs, reblogs, trends, and rituals.

Accessibility plays its part, too. If you were, say, in Life on Mars (UK) fandom between seasons, and you wanted to post your speculation fic, you had to have had an account, and then find and gain access to one of the bigger groups (lifein1973 was my poison, but ymmv), and then, if you feel brave you may post it, but also, you may want to do so from your alt account if you wanted to keep yours separate, and then you would have to go through the whole process again. And I’m not saying that fan creations then were somehow inherently better for it than fan creations now (although Life on Mars Hiatus Era is perhaps a bad example - because some of the Speculation Fic there was breathtaking), but there is something to say about the ease of access that made the fandoms go through a big bang of sorts.

(I mean, come on, I can just come here and post this - and I am certain people will read it, and this blog is a pandemic cope baby about Chinese television for goodness sake.)

The canon transformations that happen in the fandom echo chamber truly are fascinating to witness as someone who is more or less a fandom butterfly. I get into something, float around for a bit, then get into something else and move on. I might come back eventually when the need arises, but I don’t sustain a hiatus mind-state. This means that when I float away and return, I find some very intriguing stuff.

Let’s actually look at Good Omens here. Season two aired, and I found it spectacular in its cosy and anguished way; deliberately and intelligently fanfic-y in its plot building; simple but subversive, and so very tender. (I will have to circle back to this eventually, because, truly, I love how deliberately it takes the tropes and shatters them - it’s glorious). And, to me - a person who read the book, watched the first season, hung around AO3 for a few weeks and moved on - absolutely on-point in terms of characterisation.

So imagine my surprise when the fandom disagreed so vehemently that there are actual multi-tiered theories on how characters were not in possession of their senses. Nothing there, in my mind, ever contradicted any of the stated text, as it stood. This remained a strange little mystery until I did what I always do when I flutter close to an ongoing fandom.

I loaded AO3 and sorted the existing fic by popularity. And there it was, all there: the actual earth-shattering mutual devotion of the angel and the demon; willingness to Fall; openness and long heart-aching confession speeches. There was all of the fanon surrounding Aziraphale and Crowley, which, to me, read as out of character, and to one for whom they became the reality over the last four years, read as truth.

Again, only neutral statements here. This is not a bad thing, and neither this is a good thing, this is just something that happens, after a while, especially when there are years for the fandom-born ideas to bounce around and stew. I can’t help but think that so much of what we see as real in spaces such as this one is a chimaera of the actual source and all the collective fan additions which had time and space to grow, change, develop, and inspire, reverberating over and over again, until the echoes fill the entirety of the space.

Eventually, this chimaera becomes a reality.

Part two. Microanalysis

Here are my two suppositions on the matter:

1. Some writers really love breadcrumb storytelling.

Russel T Davies, for instance, on his run of Doctor Who (and, if you are reading it much later - I do mean the original one), loved that technique for his seasonal arcs. What is a Bad Wolf? Who is Harold Saxon? Well, you can watch very very carefully, make a theory, and see it proven right or wrong by the end of the season.

Naturally, mystery box writers are all about breadcrumb storytelling: your Losts and your Westworlds are all about giving you snippets to get your brain firing, almost challenging you to figure things out just ahead of the reveal.

2. We, as humans, love breadcrumbs.

And why wouldn’t we? Breadcrumbs are delicious. They are, however, a seasoning, or a coating. They are not the meal.

Too much metaphor?

Let’s unpack it and start from the beginning.

Pattern recognition colours every aspect of our lives, and it colours the way we view art to a great extent. I think we truly underestimate how much it’s influenced by our lived experiences.

If you are, broadly speaking, living somewhere in Western/North-Western Europe in the 14th century, and you see a painting in which there is a very very large figure surrounded by some smaller figures and holding really tiny figures, you may know absolutely nothing about who those figures are, but you know that the big figure is the Important One, and the small ones are Less Important Ones, and the tiny ones are In Their Care. You know where your reverence would lie, looking at this picture. And, I imagine, as someone living in the 14th century, you may be inspired to a sense of awe looking at this composition, because in the world you live in, this is how art works.

If you, on the other hand, watch a piece of recorded media and see the eyes of two characters meet as the violins swell, you know what you are being told at that moment. You don’t have to have a film degree to feel a sort of way when you see a green-tinged pallet used, when cross-cuts use juxtaposing images, or notice where your focus is pulled in any given shot. This stuff - this recognition of patterns - has been trained into us by the simple fact that we live in this time, on this planet, and we have been doing so long enough to have engaged recorded media for a period of time.

As humans, we notice things. Our brains flare up when they see something they recognise, and then we seek to find other similar details and form a bigger picture. This often happens unconsciously, but sometimes it does not. Sometimes we do it on purpose: finding breadcrumbs in stories is a little bit like solving a mystery. It allows us to stretch that brain muscle that puts two and two together. It makes us feel clever.

So yes, we love breadcrumbs, and, frankly, quite a lot of storytelling takes advantage of this. It’s very useful for foreshadowing, creating thematic coherence, or introducing narrative parallels and complexity. It’s useful for nudging the viewer into one or the other emotional direction, or to cue them into what will happen in the next moment, or what exactly is the one important detail they should pay attention to.

Because this is something media does intentionally, and something we pick up both consciously and not, it is very hard to know when to stop. We don't really ever know when all of the breadcrumbs have been collected. It becomes very easy to get carried away. There is a very specific kind of pleasure in digging into content frame by frame, soundbite by soundbite, chasing that pleasure of finding.

But it is almost never breadcrumbs all the way down. They are techniques to help us focus on the main event: the story. I truly believe those who make media want it to reach the widest possible audience, and that includes all of us who like to watch every single thing ever created with our Media Analysis Goggles on and those who are just here to enjoy the twists and turns of the story at the pace offered to them. And I think, sometimes in our chase to collect and understand every little clue we forget that media is not made to just cater for us.

One can call it missing a forest for the trees. But I would hate to mix my metaphors, so let’s call it missing a schnitzel for the breadcrumbs.

Part three. The Conspiracy Brain.

If you are there with me, in the midst of the excited frenzy, chasing after all those delicious breadcrumbs, then patterns can grow, merge together, and become all-encompassing theories. Let’s call them conspiracy theories, even though this is not what they truly are.

So, why do we believe in conspiracy theories?

One, Because We Have Been Lied To.

All conspiracies start with distrust.

If you are in fandom spaces - especially if you are in fandom spaces which revolve around a queer fictional couple - especially-especially if you have been in such spaces for a period of time, you have most certainly been lied to at one point or another.

We don’t even have to talk about Sherlock - and let’s not do that - but do you remember Merlin? Because I remember Merlin. Specifically, I remember the publicity surrounding the first season, with its weaponised usage of “bromance” and assertions that this whole thing is a love story of sorts, and then the daunting realisation that this was all a stunt, deliberately orchestrated to gather viewership.

And, because we were lied to in such a deliberate manner for such an extensive period of time, I genuinely believe that it forever altered our pattern recognition habits, because what was this if not encouragement to read into things? Now we are trained to read between the lines or see little cries for help where they might not be. Because we were told, over and over again, that we should.

(Yes, I think we are all existing in these spaces coloured by the trauma of queer-bating. I am, however, looking forward to a world where I can unlearn all of that.)

Two, Cognitive Dissonance.

The chain reaction works a bit like this: the world is wrong - it can’t possibly be wrong by coincidence - this must be on purpose - someone is responsible for it.

Being Lied To is a preamble, but cognitive dissonance is where it all originates. In so many cross-fandom theories I have noticed a four-step process:

A) this is not good

B) this author could not have made a mistake

C) this must be done on purpose

D) here is why

(Funny thing is, I have been on the receiving end of the small conspiracy spiral, and it is a very interesting experience. Not relevant to this conversation is the fact that a lot of my job revolves around storytelling. What is relevant is that my hobbies also revolve around storytelling. And one of them is DnD. Now, imagine my genuine shock when one of the players I am currently writing a campaign for noticed a small detail that did not make a logical sense within the complexity of the world, and latched on to it as something clearly indicating some kind of a secret subplot. Their thinking process also went a bit like this: this detail is not a good piece of writing — this DM knows how to tell stories well — this is obviously there on purpose. It was not there on purpose. I created a clumsy shorthand. I erred, in that pesky manner humans tend to. And, seeing this entire thought process recited to me directly in the moment, I felt somewhere between flattered and mortified.)

This whole line of thinking, I think, exists on a knife’s edge between veneration and brutal criticism, relentlessly dissecting everything “wrong”, with a reverent “but this is deliberate” attached to it like a vice, because it is preferable to a simple conclusion that the author let you down, in one way or another.

Three, Intentionality

I believe that there is no right or wrong way of engaging with stories, regardless of their medium, and assuming no one gets hurt in the process. While in a strictly academic way, there is a “correct” way of reading (and reading into) media, we here are largely not academics but consumers; consumption is subjective.

However, this all changes when intentionality is ascribed.

The one I find particularly fascinating is the intentionality of “making it bad on purpose” because, as open-minded as I intend to always be, this just does not happen.

It certainly does not happen in long-form media. Even in the bread-crumb mystery box-type long-form media.

When television programs underdeliver, they also underperform, and then they get cancelled.

If all the elements of Westworld Season 4 that did not sit together in a completely satisfactory way were written deliberately as some sort of deconstruction for the final season to explore, then it failed because that final season will now never come.

(There will likely never be a Secret Fourth Episode.)

And look, I am not here to refute your theories. Creativity is fun, and theorising is fantastic.

But, perhaps, when the line of thought ventures into the “bad on purpose” territory, it could be recognised for what it is: disappointment and optimism, attempting to coexist in a single space. And I relate to that, I do, and I am sorry that there is even a need for this line of thinking. It’s always so incredibly disappointing that a creator you believed to be devoid of flaws makes something that does not hit in the way you hoped it would. It’s pretty heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, people make mistakes. We are all fallible that way.

Four, Wildfire.

Then, when the crumbs are found, a theory is crafted, and intentionality is ascribed, all that needs to happen is for it to catch on. And hey, what better place for it than this massive hollow funnel that we exist in, where thoughts, ideas and interpretations reverberate so much they become inextricable from the source material in collective consciousness.

Conspiracy theories create alternate realities, very much like we all do here.

So where are we now?

I am not here to tell you what is right and what is wrong; what is true, and what is not. We are all entitled to engage with anything we wish, in whichever way we wish to do it. This is not it, at all.

All I am saying is… listen.

Do you hear that echo?

I do.

#fandom thoughts #fanon #good omens #good omens 2 #bbc sherlock #merlin bbc #think piece #it's been years and I still have no idea how to tag #conspiracy theories #fandom content #all fandoms

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pnfc · 30 days ago

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todays timefilling activity was trying to list all the ways perry's status as an animal has bearing on his circumstances/character. since a lot of these ideas crop up when im thinking about au or human versions of him

unique effects of perry being a platypus:

prefatory notes: -these aren’t all hard canon, they’re a blend of canon/speculation/my personal preference -some are inconsistent in the show, eg perry being banned from riding a bus but allowed at a casino / dubiously allowed to drive a car. these are potential challenges, not universal ones -some of these circumstances can be wielded strategically for perry's benefit (eg perry exploiting assumed mindlessness) so everything listed isn’t 100% negative -some of these can be superficially mapped onto a human version of perry (eg inability to speak), but they’ll have different nuances if he’s not an animal

note i’m not arguing that any one of these points is fundamental to perry’s character, although they do add up to a set of life circumstances with significant bearing on who perry is in the show. this isn’t a case for the eminent superiority of a canon compliant perry over any au version, which is a matter of personal preference. you could similarly list out all the human-specific qualities of an imagined human perry, and you could find that version of the character more or equally compelling -- but these are qualities unique to the canonical platypus perry. (and i do think all of them are fun to explore, on their own and in the context of him having a rship with doof)

note also there ARE canonical au versions of perry for whom these conditions don’t apply, due to him having a different rship with the flynn-fletchers or owca or doof, or him being a different species! e.g. agent p from ‘temple of juatchadoon’ doesn’t appear to have any relationship with the flynn-fletchers ; parable the dragonpus could have any number of physiological differences, like a massively extended lifespan ; the star wars version of perry likely doesn’t face the same kind of judgment/scrutiny over his species or over interspecies relationships

neutral or positive qualities related to perry’s species:

best most immutable aspect of perry being a platypus: he’s a platypus. ie a cute lovable little animal guy with all these cool platypus features like his swimminess and his electro-bill and his whappy tail and his soft warm fur <3

2nd best (debatable) aspect of perry being a platypus: doof thinks all of the above daily

being an animal means he can communicate with / ally with other animals when he wants to

being an animal who isn't a common pet can occasionally yield specialized treatment, e.g. he gets more respect than a cat or dog in some public spaces, he can 'pass' for a human more easily, and many people can't identify what he is

has a unique rship with the flynn-fletchers and especially phineas&ferb -- they named and raised him, are functionally his parents, even if he catches up to / outpaces them developmentally. he gets to experience a loving parental dynamic from them.

also has a unique rship with monogram and carl, who brought him up through the academy. (based on the owca book, and perry’s current dynamic with mono in particular, this was probably less than wholesome/loving treatment)

no standard human education: is educated/propagandized at owca, and is otherwise self-educated or learns through osmosis

has no known biological family

(i like to assume) born/raised in danville, so isn't actually australian

would face less/no prejudice specifically along the axis of him being trans or intersex, it’s more invisiblized for him (otoh him being in a gay rship, less invisiblized)

is an endangered species

physical limitations/difficulties due to perry’s species:

is unable to speak human language (specifically because he’s an animal; he can make platypus sounds -- his rship with muteness would change if he was human) and (as far as we see in the show) is untrained in asl, so his communicative abilities are restricted

produces dangerous venom that he has to be careful of

very short and tiny (which he CAN use to his advantage but can also disadvantage him in human society, or in general - him trying and failing utterly to pull lyla up the train, lol)

likely has limited understanding of his own anatomy/physiology

(realistically) more vulnerable to heat than a human, potential dietary restrictions, less professional medical support available, seasonal hormone fluctuations

societal judgment/restriction of perry based on his species:

forbidden from accessing some human spaces / doing certain human activities

assumed to be mindless or unintelligent, assumed to be non-autonomous and a pet. generally disrespected (even doof is not innocent of this)

can be treated as a child, due to his young age (tho he's a mature adult in platypus years)

perceived by some as less-than-a-person, worth less than a human

by extension, heinz or any human partner/friend faces judgment for prioritizing/being in a rship with him as an animal (even a platonic one)

ways perry’s role as an owca agent is fucked due to his species:

raised as a child soldier, groomed into his career/given no choice in it, and in his short time on earth has had no opportunity to question or escape from it (due to the host family placement which effectively blackmails perry 24/7)

unclear if he has a right to his own person (owned by owca? and/or superficially owned by the flynn-fletchers?) or a legal government presence (e.g. can he legally own assets? he gets an income, but as an animal does the government acknowledge him as the owner of whatever accounts? is he forced to assume a false human identity? is he a citizen? can he rent?)

raised outside of his species, so quitting and living in nature among his own is not an option for him, he is forced to live in a society not built for his species

estranged from his fellow agents on the basis of species, esp. since the majority of them exhibit more instinctive/untamed animal behaviors that perry finds frustrating/unrelatable

forced to hide his intelligence/personhood/capacity for love and complex relationships among his family (much more severe than just hiding a secret job)

also: they make him eat canned worms and use a litterbox, and we know perry finds this humiliating :(

he has limited autonomy around his family -- is subject to the whims of their travel plans, etc. is technically always performing his job, since he has to maintain cover at home. down-time where he can openly express himself is extremely limited.

not legally protected on the level of a human, so if he dies owca likely will face no consequences - they perform animal experiments on him

has limited (if any) job prospects outside of owca - and doesn't get human worker protections

problematic aspects to perry’s romantic prospects:

literally a minor. literally a 41 year agegap with heinz. obscene

more to the point: ppl assuming perry can’t be in a healthy/consensual rship because he’s an animal

has limited life experience and no romantic experience. heinz is his first romantic connection, and there’s a huge imbalance of experience there.

has severely limited and complicated romantic prospects outside of heinz due to his species (an issue heinz does not share)

(presumably) can’t legally marry heinz, and even if he did many people would not regard him as a serious romantic partner (or stepdad, etc)

his natural lifespan is about a third of a human’s, so he and heinz probably have disparate time left, by a matter of decades (additionally, perry will probably die before most people he knows)

how the heck do a human and a platypus have sex… i’m gonna have to think about this one (more to the point: there’s no established precedent for a romantic and/or physical rship between their species, they have to figure it out on their own. that includes negotiating any imbalance in their sex drives)

#meta #spinning my wheels in a public space. i prolly left out a lot of points

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youkaiyume · 7 months ago

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So I don't read the Bridgerton books, but what I know about them I have kind of learned through Osmosis from social media. So i'm going to go ahead and make a prediction that now with Show!Benedict being Bi or Pansexual that he will meet his love interest at the Masquerade ball but they will be disguising their gender. So when he meets them again from what I understand from the book storyline and does not recognize them it will add that extra layer of "of course this person that I am attracted to is not the same person that I was also wildly attracted to back at the masquerade ball."

Will check back with this prediction in 2 years lmao.

#bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #sophie beckett #text post #i don't even go here #book-wise

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fandomfluffandfuck · 2 months ago

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I don't have the energy to actually write much about Sebastian knowing proper choking techniques, so just a quick thought:

Ignoring an obvious kinky undertone that I strongly get the vibe from for Seb, I judt know he's been choked a time or two and has picked up techniques through bascially osmosis, lmao, what if Seb knows how to choke someone properly because of his role for Bucky? The winter soldier does it a shit ton. He had to have been trained for that. Stunts don't fuck around and choreography takes time to learn. Time that, Chris, we know, takes less of. He picks up stunts wildly fast, being shown beats back to back and parroting them perfectly. Seb, like a normal human, takes more time.

So, Sebastian probably worked a lot more with the stunt doubles and stunt performers before finally having Chris show up for a few practice runs before the final shot.

They practice a lot.

They test a few different camera angles, trying to figure out exactly how to solve this artistic problem. The tension pulls Chris' muscles into a tangled knot of anticipation. He could vibrate out of his fucking skin.

The intensity of that repeat repeat repeat, hand-around-your-neck problem solving is hell. Sisyphean if the boulder were pressing on your throat and you liked it. It's the closest Chris has been to Seb. Maybe. They've shot lots of scenes. Lots of stunts. None quite like this, though. Even when they were wrestling, all but fucking grinding, for Captain America: Winter Soldier, Chris at least knew how terribly torturous that would be, how much he would struggle through gritted teeth not to get hard. Here, now, he didn't expect this. It hits.

It's good.

It shouldn't be. But it is.

Chris has been fucking lusting after Seb hard since that first film--who could stare up at Sebastian (standing on an apple box to give the illusion hieght difference for skinny Steve) and not fall madly in love lust with such a pretty man--and needing to have his fist, cold and hard yet so gentle and caring every time they call cut, wrapped around his throat for his fuckin' job only makes it worse.

It was worse already when Seb showed up to set jacked outta fucking control, looking thick as fuck, prowling around, heavy and taking up space but still being so fucking sweet.

It's worse than worse the next morning when Chris rolls over in bed, sleeping naked, to feel a low, thrumming ache deep in the tendons and muscles of his throat to go with the gentle, expected pulse of morning wood between his legs--he knows how he gets on set with Sebastian, so close to him, breathing in his cologne, watching his face evolve, choking back the constant urge to praise his skill, his beauty, his everything.

Chris knows, immediately, with such a sensation around his neck even without the assistance of a mirror that he's got bruising, probably faint. He's just pale enough for it to show, he's sure, but, yes, bruising.

Huh.

Chris swallows on reflex, his mouth suddenly dry, then again on purpose, reveling in the ghostly, intimate sensation of squeezing touch. Tight. Touch. Just enough constriction to make him start to feel the edge of dizzy, like being tipsy.

Yeah.

The memories of yesterday lazily replay in Chris' tired mind.

A shiver rolls through him, leaving behind an army of goosebumps raised over his bare skin despite the heat of his body trapped in his bedsheets. The idea of Sebastian touching him--touching him--his mark left on his body, pressed into his skin, reminding him of exactly what he did, grabbed him and pulled him close, biceps fucking bulging, shoulders shifting, eyes so intense, mouth pink, face, just, like that.

God.

Chris remains in his bed, swallowing, sweating, and... thinking... for a little longer than he should.

He's late for his call time.

And he absolutely does not blush when the makeup artist clicks their tongue, carefully brushing their fingers across his jaw this way and that to get a sense of the bruising, and tells him he should ask the director for a raise. The stunt performers get adjustments, you know, when they take a really hard fall, so should you. That, or, see if you can bruise Seb up in return--they don't mean it, everyone loves Seb on set. It's impossible not to, look at the guy!

Chris doesn't want a raise. He doesn't want... he wants... he kinda wants Seb to do it again. He might really want to ask Seb to show him how so he can use it against him 🥴🥴 He wants red-faced and gasping and hitching breaths that are more moans than anything else, he wants eyes rolling back, he wants trembling, he wants lips loosely whimpering tighter, harder, more, please 😮‍💨

#you KNOW at least once during those takes Chris' breath hitched and then came out rough... almost like a moan... almost like he really liked #feeling seb's hand around his throat more than he should #fandomfluffandfuck #chris evans #sebastian stan #evanstan #rpf #real person fanfiction

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ace-and-the-rpg-horrors · 4 months ago

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things I have learned about DBD through you (as someone who has intentions to watch the show at some point I swear);

- the name comes from the fact that there are dead boys and they are detectives

- I don't know what they detect. it could be a mix of things but murder is probably there somewhere and bank robbery isn't because I haven't once seen a bank in the screenshots I have seen

- the dead boys are gay. idk if they're gay for each other but they are gay

- there's a crow called Monty who became human and he has a shit mother and you love him

- beautiful women who are so incredibly cool and one of them isn't dead but can see the ghosts and they're friends?

- I need the outfits these girls wear they're beautiful what the heel

- the Cat King is a character who exists

- the dead boys who are detectives were killed by shitty people who we must punch?

- physical affection between characters of different genders that isn't portrayed as romantic (based)

- there is unwarranted beef between Monty and one of the dead boys (Charles I think?) and it's petty and beautiful

yes!! this is ALL very true and correct... so i've definitely posted about it lots. hehe. dashboard osmosis moment <3

#The Cat King sure does. exist #yeah. that is how i feel about him. mhhh.#(not a fan)#asks answered by ace :)#dead boy detectives

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prismaticpichu · 10 months ago

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Okay, this is probably a dumb question, but what got you into FFVII? Why specifically VII and not another Final Fantasy game? (Asking as someone who is obsessed with FFVIII lol.)

Ahhh not at all! That’s a good question!!! And the answer is actually rather simple 😂 Can honestly be answered in 3 words tops:

Game Awards 2020.

The MOMENT Sephiroth appeared on screen as the new character for Smash, the mentos and soda in my brain collided and something went boom and has never quite been the same since. I was so infatuated by his design and aura and everything that the moment the show was ever I did something I’ve never done before: I did a Wikipedia search to learn MORE about the newest addition to the smash roster (usually when I don’t bat an eye). Went straight to the computer to learn everything about this Oreo-colored maniac, and that’s when I stumbled across some info that told me he used to be a hero. A HERO. This absolute champ who sliced Galeem in half and was apparently a massacrer used to be……….. good???!!!! And that’s basically where my obsession started. Got my hands on a 8hr-long video of Crisis Core and swallowed that AND an additional 15hr of Remake cutscenes over the span of just two days. Then everything kinda just filled itself in-between: through fandom osmosis I learned of the plot and characters and fanfic helped me fall in love with ZackSeph specifically. And that’s where I got to where I am now—here to be unapologetically loud and destructive!!! <3

It’s been over 3 years since then, and my love still burns brighter than the piping hot flames of Cloud’s house. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!

(In other words, the reason i love FF7 specifically is bc I have no exposure to other games in the series haha. It’s just how things played out for me. But I hope to change that and branch out soon!)

#ffvii #sephiroth #smash bros ultimate #crisis core #ff7 #ff7 remake #life of pi #chu #final fantasy vii #asks #ty!!

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 year ago

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AITA for spoiling a book?

I have a friend I discuss books, manga, comics etc with, we have somewhat similar taste but she's more highbrow which is something I admire. It's not an issue. But it's a reason why we don't usually recommend anything to each other unless we really think the other will enjoy it.

I read a book series a couple years ago which I really loved and raved about publicly. She showed no interest back then but recently she joined in on my jokes about a character from the book, giving me the impression that she had read it. It's not a popular book at all so there's no chance of her learning about it through osmosis. This made me excited but I didn't push for a discussion, just didn't have the time then and forgot about it.

A week ago she made a remark about what kind of audience this series is written for which was inaccurate, so I spoiled a little bit of the last book as proof that it was marketed correctly. She got upset that I spoiled and because I said, "Since I know you'll never read it this is what happens". I wasn't being sarcastic or petty, I still believe she won't read it.

And that got me upset about the whole friendship because she shows interest in the discussion, she seems to like the memes and fanarts, but never ever goes to read them, gives me terrible opinion she gets from other people to counter so we can keep the discussion going even though she's totally allowed to just say she's not interested. So I had enough reasons to believe this was another book she'd not read.

What now?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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jade-kyo · 10 months ago

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I refuse to watch the new Netflix atla show cause I’m not gonna watch something that only exists because people don’t respect animation so everything I’ve learned about it has been strictly through osmosis.

So far I’ve seen only two things about this show that I approve of as someone who grew up watching the original

Zuko having a diary and apparently Aang steals it??? I don’t know all the details on that, please feel free to explain it to me cause I absolutely want to know more about that but 10/10 completely in character on both accounts. We love Zuko and his dream journal. Aang should be sent to the fire lords palace and expelled.

Zuko getting his ass beat by some random woman with a shoe. I have no context for this whatsoever but I approve. Get his ass!

Everything else I have heard thus far has made my future body roll over in its grave

Also I want it noted that every time I see natla I read it as Not Avatar The Last Airbender. This is not even me being petty. I just genuinely misunderstood the tag and by the time I realized it meant Netflix it was too late.

#jadey speaks #avatar the last airbender #atla #natla #netflix atla #natla critical #netflix avatar the last airbender

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neonbrutalism · 2 years ago

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ship Comics!MattFoggy (Part 2)

Welcome to part 2!

As the show MattFoggy and MattKaren shippers mourn the fact that Disney completely fucking missed the entire point of Daredevil by cutting Foggy and Karen (as far as we know at this point), I have decided to take the initiative to invite the MattFoggy shippers to join me in shipping in the comics. MattKaren shippers, I love you but I'm not making that post.

Please read part 1 for more information.

As I stated previously, the key here is to remember... you don't need to read all the comics to ship Comics!MattFoggy. In fact, I encourage you don't because sometimes comics are bad. I haven't read most of the comics these pages are from.

I also wanted to address the anti-Netflix sentiment among comic fans: … IDK man who cares. Don't worry about it. I'm only one brutalist, I can't be responsible for that.

Anyway, here's MattFoggy!

Matt faked his death again in the 90s. Not for the last time.

I think this man is a pirate?

Volume 2 is VERY heavy on MattFoggy. Also the Black Widow is there a lot! Also Matt got married to Milla and she got really badly fridged and I'm still mad.

Matt keeps getting disbarred for various reasons and, at one point Foggy leaves their firm to become a corporate lawyer. He also is, at the time, dating Glorianna, his ex-wife's niece through marriage. Matt also dated her in the past. Comics are fuckin weird.

And from the Devil in Cell Block D… (Again, volume 2 is VERY MattFoggy)

All this really is just for starters. There's so much more I didn't include (a lot of volume 3 and 4, Matt thinking he should call Foggy right after having sex and Matt using the minutes of sight he got from evil Iron Man to go see Foggy) so I encourage you to explore the comics! Failing that, check out a discord, make some friends and learn the comics by osmosis.

Not all is lost, my friends, even without the show, there's literally almost 60 years of Matt Foggy to fall back on.

And a lot of free comics online.

#daredevil #mattfoggy #matt murdock #foggy nelson

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reavenedges-lies · 6 months ago

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I assume i forgot your birthday and for that I must be jailed

This is what showed up when I looked for a "prison cake" gif. Since you're good people, I assume you're an ATLA fan!

You know what? I haven't actually watched it. I know blasphemy, but it wasn't my cup of tea as a kid and I haven't found the motivation to go watch it as an adult. I know the memes and I have learned about it through osmosis but I've never taken the time to dive into it for myself.

As for you missing my birthday please do not worry about it, for me it's a day to spend with friends and family (quality time) more than it's a day about me getting what I want (material or immaterial goods). So long as you had a lovely birthday and time to recoup than everything is fine and I'm not worried 🥰

#assumptions ask game #rea answers #thanks for rhe ask lovely!#raven asked #swampstew asked

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troutfur · 8 months ago

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@gophergal @doritopaw101 Great minds think alike I see!

5. Yellowfang

Favorite character in TPB bar none. She made for excellent contrast to Fireheart and bounced off Cinderpelt perfectly. Definitely fits a similar niche to Jayf in the department of having an entertaining character with a sharp tongue. I live in bliss not having read Yellowfang's Secret. I hear she's totally butchered there but I refuse to see it. 🤗

4. Flametail

Half the reason I prefer the Po3 parentage reveal to have pushed Jay and Lion closer to Bramble. One of these days I need to revisit his PoV in OotS and his attitude towards his cousins shown there, if only to reacquaint myself with the ways in which canon disappointed me.

Of the relationships between the Po3 meddie apprentice generation, Jayfeather and Flametail had the only one I genuinely weep canon forgetting. They had legitimate buildup and I would have loved to see it develop.

The way Flamepaw idolizes his older cousin and shows this genuine enthusiasm for the job Jayfeather only has ever resented, the scene in which Jaypaw reacts to an insensitive comment by giving Flamepaw a scare but then gently explains his disability and why he doesn't bother focusing his eyes, the potential for Jay to seek refuge in their familial connection while still mad at Leaf and Squilf...

*clenches fist* I can't get over what we were robbed of.

3. Mothwing

I first became attached to her because one of the first things I learned through fandom osmosis, even before knwing her very well beyond my spoilers binge, was the constant attitude that her and Cloudtail were willfuly blind idiots. I'm not going to go on my tirade on how atheism can be rational even in a world in which deities of some kind are completely real. But it really got to me.

But besides that, I find her, her relationship with Hawkfrost, and the hardships she's had to navigate as an atheistic religious figurehead not only extremely compelling but also extremely resonant as a religious atheist since about age 15.

I honestly really hate how ASC has been treating her, especially with the latest books emphasizing her as the good kind of nonbeliever vis a vis Splashtail. I swear the only reason they are showing her as much sympathy as they are right now is that it's kind of hard not to when she's being contrasted to someone right out of a PureFlix Entertainment movie.

2. Leafpool

We love to see the world's most Catholic schoolgirl core kitty cat.

Leafpool hits a couple notes on the themes my history with the religion I was raised with got me obsessed with and I greatly appreciate her on her own. But to be perfectly honest where I think she shines best is in relationship with my blorbo Jayfeather. Their tenous, mutually frustrating, and abrassive relationship is one of those dynamics that just gets me to spill out words on the page whenever I'm writing them interacting.

I'm honestly really disappointed that so much of the fanon seems to focus on giving them a more smooth relationship that's almost pseudoparental and kind of Leafpool wish fulfillment. Which is really at odds with how I see them in canon, where at best they are cordial co-workers, and even then only after the mess in OotS is sorted out.

I get the urge of wanting to dote on Leafie, I also get it from time to time, but I feel that it really leaves on the table a very interesting canonical facet of both these characters. (Also let's be real, it honestly stinks of people sanding off all the flaws off their faves given one of the main ways Leafpool let out her frustrations was in making ableist remarks. It is perfectly reasonable that given the society of WC she'd have those attitudes, people. It's fine to let her have that as flaw.)

Jayfeather

The blorbo of all time! ❤

I don't know if I've told the story in this blog before but I actually came into the series primed to like him, if only for familiarity bias. For the longest time I knew Warriors as those books that every furry my age seemed to have read and which I saw discourse about ocassionally in my dashboard. His name came up a lot and was seared into my mind so of course when I really got into the thick of reading it I was curious to see what the fuzz was about.

But I do love him for his own characteristics. For one, I'm a sucker for the asshole with a chip on their shoulder character type. I also really like his and his siblings' megalomania and overall bratiness over Po3 (and I really wish they had gotten worse tbh). He also resonates with quite a few themes of my raised Catholic brand of religious trauma. And the way his character arc was fumbled by the writing is a stimulating challenge to go "I can do better!" and then try to do better with.

But overall, it's really just that I have a great time whenever I'm reading/writing about, analyzing, reinterpreting, or doing research to write him. At the end of the day he's just fun to engage with.

#warrior cats #wc #yellowfang #flametail #mothwing #leafpool #jayfeather

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plutoarttv · 10 days ago

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Did you see that poll I made on @basil-the-slinking-thing?

now I have! I chose “other”, because I think what fascinates me most about j&h is not necessarily the story itself, but people’s understanding of it.

when I was little I loved the show gilligan’s island, and they loved doing whole episode homages to famous media, so naturally there was one about Jekyll and Hyde. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but that was my first exposure to the story. and BOY was it incorrect. I think that’s how most of us learn about the story for the first time, through a retelling or reference that is horribly distorted.

if you say their names everyone has heard of them- but everyone I’ve ever talked to about them says something along the lines of “oh yeah, isn’t that the guy with the two personalities?” or “that’s the guy with the evil alter-ego, right?”. It’s really interesting to me how twisted the story has become, and how it’s gotten its complexity (or honestly simplicity) stripped away after over 100 years of cultural osmosis.

of course, there’s also the classic ‘I’m queer and it’s a metaphor for being queer’ thing, which is also a component to my love for it. also they’re all gay for each other. so there’s that too.

#Jekyll and hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde

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whovianwatchingstartrek · 1 year ago

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A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 101 - Rescue Sarek!

Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 Episode 6 - Lethe

We open with Sarek and the Vulcans testing their own mission, but his mission is sabotaged, by a supposedly isolationist radical group of Vulcans that wish to withdraw from the federation. Last time a Rogue Vulcan faction showed up, they ended up being the good guys, but this group definitely aren't the pacifists that the Syrranites were, I'm curious to find out exactly what their deal is.

We then see Sylvia and Michael doing laps through Discovery's headquarters. I would have imagined these more advanced ships would have had a proper gym like the NX-01 Enterprise had, but apparently not. It definitely seems that Michael is pushing her too far out of her comfort zone,

Lorca and his buddy he picked up from the Prison, Ash Tyler, are also running some combat drills on a Holodeck. I know from cultural Osmosis that Holodecks are big part Star Trek, but this is the first time I've seen one since the MPreg Episode all the way back in Season 1 of Enterprise, so it's nice to see it here, even if it's only briefly. Apparently, he has been instantly promoted to Chief of Security, a role that I forgot recently became vacant.

In the Mess, Michael and Sylvia encounter Ash, and sit down to get to know our new Security Chief. There is some initial friction between Michael and Ash, but introductions are cut short when Michael receives a message through Sarek's Katra. Sarek gives her a flashback to before she was transferred to Star Fleet. Apparently Michael was removed from the Vulcan fleet for being too emotional, among other reasons, and I love that we're finally digging into how fucked up it is to raise someone in the Vulcan way, and seeing the younger Michael be gaslit into thinking she's the problem is heartbreaking. Sarek notices Michael's presence in the dream however, and kicks her out, back into the real world.

Michael wakes up in Sickbay. Apparently the same rogue faction of Vulcans were also responsible for the attack on the Learning Center when Michael was a child. Discovery goes on route to rescue Sarek.

Unfortunately once Discovery arrives at the relevant nebula, there is trouble. Firstly, we have no idea where in the Nebula Sarek is, and secondly, Discovery cant enter the Nebula without the gasses causing the Spore Drive the explode. Michael comes up with a plan to use the Katra to find him, and gets a shuttle team together, meanwhile Starfleet Command starts to chew out Lorca for going on this mission against orders.

Michael puts her plan into motion, and we get a really cool fist fight between Sarek and Michael in Sarek's mind. And at the same time we get a really interesting conversation between Lorca and one of the Starfleet Amirals who he's had kind of a thing with throughout, that really starts to dive into Lorca's psychology. His previous ship was mentioned last episode, but here we find out that after making that sacrifice, he changed a lot as a person. Wild traumatic events will do that to you, and I kind of want to find out how his command style differed before. Was he just as the Ends Justify the Means as he is now, or did he change in different ways? We also see him have an absolutely terrifying Trauma response when she touches one of his Scars. I want to know more about his character development, I can't wait for the show to explore whatever happened on that ship to shake him so much!

Delving deeper into Sareks backstory in the flashback scene it's mentioned that Sarek is actually Spock's dad, which wasn't something I expected to hear. Either way, it's revealed that Michael was rejected from the Vulcan fleet because Sarek was asked to choose between Michael and Spock, but in the end neither ended up in the Vulcan fleet. But, Michael manages to break through Sarek's shame and locates shocks him awake to signal out his location, and the the rescue mission is a success. Sarek's own mission is left more open ended, however. The Admiral that was visiting Lorca goes to complete it, but the whole thing was an ambush, and the admiral is taken prisoner by the Klingons, as our cliffhanger. Lorca gives the command to wait for Starfleet's orders, which either means this is him taking her advice to heart, or a petty display of "I'm right your wrong", and I love that I can't tell which it is.

This was a good episode, I am absolutely fascinated by the Characterisation of Captain Lorca, and the details on Michael's backstory and her relationship to Sarek are really interesting too.

#whovian watching star trek #star trek #star trek Discovery #Star Trek DIS #Star Trek DISCO #ST DIS #ST DISCO #DIS #st: disco #DISCO #st: discovery #Discovery #ST: DIS

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