#im kind of a sucker for tragedies

[ceriseisland]

Sorry for being awol btw the new zelda game blasted me back to 2017 with my botw obsession. Botw has lots of things I like about RS (fate, star crossed lovers, fixing the world after everything goes wrong) so if there's one thing that can take me out it would be this

[mysterycitrus]

This is so stupid but I was wondering if you might have any Dick and Roy meta? I've always loved your meta posts about the relationships between the Fab Five and different characters and lately, I've been seeing a lot of those posts where people splice certain comic pannels with poems/sayings/inspirational quotes and things that match and I've been wanting to have more in-depth ideas of the relationship between Dick and Roy because they're just so interesting but I don't have the brains to come up with anything myself

when i think about dick grayson and roy harper i think about the trope king + lionheart — a burdened hero, and their loyal protector — and how they switch roles with each other. like two standout dickroy books are probably old friends, new enemies and outsiders (2003), and while they’re both initiated with roy reaching out to dick for help, his motivations are very different. i think that dynamic, and how they don’t fit solely into one role, is part of why i enjoy reading about them so much.

in old friends, roy is the king — he’s trying to track down chesire and find lian, and isn’t initially honest about his intentions. he’s struggling with his decisions, and his faith in himself. dick acts as the moral support, his backup, and also calls him out on his actions.

but their relationship is still loving. there’s a solid foundation of trust that makes dick want to support roy and protect his daughter, to the point that he and jade nguyen show a (very) begrudging respect to each other.

in outsiders, dick is the king — donna has just died, bludhaven is going to shit, and roy knows that he’s spiralling. roy is the solid support who convinces dick to lead a new team because he knows dick hurts himself through isolation. they’re both grieving donna and the loss of their team, but roy forces dick to reconnect again. he forces dick to care.

despite being the leader of the outsiders, dick is uncompromising in his loyalty in roy. he tells people to leave if they don’t accept roy’s authority in the team. after roy is shot, dick takes the same action as roy in the first issue — he brute forces his way into getting roy out of the spiral. he holds a gun to roy’s head and tells him to take it.

im a huge sucker for friends to lovers, but what i really love is two competent people with absolute faith in each other. i dislike the idea that bat-characters are like….. absurdly op and everyone is just in awe of them all the time, but dick’s reputation means that trusting someone the way he trusts roy is important. he watched his teammates die, he watched his sister die to save his life, and he still trusts roy to be there. roy historically has a bit of an inferiority complex about working with dick, but dick does not reciprocate. dick knows roy will be there when it counts.

there’s a particular kind of love that comes from mourning the same person during one of the worst times of your life.

the fact that the early tragedies in their lives are so similar, that they lost family and an idea of place at similar ages, were mentored by mortal men who wanted to do good, but still ended up so close but so different is really really interesting to me. u get to outsiders, and they really know each other in a really intense way.

truly like…. i would fall on ur sword because i trust u not to land the killing blow. to finish — something something gay people

[swords-and-starlight]

i think the real reason i’ve been so obsessed with sceo recently is because they’re such a perfect representation of what I mean when I talk about the trope of devotion and obsession to the point of destruction.

in s5 theo was so envious and obsessed with scott (his power, his compassion, the loyalty and devotion he inspired in his pack, etc) that he did everything he could to steal it and when that didn’t work he had to destroy it. on top of that scott was kind and compassionate to him, specifically, when he’d never had anyone care about what happened to him, except, possibly, scott and tara when they were kids, both of whom he killed. he knew that scott would have helped him if he’d come clean in the beginning. and he hated scott for it. he hated him because he loved him. and theo doesn’t know how to cope with being loved except to be destructive in the face of it.

and scott as a victim of violence but also abuse from theo. theo being so emotionally manipulative that he drags every member of the pack away from scott and then makes himself the only person that scott can lean on. theo knowing every nook and cranny of scott and his psyche in a way that no one, not even stiles who’s known him the longest or lydia who understands him the best, can compare to. and scott needing him for it. theo being the only person who doesn’t put him on a pedestal but still believes in him. scott needing his love so desperately to the point of letting him destroy him. scott still loving his murderer and abuser enough to want to save him but also having enough love from his pack to not need him anymore and enough self respect not to do so.

i think what they had was toxic and a tragedy but because im a sucker for happy endings, especially for people who are so intertwined that they have no option but to exist in each others orbit, i like to think that scott and theo end up being the only people that can really see each other for who they really are, not just because they know each other so well but because they are the direct victims of theo’s worst mistakes and that gives them both a kind of insight into each other that no one else gets to see. I think scott is the only person that can convince theo he’s becoming a better person and theo is the only person who can convince scott that it’s ok to break sometimes. I think theo needs scott’s validation and approval and when scott lets him get close to liam and the puppy pack, he knows he has it. i think scott needs to believe that people can change and get better and when theo does his best to help people and be kind to people who don’t deserve it, he believes it. I think theo needs scott to tell him he was a monster and i think scott needs theo to tell him he was a victim. I think they need each other in a way they both refuse to acknowledge but they will still magically end up sitting together in silence on a rooftop every once in a while just to revel in the fact that they can.

and maybe, eventually, they become real friends or lovers

[shallowseeker]

i dont have meta to link to but i remember finding myself so confused how suddenly her personality changed from like. someone who woke up one day and realized "oh fuck i care" and decided to do everything she could to try and save people even though it doesn't undo stuff she probably did when she was transforming into a demon.

there are THREE options that came from people online that i stumbled on while reading online interpretations of what happened [because i was curious if any of the writers had answered why ruby's personality seemed to suddenly shift (it also feels like both of actors were given VERY different instructions in how to play her. i like both actors but it feels like ruby 1.0 was told to portray a demon with a heart, while ruby 2.0 was told she was a bad guy and the final villain of the season and had to portray that)]

i dont remember where i found these opinions but i wanna share them

ruby 1.0 and ruby 2.0 are different characters completely i personally don't love this theory even though it would make a lot of sense and would clear up most noticeable differences

ruby 1.0 got dragged to hell (canon) and while she was there she was basically lobotomized/tortured similar to castiel, and then told by lilith to act the way she did in season 4 because sam already trusted her i like this theory more because it makes what happens to her in season 4 more of a tragedy, but it also feels like it takes away some of her agency and takes away some of the emotion from the (frankly awesome) monologue when she's like "I'm fucking awesome! like come on, give me some credit"

ruby 1.0 was only acting like that in the first place because sam was responding to her behavior when she was a demon with a heart of gold, and when dean died sam stopped responding to that personality, so ruby 2.0 came up with a new one that he would respond to, and her egging on sam about dean (she did that right im not making that up?) is something he 100% responded to. i kind of like this theory because it maintains the emotional high of her "i'm awesome!" speech, but i also feel like this is more of a retcon than the second option, and therefore i feel a little weirder agreeing to it, because just like sam im a HUGE sucker for people who realize that they have the power to change something and realizing that, against their own interests, they care a whole lot.

sorry for the huge ask i just. ruby 1.0 is something i think a Whole Lot About(tm)

Oh, you've given me much to think about!

Ruby's connection to witchcraft is so interesting to me. Both she and Rowena were likable, morally gray, and so SO cunning. Both clung to Lucifer, using manipulation to secure his freedom.

[bytedykes]

Hewwo! Yue Qingyuan seems to be a special guy to you, so him for the ask game ✌️

Sexuality Headcanon: gay but i think he's too depressed to date. he has emotional erectile dysfunction

Gender Headcanon: cis man 😔 ive thought about transfem yqy before too but i dont really see him going anywhere with it. he doesnt have time for self exploration he has a sect to run and also all this unspeakable misery

A ship I have with said character: hehe... mqf/yqy... i like them... its really niche but @pathos-logical and i initially thought of it as a joke but it's so serious now. doctor sexy x worst patient EVERRR !! i dont have anything concrete to say about this ship they just eat my brain

A BROTP I have with said character: i actually really like his canon relationship with sqq, even though we only ever really see how sqq thinks of him. yqy reminds sqq of his own older brother which i think is really sweet and also sad :( i also think yqy would like sqq as his own person, if it ever came out that sqq isnt sj. i mean he already likes him but like independently of shen jiu i do think they could have a good relationship

A NOTP I have with said character: QI/JIU. i don't ship them. words cannot communicate how much i don't ship them. i knowww that they're in a danmei fitting all the bl tropes but like i don't want it and i don't see it and i just do not ship it. i find them much much more compelling as a platonic relationship. fandom has also highkey ruined any warm feelings i might have had toward romantic yqy/sj because of the way people popularly portray them - i think the way a lot of people write qi/jiu is very sj-centric and often not very in line with what i think is accurate yqy characterization (also i don't like sj for similar fandom mischaracterization reasons but w/e). but that's just my opinion !

A random headcanon: i think he would be sooo good with babies i think it would be awesome to put a baby in that man's arms and have him hold it for a while. also a mandated beach vacation wouldn't fix him but it would greatly benefit him. also i think he has chronic pain from xs + the qi deviation and his spirit veins are all fucked up and who does he talk about this with? no one <3 <3 <3 #1 sufferer in silence

General Opinion over said character: i fucking love this mankjghilsadhkads IM SUCH A SUCKER for fucked up tragic characters who are stuck in a pit of eternal misery ok i eat that shit uppp. i really like how yqy's narrative is that ultimately he did his best and tried so hard and failed anyway and then could never bring himself to defend himself despite it not being his fault and that's the tragedy. he blames himself so so bad and he will never say anything because he doesnt feel he deserves to!!! the decades long miscommunication with the person who matters most to him is also soooo. ugh. he makes me crazyyy!!! i really like how he's a very flawed, complex person, who is kind and caring but also the #1 enabler on this goddamn mountain. his indirect treatment of lbh is really interesting to me too. i love yqy he sucks so bad <333

ty for the ask!!! you're right he IS a special guy to me and i love him soo much <3

[backtothedisaster]

For the ask game

All character/ship specific ones will be for Tw0F4ng (if it's character specific you can just do either Fl4k or Zer0 if you want. Or both if you want to do both)

3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 22, 24, 25

Obviously don't have to answer all of them bc it's a lot but idk I like your opinions they're neat

OF COURSE <3

3. NoTP? i dont really have one for fl4k but for zero...zerhys sorry. Im a known rhys disliker and i just dont see it 9. Write a recommendation of someone else's fic you enjoyed! THIS ONE...oh my god. i dont read fic much but this permanently rewired my brain. it influenced a lot how i interpret fl4k and zer0 and their relationship 10. What's your favourite piece of fanart for [character]? Ok im kind of just picking drawings that theyre included in because i really like them. These two 11. What's your favourite piece of fanart for [ship]? auuuug i have a hard time choosing but i think this one 12. What's the funniest or craziest AU idea you've ever come up with? I guess not funny or crazy (kind of tragic if im honest) but ive been thinking a little bit about a fl4k/zer0 au that takes place several decades in the future after most of their friends have. well. Died. (i think fl4k and zer0 would have a significantly longer lifespan than the rest of the raiders because robot and..alien(?) thing..Youve just gotta trust me on this one) Anyways i dont have any real like...plot or anything really for this au i kind of just like the concept (I am a sucker for tragedy) 19. What's your favourite thing about [the borderlands fandom] (the people in it, not the media you're all enjoying together)? So many creative people in this community...its the first real fandom space ive interacted with in a while and its nice. lots of cool people here 22. Give us a headcanon for [character] Ok normally i would answer this one but i spent all my creative energy on an essay earlier...consider this my IOU 24. What's your favourite thing about [character]? Fl4k was actually a character made in a lab for me i swear to god. An archivist bot developing sentience and deciding become a hunter to serve a personification of death... im sorry but is that not literally the coolest shit ever. Maybe it would be easier to stop falling into the stereotype of "every nonbinary character is nonhuman" if they would stop making them so fucking awesome as for zer0. their offputting demeanor and autistic swagger has captivated me

i answered as many as i could ^_^ enjoy yay

[corpsentry]

SORRY i keep coming here to yell !! you got me thinking about cdramas (& t dramas) i enjoyed and then forgot about :"] i watched 如果奔跑是我的人生 earlier this year and the ending lost me, but i was quite captivated by its 20+ episodes before. it centres around parental relationships (asian) and, i don't know much about dance at all but a main character is a dancer and her story made me feel things. the performances were sick, in my unprofessional opinion! I'm Fine is a gorgeous ost track. btw.... i've started rewatching 不良执念清除师 again and i CANNOT RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH. i've been thinking about it (on ep 5 LOL) and i actually don't think the ending dropped the thread or ball or 链子 or however that saying goes (im fever SORRY.... i think it was cathartic and beautiful in the way a galaxy is— i just could not get enough of those guys T__T 不良执念清除师 is about sulky teen (??) guys moving through the world with so much heart. it's about LOVE and ART and how the living go on after tragedy, it's about how. how (PARDON ME....) we get to keep everything we've ever loved for even a fraction of a moment & what we are doing is worthwhile even if it is very small !!!!! it is a show that is, in Voice from IMBD's words, an outstanding Taiwanese drama that excels in every aspect, because it was made with so much care and love...(meta!) also, gay people

first of all No Apology thank you for coming to yell!!! you have a big heart full of love for the world and it moves me!!!! i went down this rabbit hole on m*dramalist after watching 我们的少女时代/our times (2015)-

(tangent incoming) this movie Shook the secondary 2 scene in singapore when it came out everyone and their dog was sobbing about it and i listened to 小幸运 Religiously despite never seeing it myself. Having Seen It Now, it is a sweet little thing and it makes me feel desperately old. it also made me CRY, what can i say i’m a sucker for distances and ships passing in the night and i was soooo happy when liudehua appeared and then adult xutaiyu showed up and he Fuck Ass Hair. my lord, his hair looked like SHIT. PICKLED SEAWEED……… i couldn’t cry after that because i was so busy clenching my asscheeks out of sheer despair FUCK HAIR AND. AND!!! A TOO SHORT BLACK BLAZER ON SKINNY JEANS??? I MEAN REALLY??? I KNOW 2015 WAS NINE YEARS AGO but i don’t recall fuckass hair being the in thing then…. this memory i do not have…. you have to understand how emotionally devastating this was to me…… (tangent end)

(tangent part 2) (please look at the way they styled this poor man’s fuck ass hair. i don’t care how earth shatteringly sweet they were in high school if my first love turned up ten years later and he looked like this i would simply walk away)

(tangent end)

the point is, that i then went through vivian sung’s acting history to see what else she’d been in bc she was soooooo lovely and realized that 不良执念清除师 was in said history and then remembered this ask! and your heartfelt words about its story! and i was like Oghey, i watch—

just finished the first episode and mein gott yiyong is such a Teenager…… man i look at 18 year olds and i’m like i don’t remember being like that but i Know i must’ve been, once upon a time. but the range of emotions the script wrung out of him in one episode was kind of insane and his actor is kind of vibey as hell (perhaps this is my sign from god to finally watch your name engraved herein…) and vivian sung is still epic as hell and sooo goofy and i’m excited! i think of u in my head for some reason as the epic tight as hell short chinese dramas anon, i Trust your eyes. they’re good eyes. i’ve also locked down the first 20+ episodes of the other drama you mention here, especially because yang chao yue is in it and she was Breathtaking in the double T T T thank you for the recs! where do you find all of these? i don’t know but you must be doing good out in the world. be well anon. meet a chicken

[valeriianz]

10 fandoms / 10 characters / 10 tags

tagged by @virgo-dream and @seiya-starsniper, thank you! this took me a while... the way my hyperfixations work is, i'll completely devote myself to a piece of media for a time... then once i find something else i move on almost entirely lol. i of course still have a very soft spot for the shows/video games listed here (as well as my blorbos, such as they are) but the only fandom im currently active in is, of course, Sandman.

1: Levi Ackerman - Attack on Titan

I am in a love/hate relationship with AoT lmao (and some day i WILL finish the final season) but nothing, not even fandom war, will ever change my love for Levi. I'm obsessed with his backstory, how he came into the Survey Corps, and how it all sheds light on the decisions he makes and the tragedies he suffered through. I was fascinated by him since S1 and after the No Regrets manga came out, I was done for. He has been through so much and despite how cruel and unforgiving he seems, he actually has the biggest heart and-- guh I just love him. He deserves the world ;^;

2: Zuko - Avatar the Last Airbender

Truly was torn between Zuko or Katara... but I have always had mad respect for Zuko's redemption arc and how brilliantly it was written. I love how it takes a full season and a half for him to have this war within himself, that he makes the right decision but then regresses... before literally becoming sick with indecision and change. And then he finally proves his worth and becomes the most loyal friend and a perfect leader to rebuild a broken society. I'm a sucker for good character stories, and Zuko's arc in ATLA is my hands down favorite ever.

3: Roxas - Kingdom Hearts

God I just love tragic male characters, huh? lmao. This one is a no brainer to me. Roxas is the OG blorbo. I fell in love with him at the tender age of 17 and have never looked back. He is kind and loyal but also a feral gremlin. He is so goofy but sad and god dammit, I love his voice and his baby blue eyes. Also this line, "This could have been the other way around." *shakes fist* MY BOY!

4: Faye Valentine - Cowboy Bebop

We love complex characters in this house! Faye has all the traits of a character I usually wouldn't vibe with: she's arrogant (without much to back it up lol), lazy, and is susceptible to addictions. But oooh do I love a character who uses negative traits to hide how emotionally vulnerable they are. Faye appears strong, mean, and confident to a fault, but inside she craves companionship and is incredibly lonely (despite her lone wolf tendencies). Rewatching the show as an adult, I found Faye and I have a lot in common lol. She needs a hug.

5: Hob Gadling - The Sandman

Do I really need to say anything? lol I love that Hob is the fandom's plaything; molding and shaping him and writing him in all sorts of different ways... but I do adore his canon character. He is brash, stubborn, at times cruel and violent... but then immeasurably kind, loyal, and forgiving. He takes on immortality in unexpected ways. he thrives, he suffers, he works, he regresses, he makes mistakes, he learns from them, he changes... he is THE human experience.

6: Daenerys Targaryen - Game of Thrones

Robbed. Robbed. Absolutely robbed. The writers did Daenerys so dirty, I refuse to accept the final 3 seasons of GOT as canon lmao. (and here's another thing: I would totally accept her spiral into "madness" if it had been handled seriously. If the writers didn't just pull this out of their ass and instead thoughtfully worked in justifiable reasoning for her to go crazy). I'm 100% a stan and there's actually nothing you can say that will change my mind :)

7: Cal Kestis - Star Wars, Jedi: Fallen Order

My SON. My BOY! I have the adoption papers ready.

8: Tifa Lockhart - Final Fantasy VII

Another OG blorbo lmao. She's been with me since I was a teenager (also I always shipped her with Cloud, not Aerith. I do however ship Aerith and Zack... the latter whom almost made this list. Anyway-). Tifa is the badass motherfucker with a heart of gold. She is insanely loyal and truly the wisest of the bunch.

9: Mickey Milkovich - Shameless

ANOTHER BROKEN CHARACTER WHO GOES THROUGH EXTREME DEVELOPMENT? Can anyone sense a pattern?? This motherfuckerrrr *shakes Mikey and slaps him in the face and sobs* God I love it when a seemingly irredeemable character goes THROUGH IT and comes out shining a new, yet somehow the same old, sarcastic bitch.

(Also please note that Lip Gallagher almost made this list. Another shining example of the writers doing his character the WORST injustice just to keep him on the show. He should have stayed in college. He almost GOT OUT. He almost broke the chain. What he did was not in line with his character and I will stay mad about it).

10: Cesare Borgia - The Borgias

THIS. GUY! AURGH!! Arrogant, violent, sexy bastard. You piece of shit. Cesare actually did everything wrong, he doesn't want to be redeemed. But he is so fucking charismatic and I love that he uses it to his advantage. He's so fucking smart and quick on his feet. He's SUCH an asset on the battlefield. And he LOVES his family! He will kill a bitch with his bare hands if they dare insult his mother or sister. I love that he grumbles when given advice from literally anyone that isn't his most trusted friend, bodyguard, and assassin, Micheletto. Doesn't even flinch when he discovers Micheletto is gay, actually teases him for being a momma's boy, and genuinely grieves for his loss when he flees. He says out loud how he misses him and actually begins to doubt himself without Micheletto there to counsel him. Cesare is everything to me, actually.

tagging, no pressure!: @rainy-days-and-nights @the-cloudy-dreamer @kemurai6-dominion-of-dust @ferelden-loser @teejaystumbles @tj-dragonblade @hardly-an-escape @sutoribenda @quillingwords @mathomhouse-e

[billyharringson]

achilies and patroculus one plspslspossl expand on im a sucker for greek mythology au 🤭🤭🤭❤️

Oh yes okay! This one was inspired by some photo manips I did a while back in is basically just gonna be all angst.

I was thinking that Steve and Billy are the latest reincarnation of Achilles and Patroclus (kind of got fixated on the idea of Billy as Achilles due to his affinity to water and the whole bronzed, golden boy thing).

It sometimes takes a while but they always remember their past lives which means that they also always remember that Steve does first and that they pretty much always die young. There are times when they can ignore that and just be together, and other times where the pain is still too raw and they end up fighting/trying to stay away from each other in the hopes that tragedy won't befall them.

This is the first reincarnation where Billy dies first and Steve has to recon with just how much his lover has had to deal with being the one who survives whilst also grieving his soulmate.

[spookfished]

big media roundup (july edition)

hellooo again welcome to my media roundup, where i talk about things i read/watched/played this month! (…and by last month i mean AN ENTIRE MONTH AGO. WOOPS in my defense i got sick [better now]) in july i downloaded tachij2k, which im going to be shilling forever as the best way to read manga on android (apk on github here) this also means that ive been reading like, a Lot of manga lol so i split books + comics into two.

books:

vita nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: a metaphysics-ish novel about a girl who is blackmailed into going to a magic school. sort of a subversion where (unlike many magic school books) it basically is all about learning and stuff? im kind of a sucker for books written by married couples i think its really cute and also kind of fascinating... um i sort of disagree with its approach to pedagogy but its also sort of about the blood sweat and tears part of learning,, where i usually quit beforehand LOL. got that eastern european hopeless and drudgery (?) but idk i would definitely recommend

the great believers by rebecca makkai: historical fiction that swaps between an art curator-y guy living through the aids epidemic in chicago and his friend in the present who is trying to reunite w her estranged daughter. i really liked this!! super devastating obviously literally scooped me like a melon. very well researched! i hadnt really grasped like. the sheer terror and paranoia? that happened during the aids epidemic before..... thats my lack of contemp history knowledge but it was good i learned a lot. liked the theme of sort of surviving through tragedy and even after.. and the line drawn between the lost generation (war) and yales own exp (EDIT: found sth i wrote after reading the book which said "people are living their own intricate and mundane stories and then the stories of the world smash straight through them")

assassin of reality (vita nostra sequel): sasha knows what she will become--has embraced it, even. but theres always something that can be lost, and the institute still has a heavy hand over her.<or sth like that??? the reveals of the last book kind of make it a hard act to follow and the book definitely felt a lot more abstract... ik some people complained about the romantic subplots but i feel like it gives stakes and grounds everything else, yk? it gives you a thread to hold onto otherwise i mightve given up LMFAO that being said i did enjoy it :3 wondering if what happened to the authors will change the vibe of the next book... :(

you exist too much by zaina arafat: literary fiction about a bisexual palestinian american woman who struggles with her addiction to unattainable love, which has led her to cheat in several relationships. this book didnt really resonate with me.. um i actually ended up writing like 500 words of review for this but its pretty negative. so if youre interested check it out here https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/970847361775591466/1147613251933306921/image.png

movies/tv: room with a view: a young english girl travels to italy and finds love there--but has to choose between that love and a 'proper' life. ok this was fine. idk it was cute and funny sometimes but didnt leave that much of an impression sorry :T

past lives: two childhood friends reconnect, lose touch, then reconnect again. aughjjj those two silent minutes where they were waiting for her ride were so freaking agonizing. really good acting pretty film i just enjoyed it a lot in general! :3 i didnt like the boyfriend that much at first but the conversation they had in bed made them feel like a real relationship, you know? wish theyd had a 3some though maybe it will happen in past lives 2: paster life. idk its like most of the time we dont grow up to be who we thought wed be or do what we thought wed do... but is that really so bad? cant you still be happy? *clutches my head

nimona (movie): adaptation of the comic above! um this was fine i think i was a little disappointed bc the jokes felt a little overplayed/didnt really land? and i was mentally comparing it to the comic but then rereading i was like oh these jokes dont really hit for me either.. so who am i comparing this to LOL i think it would have meant a lot to me in middle school, so maybe it will mean something to middle schoolers now. also ppl fought really hard for it to be made so i feel like i need to give it more credit. my mutuals meta also made me appreciate it more :3 https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/687877902200471552/1126752893312184390/image.png barbie movie: not going to recap the barbie movie sorry. i actually watched this twice it was really fun :3 i wouldnt necessarily say it was a Cultural Milestone or anything but it was cute to see everyone dressed up for the movie.. plus i love velveteen rabbit type storylines. i think ken got the right amount of screentime (its not his movie!) but i loved his dance number and the battle scene :3 and the outfitss idk im not super caught up on the movie scene but it feels like there have been a lot of ugly movies recently. i enjoyed it

the rehearsal: a "reality" show about nathan fielder, who believes that any difficult situation can be rehearsed--and has the budget to put that belief into practice. ok like last year or sth everyone was like omg this show was sooo good but i didnt really get what it was about? but its actually really so interesting.. and the whole blurring between fiction and reality as well as the audience not really knowing which parts are staged and which parts are 'real' is so fun! i was a little bit disappointed when it diverged from the episodic format but that ended up paying off bigtime and was really like idk heartbreaking and funny and all of that. very recommend 👍

video games:

super mario odyssey: (replay)super fucking mario yay!!! in the long run, odyssey didnt have as much like. cultural staying power as botw did (they were both switch launch titles) but its still soooo imaginative and pretty and dense! i love platformers love 2 run and jump.

visual media: he was my brother: psych horror manga about a young girl who tries to grow closer to her recently-deceased brother's partner. omg i had so much fun with this the art is so atmospheric and delightfully creepy...REALLY mind the warnings though. i think i ended up reading all of it in one sitting lmfao

nimona comic (reread): classic villain ballister blackheart is looking for a competent sidekick, but what he gets is nimona, a shapeshifting weirdo kid with secrets. i remember trying to reread this and going wow.... is nimona not as good as i remember? am i old? but it was actually just like early webcomic weirdness nimona is still pretty good! yay :3 i still like the comic better but i respect how they are adapted to their respective mediums and also come from different phases in the og authors life

The story of how I came to know my favourite announcer has a side to her I would have never imagined: oneshot f/f w the premise in the title. whether i write down stuff like this is pretty hit or miss lol and i had to look this one up to rmbr what it was but the art is so cute...simple plot but i enjoyed it :3

crossplay love otaku x punk: romcom where two highschoolers fall in love with the other's crossdressing alter ego (m/m?). i really liked this one actuallyyy its so silly and im also a sucker for love square shenanigans. ok also now that someone else said they think hana/shuumei is endgame so im thinking about it. not the right perspective for this but the crossdressing isnt really overly fetishized or like seen as bad or anything? also ppl make some really funny faces in this

breathless momentum (vol 2+3): r two womanizing musicians find love... in each other!? this is also another one of my favorites :3 the leads are so fun and also music yay music! i really appreciate when a romance is still able to present an interesting story even after the couple has gotten together..

damekoi r: sequel to "please love this useless me," (damekoi is like.. useless passion? i think) which is about a woman in her 30s who spends all her money on her college boyfriend and goes into debt and falls in with her shitty former boss. omg it was soooo cute like i already said its a romance set after the main couple has already gotten together. which is my favorite. but these guys are really fucking weird so they still have a lot of problems. having Another Man who fits michikos type and isnt totally evil come in to destabilize shibata and kurosawas relationship doesnt feel cheap bc their relationship is already not very stable? lol i think the first one is worth checking out if you love pathetic women

mr villains day off: a gag manga about an alien supervillain on his days off. ok this one is pretty much just centered around this fluffy guy who likes to look at pandas but its extremely not very deep but its very cute... i like it... i also like pandas

how do we relationship/so do you want to go out, or (reread): f/f slice of life/drama manga about a girls first lesbian relationship in college. ok this is like "the" yuri manga for me i would recommend it to any fans of femslash its like sort of very realistic feeling? in the way that a relationship can sort of degrade slowly through lack of communication and being different people i think its really great 👍

ichinose familys seven deadly sins: psychological drama. an entire family wakes up with amnesia from a car crash. they dont remember themselves or each other, but pledge to stay together and relearn how to be a family and try to find their memories again. but is it really worth digging up the past...? man this one really goes off the rails. but like in a fun way? has an interesting arc going on rn about like... what allowances do we give, what are we willing to forgive in a stranger vs a family member. pretty interesting!

oshi no ko (catchup): psych thriller about the twin children of a famous idol trying to deal with the legacy she leaves behind. ive been talking about this manga for a while to my friends lol its kind of like riverdale in that its sort of very good, sort of very bad--but overall just super engrossing! which makes sense in a way bc its about the entertainment industry but also about the relationship between an idol and their fan... um not so sure about recent developments though lol. a little bit scared to see where things go

blue period (catchup): a delinquent boy used to going with the flow decides to go to the top art school in japan. yeah blue period is really good. hope this helps 👍lets all never go to art school ever ok ^_^

still sick: f/f about an office lady who finds out her coworker writes and sells yuri doujins (like illustrated fanfiction?) on the side. its a classic! was nice to finally get around to finishing it :3

liar satsuki can see death: thriller about a girl who can see peoples deaths and tries to prevent them--except everyone thinks shes just a liar. ok this is notable bc it has the exact same like adventures and gaybait as shounen but its all girls instead. its good light entertainment! sometimes is um kind of horny for sth about high school girls so ymmv on that one

farming for love: m/m romance about a pharmacist who moves to the country after a bad breakup and meets a ~strong but silent farmer~. pretty average, but fun if youre into that kind of thing! not sure if i would really recommend it lol

chainsaw man 2: set after the events of chainsaw man proper, its an action shounen focusing on asa mitaka, a girl who kinda sucks :3 chainsaw man is so fun yayyy im happy to be reading it again excited to get hit by some more bricks! asa is a wonderful protagonist and fujimoto continues to write comitragedy (?) in a way thats kinda obscene but also very cool 👍rip single father denji

skip and loafer (comic): slice of life about an ambitious but awkward girl who comes from the country to start her high school life in tokyo!!!! and some guy i guess. omg ok this is like the slice of life manga for me rn (the anime is really good! finished recently check it out) its just really warm and nice. autistic girls win always lol truly a comic that makes you feel like there is love in the world

no home: webtoon drama about two guys who are trapped together in a haunted dorm. ok this comic makes me really depressed but its also about people who make each other better despite their best efforts. and also violence and hatred its really really good 👍sad about recent updates though.. i guess maybe the characters werent really meant to be friends in the long term

this took me like two weeks to write and now im in a different state LOL so um if you got to the end...thanks for reading!

[juliapark13]

Something that I will never understand in this fandom is how you all fight tooth and nails to prove that the guys are almost perfect, have exactly 0,1 amount of negative personal traits and will never do anything wrong in their lives (and if they evee done then they learned the lesson, changed their mind 180 degrees). First and foremost, they are people. Ordinary people. Yes, hard working, yes, attractive and charismatic. But still people. Flesh and bones and physical needs. I've been an admirer of them since 2016 and during my obsessed era managed to watch EVERY their content since even before and from their debut. Every, every one of them has negative, unattractive, repulsive traits. I could list it all if needed. The idealization of them is insane. The idealization of them by the shippers is even more so.

Just like the fandom idealizes the guys to the max so do you, shippers, ultimately idealize your ship. Love to death, never seen before strongest love, absolute adoration between them, can never do anything wrong to each other, will never look towards another person, can never hurt each other in any way, intended or not, public image or personal, deep feelings. It's always a projection going on. The entertainment industry is basically built on projection. And the love that you claim jikook have is what YOU created, YOU believe they have. You created something that makes your heart flatter and days brighter and more tolerable and went along with it. Because in all honesty and objectivity you and i will never know what happens behind the scenes. Yes, they do have a great chemistry and a romantic fleur flying around them but, unfortunately, it really doesn't mean much. When 2 romantic, passionate, sensual, naturally flirty people meet each other and become closely acquainted, they just happen to radiate this energy. Speaking from many instances I've seen it in real life.

Could I be wrong? Totally. They could be banging each other and saying lovely words to each other. Could you be wrong? Of course. They could be passionately in love with some noncelebrity and we'd never know it. They could be going around courting someone else. Even if you believe they arE nOt LiKe ThIs, jK wOuLd nEvEr ReLeAsE gCfT jusT fOr tHeM tO bE fRiEnDs, hE'd nEvEr pLaY uS lIkE tHiS, you will never know them personally, you never know what goes in their head. Why you all feel so fucking entitled to their personal life, emotions and feelings? Why do you think you know what's in their head? Just recently A LOT of shippers and armys swore death that Jimin doesn't want solo activity, that he doubtly would do something solo but here we are, 7th of february.

tbh, for quite a long period jikook fandom was my safe zone, im a sucker for romance and a lovesick fool, sue me. Your idea of this couple and romance was just my brand and jikook being soft and caring did things to my poor heart. So i have spent some time going around, silently observing. And you know what? Jikookers are slowly becoming taekookers. Yay to the taekookification of jikookers! Maybe some of you all don't notice it but that's a fact. Theories and assumptions all day long, drama, tragedy and dumbassery. I literally saw postS about jk going here and there to spend time with th and others friends to hide his relationship with jm because they'll be gone to serve in the military soon. That's how bad it's become in some of yalls head.

but anyways, back to idealization. Yeah, you all idealize the shit outta this ship. You think jk and jm could never do anything wrong and bad to each other, do any harm, intentionally or unintentionally. Which erects a question. What is then about the rise of taekookers? I know you all gonna defend jk and th and tell that they are kind, they love jm wholeheartedly, tHeY wOuLd SpIt oN mE/bUrN tO kEeP jm WaRm, it's not their fault taekookers are deranged and unhinged, internet is not reality, jm is okay with it, in reality jm is very loved and nobody would ever try to hurt him, it's not jk and ths fault, they have every right to interact however they wan, what, should brothers/besties not interact anymore at all???? All of aforementioned, every single word would be right if you all said it in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and even 2020. Those years, you would be absolutely right if you replied to me that jk and th have every right to interact. But guess what, the world and the fandom changes. What simply was a ship war years ago is a serious deal now, with serious consequences that have a high probability to be destructive and damaging. People on the internet are real, they are not something that can be shrugged off. Accounts of twitter and yt are not just pictures with a bot behind them, their posts are not AI-generated bunch of random words, it's their mind, real thoughts. They log out of twittr and go shop for food with these thoughts going in their head, they go to work, interact with othrs, consult, service their clients and still have these thoughts in their head. Do you even know how many times my bts-fan friends had gone to fandom meetings and then told me there were hella lot of shippers and many of them claimed jimin to be a tkk homewrecker? Hint: every single time they went to a fandom meeting. Oftentimes there would be other slurs used against jm.

I know you all dont want to hear it and don't want to even consider it because of idealization but the guys do feed ships, do feed some fandom narratives, do some controversial things. And yes, recent taekook live is one of them, either people wanr to admit it or not. Even jikook had some moments to intentionally stirr up the crowd (the famous jimin sitting on jks laps on a concert moment). They are entertainers in the first place. It's their job to keep an audience engaged. But that's okay, that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is that you all fight tooth and nails to defend jikook. It's weird how you all claim jk to be a genius, an overly intelligent person (and i believe he probably is), smart and grown up man but turn a blind eye to the fact that his certain desicions do harm jimin's image and potentially his well-being. Jk has greatly graduated with a degree in media. I do believe he's a gentle soul and probably has a nice and kind personality, and is quite smart and creative. But he does involve himself in an activity that does nothing but feed the harmful type of delusion, the one that a potential to become dangerous for the person he claims to be someone he's close to. I myself am getting a degree in a field that involves media, mediaplay and pr and let me tell you, masses are quite easily moved, the mass narrative is changable and flexible. Celebrity like bts have a huge power over people and their minds. They literally can integrate any narrative they want and it wil be successfully integrated, soon or later. Jk literally has an almost flawless image and brand power. He is potentially able to say whatever he wants and people will be on his side. If he wanted, he could end shipping, soon or later, eventhougg there still will be a small percent or highly radicalized shippers. Again, any mass narrative is movable and changeable, ANY.

So here we have, a highly respected artist, with a great public image and brand power, who's claimed to be very smart, intelligent, who graduated with honors with a degree in media. This certain artist has a part in his fandom of people who spend their days and nights to make up theories. These part of the fandom keeps on trying to ruin the artist's bandmate's (close friend/brother/lover/whatever you consider them) image and brand (either you want it or not but public/brand image is important in the industry), and potentially has quite a high probability to be harmful to that bandmate's well-being. The artist doesn't adress the problem, the artist keeps getting himself involved in that deranged part of his fandom, thanks to the artists' decision makings the deranged part keeps thriving on, getting bolder and more vile.

Like, I'm not asking jk or th to say he has a girlfriend/boyfriend/partner, it's their personal life, for god's sake, nobody should ever have word in it. But god, it's not hard to openly and straightforwardly reply to one of the millions' of deranged comments and say that you are not romantically involved with any of your bandmates (which would start an anti-shipping movement in your fandom). There would be left a small percent of the most radical deranged breed, the proccess of purification would probably go slowly, but when an artist is stubborn and he really tries to change a narrative, he would eventually get what he wants.

It's not hard to say that you don't want to be shipped with someone, it's not hard to say that you are not in a relationship with your bandmates. I know, there will be people saying he doesn't have to do it, it's not their fault and he has nothing to do with shipping but man, taekookers have gone too far, have become too bold and harmful. You can't keep your silence forever when you are the center of this fucked up delusional harmful created love triangle and your words are valued by both sides. Can't keep silence at least from the ethical standpoint. Like, dude, your bandmate is literally being targetted here and there, how is it okay?

What a long essay. 😄

Do I think they are perfect? No.

Do I think they’ve never had any fight or difficult time? No. They definitely had.

I still think their relationship is extraordinary and their love is something else, because it’s obvious even from the small fraction of their lives we were able to see. I don’t wish for them to be more than friends. I see what they are trying to show us and I don’t ignore it.

BTS members don’t see everything we see. They know about the hate, but they don’t have to know about the amount and level of toxicity. We don’t know how much of this toxicity they’ve seen. They aren’t invested in it like we are. Like you said we don’t know what’s going on behind the closed door.

You should finally get the fact Jungkook isn’t responsible for that. Try to imagine yourself in his place. Would you calculate all your actions and words? He literally doesn’t have to come online and say ‘Me and V are only friends, get over it finally.’ If you hate him because you think he is obliged to do that, you are toxic. Who are you to judge him anyway? You aren’t one of the most famous people in the world. You have totally different life. You can’t even imagine how different everything is for them.

Just we would never agree on this. It’s not worthy for me to continue.

And don’t ever compare jkkrs to tkkrs. The difference is incomparable.

[b0rtney]

This might be a bit of an intrusive question, so zero pressure to answer, but what’s your favourite tropes and why? (Feel free to reply to only the first part, I recognise the second is somewhat often private and personal) (P.S it’s FragileWriter - functioning technology is brilliant!! I can go on apps again! Whoo!)

In the name of fairness, one of my all time favourite tropes is the comfort element of character A fiercely protecting and defending B in their abscence; bonus points if they scheme and plot to bring B’s enemy down - but the icing on the cake is if B walks in and is left stunned at being sided with. Undying loyalty all the way, but also I just love the comrade of people being so loyal to one another that they’ll defend each other no matter what.

It’s kind of healing to write tbh 😅

Characters bonding around a warm, cosy fire via trauma stories and deep personal conversations complete with humorous exchanges is another favourite. Again, I love the unity aspect and I’m not one for small talk so I love getting into the nitty gritty.

Plus, there’s something almost symbolic about characters being in a secluded or isolated place, left to fend for themselves in the elements and forced to be in the dark, but surrounded by the light and warmth of friends or begrudging company. I like when characters are forced to be vulnerable with themselves and one another, or rather, when they choose to be.

And on that note, I shall end with long ramble with; I hope you’re having a brilliant day/night 💗

 AH IM SO EXCITED TO ANSWER THIS ASK!!!!

so in response to my fav trope (i have several but ill just pick a few). i LOVE genre clashes!! i love throwing a tragedy-built character into a romance, or a childrens-comedy-built character into a murder mystery thriller!!! i think exploring how two opposing things mesh and fill in each others cracks can be so fun!!!! (like when the childrens comedy character escapes murder by the culprit bc their looney toons physics defies mortality)

i ALSO love whump where one character just has the everloving SHIT beat out of them!! i find it so satisfying to write and read for some reason <3 soooo good every time. satisfies my little lizard brain hehehehehe

another is when character a is just so down bad and stupid abt it for character b, and even better when its mutual. idiots in love <33333333

weird one for the last one: i love when character a has been kidnapped, all their loved ones plan a rescue op, and then character a manages to unkidnap themselves-- ITS SO FUNNY EVERY TIME!!!! (best example i can think of is suicide squad remake where harley quinn rescues herself and encounters the rest of the squad mid-rescue, but ive written several of my own before that too)

I LOVE UR FAV TROPES AS WELL!!!! those r all so sweet!!!! i love characters scheming together heheheeh <33333 undying loyalty i am SUCH a sucker for ughhh <3333333 and the sharing of trauma is fun as well hehehe

[endfght]

🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲 i want more <3

tod waggner & kinsey oliver: tod b like 🧍 prrrety grill. dating christa or not this man is still blushing and stuttering and fumbling over himself in front of pretty girls im sorry theres nothing that can be done to change him. idk truly theyre both survivors of a tragedy??? both were/are incredibly fucked up for a Long Time after said tragedy..... emotional support friends when tod is just like a golden retriever he can be ur esa dog kins.

kirby reed & kinsey oliver: i had this in the tags originally and then was like?? idiot what are u doing sO : kirby is in the fbi now....... and probably would have been (or would have been in training but we can fudge the details ok) just starting out when everything happens with kins and mal the second time,,,, so What If she were to have helped mike (and his team) find them???? i simply think that these girls as her first case is sexy and would be exactly what she needs to throw herself into her job to rly stop ppl like charlie<3 and the man that took kins and mal.

bethany bixler & kinsey oliver: ok so it was a no on the hell priest with a love for pain and pleasure but.... what about deadites. totally different from creatures from hell........... but also we can go Not That and beth could meet kins while shes on tour w a band or something like that. kins if ur nice to her for one (1) second beth can get u backstage to meet the band for free ok just one (1) kind gesture.

jules louden & kinsey oliver: mal is related to the loudens,,, there is not a doubt in my mind that they attended parties at mals house for holidays/special occasions and to think that kinsey would not also be there is absolute insanity. jules/mal/kins (and stef too if she would like to join ofc<3) were probably an unstoppable trio when they were rly young,,, just annoying the absolute hell out of their relatives and gossiping. complete menaces if u see them walking towards u RUN. u know those holidays at ur aunt n uncles where u beg ur parents to sleep over for the night.... yeah thats them. their campouts in mals treehouse<3 but immediate Not Sweet jules comin Back From The Dead.. the first holiday that she attends and maybe mal brings kins with her.... how different their interactions would be.. but also so the same bc they all went through this horrible trauma and still came out on the other sside blah blah u kno. i think they could be neat.

michael roth & kinsey oliver: YEAH BOI. theres so mcuh that we can do with that but what can i write here that we havent already talked about???? what i cAN do is tell u some of my favorite ideas ok. im a sucker for letter threads so ,,,, if kins wants to keep writin mike letters he will answer them. or like. The FIRST letter she sends to start it off. the mental debate he has ab answering. mike interviewing them at the hospital but lowkey having the Worst Time bc he looks at kins and sees hannah and wants to scream and cry but also hug her. IDK i can keep goin i just we need to write them ok. kins (and mal) visiting mike and the others at the station a few months after theyre found to say thanks or smth idkidk thats probably dumb and a bad thread idea. they just have so much potential and the fact that we havent written them yet is a crime @graecland.

[threestripeslider]

Ah, if it's not too late with the ask mem O and Z please?

O: How do you begin a story—with the plot, or the characters?

MMM, kind of both? i think i usually start off with a character and rapidly devolve into "okay so what if this particular thing happened to them or what if they experience this situation" and i kind of build from there.

with omo i think it started off with the idea of Leonardo and Leo snarking at eachother – then obviously i was like "but how did Leonardo even get into this situation?" and it kind of snowballed from there and now we are here!!

Z: Major character death—do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can't tolerate?

i do write it – but really only when the MCD is canon/could be canon in the future. i am a sucker for angst and tragedy, but only when they are a certain flavor – im really not a fan of bleak and cynical storylines, even if it's tragedy; i'd like it if they have this small spark of hope despite it all to tell you it was worth to tell the story.

but i don't read them much tbh i need some comfort after a trauma conga line – i cant stand just a continous train of angst that only serves to hurt and shock the audience instead of expanding on the characters and telling a story.

[imperatorium]

OK I JUST REMEMBERED YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT THIS OTHER AU YOU HAD AND IT WAS A BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ONE AND I NEEEEEED TO KNOW THE STORY BECAUSE IM A SUCKER FOR THOSE KIND OF AUS

Similarly to my HM AU, I have also yelled about the Beauty & The Beast AU here, if you want to read what I've already said!!

What else would you like to know about it?? I have a LOT to say. ♥

To re-summarize, obviously Sister is the Belle character, although significantly older and more ostracized from the village she otherwise would be part of because she is seen as a witch, with a weird bastard son (Copia) who is assumed to be a product of her union with the Devil.

Plague comes to the town they live adjacent to and the residents force the blame onto them, so Sister sends Copia to scout out a new home for them on the other side of the haunted forest they live near - advising him to go around, rather than through, but he makes his own choices and...doesn't quite follow her suggestions. As such, he finds himself stumbling into a very strange cathedral in the middle of these horrifically haunted woods and not just gets entangled with the beasts that live there but also somehow starts to become a beast that lives there.

So, of course Sister goes off to save him and, in doing so, gets herself entangled in the beasty nonsense happening in this cathedral and finds out all their secrets, including the fact that The Beast (Nihil) and his children (One, Two, and Three) used to be human until they were struck by some unknown witch's curse, and decides she is not just a willing captive but an active participant in breaking this curse because she's fallen in love with Nihil, who is a super hot giant goat-wolf-demon-monster thing, that I think probably looks like Vicar Amelia if he was beefier and wolf or goat-er than deer-ish.

Anyway, it's tragedy and monsterfucking all the way down, congregation. Good stuff.

[fyeahfandomtrash]

i was kind of hesitant about starting lovely runner because based solely on the promos, it seemed like im sol's love for sunjae was purely one-sided affection/adoration and that sunjae would eventually fall in love with the version of sol that time travelled back, but he wouldn't know who she was prior to their first meeting in the past timeline. which was why the ending of episode 2 had such an emotional impact and gave the story so much more depth (both in its tragedy and its romance). this went from a sort of cringy premise of a preposterous idol/fan romance trope to something deeper, more tragic, and more romantic, while not sacrificing genuinely hilarious comedic moments sprinkled throughout. i'm personally a sucker for when the male lead is just pining over the girl, and this is very much exemplary of that. it's not like the "he actually loved her all along" is a new thing in romance, but the way the reveal was done was soooo well-executed and added so much more nuance to the show. in fact, the rest of the show is playing into a lot of tropes, but tropes can be utilized effectively if the execution is done well, which I think episodes 1-4 have nailed thus far.

another thing that i love is that these misunderstandings aren't dragged out. usually the reveal of sunjae saving sol during her accident would've been some big episode 8 revelation (that everyone had long ago predicted lmao) but nope! you're getting that confirmation in episode FOUR and the emotional gut punch is gonna fucking hurt! (because my sister hyeyoon can ACT) or, when the two kiss while she's drunk and he finds out she doesn't remember within the span of one episode. i'm used to this misunderstanding to stew for at least a couple of episodes. i've voiced my concerns about the pacing being "too fast", because in fact, this show is actually paced really well, but is far faster than kdrama standards (which is scaring me a little, in a way that i'm really hoping the plot continues to be this engaging and interesting going forward). based on some minor spoilers from the promos and what fans have noticed from filming, i think we have quite a bit of timeline to get through, so i'll be enjoying every monday/tuesday drop if it continues to keep me engaged in a way no kdrama has in a very long time.