#it tends to be a representation or how they feel in one sense or another

[genderqueerdykes]

okay i’ve been wondering about this for a while. i’ve seen a lot of fandom discourse that headcanoning a character who’s commonly accepted as transfem in fandom as a genderweird trans in all directions nb person is transfem erasure. is this true? i haven’t really thought so‚ but i might just be biased as a nb transmasc myself. (common examples include john egbert)

hello there, thanks for stopping by!

i am definitely the wrong person to ask about this, i am very sorry. i do not participate in fandom at all, i don't engage with much fiction and when i do, i don't get into it that much. my brain doesn't really latch on to fiction like it did when i was a kid. i still play games and watch anime here and there but i don't interact with fandoms, so i apologize for that. i find them to be genuinely uncomfortable and unsafe environments to be in due to being intersex and biracial. fandom spaces unfortunately tend to be extremely racist & intersexist. i had friends who were heavily involved in fandom as a teenager and i felt very unsafe due to the sheer amount of fetishiziation of intersex bodies that goes on in fandom spaces.

this is simply an outsider's perspective, but i don't really see fandoms as "representation" that can be "erased" because it's all conjecture and everyone has such wildly different opinions on what a character is or is not. it's not representation if it's not confirmed. if it's just a headcanon it's not representation, as it was not confirmed and thus is conjecture and speculation. i might be wildly off base as an outsider, but i always kinda thought the point of fandom was for everyone to express how they interact with that piece of media uniquely, and spread and share their thoughts and opinions? why are people trying to control how other people interact with a piece of fiction that they did not make...?

that seems antithetical to the idea of fandom. i thought it was supposed to be a fun hobby? again maybe i just *don't* get it as an outsider, but it makes no sense to me to try to control someone else's internal opinion on something that quite literally is not real. like at the end of the day none of these people are real, you can't hurt their feelings you're not 'erasing' anyone here, they're literally not real, and if it's only a headcanon that that person is transfem... then you're not. erasing. a transfem character, it's just conjecture. it doesn't matter what gender or sexuality you see them as because you're free to think and feel those ways in your head. you're allowed to engage in those thought experiments because that person quite literally is not real so it's okay to speculate on their identity. it's not okay to do this to another live person but if they're fictional who... cares?

this may sound really harsh but i need to stress to people that fictional characters are not real human beings, and stressing out over their genders or sexuality does nothing to help you. you can't hurt their feelings. you can't erase a transfem that isn't confirmed to be transfem. a headcanon is just that: a personal opinion. it shouldn't come to the point where it causes distress and fighting. this is a hobby, it is not one's entire life. i would recommend just blocking and not engaging with people who try to police how you interact with leisure behaviors. i don't think there's one true way to be "Right" about these kinds of things because it's literally all conjecture

also sorry, i have no idea who that character is! i don't know very many fictional characters by name so i can't lend any input there, apologies. for the future, if anyone is curious about my feelings on these sorts of things about other characters, i unfortunately cannot help you as there's a near 100% chance i am not familiar with them and can't lend any input

how can an opinion be right or wrong ... ? that just doesn't make sense to me. it's all opinion. it's not worth hurting other people over or yelling at each other. i'm sorry that i can't give you a more informed opinion, but i thought maybe an outsider's perspective could help somewhat. i hope this is somewhat informative or helpful to you at all- i honestly don't think it's right for people to try to control each others' headcanons because that is quite literally thought policing and i am not here for that. anyway, take care of yourself! thanks for stopping by :)

[bleue-flora]

In fact, as least for me, the characters aren’t even objects as much as they are ideas, events, circumstances, emotions and feelings. It is for me to take my feelings in life and to express them in a concrete way that makes sense. Trying to deal with how I feel trapped and tortured in/by life despite not being literally trapped or tortured through the actual imprisonment of a character into hell in a box. In this way, it is very helpful as it allows you to explain, further tackle, understand and express how you feel in a way that isn’t as hard to rectify. In other words, taking your feelings to project onto a character in order to allow yourself to feel it and express in a way you otherwise can not. This projection of making feelings more concrete can often be the cause of self-harm - taking the pain you feel emotionally and turning it into something physical to help you grapple with how you feel. So, do whatever to your characters you want, allow yourself to cope, address, confront, express and process. It does not make you a bad person or vile or twisted. It does not mean you have any cruel or violent intentions whatsoever. It can be a creative expression of emotion in the same way a piece of art is. So let it out and allow yourself to write and read and draw guilt free because it’s ok to feel things and it’s certainly a more positive and meaningful way than other means, plus it can bring people together to enjoy each other’s pain and the beautiful mess going on in our minds.

This has been your PSA from my qualified and published therapist.

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

more of “is it bad autism rep or is character just visibly autistic (n that make you uncomfortable)” thing not just apply to the good doctor btw

guess should stop talk about show haven’t watched n don’t want watch n also feel wrong call real life people “representation” but can’t find new word right now but anyway also see same thing with real stories & reality TV like how people talk about love on the spectrum. like not doubt that there part of show that show autism weird like show as inspo porn, in fact be surprise if doesn’t, bc it just. kind of how mainstream autism portray work right now but. am specific talk about how audience especially autistic audience especially high masking “you not look autistic” autistic audience talk about contestants (?word). not how show filmed or how contestants treated or not treated but contestant themselves. talk about how they be weird how disgusting how stereotypical n how all that make show terrible. n it’s again, is it bad or are they just visibly autistic. except also this time with add layer of you talk about real life people you can’t use argument of “no autistic person act this way irl” because they literally real life people act that way, except people still say that.

n sometimes it both—n to use yet another thing have not watched n refuse watch, sia’s music. in many way it awful rep but fact that character be visibly autistic not one of reason but people treat like it is. bad rep not justification be mask off ableist about character who visibly autistic in way real life people visibly autistic.

when see online autism advocate am always watch how they talk about these “commonly hated” / “trash talk allowed n accepted n encouraged” autism shows with visibly autistic characters or even real life people. bc when it autism community approved “it socially acceptable (?word) hate on show” people tend let their true color slip n sometimes that true color include be ableist toward visibly autistic (and/or high support) people that they keep hidden unless feel super safe n be made feel among people who share feeling

if make sense

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/746553097204203521/the-fandom-hates-women-response-to-lack-of-ff

The "fandom hates women" part of it comes from the fact that fandom as an entity just doesn't watch the kind of media that draws femslash, even if it ticks all of the boxes of things those very same people say they like. There are so many times I've watched a show that I've seen mega-popular Tumblr posts wishing existed, and then the fandom is so, so small comparatively and often in general. There have been superheroes, vampire/supernatural shows, fantasy shows, movies, books, the list goes on, that feel like they were generated out of Tumblr's desires for ideal fandom media, and everyone knows they're never going to attract anywhere near the same attention for fandom and fanworks because the common denominator just tends to be that if there isn't a full ensemble of attractive men to ship either with each other or with the women, fandom's not interested.

So it's not about prioritizing women in that sense, it's about people witnessing hypocrisy over and over again the second a show doesn't have a mostly-male ensemble. The people who are in these fandoms are frustrated that good faith attempts to get people interested are met with every excuse in the book that all eventually boils down to "I don't like watching stuff with women in it as much as I like watching stuff with men in it." And if that's how people feel about it... sometimes the conclusions are going to turn into the more uncharitable take of "fandom hates women."

--

Maybe, but whenever I see a "fandom hates women" reblog of my stuff, one or two reblogs further down the chain I get an overt TERF. I just had to go block several people today, in fact.

The first person to reblog with a comment like that is usually subtle, but their friends and friends of friends are not. The rhetoric that very quickly starts is the fandom equivalent of that "All the butches are becoming trans men! We're losing lesbians!" stuff.

Here's the thing: I've been in ten billion fandoms that were so awesome and fit fandom's supposed tastes to a T and yet no amount of promoting them could get anyone to try the canon. This goes for canons that are all men or all white men or all majority ethnicity men or whatever else.

The default state of media is to not engender a big fic fandom.

I agree that the rare outliers mostly follow certain patterns, but we extrapolate too far when we say that a lack of those patterns is why a fandom is small.

A fandom is small because that's the near-universal default.

--

Yes, a small slice of fandom consists of guilt-ridden queer fujoshi who say they want more f/f but don't make much of a move to make that happen. I tend to run into that a lot because of my own tastes and having friends who share those tastes.

Far more of fandom is people talking generally about how representation matters without saying they would personally join these fandoms if they existed.

Neither group is large enough to be the real reason some woman-heavy canon fails to take off to HP levels.

The real reason is not hypocrisy but the fact that most things don't take off like that. Most things without massive, massive audiences especially don't take off like that. And the very few things that do are flukes and don't actually predict that another similar thing will take off in the future.

--

Go to AO3's tag search. Search for all canonical fandom tags. Sort by uses and descending order.

Right now, I get 64,390 tags.

The first page, 50 tags, goes from HP with 497,845 works to the Thor movies with 59,266 works. By page 6, we're below 10 thousand works.

By the end of page 10, we're down to Labyrinth with 3,906.

Somewhere in the top 500 AO3 fandom tags (many of which are just franchise metatags for each other), we go all the way from megafandoms to medium size and down to relatively modest ones.

That's not a lot of room for a big f/f-heavy fandom given the trends in mainstream media and that mainstream media is where most really big fandoms come from.

--

I also notice that you're conflating a lack of desire to watch something that's primarily about women with a lack of desire to watch something that includes women.

There are tons of fans who want something more like The Mummy with a leading man and leading woman they love.

Granted, that's not me and that's not a lot of my fujoshi/slasher audience, but it's extraordinarily common. I know plenty of people who don't like canons that are only dudes, but since they also don't like canons that are only ladies and they don't ship f/f, this gets spun into "fandom hates women".

--

Let me be clear:

Conflating "lesbians" and "women" is a radfem position.

[ausantana]

The Role of The “Weird Girl” in Movies

Written by: Au, also known as @ausantana on tumblr

click below to read more! ↓

Introduction 🪱

Nowadays, the trope of weird girls in movies has begun to become more visible, and as a society, we are beginning to increasingly normalize teenagers who identify themselves as "weird" or "awkward" and there is nothing wrong with both words unlike how they used to be used previously.

Types of weird girls ⭐️

There are various types of "weird girls", however they are usually categorized into 5 types (although in my opinion the complexity of each person goes far beyond each of these labels, and although we as teenagers try to fit into a specific type, we will always have characteristic features of each of these characteristics and personalities)

The goth

Known for their dark ways of dressing and acting, they mostly have alternative and gothic tastes.

Moodboard!

Characters: Lisa Frankenstein, Lydia Deetz, Nancy Downs & Morticia Addams

The Smartass

They are known above all for being sarcastic and having a great sense of humor, they tend to be the intelligent and smart ones.

Moodboard!

Characters: ‘Lady Bird’, Janis Ian, Robin Buckley & Kat Stradford

The Awkward

They are known either for not talking much or for talking too much, they are usually introverted for the most part and overthink all the time.

Moodboard!

Characters: Melinda Sordino, Carrie White, Juno Macguff & Nadine Franklin

The Basket Case

Normally, they tend to be girls who go through such a strong trauma that they express an unhealthy obsession through competitions, whether it be a frustrated dream or substance abuse. They are also called "the lost cause."

Moodboard!

Characters: Nina Sayers, Pearl, Daisy Rondone & Marla Singer

The Space Cadette

Those girls who are given the term "weird" for being daydreamers and being in their own world, are usually absent-minded.

Moodboard!

Characters: Luna Lovegood, Cassie Ainsworth, Cecilia Lisbon & Davina

Movies and Series with the weird girl representation on it 🎥

- Dinner in America (2020)

- Juno (2007)

- Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

- Lady Bird (2017)

- The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

- Fleabag (2017)

- The Craft (1996)

- Beetlejuice (1988)

- The Virgin Suicides (1999)

- Little Woman (2019)

- Speak (2004)

- Girl, Interrupted (1999)

- The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)

- Garden State (2004)

Songs attributed to “weird girls” on social media at the moment 💿

- The Promise - When in Rome

- Teenage Girl - Cherry Glazer

- Watermelon - John + Jane Q. Public.

& more!

Video in representation → millionhawks on TikTok has perfectly represented the feeling of not fitting in anywhere, the typical attitudes of this trope such as awkwardness, overthinking and other things are also present in this video!

Which I absolutely love, as it also represents weirdness from a real point of view by adding characters from movies known to audiences familiar with this topic.

(Click on “video in representation” so you can watch the video!)

So this is my third post on this blog! I hope you liked the brief analysis I made about this plot, because I am another example of a weird girl.

I would like to encourage you to follow this blog if you want to see similar content, because even though I am not very well known on this platform, I would like to create a space full of people with the same tastes and interests as me, feel free to comment, give your opinion and ask questions in the comments of this post and any other!

I have a question for you readers! So feel free to reply: What kind of weird girl are you?

I myself am the composition of the 5 types, but above all, the awkward and the space cadette.

Xoxo, Au.

[orionsangel86]

Hob Gadling - A Queer Romantic?

I have been listening to The World's End chapters of The Sandman on Audible lately and just finished Hob's Leviathan. I didn't pay this story much attention when I first read the comic, as I tended to read through the stories quickly and put more focus into the stories where Dream had a larger role. But one of the reasons I like listening to the Audible book is because it allows me to absorb each story more thoroughly and take my time thinking about each one and the (usually multiple) meanings behind them.

Hob Gadling is a character that fandom has fallen in love with. I think this is clear to anyone that takes even a partial glance at Sandman fandom. This isn't a criticism - Ferdie's performance as Hob in the Netflix show has done wonders for Hob's character. He has made his version of Hob very easy to fall in love with!

But the truth is that in The Sandman comics, Hob is a minor character who we only get to know very little about. The story Hob's Leviathan appears in The Worlds End Sandman book. We only meet him twice before this, once in The Doll's House, where we are introduced to him in Men of Good Fortune, and again in Season of Mists when Dream comes to let him know that he may miss their next meeting. In both these issues, Hob is introduced via the narrator, and therefore I like to think that we are given a fairly honest representation of the kind of person he is. We watch him grow and learn throughout the centuries in MoGF, but one of the major takeaways from this I believe is that he tends to always be on the wrong side of history. He makes bad choices and can be a bit narrow minded. He is rude and selfish and also rather self-absorbed. I actually think that the performance of the voice actor who plays Hob in the Audible book emphasises these character flaws making him even more unlikeable in many ways, though I am aware that this could just be my own experience and opinion.

But Hob's Leviathan takes a different view of Hob. Literally. The narrator of this story is a young boy of 16 called Jim. Jim met Hob on a ship travelling from Bombay to Liverpool in 1914. Jim was working on the ship as a cabin boy and Hob had bought his passage back to England - though it is revealled at the end of the story that Hob actually owned the ship they were travelling on. It is clear that at this point in time, Hob is extremely wealthy.

Jim attends to Hob throughout the journey, and grows very fond of him. In Jim's tale, Hob is a good man, who is kind and thoughtful and cares about others. He saves the life of a stowaway (who turns out to be another immortal). He is shown to be patient, and funny, and very intelligent. Jim waxes poetic about how smart Hob is, and how much he impressed him. It is particularly clear in the Audible book that Jim is taken with Hob, to the point that it could arguably be a crush.

It is fascinating how much more likeable Hob is when narrated from the viewpoint of someone with a crush on him, whether this story is exaggerated through rose tinted glasses is of course something to consider. All the tales in World's End are just that, tales. There is a constant undercurrent of exaggeration and make believe to them where even the other patrons of the inn question elements to each of the stories. We are not supposed to take these stories as absolute fact, rather they are supposed to reveal to us more about the narrators as well as their own experiences existing in this magical and strange world.

When it is revealled that Jim is actually a girl called Peggy in disguise so they can get work on the ships, the quite obvious crush makes more sense to a heteronormative audience, but what I particularly like about this story is its queer potential. See in the comic, it isn't really clarified if Jim goes by Jim because they feel more themselves as a boy, rather than a girl, or if they are disguising themself as a boy just to get work as a means to an end. I would argue that the latter is the more obvious interpretation. Jim tells the other World's End patrons that they are getting too old to keep up the disguise and will eventually have to stop working in shipping, and that when that happens, they will take on a new name, a new identity and do something else, but that for now, the patrons can keep calling them Jim.

*for a lack of clarity around the point in the comic, I am going to use gender neutral pronouns for Jim going forward*

Now from Hob's POV, he figured out that Jim was a girl, and they talk about it briefly along with the sea serpent they saw. I think that at this point, Hob is impressively progressive compared to the previous times we have met him. Now whether or not this is biased storytelling from someone who has a crush on him remains to be seen, but if we take Jim's word as truth, not only is 1914 Hob a fair and honest man who is willing to pay the way of a stowaway and fully respect the secrets of a young girl disguised as a boy so they can work on ships, but he's also totally comfortable flirting with them.

I like that he calls Jim the "handsome cabin boy". I like that this version of Hob, whether real or an exaggeration skewed by Jim's feelings for him, respects Jim's identity. Jim may be a girl in disguise, but Hob doesnt call her pretty, he calls him handsome.

It's all just a bit subtly queer and I like that for Hob (But then I would do, I'm a Dreamling shipper HA)

When Jim finishes their story, they state that they didn't see Hob again after that, but the comics later do give us a possible outcome to Jim's story...

We next see Hob in The Kindly Ones where he is mourning the death of his girlfriend Audrey. He briefly reveals that Audrey was the first person he had loved since Peggy, who was his lover until her death during the Blitz. Whilst it isn't made clear that Hob's lover Peggy is the same Jim that we meet in World's End, it is a bit too much of a coincidence. The timing adds up. If Jim was 16 in 1914, they'd be in their early 40s during the Blitz. Hob remains forever in his early 30s so I'd say its a safe bet that Jim eventually found Hob again and they were together. Hob loved them enough that he wasn't with anyone again until Audrey in the 80s. That's 50 years worth of mourning. A long time not to be with anyone, even for an immortal.

It's funny because we know so little about Hob, but one thing that I have seen commented on here a lot is that comic Hob is deemed to be as Straight as an arrow. Now I admit that the voice actor in the Audible book plays him very straight, but that is still only one interpretation.

All this is to say that I am fascinated with how the Netflix show will adapt this, since Hob in the show already comes across much kinder and more selfless than his comic counterpart. He already has an entire fandom viewing him as queer, and the comics certainly don't outright shut down such interpretations. There are moments in the comics that you have to wonder on. He does call Jim handsome rather than pretty, and when he talks to Audrey's grave he mentions his wives and loves as separate groups. He talks about finding it easy to get sex if you want it, and he talks about it in generally gender neutral terms. In Sunday Mourning Gwen reveals that she thought he was gay when she first met him, though her reasonings were that he knew so many dead people (a dark reminder that these comics were published at the height of the Aids epidemic). He reacts very badly to the news of Morpheus' death. He states on several occassions just how much he liked Morpheus, and he is one of the few people to wake up from the Wake with tears running down his cheeks. I would arguably state that its between Hob and Matthew as to who had the worst reaction to Morpheus' death, showing just how much both Hob and Matthew cared about him, and placing Hob on par with Matthew in the comics is a big deal. He seriously considers accepting Death's gift when she offers it, simply because Morpheus is dead. He doesn't, because at the end of the day, its just not in his nature to do so, and given he then dreams of Morpheus, I like to think that it was a test, that he passed.

When it comes to how the show will adapt all this, I genuinely think it will take a new approach with Jim/Peggy. I think they will be either a trans man, or at least non binary. But I think having Jim be a trans man is the better option. In the comics, Jim's tale is only very subtly queer, Jim clearly likes being Jim, but it seems like its a means to an end, a convenience in order to get work on the ships, rather than being something that is core to Jim's feelings on their gender. Besides, if we assume that Jim is indeed the Peggy Hob talks about in The Kindly Ones, then we know that Jim goes back to being Peggy when they get older and apparently continues living as a woman whilst they are with Hob, otherwise I doubt Hob would have referred to one of his greatest loves by a name they themselves rejected and only used she/her pronouns when talking about them. Nevertheless there is no reason for the show to take this approach, and if they DO decide that Jim should be a trans man, then their relationship with Hob is canonically a queer one. Trans men are men and if one of Hob's greatest loves is a trans man, then Hob is a queer man himself. I genuinely believe the show will take this route and I can't wait to see it.

Going back to my point about narrators bias, if MoGF, SoM, tKO, and TW are all narrated by a neutral third party, then this must be the true Hob. A not overly likeable rather selfish man. He has his good points, and he has certainly grown and changed over the centuries, and carries a lot of guilt for his past mistakes, but he is still quite self absorbed. Jim paints a picture of a rose tinted Hob that is far more the dreamy romantic older gentleman that took a young person under his wing. Which is fair enough.

The show is of course its own adaptation, with changes from the comics as it sees fit, but I do feel it's my duty to remind you that the show also has a narrator guiding the audience through its many stories. Dream of the Endless, Lord Morpheus, King of Nightmares and Prince of Stories himself. Take from that whatever you will.

;-)

[ghostofashina]

"An affair from which gold arose and shadow too was born"

This was clearly about Lands Between and Lands of Shadows, how these two places coexist in different aspects. But also, I think it can give us a nice perspective about Godwyn and Messmer births.

This is just a small theory I made while trying to built up a timeline, because these two births tend to blend into the other and I think it's on purpose. And I know, where Melina fits in this? I still think Melina is one of the youngest of the pack, as a secret weapon of Marika recalling Messmer's kindling being out of her reach, but this is another theory for another post. Now, I'd like to bring a small theory about Godwyn being the child born from the seduction and the betrayal.

SOTE SPOILERS ahead.

We know, for certain, Godfrey was Marika's true first Elden Lord. But, even it being a common sense that Godwyn was their firstborn, there's actually no true evidence claiming he was born before the omen twins. Except that now, after one piece of dialogue in the DLC, can shows us this and a little more.

First things first. Messmer's dad still is the great mystery of Shadow of the Erdtree, and again I think this is on purpose, because considering Godfrey's evidence, the game wants to tell us he was already there when Messmer came to life. And I, personally, don't think neither Radagon or Godfrey are Messmer's father. I think, in a parallel to christian God, sacrificing his son for the sins, Marika birthed Messmer alone — and Melina, that's why they both share a vision of fire and are direct siblings.

According to Marika's own words: "[Radagon] Thou'rt yet to become me. Thou'rt yet to become a God. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self."

Knowing that Marika comes from the Shaman Village, and that her people was "grafted" to each other in seek of the divine, he is a part she divested herself later in the story and Messmer was some sort of manifestation of this, but not necessarily a child of Radagon.

And I guess we can agree Messmer was born in the Lands of Shadow, because he knows very well the sins committed against his mother and her own modus operandi. He was there before her godhood and that's why Godfrey's offspring got the title of first demigods. And Godfrey, too, was there with Marika since the start.

I won't get into the timeline of events, because it's a mish-mash in game, and I don't have the tools to explore assets and files. But, one thing that the DLC gives importance is the act of a vow. And we know Marika and Godfrey did a vow.

Leaving his past of Hoarah Loux, Godfrey took Serosh upon his shoulders to ease his bloodlust and accept the role when he sworned a vow with Marika to become a Lord. Which can reminds us of the Secret Rite Scroll, found in Shadow Keep.

"A lord will usher in a god's return and the lord's soul will require a vessel."

We can argue here about the roles of vessel and soul, because it feels Godfrey became the vessel to the Beast Regent (some sort of lord), which recalls the amount of lion representation in Hornsent culture. So, I tend to think that Serosh was part of the "betrayal" in order to ascend Marika to godhood with Godfrey as her lord consort.

That's when I imagine Godwyn was born. After the vow, to consumate the idea of Godfrey being named a lord of the golden lineage once Marika achieved godhood and started the Age of Erdtree.

If we recall the Minor Erdtree, left to the matriarch at Shaman Village, it's said:

"Secret incantation of Marika Only the kindness of gold, without Order."

I can see this as Miquella divesting himself of St. Trina, his love. Marika bathed her home in gold, knowing there was nothing left to heal. Alongside with her braid, it was a departing gift, because she was leaving for a new era. She is leaving her kindness of gold, to built the order. Godwyn was her last act of kindness of gold before the Order. That's why we have so many evidences he, alongside Messmer, was her beloved child of gold.

Going deeper, once we advance the questline of Hornsent Grandam, she tell us a very specific dialogue line, that can show us why Godwyn was curseless when he was born, different from his siblings.

She spoke of a omen curse. Curse upon her children, each and all. Messmer as her own flesh and blood, which I believe, carried the grafting curse upon her people over and over again, being a vessel to an outer god "grafting" into Marika's child. But Godwyn was curseless, because he was conceived outside cursing eyes, in secret. He was born of a vow that, once came to common knowledge, was called "the seduction and the betrayal" in the eyes of the Hornsent.

The birth of Godwyn was the start of her ascension to godhood. The affair from which gold (golden lineage, golden order, the golden prince) arose and shadow (abyssal serpent "shorn of light", shadow keep, shadow tree) too was born. And everything about them is represented of golden and shadow. From the eclipse to the golden ring in their symbols (as we see in the Death Knight's cloak or battle axes and alongside Messmer's spear and flame). So, I keep thinking they both were born at Lands of Shadows. One to purge her enemies and protect her kingdom, the other to represent a new era and maintain her glory. Godwyn is the Golden and Messmer is the Order.

[pseudowho]

hey haitch, you're one of my favourite fanfic authors right now, so i'd like to get your opinion on something

i recently saw a post here on tumblr talking about how "x reader" fics aren't proper "x reader" fics if they add descriptions of the supposed reader's physical appearance (think, the whole, 'soft blue orbs, long blonde hair, really short' that type of thing), and i was like, yeah that makes sense. but then, the poster went into talking about how this also applies to tags like, "black!reader" or "chubby!reader" or "white!reader" (all of these are examples used in that post), essentially stating that any indication of physical appearance regarding the reader - even if it's supposed to target a specific demographic - nullifies the point of it being "x reader", because it is not universal to all readers. i was a little on the fence about this until I read the comments under it, they were overall in agreement. some said that those works should be tagged as "x oc" instead. to that, i was just like, uhhh i can't really say that i can agree, especially if the single establishing descriptor is that the reader is a specific race or plus-sized. perhaps it's because that i'm black myself, and have seen an uptick in "black!reader" works that this stuck with me, but i just felt off.

and on top of that, one commenter addressed how a work prescribing family members to you that you don't have irl (eg. "your aunt laura") is similarly inaccurate and breaks immersion. and to that, i was just like, so what character details can be made about the reader by the author without venturing into "oc" territory? at that point, if a reader doesn't speak the precise way you do, are they now an oc? is that breaking immersion? is it not universal enough?

i've said a lot here, so I'll get to my actual question - what are your thoughts? how much background detail can you give about a reader before it lacks suppose relatability and that universal factor that means the actual reader can project onto them? does making a reader of a certain demographic (black, plus-sized, etc) break that universality, and therefore cannot be considered a proper "reader" character?

So I think that your lengthiness here shows the truth of the situation, in a society where we're increasingly pushed to choose between two extremes, black and white, yes and no, etc: this is a grey area.

Ultimately, any individual reader's ability to relate to a Reader character relies on one core trait: empathy. Contrary to popular belief, empathy is not 'putting oneself in another's shoes'. It's a much more nuanced trait which is determined by one's emotional intelligence, ability to see context and intent behind a situation or actions, and willingness to put one's own heart and soul out to tender for the benefit and advocacy of another.

Empathy is being able to say 'no, I don't have personal lived experience of this; but if I did, here is how I would want to be treated'. Without pretence. Without a mask. With utter honesty.

In this sense, should a reader not be able to relate to a Reader who is black? White? Blond? Overweight? Suffering from mental health conditions? In possession of an aunt called Laura?

Tumblr is all about the fanservice. And reading literacy is gradually reducing, on average. While representation is truly important, many readers fall down the rabbit hole that only representations of people exactly like them matter. As such, a white reader will see 'Black!Reader' as a tag and scroll past.

Incredible, really; there's a pervasive, selfish tainting of the 'representation' element slipping in, where people are feeling deliberately excluded if they can't see past surface level physical descriptors, to be able to empathise with the character themselves, and the story that the writer has woven, beneath it.

It also suggests to me that many of those who read on Tumblr, don't actually read novels. There aren't typically 'x Reader' novels; they tend to have a main character. Do these readers then pout and say they cannot relate, to the frightened little Hobbit running off on a great adventure? Or to the young boy from a war-torn land who is fighting for a safe life? Or to the nobody, from nothing, who seeks to change the world?

My main point: while representation matters, why should a physical description of an 'x Reader' character be all that matters? Surely, it should be a side note at best. Instead, because Tumblr and writing on Tumblr is very much a fanservice site, readers are bypassing empathy, reading literacy and the beauty of storytelling for something altogether more surface-level.

I'm personally happy to see more representation of disenfranchised individuals (any person of colour in this white-dominated world, a change to the cis-gender rhetoric, etc), because while it doesn't matter to me, and I'll still devour a good story and class writing anyway, there are those out there to whom that representation really, really, really fucking matters. We can both read the story, and love it; they can read the story, and love it, and feel seen, beautiful, loveable, powerful, validated, etc.

I understand disenfranchised individuals' frustration more than perhaps, white-centric, cis-centric frustration; what could I possibly have to whine about 'not feeling represented' when I have been born into a world geared towards my benefit? I take a back seat on such matters. A black girl is angry about an 'x Reader' character with long blond hair, and big blue eyes? While, yes, as I said, we should be able to see ourselves as any Reader, it's fucking frustrating to be left out by society, and then be left out by fandom as well.

Representation should be equitable, remember; not equal.

While I have thinly-veiled dislike for someone clearly self-inserting themselves/their OCs and labelling them as 'x Reader' in a cynical attempt to get more readers, it is also in many ways not their fault; they should be able to happily, openly say 'this story is with my OC!' and be welcomed by an audience with enough empathy to be able to relate to a character who isn't cherry-picked for them. You tend to find that disingenuity and selfishness, breed disingenuity and selfishness.

In short: this is why, aside from my one Breeders' Hips fic, my Reader characters are exceptionally blank, physically. I have taken time to read disenfranchised individuals' gripes about ways they're left out; it's been very enlightening. I keep it in mind when I write an 'x Reader' character, so I never leave someone feeling sad because they're not my Reader.

And all of this aside, when all is said and done: I also do not deign to tell someone what they should do in their spare time. If they only want to read or write a Reader who is just like them, then that's utterly fine. I'm not their supervisor.

We're in this online community that encourages self-indulgence, then get angry when someone is self-indulgent? Give me strength. The writers are, for the most part, writing for them, not for you.

So, in short, as I said; very grey, very multifaceted, and I'm able to appreciate both sides of the argument.

It breaks down to making greater attempts to put our own selfish desires aside, to truly incorporate the emotions and lived experiences of others, really, doesn't it?

Another thing empathy is, is understanding that one person's negative or positive emotions aren't typically an attack on ourselves. A real 'it's not all about you' realisation, and incorporating that into one's treatment of others.

Those are my thoughts. Lots of variables to consider, hmm?

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[heyclickadee]

More Massive Fandom Salt under the cut

If I see one more condescending post about how people who don’t like Tech getting killed off just don’t get it, I’m going to mcfreaking lose it.

Like, okay. I think Tech is alive. I think I’ve been clear about that. If I haven’t, then I don’t know what else to do. I actually even get why taking him off the board for season three could be a good move (give Crosshair time to decompress and Omega time to come into her own and be the hero of her own show, while also maybe setting Tech up for another plot line to come later), and think it’s possible that bringing Tech back later could actually work much better than what I originally wanted to happen. In fact, if it really is a fake-out I think it’s kind of immaculate. And I still get angry reading those posts.

Because, first, a lot of people upset by the handling of Tech from “Plan 99” onwards are upset because Tech meant something to them. It goes a lot deeper than just losing your favorite character. Tech was a fantastic piece of autistic representation and losing that hurt. Losing that and then never getting the catharsis that comes with on-screen emotional processing from the characters, no closure, no real in-show impact besides inconveniencing the others hurt even more. It left a lot of autistic people in the fandom feeling like we were told that we weren’t welcome in Star Wars at all.

And most of us still love the show! The Bad Batch is still my favorite show and I adore basically the entire thing up through season three, right up to the point where everything just kind of stops without resolving anything but Hunter and Omega, and not getting Tech back before the end hit me so badly that I almost dropped Star Wars completely. People are upset for a reason.

Second, I get that it can be annoying seeing criticism of your favorite show. I do. I actually disagree with a lot of criticism of TBB and do tend to get a little annoyed at certain takes. The other thing about the “Tech’s dead and that’s good”/“You thought Tech could come back because you were delusional” posts that makes me want to fight everyone, though, is that they tend to be incredibly dismissive. They’ll bring up arguments people made during the airing of the show for why Tech could come back, or arguments they made afterwards for why they thought he should have, and then either misunderstand or talk right past them.

It gives anyone who made those arguments, or who was upset by the ending, a general sense that we’re not being listened to. That people have already decided we’re irrational and that nothing we say or experience matters, that we saw patterns that weren’t there, or that we care too much about this specific thing, or that we’re being immature. Maybe. Just. I don’t know—consider for a second that a lot of the people who are most upset about Tech belong to the noticing patterns/caring a lot about specific things/dismissed for noticing things that are really there in real life/frequently infantilized neurotype. Again, there’s a reason some of us are upset and having a hard time with fandom right now.

I actually don’t have a problem with people thinking or making posts saying someone needed to die or that Tech “dying” was well handled as a death. I will always disagree, and I think we’re too close to the “bury your disabled” trope with most of the batchers for me to be okay with any of them dying like that, but one person will interpret fiction differently than another and I can’t and shouldn’t police that. I do, however, have a massive problem with the condescending way a lot of those posts go about it. Think Tech ought to be dead? Fine. Call anyone who thinks otherwise a child? Instablock, I don’t need that in my life.

[faulty-writes]

Hello! I really love your work and your representations of the characters, i never seen a mha account write this good.

Could your please do romantic headcanons of iida with a chilhoodfriend? It can be anything you want.

Thank you for such amazing work, i really like your fanfics and how you write the characters.

[ Awe, thank you! I appreciate that you enjoy my writing and support my blog! <3 I hope I did your request justice. ]

The first time you met him, you were five years old, at a meeting, attending a prestigious school for gifted children. Tenya was standing across the room, observing his surroundings with his family, and when the two of you made eye contact, you shyly glanced away while he smiled.

You didn't tend to make friends, and Tenya put people off because of his odd way of speaking and bizarre arm movements. However, you found them endearing, and over the course of your elementary school years, you grew closer and had each other's back.

When the time came for you to advance to the next grade, you felt saddened that you would be separated from Tenya. But fate had other plans, and you, yet again, found yourself attending another school together. You happened to bump into him while trying to navigate through the crowd of fellow students. He was happy to see you. "It's quite astounding that we should meet again! However, I am quite honored to have you by my side once more!"

The two of you shared various hobbies. In fact, it was you who introduced Tenya to the wonders of encyclopedias and since then, he committed to them. Others might think he only read them because of his intelligence but the truth was, he read them because they reminded him of you, his dearest friend.

"I wish to make my family lineage proud and attend Yuuei to become a hero!" You'd be shocked at his confession if it weren't the same thing you wanted to do. But you remained silent as he took your hands, and your heart raced as he looked at you and said, "Forgive me if I am being rather forward. However, I want to request that you enroll at Yuuei as well. Regardless of whether we are separated into different departments does not matter because I do not want to lose you."

It wasn't until you witnessed Tenya during the entrance exams that you realized your attraction to him. His built physique and agility had you smitten, and this was the origin of your feelings for him. Likewise, despite ending up in the general studies department, Tenya's feelings for you shifted into a more romantic sense when he witnessed how hard you worked on your academic studies.

Apart from the obvious mutual attraction you felt for one another, neither of you confessed your feelings for fear of ruining your friendship. But those around you seemed to notice the romantic tension in the air whenever you two were together. Of course, every time someone questioned either of you, there was denial.

The first time you tried to kiss him was during the winter when you slipped and scraped your knee on a patch of ice. Tenya offered to carry you to the bathroom where he could properly dress and treat the scrape. He was so gentle when he was applying antiseptic that you couldn't help but lean forward with the intention to kiss him but ended up bumping heads instead.

Your first actual kiss was during the first-year prom dance, the lighting gave a romantic atmosphere as did the soft music. Tenya looked handsome in his blue suit, and his eyes sparkled in the darkened light. You couldn't help but lean forward, and to your surprise, he followed, and a spark came when your lips collided.

"Are you certain you wish to proceed with this…" he cleared his throat, "step in our relationship?" He was happy that the two of you had shared that wonderful kiss and had, at the same time, nonverbally expressed your feelings for one another. But he was still concerned that romance would ruin your friendship.

You managed to help Tenya through his worries and proved that despite your long-life friendship, the two of you were indeed romantically compatible. It was shortly after this that Tenya began to envision your future together. He, as a pro hero, and you by his side with the potential of expanding the Iida family.

[tumblingxelian]

RWBY V8 & Penny's Fall:

I wanted to weigh in on this matter again with a perhaps alternative take to some of what I see as the more usual FNDM stance on her fall.

Namely, it doesn't bother me.

Sacrilege, I know, but the thing is while Penny is not in my top four, she is a character I both like & find genuinely interesting.

Heck, I have a video heavily focused on Penny & Ruby's characters & relationship being much deeper & more interesting than the UWU beans I find in most FNDM.

She's a great character but that's also why it doesn't bother me as I feel it works for the story & made sense for the character. 

But first, some house cleaning.  

House Cleaning - They made her human?

As others noted, this is something some take issue with for a few different reasons. As I understand it the main issues people tend to have with V8's handling of Penny outside her death was that they made her 'human' in place of keeping her synthetic body. As others also noted, I am unsure if she even was human and not just another kind of synthetic entity, but that's rather besides the point. 

House Cleaning - Thematic Representation?

The other thing people take issue with this is that they regard it as a form of ableism to make her human. I always feel its integral to note that while many in FNDM understandably took Penny's robotic nature as meaning in a Real World AU, she might be using prosthetic limbs.

There is no evidence as far as I am aware that the writers intended her to be considered analogous to a disabled person or to thematically represent disabled people. 

Thus, while its a fine and fun headcanon, I am not sure one can argue it was some sort of deliberate offence or act of ableism on the creators part if they never even conceived of Penny as such.

This wouldn't be like becoming aware of queer subtext, ship teasing then killing one of them off and putting the other in a straight relationship. As far as I can tell their thematic framing of Penny never shifted and was never explicitly used to draw such comparisons. 

House Cleaning - A Reward?

Penny being rewarded with a none robotic body & then dying. We'll discuss the death later but just on the reward angle, I think that is rather iffy.

Yes, Penny appreciated not being dead and enjoyed the increased tactile sensations. But we also see how much more fragile and floundering she is with her new form. When Penny fought Cinder last time with Cinder having backup, Penny kicked her ass. 

Here, Penny has the support and is barely keeping up. She's in pain, she can't fly easily, she can't use her weapons easily, she has lost tons of functions that were once innate to her very being.

Maybe one could argue its like post surgeries fragility or that she'd have grown into it, but as it stands, I don't think the new body was presented as strictly speaking a good thing or a reward. It was a desperate gamble to save her life, nothing more. 

Adding onto that, I think people mis-ascribe the source of Penny's angst regarding her mechanical nature. She's shown cheerfully embracing and enjoying many aspects of it all the time. When it becomes an issue for her is when others use it to de-'humanize' her.

Given how quickly Ironwood, the Ace-Ops, Mantle and even just casual conversation could do that on purpose or by accident. I think its less "I hate being a robot" and more, "I hate that people treat me this way because of what I am and its giving me anxiety & or insecurities". 

I also think anyone would be a little uncomfy with their body being something someone else can take over and puppet, that's an issue with loss of agency & physical invasiveness & we have Semblances which might not have been able to effect Penny that can do similar things, IE memory erasure & mind control. 

House Cleaning - Conclusion

For comparisons sake, if Ruby's essence got moved over to a sort of life sized marionette and she was cool with it because she's still alive & have super flexible joints for wicked cool attacks, but then she he died fighting, I don't think people would regard it as a reward turned sour.

In essence, I think a lot of the stigma comes with people associating tropes & themes to the writers decisions that were not actually in the story & just assuming them present; as opposed to than having textual support & despite CRWBY's efforts to deconstruct tropes & themes in general. 

The Main Event:

Moving on to Penny's death, people take issue with quite a few aspects of it but I weirdly feel it all ties together well and think it works on a thematic level. My reason being, that Penny is the other side of the coin whose other half Ironwood and between the pair are the likes of Winter, the Ace-Ops and so on. 

What I mean here is that the Atlas arc dealt heavily with the themes of 'de-humanization' of seeing people made unto like objects, mere cogs in a machine that were not expected to think, feel, or heal & have their entire worth judged against an idea or a system & always come up wanting. You don't matter, I don't matter, they don't matter, only what we can accomplish for the worlds, the cause, Atlas, ETC, matters. 

Ironwood regards Mantle as a few city blocks, their suffering is at best a theoretical moral burden to him and a political nuisance, nothing more. Winter thinks expressing any emotions or making decisions for herself is a failure and act of disloyalty and is not allowed time to heal after severe injuries but just poured into a mobility mechanism, then thrown back onto the battlefield. Meanwhile the Ace-Ops are not allowed to even conceive of real, deep or genuine emotions or ideas, they have all convinced themselves they don't matter except in how they serve Atlas.

The Happy Huntresses are actually the exception to this because they escaped the coin/system & are dedicated to people, ideals & each other. 

Meanwhile, Ironwood is the opposite of Penny, while both still embody the opposite extreme ends of the same spectrum of beliefs. 

Both of them talk of or otherwise frame themselves as the one with the duty to save the world, both put themselves under immense and isolating pressure tanks to their respective Atlas's complexes and both default heavily to sacrificing whenever the opportunity or even potential need seems to arise. Both will do whatever it takes for their goals and beliefs. 

The difference?

Ironwood sacrifices everyone else for his goals and beliefs, for his idea of what Atlas is, what it means & what its worth. 

Penny tries from volume 8 if not earlier, to sacrifice herself because of her goals & beliefs, & what they're worth to her. 

She does this so much and so often, that she had to keep being talked out of throwing her life away in the hope that Ironwood, or Salem would calm down and leave them be. She defined her self worth and existence by being out there doing things, hence becoming so saddened when needing to be kept away from the battlefield despite the fact she was both a target and potentially a huge game changer for any of the villains. 

Penny has Atlas's ideology of de-humanization and sacrifice every bit as much as Ironwood, but in her mind she's the expendable one, while Ironwood cannot conceive of himself as being expendable, because he has tethered himself to Atlas, which he has tethered to the world. 

Here is the thing though.

While Penny's take on this idea is more noble, more charming, more useful it is still part of an incredibly self destructive ideology, one that is of itself rooted in Ozpin's well known Guardian theory. With isolated lone champions serving as paragons of virtue & himself as the main character heroically bearing all the burdens. An ideology we saw sent Pyrrha spiraling, left Ozpin a broken & paranoid wreck & nearly destroyed Ruby.

Penny & Ironwood both fell because both keep trying to sacrifice others (Ironwood) or themselves (Penny) in a bid to accomplish their goals & or otherwise fulfill their designates roles; roles that both only have because of the culture and ideals suffusing Atlas, as reflected by how they are seen in so many other characters and the overarching themes of the Atlas Arc. 

Thus, it makes sense character wise and I think it both makes sense thematically for the reasons outlined above & dramatically as this is the darkest moment. But also because if Penny just won, or somehow survived without changing that ideological thinking it'd be implicitly arguing that this was a good way to think and act rather than one that is ultimately self harming. 

For comparisons sake, if a show has a good victim who only gets help because their trauma responses are convenient or 'cute' and who never grows out of or overcomes said traumas and the show argues it is meant to represent how best to view escape & recover from abuse. Then that series is inadvertently arguing its better a person stay locked in a traumatized state than actually try to change or grow & that is a story problem.

So, in this regard, Penny surviving would also necessitate her making the decision to prioritize the mission over her self sacrificing tendencies or to otherwise prioritize her own safety (Which she has every right to do given the circumstance). However it would not involve Penny flinging herself into another self sacrificial bout but winning this time, or just being saved again after its happened so many times already. 

I hope that, that made sense. 

I am essentially saying to keep Penny alive but keep everything else mostly the same, one then throws away the thematic & narrative meaning of the Atlas Arc; or if they want to keep Penny alive, they need to alter the Atlas Arcs themes or the cast & overall story to keep it coherent.  

People are obviously free to not be fans of it, I am sad when characters I like die, but I don't view it inherently as a bad writing decision and I hope I have outlined here, exactly why I think that this worked for the Atlas Arc, the series of RWBY and made sense for its characters. 

Thanks for reading! 

Speculation:

Now, I don't do much speculating, but given so much of the shows current drama was created as a result of someone wanting a dead loved one back, them returning but it ultimately not being enough to stave off tragedy and self destruction. I feel one can also ague this is meant to serve and tie Ruby & Salem closer together as nominal dramatic foils.

This is speculative of course, especially given the nature of death, balance and resurrections in this series is not even close to the hard line some think it is thematically speaking, but I do think that is worth keeping in mind. 

[darklinaforever]

I want to say this as a black women who is not a part of the LGBT community but has been in fandom for a long time and would love to be a writer. When anyone tackles diversity, they should try their best and hope to be genuine about it. Because no matter what someone does, they will always have someone who hates it. I have adored Bridgerton, it has been fun to see a variety of women and men who aren't just white be love interests and get to wear beautiful gowns. I love that Bridgerton doesn't dive too heavily into the racism aspect. Yet, one of the many criticisms Bridgerton has is that people believe it to be akin to revisionist history. Many don't like it because they feel like taking away racism is an insult to those who suffered in the past. Some are fine with it but prefer racism was never addressed (i.e. "love conquers all"). But if Bridgerton decided that they wanted to be historically accurate and make it that the servants are black and for characters to mention the trans-Atlantic slave trade, people would've been upset as well. People would've mentioned that they no longer want to see trauma porn of BIPOC characters. Which I understand because I've been enjoying more happy and fun representation tbh.

I mean I can go on about the ways diversity in general and how it should be treated causes so much issues within so many BIPOC communities. What one person wants for diversity, is not going to be what another person wants.

The point is, I feel for book fans with the whole Michael/Michaela change. People are acting weird about how this whole thing is "no big deal" but people want what they want. Also, many people, like all humans, tend to be hypocritical. The amount of people who are part of the BIPOC community who didn't necessarily like that race wasn't being discussed (like I wrote in the long essay above), are some of the same people who are cheering on this Michael(a) situation. One of them being a friend of mine where I had to remind her that book fans are allowed to be upset. Besides, didn't she spend all of S1&2 harking about how this show would be more interesting if they addressed race and hated how it was revisionist history? A little contradictory to suddenly hate on others for a change that by her logic (and some others) she wouldn't have supported because it is revisionist history.

Sorry for the rant. It might not make sense, but diversity always gets me heated. I think it is important but people fail to just disucss with nuance and understanding that no everyone is going to think diversity should look the same and that is OKAY.

And that is me saying it as a black fan who have been annoyed by fans who've been saying that Bridgerton isn't diverse enough because there aren't enough black characters. Completely ignoring the non-black characters count as diversity as well. Before the rumors of Sophie possibly being Masala, I saw a lot of fans who originally wished for Sophie to be east asian and were sending hate to them for that because Kate being from Asia was enough representation.

Idk, diversity really has people's worst sides coming out of them.

[zonaenthusiast]

Which kpop group do I think suit every mugiwara the best? And would they be a boy group or a girl group stan?

This is because yesterday I had a specific revelation and I started thinking about it in general, so here are my ideas:

Luffy as Seventeen

Luffy has been one of the ones I've had to think about the most but then it occurred to me that he would really like Seventeen. They have a very fresh and fun concept in general that really suits Luffy and they are one of the very few groups that, despite being together for almost ten years, have never lost members. And that's even stranger considering there are so many of them. They love each other as much as the mugiwara love each other and Luffy would adore them (get it?) for that.

Bg or gg stan? Both.

Zoro as The Boyz

For Zoro I have come up with several groups that could fit very well with him like Ateez or Stray Kids, but I have ended up opting for The Boyz because there is a very specific homoerotic component in their music that very few groups are able to replicate. The bisexual energy they give off reminds me too much of Zoro not to choose them.

Bg or gg stan? Both, but their concept has to be dark.

Nami as (G)I-DLE

This is the revelation I had after listening to Gidle's new song, Nami would fucking love them. Just pure female representation and empowerment. Gidle's last three comebacks (Tomboy/Nxde/Queencard) are three different representations of how a woman can express her femininity and all are valid (Nami in particular is so Queencard coded and Robin would be more Nxde coded, I think).

Bg or gg stan? I think she would like some bgs but she would be mostly a gg stan.

Usopp as EXO

NOW HEAR ME OUT because I know this one sounds weird, but I think Usopp would love Exo's storytelling. The clone lore? He would eat that shit up. Besides, I don't know why but I think Usopp wouldn't listen to just anything and Exo is one of the most talented groups there is, so...

I think Usopp would like groups that focus on storytelling or have very defined concepts, Vixx would be another option that I think fits him very well.

Bg or gg stan? Both.

Sanji as Girl's Generation

This one was also very clear to me. Sanji would listen to ggs exclusively and I feel that only the most iconic gg would be the right choice for him. He would be so Yoona biased. And he is one of those who would know her choreographies to perfection.

Bg or gg stan? As I said, gg stan exclusively.

Chopper as GFRIEND

My main pick for Chopper is Gfriend because the powerful innocence concept they are known for reminds me a lot of him. I think StayC or fromis_9 concepts also fit him very well.

Bg or gg stan? Both.

Robin as Red Velvet

I don't know how to explain this but if you know about Red Velvet concepts you know I'm right. There's something so unique and peculiar about their music that matches every part of Robin's taste and personality. Red Velvet are the epitome of one of my favorite kpop concepts, which I call cute but murderous. Just watch their Russian Roulette mv and you will understand.

Robin would write a fucking essay on why everyone is wrong and Zimzalabim is actually the best kpop song ever.

Bg or gg stan? Both, as long as their music is the strangest succession of sounds you've ever heard in your life.

Franky as Monsta X

Just himbos, I don't have anything else to say.

Bg or gg stan? I think he would tend to listen to bgs a little bit more, but both regardless.

Brook as Dreamcatcher

Oh, I just know Brook would love Dreamcatcher. Women? Check. Rock style? Check. Horror concept? Check. They are perfect for him, it makes so much sense.

Bg or gg stan? Not as exclusively as Sanji because music is music, but gg stan.

Jinbe as MAMAMOO

Jinbe would love every Mamamoo member's unhinged personality as much as he loves Luffy's. He would have so much fun with them and their concepts and their music, it's a strong feeling I have.

Bg or gg stan? Both.

[leon-on-the-froggy-chair]

Just got in an argument over OG Luis and I'm pissed.

This is regarding the "ballistics" line from the original 2005 game. Proceed cautiously if talk of it is uncomfortable to view.

Obviously mfs who are mad about the removal of the line in remasters and later editions of the game are nasty creeps and the whatnot. Thats just the fact of the matter, you are creepy and misogynistic if you still think that line is acceptable.

But something I noticed is these fuckers also tend to hate on remake Luis. And I've heard the "well new Luis lOOKs like he'd [insert some sexually predatory or misogynist behavior]." Which honestly just speaks to one's racial biases and a lot of the time their perception against hispanic and latino men. As this comes from the same crowd that says similar about Carlos. And thats a whole can of worms about how as a culture, the representation of hispanic and latino men in media has perpetuated this idea that brown men are lecherous and disrespectful of boundaries and women in general, and much of these folks are unwilling to dissect and reexamine their perceptions of this group of people. And unwilling to reevaluate their sense of humor and how it may really not be that funny, and just is kind of gross. And makes them gross. Either that or they're knowingly ignorant and blatantly racist.

Onto another point.

The total eruption of anger I saw and STILL see at the removal of the "ballistics" dialogue, and other misogynistic elements of the OG game, only shows how fucking cowardly some of this fanbase is. At this point it seems like you don't want to normalize respecting women because if women are treated equally to men then that means your disgusting misogynistic behavior, thoughts, and feelings towards women will no longer be acceptable and you'll face repercussions for your actions. If you ask me it seems like some mfs are scared. Misogyny is so normalized in our culture and especially in gamer spaces. And their fear is turning to anger because the thing thats normal to them, due to their mutually misogynistic environment that enables their behavior, is being threatened. Pretty pathetic honestly. OG Luis "ballistics" line defenders, yall are pathetic.

And I know some ppl wanna pull the "oh it was a product of the time", "oh but it was funny" sure, okay. You are free to think that, however it still aint acceptable and it has no purpose is still being present in the game.

"censorship is ruining everything.", "wah wah wah the new woke era is ruining video games" if the removal of predatory behavior and misogyny from a game is ruining everything you should probably put the controller or mouse down and go outside instead of rotting in whatever gamer cesspool circles you've been roaming because its clearly eating away at whatever competence you have.

[some-pers0n]

Really liked the previous abnormal psychology post, do you have anything to say about intrusive thoughts (and how people tend to misuse that term (and how they aren't only about violence because that's the only examples i have seen people talk about))

Ah but of course!

Intrusive thoughts are in this category where a lot of people use the term without really understanding the extent to which it means. People often conflate it with impulsive thoughts or fantasies, wherein a person will have an urge to do something reckless but enjoy it. This could be something like dying your hair, making a really mean comeback to that one annoying coworker, jumping in a lake, or even something more aggressive like pushing over a baby stroller. They're thoughts that people have at random but enjoy the thought of them, even if they're a little dark. Fantasies in particular can cross over into the whole desire aspect of what a person would want, which mehhh I don't really wanna get too into since this is about intrusive thoughts

Intrusive thoughts on the other hand are unwanted thoughts of any kind. They're thoughts that bring the person stress, anxiety, etc and etc. These can be anything really, but most of the time it can be anything like these

Suicidal ideation and or self harm

Being SA'd or SA'ing someone else

Homicidal or aggression towards innocents

Fear of social ostriziation

Random imagery that's just generally disturbing

Public humiliation

Philia-related (ex: SA'ing a child, animal, corpse, etc)

Mind readers or someone potentially observing your thoughts

Believing that something that happened to another was actually your fault and you're to blame for it all

Religious-related fears

Scrutinizing your identity (gender, sexuality, etc)

World-ending catastrophes

These thoughts aren't exactly a representation of who you are nor your "secret desires" like say fantasies. I want to make a distinction between that. Intrusive thoughts are disturbing and can oftentimes cause stress and anxiety

This can manifest in disorders like OCD, where to combat these intrusive thoughts (obsessions) they do these things that..don't really work (compulsions).

Here's a list of some common compulsions as well lol

Interrogation of self, like asking yourself whether you actually want to do any of those things or whether you feel rightfully repulsed by them

Checking and recounting things in case if someone had stolen anything or something bad will happen if it isn't quite right

Asking for reassurance from peers

Routines and "rituals", like how a person may have to watch a certain video in order for them to sleep

Doing somethings over and over, like washing your hand 4 times because 4 just "feels right" enough to get whatever the hell is on your hands off

Compulsions don't have to be logical or rational. Sometimes they're just stuff like "I need to flick the lights of my room on and off seventeen times or else my parents will die and go to hell". It's just whether or not it makes sense and has the person feel as though it works

Either way, intrusive thoughts are an infinitely complex topic that most people don't really wanna talk about because they're exposing. I know damn well I don't really wanna share mine. It's not really until they're less demonized and misunderstood that people can really talk about them

Intrusive thoughts make sense for why people who don't get them are reaaallly off put by them, but it's still irritating. Like I get why a well-adjusted person would be spooked by hearing that someone they care about has these thoughts, but it's still...gewhhhghhhhh y'know?

Like c'mon. Thoughts are not really indicative of a person's core. Your brain is going a mile a minute. Sometimes the train of thought just spits out the worst thing known to man and you just kinda gotta live with it knowing that it's not really you, but some subconscious part of your brain that's like "god wouldn't it be so fucked up if that happened?" It feels even more isolating honestly since not only do you feel like a freak and horrible person, but you can't really vocalize it unless it's in broad strokes and hushed tones. Ah well

Either way, intrusive thoughts and disorders connected to them are pretty complex. Again, highly recommend checking them out and researching them more if you wanna

[neonscandal]

Thanks for your posts and metas, @neonscandal .... Before I found your blog, actually I ship tododeku and kiribaku. But thanks to you, I became bakudeku shipper (until now). Your metas are amazing and always based on canon. Sorry, I'm not good with words, but I hope you know how great your blog is (you are definitely one of my favorite tumblr blog). 💐🌷

And WOW these last 10 - 15 chapter, really are the best. Even my mutuals who are anti-bkdk can't deny Bakugou and Midoriya's bond anymore. Also, love Uraraka and Toga's bond....

Do you think it's possible that at the end of BNHA, Bakugou and Midoriya have ambygous relationship (kinda like Tiger and Bunny)....? I know it could be hard to be canon in shounen series.....

P.s Do you think SatoSugu (from JJK) is queerbaiting?

⚠️ Vague spoiler warnings through chapter MHA 410 at best. Covers JJK S2 with a vague mention of a character who pops up later in the manga.

It's funny you say that because I also love a good tododeku or kiribaku situation. Like yea, people have their OTP but... realistically? Characters should be just as messy as people in real life. ✨ They're going to date around before things fit together with that OTP, right? At least that's how I look at it. So I love exploring offshoots.

You are far too kind in these rough times but I appreciate you saying that (and reaching out). The swarm of asks lately have been so funny. I tend to carve out time to address them quicker than some of the other things bouncing around my head (literally, the exact opposite happens with fic updates 🥺) so I'm just happy I'm writing something. If someone else enjoys it then that's the whipped cream and caramel on my sundae.

DUDE. I hadn't read 409 or 410 yet because holiday chaos but I feel like we're beyond allegations at this point haha ALTHOUGH, I didn't see the cliffhanger from 410 coming at all so I wonder what that means for the larger story.. Got any theories?

Regarding endgame... honestly the last two chapters gave me a little anxiety. "This is our tale?" Too good to be true. Especially when we know from chapter one "this is a story of how I became a great hero". Also, I've had some thoughts since 406 about how their connection is being framed up which I haven't had time to write but it feels like a lot of fanservice for Horikoshi (and subsequent editors, etc) to not commit. Additionally, in all the ways this story subverts the typical formula for shonen, it would also feel like a fumbled opportunity to turn everything on its nose with such a wildly popular series. So I'm holding out hope but conservatively preparing for one of them to just... not make it even if we get a confession *shudders in Supernatural flashbacks*.

I hope this makes sense as I struggled to recommend stories where this wasn't the case when asked about BL. In my opinion, good representation in mainstream stories (gender identity, orientation, race, religion, disability, etc.) is when, whatever makes a character different isn't their whole identity. Specifically in the context of more traditional stories (not centered on BL for instance), they should be involved if not just as integral to the plot as any other character wherein their diversity isn't sticking out like a sore thumb. But even that characterization requires nuance which is what makes it so hard to articulate? Maybe it's simpler to say that their character arc shouldn't just be based around identity. As a short answer to your question, I don't think that SatoSugu is queerbaiting. I think they are authentically and intrinsically coded to one another in subtext and out loud straight from Akutami but that, sometimes, relationships don't work out or love is unrequited. They may not have had the same feelings despite their inherent complement to one another and that's okay.

As above, characters should be just as messy as real people and that's what makes what didn't happen between them all the more tragic because it's heartbreaking in how relatable it is (not the cult leading and murder though). Seems like a convenient answer from a delulu shipper unless you take into consideration how Kirara Hoshi's identity is given the same level of subtlety. They aren't defined by their identity nor are the characters jarred by some particularly grandiose reveal nor are they perturbed by the nature of their connection to Hikari. I'm by no means an expert but I think that these characters are executed well in the sense that they have a complexity that doesn't hinge on what would otherwise make them different. They aren't "othered", it's just a fact of who they are and the story continues. It's a facet of who they are without cheaply being all they are. With Gege Akutami's own pronouns not expressly confirmed, perhaps that informs the care around those with differing identities.

I haven't seen Tiger & Bunny yet but now I know what to check out next!