#it's good that it's happening i just personally feel very weird about the stan culture-like PR strategy everyone's buying into. What

[dykeofmisfortune]

girlpower slayqueen #girlboss era hilary clinton -> femininomenon brat era kamala harris. welcome back 2010s capitalist feminism

[whysojiminimnida]

Remember When I Said Taehyung Might Not Be As Gay As We Thought?

Don't judge a man by his milfy wardrobe, he looks goooood.

It was... awhile ago. Maybe as far back as 2021 although I do not feel like link-searching it. It's in the archives if I didn't kill it.

Granted, there was a lot going on, then. There's still a lot going on and until now I had no desire to ever - EVER - return to this hellsite. Because Taekookers are fucking weird, yo. And some of y'all got a lil bit up in my shit too as I (fuzzily) recall. Which: it's whatever. I'm extremely unsocial, don't even answer my own DMs. And it's not personal, so I get it. I don't need or want to defend myself, but I will protect people I care about. With my absence, if necessary.

OT: I also totally kicked the big C while I've been out so that was nice. Yoongi the cat is pleased that his noms will continue uninterrupted. I will be in wigs for at least another year. It's all good. Oh LOOK at what we have here. Don't come at me for publishing this, I will explain.

I got it from actual media days ago, okay, and also: there was no expectation of real privacy. Keep reading. Or don't, I'm not telling you what to do.

ANYWAY. I had to come back, mainly to say TAENNIE IS REAL I TOLD Y'ALL IDK WHY NOBODY EVER BELIEVES ME BUT HERE WE ARE. I'm gloating. Honestly, it's so rude, I'd apologize if I cared. But I am rude and snorfling into my cheerios about this. Tae just made me so damn happy, is all.

LET THE MAN BE BI OR HETEROFLEXIBLE OR EVEN STRAIGHT IDC. Jennie clearly makes him happy. Look at his "I'm going to Paris to see my girlfriend" face!

And in that very specific jewelry look, no less. Foundrae. Again. Still. Hm.

Here's what I can tell you based on my limited third hand no sources no receipts this is probably utter bullshit usual disclaimer: It's a soft open, kids. This whole "oopsie we just so happened to get caught taking a lil walk in public with our managers in tow during which date at least one of us signed several autographs, what a surprise" is in fact a soft open for what will likely be a public confirmation PRETTY DAMN SOON. It might happen before I get this thing published, actually, depending on when I get it up. If it's before May 22 at noon my time, no idea. If after, well. Guess we'll see. Jennie's supposed to show up at the screening of HBO's The Idol that day, screening at the Grand Lumiere at 10:30 CEST. One wonders if she will arrive alone, or bring a plus one. It's a big ask, and if he does it they're probably getting married, that's how big a deal it would be. So I'm not holding my breath, but.

This seems like a reasonable prospect for a plus-one viewing. Might not be the only one but... Jennie's IN IT so.

I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS GONNA HAPPEN. I think it would be a fucking POWER move if it did, but I also do not necessarily expect that it will. It COULD. It... MIGHT. It might not. Either way they're a thing, I'm telling you. They are, have been, a thing. For awhile. And it is apparently quite serious - like up to and including talk of engagement serious.

Remember when a bunch of folk thought that one gummy bear dude was going to jail for "hacking" Jennie's phone only there's been no actual movement on any "investigation"? Yeah. Trickle truthing, they call it. Give 'em a little bit, let them deny it and yell and chew on it for awhile before you give 'em a little more. But c'mon, nobody's wearing half the love-themed couple pieces at Foundrae for no damn reason.

Seriously they got the whole collection almost and both have been seen wearing them almost exclusively. For a year.See airport pic above.

Look, I don't have inside info on Taehyung. I do not. I ain't hang with his friends and I don't know him personally. Never met the guy. But I know a PR move when I see one and this is exactly that.

We all know how toxic stan culture can be. Some ToadlicKKers (and a few of us house elves) are certifiably bonkers, if stan twitter is anything to go by. And the guys, the company, they expect a whole meltdown. They know this is not gonna make half their fans happy. I mean the tkkers have a point in that it looks like they wanted to be seen. BECAUSE IT'S A SOFT OPEN. What Taejen/Taennie/Jenhyung and the companies also know is that based on historic shipper behavior, this is gonna come back on Jimin, Jungkook, maybe Rose' and Lisa. And by extension, the other members. Maybe not as much due to their respective distance, but still. I bet by the time I finish this it will have already started.

Oh look there it is. Fuck those bitches, really.

Good LORDT. I'm not adding the audio, if y'all are that hungry for psycho hose beast Jimin hate hie thee to stan twt.

But, totally off-topic kinda...

... wouldn't it be cool if Jennie, who speaks great English, was hanging out with Troye Sivan and was like "so you know my boyfriend tells me that his bffs..." I'M JUST SAYING NETWORKING IS COOL AND FRIENDS OF FRIENDS GET THINGS DONE OKAY.

You know that girl has the scoop. If Tae knows it, she knows it. Oh heeeeyyy Troye.

Also OT: I love that Taekook have been hanging out a little more lately. It's refreshing. I genuinely think having Jennie in his life has been good for Tae in several ways. And you know, I'm kinda surprised Taennie has lasted this long. I didn't honestly think they would. It warms my decrepit, sad old heart a bit. Turns out I have a lot more to say so IDK IDK, if I feel okay about it I might be back. Right now I'm just waiting for the official Taennie nod and the continued total meltdown.

[babyboywinchester]

i was finally able to go through nancylou’s post about misha and i’m so literally appalled at what’s he’s done, that’s there. like in what world did he think that sexually harassing jensen was okay?! that man is definitely sick. and i feel bad for jensen because it was definitely the culture of “oh it’s just misha” so people didn’t do anything about it. it’s also his weird obsession with jensen in general that is so off putting to me.

also misha’s acting is just not that great. i get that angels are suppose to be stoic and cold but a tree could act better than what misha has done and a tree doesn’t have chapped lips for me to be distracted by.

his shots at jared/sam are just like so unprofessional. like jared is your co-worker and i get not always liking someone you work with but from what i’ve seen and read, jared seems like a good person to work with in general, so just say your jealous misha 🙄.

i’m sorry, i’m just cackling at cons seemingly being his only source of income because no one wants to hire him, yet he thinks he’s better than jared who’s had steady work with Walker after SPN.

like man needs to find SOMETHING to occupy his time because destiel is never going to happen and he’s just wasting everyone’s time with his non-stop queerbating.

sorry this was also long and kind of a rant. he just gets constantly more annoying and disgusting the more i learn about him.

I’m glad you actually took the time to do that! It really opens your eyes to just how slimy of a human he really is. Once again, never fear about sending a long ask. I like getting asks!

I will say in the beginning I don’t think his acting was all that bad, because like you said Angels are very stoic and still learning how to occupy human bodies… but as the seasons drew on he just became like a… I don’t even know how to describe it, but what’s the point of having a pet angel if he isn’t even that powerful, can barely do anything, and hovers around you with a case of chapped lips so severe YOU have the urge to put chapstick on yourself.

Also his “arcs” if you can even call them that add little, nothing really, to the story so he’s just… there. Supporting characters were only given more screen time so J2 could have more time off anyway so it’s all meant to be filled with him and little to no substance.

Yet he acts like he was some trendsetter or as if he was the one to throw the first brick at Stonewall and all he is is a mediocre, middle aged, white man who panders to a group of maybe 100 people at a time about a fetishized gay ship from a cable show that ended four years ago now… he also is the only man to have to come out as straight. He’s not an “ally” he uses and abuses peoples interpretation of this so called “confession” to keep up his grifting lifestyle.

A heterosexual grifter king of you will. Wow. How could we not stan him?

[hwangyeddeongie]

I feel like some kpop stans don’t view koreans as real people. I’ve been trying to ignore this for a while now but I can’t dismiss it anymore.

I don’t like labelling it as a “fetish” because I feel like most people are genuinely just misinformed or young and naive, but there’s definitely fetishisers and I won’t pretend they don’t exist.

my main issue is: stop relating any post on twitter (or any social media really) that’s written in korean to kpop. I’ve seen this several times now, a korean posting something (completely unrelated to kpop or idols, they don’t even have any idol pfp or kpop related username) in korean, and the qrts being flooded with kpop stans. this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does get obnoxious when a korean person is simply posting about doechii and kpop stans are up in the qrts talking about what kpop company she should be in. just because op wrote in korean.

I want people to realise that kpop is not a universal thing in korea. sure, it’s a huge market and it brings in a lot of tourists, but a lot of koreans don’t even listen to kpop and they probably couldn’t name you 5 groups unless they’re wildly popular. that’s like assuming every american likes taylor swift or just pop in general cos it gets made in america.

there’s this habit kpop stans have of reducing real koreans to what they know through kpop or kdramas, and I know this probably isn’t that big of a deal but WE ARE MORE THAN JUST OUR ENTERTAINMENT

we have history, food, architecture, culture, and many other genres of music and art apart from kpop and dramas. kpop only started in the late 90s, so most people in korea predate the genre altogether.

as for fetishisation, I wouldn’t say it’s as widespread as some people say (preferences are valid) but it’s definitely weird as a korean to have someone suddenly treat you with more respect/interest just because you say the country you’re from.

I’ve definitely had experiences online that made me honestly feel like I was a specimen or an animal at a petting zoo just because of my nationality. I know most people have good intentions and are just curious, and I’m not really offended, just a little confused. you wouldn’t put an english person on a pedestal just cuz they’re from britain, so why would you do it with a korean? (I’ve seen this happen to Japanese people as well)

anyways, I don’t really know where I’m going with this, I just needed to rant about something that’s been bothering me for a while.

note: curiosity and genuine interest is completely fine as long as you remain respectful! I don’t agree with those who say people who learn korean bc they like kpop are koreaboos, it’s actually very nice that people pick up a whole new language and study korea’s history because of their interests! however, if you want to be korean or view people in a drastically more positive light SOLELY because they are korean, you may want to reevaluate the way you approach fandom ��🏻

[floralovebot]

What would you write if DC hired you to make a tempest/garth comic? What would be the genre, mood, setting, etc? Would it be plot focused or lore focused?

OH BUDDY

well personally i would end up ignoring n52 and rebirth so,, sorry to the like two rebirth garth stans i know but ajdgjlh

but anyway i've had this idea for a more tempest centric series that feels very like,, scooby doo ish? not full on detective series cause that's not his vibe, but like a mix of stumbling into different magical mysteries, fighting a monster of the week, and discovering different magic things! in my perfect aquafam world, koryak never died and garth got with letifos so both of them would accompany him!

in my head, this series would have to take place after the tempest series and vol 5,, tbh i'm not sure where exactly it would fall on the timeline!! all i know is that it would definitely happen after vol 5

but anyway, the series would start with garth mentally reeling from defeating slizzath, and in a "what the fuck is life about" kind of way, he decides to learn more about shayeris and his family history. at this point, he does know things, but he would want to know more about the day-to-day stuff and the culture, not just the all-powerful wizardy stuff. anyway, letifos wants to go with him <3 they aren't together at this point, but the series would provide a nice slow burn for them to be official by the end. i Know garth usually jumps headfirst into his relationships, but i would want this series to be more introspective so he would be thinking things through a lot more and have some hesitance. Anyway, once he gets to the ruins of the city, some weird ass monster jumps out and they have to fight it!! oh no!!!

i'm thinking that garth doing his little ritual thing either freed other bad guys from the fucking underwater prison dimension OR garth just,, doing magic awakens a bunch of shit cause they go "owo? someone is using powerful magics 👀 time to rise and grind!!" aldgh

so anyway, they just get pulled into fighting random monsters and protecting random people with magic. it would definitely have a silver age vibe with each issue being its own complete story (maybe occasionally spanning two or three). in regard to the overall vibe though,, yknow the vibe of the first live action scooby film? literally that! like it's grown up and there's a lot of dangerous shit going on and it goes into serious topics and has serious, darker moments, but it's also just a little silly goofy aldhg the series would start being dark and angsty then gradually get lighter as garth not only leans more into his magic abilities but also allows himself to be happy and help people the way he wants to.

it would definitely be more lore focused! i would really want to go in on insane atlantean history, magical worldbuilding, etcetc. the aquafam has a lot of good characters for the audience to learn things through, but garth will honestly always be #1 for me in that regard. that's why i would want this series to be a little more scooby doo-ish, so that garth is learning things/figuring shit out at the same pace as the readers!

[futuregws]

This post is probably gonna be a little very long bc I wanna rant a little about stan culture(?) (idk if that's what you would call this).

It's kinda incredible (and not in a good way) how quickly people can switch on the internet and how a celeb can go from being the most loved person and most popular to all of a sudden getting ridiculous amounts of hate and most of the time it's for no reason and it happens even with shows and movies idk if it's bc people wanna fit in with the others so they praise what others are praising regardless of how they feel and then when the hype naturally dies down they finally show their true feelings, or if they just wanna hate for the sake of it honestly idk but to me this is what it feels like and it's what it looks like it's happening everytime the two options look very likely, and I can give quite a few examples on shows and actors, for example:

Pedro Pascal bc yeah people are already turning on him not that much but I could totally see it happening in a few months but it already happened a few times more specifically bc of "the last of us" which was another one of my examples in this, at the beginning it was the most beloved and popular show but now it's like everyone turned on it and I'm hella confused, and I don't want to make this post even longer than it needs to be but I know there will be criticism that's obvious and normal but this is not it.

And going with another show house of the dragon, before you couldn't go without seeing it everywhere and so much praise, but now the same people that claim to be fans are going around saying "oh this show was a mistake" make it make sense.

And this one that I've talked about numerous times Florence Pugh, she became more and more successful and as it was happening people became more and more rude towards her saying so many nasty shit when she's far from deserving it.

And now this one is a little bit more controversial but Elizabeth Olsen, bc in my opinion someone can be problematic and you can acknowledge that but it won't change the fact that they are talented, but it gets kinda hilarious to see people that hate her (and I can't blame them bc she has said messed up shit) try and call her acting bad and say that "she makes weird faces and moves her mouth weird" hell, someone went as far as hating on her acting on love and death bc it "felt too natural" uhm isn't that like the whole point.

And this with Lizzie of calling her a bad actress also happened with Florence so that just made it even funnier bc like at least separate the two, you don't like them, fine, but they are talented as fuck

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

I thought he looked really good today but to each their own I guess.

I've been scrolling on tiktok and saw like 13 videos in a row about Evan today with thousands of likes and everyone saying how hot he is in the comments and then I went on twitter and the first few tweets I saw were saying he looks like he doesn't shower and that he's musty... Twitter is truly the most toxic place. Every social media have some toxic people on them but I think it's a common knowledge that Twitter is the worst, especially stan twitter. I don't even care anymore because it literally happens to every celebrity on twitter, it's not like they only target Evan specifically, but it's still annoying. Whyyy, why does twitter have to be so toxic? I used to love that app but now whenever I go there I see something negative. And most of the celebrities that I like are very liked by general public but there's always hate tweets about them from some freaks on twitter

this is echoing my thoughts as well. it really doesn't matter who, stan twitter will always find something cruel to say just because stan culture has normalized, and even popularized being mean to be edgy and "humorous". in real life, it isn't as accepted to just casually be ruthless about someone's appearance. one big reason is because probably 90% of the people who will say these things are hiding behind a photo of someone else as their pfp; they know that if they posted their actual selves they would be revealed to either be average or objectively unattractive and not in any place to be judging another person's appearance, so they'd be ripped to shreds.

there are plenty of people others find beautiful, who i find very unappealing, but i don't feel the need to constantly harp on it. i have observed that some people (oddly enough, seems to mostly be a particular type of tween/teen girl?) have this weird resentment that so many women are obsessed with evan, when he is an ordinary looking dude, who is not at all vain and refuses to put in what they perceive as "adequate effort" to look good. ironically, this appeals a lot to many of us. there are plenty of men that to me are more physically attractive, but do not interest me nearly as much as evan because i genuinely do just like him, and find the whole package of what makes evan him very appealing. but i am also 30 years old and not a teenager on twitter, trying to earn cool points for my sick burn about a harmless man with a beard.

[lottiecents]

alicole shippers have been saying the most vile things to and about lesbian fans on twitter and everyone seems to just accept it or even encourage it, mutuals of mine i considered friends among them. some rhaenicents unwarrantedly came for fabien today, which wasn't alright, but everyone immediately called them out and jumped to the defense, yet no one has said a peep about lesbians getting non-stop harassed these past days. the leaks themselves are disappointing, but it didn't make me want to stop interacting with the show, but now i just want to distance myself from the show, the fandom and people i've known for years because they've really been showing their true colors.

hi!

well that sums up everything about stan culture lol because stan culture is full of bad and good people. and honestly everything that is happening on the hotd fandom is mass hysteria (FROM BOTH SIDES).

alicoles being lesbophobics = fork found in the kitchen. “oh but there are lesbians who ship-” spare me. please. because i saw that too and many of them were siding with the lesbophobics (even the lesbian alicoles) so yeah you can’t trust your own community because male-obsessed people will throw the first woman/group of women on the fire for a man.

and i can speak that is not the first time this happened… and it’s really weird i feel very weirded out specially when i see them downplaying lesbians and their own experiences when they say it aligns with alicent. they almost sound disgusted by their supposed favorite character being a lesbian who suffers with comphet. anyways i could rant about this more! but yeah its weird and very uncomfortable being on a now unsafe space where they demonize your sexuality over a fictional show and all in favor to be right.

rhaenicents that attack fabien are weird as hell like trying to find something problematic about him and etc. okay hate the character all you want but DONT come for the actor because he is just (trying) to do his job. and it’s very hypocritical to see that coming from rhaenicents knowing that olivia suffered and suffers a lot with this kinda of thing and then go and do something like that? yeah just not cool or right.

and saying he is a bad actor is not attacking him, is just the same thing people said about harry collett just go get some more acting classes dude you have the money 😭 but please don’t say vile shit or be racist (calling him names and comparing him to animals like is the funniest thing in the world. is not you dumbasses) and try to frame him as something he is not (a predatory guy by showing some likes in thirst traps (tgc alao do this go after him too then hypocrites))! if you don’t like him or don’t care about him just ignore it! like a normal person should do.

and honestly? i feel you in not wanting to be apart of this anymore i do not want to be either because it’s trying as hell. my twt tml is only this and yada yada yada and i know it’s gonna be a tough season for everyone but us lesbians (i assume you are one too because of this ask if you are not i am sorry for erasing your sexuality! i forgot the proper word sorry i am too tired) need to be strong because everyone in this fandom and their mothers are gonna come for us and our interpretations of anything that happens really.

last thing i will say: PLEASE ASOIAF TOUCH SOME GRASS AND BE FUCKING NORMAL THOSE ACTORS ARE NOT THEIR CHARACTERS THEY ARE HUMANS. PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU! DONT BE SO WEIRD ABOUT THEM. DONT MAKE JOKES OR SAY VILE THINGS LIKE THAT BECAUSE JUST MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A COMPLETELY BIGOTED FREAKS!!!

[monstrousmuse]

See, THIS is why I think that Bill and Mabel should have been friends. (some silly musings)

If only Bill had put aside his arrogance and evil-schemes-involving-dimensional-conquest-and-eternal-partying for like. ONE episode…A real bond could have been established between them. They could have been the World's Most Fabulous And Chaotic Dynamic Duo. Ford would be even more done with Bill at this point.

…

I am aware that Alex Hirsch has stated on numerous occasions that there are deliberate parallels between Bill and Mabel; in the DVD commentary for Sock Opera, for instance:

"Bill genuinely believes that Mabel's kinda like him. He sees Mabel as a chaos agent. Like, Mabel has got a little bit of a seed of anarchy in her, she's a little bit selfish, she likes to have fun at whatever cost. And Bill is all those things times a billion. (…) And he's not wrong in seeing that side in Mabel but Mabel is a better person than Bill Cipher.”

This is as good a time as any to also mention the fact that many people have also picked up on the thematic links between the Nightmare Realm and Mabeland, and have written some pretty awesome metas on the subject.

…

It just makes me wonder what would have happened if Bill and Mabel were given the chance to interact more, without the overt antagonism and conflict. Other than being kindred spirits with a shared love for all things eccentric and Absurd (yes, in my mind, I do differentiate between Mabel’s Absurd and Dipper and Ford’s Weird), I am sure that Mabel would love to have asked Bill all sorts of questions about life, artistic expression, pop culture, town gossip, girl talk, etc, etc. Mabel is a natural extrovert and friendly interrogator, and Bill is a natural talker and unhappy-loner-who-lies-about-being-unhappy-and-lonely; they would get along like two glitter-coated peas in an alien space pod.

…

Oh, and how could I forget? In the Bottomless Pit segment ‘Truth Ache’, we see that Mabel is not averse to reading through Ford’s Journal on her own and formulating ideas and plans based upon what she reads, i.e. replacing Stan’s dentures with the Truth Teeth in order to prevent him from lying so often. Where am I going with this? Well, I headcanon that over the course of the summer, Mabel spent some amount of time looking through the Journal, either with Dipper or on her own, and most definitely came across the entries that detailed Ford’s encounters and connection with Bill.

…

Now, Mabel being Mabel, I can almost guarantee that she would have had immediate questions about why the Author kept referring to the Evil Triangle that had been on their case all summer as ‘(his) Muse’, or why the Author claimed that he was ‘attracted to the strange’ and ‘preferred dreams with (his) Muse’, or why he named a freaking constellation after ‘(his) Muse’. Because to Mabel, all of these things would just sound like the sort of cheesy, elaborate and often hyperbolic romantic gestures that one of her Dream Boys would act out in her favourite romance films. (Side Note: these things could absolutely be viewed through a queerplatonic or alterous lens, but for the sake of comedy, we’re going with romantic.)

…

She would automatically want to know more about this mysterious relationship between the Author and the Triangle; why it seemed to end in such tragedy; whether or not Bill was lying about how he felt towards the Author, later identified as her very own Grunkle (he was, that much was obvious); if there was anything she could do to fix things because yeah sure Bill has committed some terrible, terrible atrocities but maybe, just maybe, some part of her could get through to him because her Great-Uncle Ford used to write about him with such tenderness and reverence and seemed to genuinely admire him and had borne witness to a kinder side to him once upon a time (tea…chess…gum…magic…it can’t have all been a lie) and Bill himself seemed unable to work through his own feelings surrounding the whole situation so perhaps she could help because she’s Mabel Pines and that’s what she does and no one else will-

And thus, the Bill Pestering would commence.

“Scrap-book-ortunity”

as Mabel would say.

[chirpsythismorning]

I despise how fans will end up tearing down the very thing they once really liked, solely bc the fandom annoys them??? They’ll highlight everything negative they can come up with as evidence, even use virtue signaling to manipulate and guilt other fans into feeling like they have no choice but to leave because the environment is so negative and toxic??

Twitter stans, I’m looking at y’all. The culture on there is known for being cultish, but actually seeing it in real time is pathological. The gross generalization, the hot takes that aren’t even hot. A lot of stans on there are just recycling through different fandoms on a daily basis. They act like they care about the real issues, like they’re speaking truth to power, but it’s clear after each monthly hit tweet, that the clicks was all they really cared about in the first place. That’s it. Because once the thrill is gone and their current obsession has been ruined, they gotta find a new victim to obsess over, and the cycle never ends.

But on Tiktok, I’m seeing a lot people shaming ST fans for being ‘cringy’ or whatever. And the posts are doing major numbers, specifically Tiktoks focused on Eddie stans.

I’m not an Eddie Anti by any means, but I’m also nowhere near as intrigued by Eddie’s character as a lot of Eddie stans seem to be, and yet that doesn’t bother me?! People like what they like. Who tf cares? What does that got to do with me?

Now a bunch of fans are jumping on the bandwagon to hate Eddie or even just the ST fandom in general, bc they’re ‘cringy’ or whatever the fuck…?? Like this isn’t at all new? Fandoms are cringy and weird. Where have you been?? Y’all going as far as to throw away all your merch (proving in real time that all anyone ever cared about was appearing cool, when really y’all are just sheeple who can’t think for yourselves) to the point where you can’t simply enjoy what you once enjoyed, at all anymore??

You’re giving strangers way too much power over you. Like it’s actually sad and slightly pathetic if you think about it.

The reality is, this inevitably happens in literally every fandom. And this isn’t to excuse problematic behavior in every situation. This is to say that this shit is unavoidable when you’re dealing with millions of fans. So when something goes down (bc it inevitably will) and suddenly everyone puts on their cult goggles and makes a big deal, I can’t help but feel bad for y’all.

Like I get people grow and move on and if you just genuinely don’t want to be a fan of something anymore, that’s fine and it’s your business.

But there’s a reason actors hate fandom behavior and it’s because fans are seriously unhinged when it comes to just liking something. I promise you, you don’t need to be different than the other girls, nor do you need to call out every single conflict you see in order to be a good person

So please, just like what you like and stop letting other peoples opinions/actions in the fandom have control over your ability to like something.

If you see shit that personally offends you or is wrong, of course call it out. But there’s no point in categorizing every fan out there as this or that when there are fucking millions of us.

I don’t want to hear that ST turned into this fandom or that fandom and so now it’s ruined for you. Y’all are seriously weak for letting 10 or 100 or 1,000 or even 100,000+ ‘cringy’ fans out of millions, dictate your ability to simply like something.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello !,hello!,ive stumbled on your blog and gotta say absolutely love your writing and analysis!! And im curious to ask what character or characters homeland or family would you wanna see in another event?

I’m up for any new homeland lore or meeting any new family member (maybe in parent-teacher conference event to meet a lot of them at once???), really 👀 I don’t discriminate! If I had to pick some of my most anticipated locations and family members, then...

Rose Queendom! It seems like a whimsical, flower-filled place, and I like that kind of an aesthetic. It might be fun to also drop by the Clover Family Bakery. I think it’d be cozy and cute! As for family, I’d want to see Mama Spade and Chenya’s grandpa. They would make for some wholesome character moments! ... NOT GONNA LIE, I KIND OF ALSO WANT TO SEE MAMA ROSEHEARTS TOO 😅 JUST TO SEE IF THE HEART AHOGE LOOK WEIRD ON HER....................... It might be interesting to meet a character that doesn’t have a healthy dynamic with a main cast boy; it would really shake up the formula and give us some nuanced interactions.

Sunset Savanna! This would be a good excuse to bring Cheka back in, as well as introduce other characters twisted from those in The Lion King. Maybe we can even see Farena/Falena along with some tasty family drama between him and L*ona or him embarrassing L*ona, that works too 🤡 I’d also love to see Granny Bucchi. She sounds like such a tough and hardworking person to Ruggie and the neighborhood kids. OH, AND WE CAN’T FORGET ABOUT ROOK???????? IF YOU CAN’T SHOW US YOUR BICEPS THEN AT LEAST INTRODUCE US TO YOUR (totally not suspicious at all, I’m sure) MOM AND DAD AND 5 SIBLINGS.

Coral Sea! It would be such a different environment than what most of the TWST cast is used to, which I think opens up a lot of possibilities for unique and fun situations. I feel like a lot of fandom depictions of the Coral Sea make it out to be a romantic and shining utopia like Atlantica, but I’ve always seen it more as a place that’s more… rough around the edges? Like, with pirate ships and unseen danger lurking about in its depths. I’d want to see if the Coral Sea as a whole is more like Atlantica or more like the underwater caverns where Ursula lives. ALSO GIVE US MERFORM BOYS, TWST-- I’d also be interested in meeting both the Leech and the Ashengrotto parents! I wonder if Leech Mama and Leech Papa are as intimidating as a lot of fan art makes them out to be? I’m very curious about Azul’s parents (mom and stepdad) as well, because the fan interpretations and theories on them are more... mixed, I feel???? I’ve seen some people say that his parents aren’t loving because Azul made no mention of them helping him when he was going through his episode 3 flashback and detailing his bullying, and then others say his mom did care because she fed him well, but was maybe too preoccupied with her restaurant to realize something was happening to her son. I have an Azul stan friend that suggested that Azul might have lied about his happy family and childhood so as to preserve his own image, which he clearly values 🤔 dnbsvsuekxks Anyway, since the Octatrio can’t be trusted 💕 I think we need to witness their hometown and their families with our own eyes~

Briar Valley! There’s a lot that has yet to be explored about its history, culture, and politics. I want to delve more into that, as well as the human-fairy tensions that seem to exist here. Catch me ignoring Malleus’s grandma and rushing to the Zigvolt residence to hit up Sebek’s parents 🥺 I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT BABYBEK... AND TO WITNESS A LOVE SO PURE THAT IT TRANSCENDS SOCIETAL PRESSURE WITH MY OWN EYES.

Jubilee Port! This is actually Sam’s hometown, and it doesn’t get much mention! Since we don’t know much about it and we don’t have many characters from it, it has a strong air of mystery (even moreso than the Briar Valley). Sam has such a chipper attitude, and I wonder if he got some of it from where he was raised (since the name of his hometown also sounds so cheery)?

[avintagekiss24]

Hi! I don't want to start anything on here and am always willing for civil conversations. At this point there's so much I've found out about Seb (besides the video he liked, the tommy lee thing, and the girlfriend thing) that I feel so guilty if I would continue to support him. I love him sm but it just doesn't look good rn. He is associated/follows an organisation (for helping veterans) that has posted a blue lives matter flag picture and who's co-founder has sexual assault allegations against him, and worked with him in 'The last full measure'. His friend Paul Walter Hauser has done blackface in the past, and when called out on it he just listed a few people that also did blackface. There's more, I found a discussion on here that I can link. I seriously don't support "cancel culture" bc I don't think it helps anyone but there are just a lot of 'mistakes' and shady people that can be linked to Seb, I wish it wouldn't be that way. I honestly don't know what to think about it anymore.

Hi! I’m also open to having civil conversations and I don’t believe you’re trying to start anything. I really do think this situation of dragging up a four year old video and taking it completely out of context is harmful not just to Black people, but to fandom/activism in general. This is gonna be long because I’m going to take your points one by one, and I want to preface this by saying that I will not answer any derogatory, sideways asks pertaining to this subject. I will delete every single one and will block your silly ass. I’m not going to argue with people who think I’m blindly supporting Sebastian because I’m just trying to get fucked by him, or people who think I hate myself and am trying to appease some white man.

So, on with the discourse!

The video he liked - this video was taken completely out of context and that is my main issue with this whole situation. It was not a video of a white man saying that he thinks he should be able to say the n word as everyone claimed it was. They were quickly debating on whether or not it's okay to say in rap lyrics. He was told no, that's not okay, that's never okay and they moved on from it. That's it. End of story. That somehow was twisted into a click bait style headline of "Sebastian Stan likes a video of a white man defending his right to say the n word" when that is absolutely not true. My other issue is that people are more upset that Sebastian liked the video than they are about the white man in the video literally saying the n word. So, do you really care about the use of the n word like you're claiming? Cuz if you do, you'd be more upset at the white man that said the word than you would be about the white man simply liking the video. Or, are you just using this as an excuse to grandstand against a white man you don't like?

The Tommy Lee thing - Sebastian Stan playing Tommy Lee does not make Sebastian Stan a bad person. Is Charlize Theron a bad person for playing Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who started murdering men? Is Leonardo DiCaprio a bad person for playing a slave owner? Is Edward Norton a bad person for playing a nazi sympathizing racist? Actors play bad people. That doesn't mean that they themselves are bad people. 1990's Tommy Lee was a bad person, but that should have no bearing on who Sebastian Stan is or his character as a man.

The gf/Paul Walter Hauser thing - Why are we holding Sebastian accountable for what the people around him are doing? Again, why are we more upset that Sebastian is associated with people who have done questionable things than the specific people themselves? I'm not going to speak on the kimono wearing -- I'm not Asian. It's not my place to say whether or not its offensive because it's not my culture, but she posted that picture and attended that party before she started dating Sebastian, quite possibly before she even knew him. Same with Paul. I think that black face thing was long before he knew Sebastian. Now, if Sebastian was defending these actions, going around saying "I think it's okay for white women to wear Kimono's" "I think black face is fine" "I think white people should be able to say the n word" then we'd have a different story, wouldn't we? But that's not what we have, and that's not what he is doing. He is not responsible for the things his friends do or have done in the past just because he's more famous than they are, and he is not required to speak on them. Let's put it this way -- would you be comfortable having to be responsible for something a friend of yours did before you knew them? Would you want to have to be forced to answer for your friend when you yourself had nothing to do with the questionable behavior?

The organization that supports the military/blue lives matter - Sebastian cannot control what message that foundation puts out and it does not mean that he is or is not pro-police himself. There is not enough concrete evidence -- if any evidence for that matter -- that Sebastian is a blue lives matter supporter. Did Sebastian donate before they put up the blue lives matter post? Or after? I don’t know, cuz I don’t follow him that closely, but if he donates before they come out with a particular stance, that means he should be held accountable for that? I know I donated to an organization once and they turned out to support something that i’m 100% against. That means I’m a bad person because I couldn’t see into the future? Another point, how can we be certain that Sebastian saw the blue lives matter post in the first place? I know I’m not online 24 hrs a day, I miss posts all the time and I’m just an average person. I make three or four tumblr posts a day, and I’m gone. I have to play catch up on social media, and even then, I still miss stuff. So I’m sure the same happens to a working actor. As for the co-founder, I don't know who this person is and would rather not get into any allegations against them because I don't want to trigger anyone who comes across this post. If Sebastian knows about these allegations, is a willing participant/supporter of this person then yeah, that's pretty shitty, but we don't know the inner workings of this friendship/acquaintance/work relationship. We don’t know how close they are or if they even still speak.

I’m a pretty big fan of Don Cheadle. He’s a stand up guy, he’s a great actor, he’s funny, he’s political and stands up for what he believes in and in a very public way. I support him. Don Cheadle is also friends with Chris Evans, RDJ, Mark Ruffalo, and Letitia Wright (just to name a few). Chris Evans has a bipartisan forum that highlights/promotes right wing politicians, RDJ defended Chris Pratt during the whole “he’s the worst Chris in Hollywood” crap, who’s technically done black face, and who once said to a female reporter “nice tits” when she walked into the room, Mark Ruffalo just walked back his support of Palestine, and Letitia Wright retweeted/supported an anti-vaxxer/anti-trans Pastor who equated an ingredient of the covid vaccine to the devil because it contained some parts of the word Lucifer. Does that mean Don is now a bad person because he’s friends with these people? Why isn’t he getting any heat for his friendships with them? Why isn’t he being held accountable for what they’ve done and said? Oh right, because he’s not a white fave. So people don’t care one way or the other, which brings me to my next point. 

I can guarantee you that if Sebastian’s gf or Paul or this co-founder were not associated with Sebastian in any way, nobody would give a shit about her wearing a kimono, about Paul doing black face, or about the co-founder/organization being blue lives matter supporters and in that lies the actual problem. Being critical of people and their actions should be consistent and should happen all the time -- not just when they interact with your white fave. That’s when it becomes performative and looks like you just want to be able to show internet people that you follow/support/stan unproblematic celebrities, when really, you don’t care.

I think the moral of this post is that I think it's unfair to hold a complete stranger to a standard that I cannot hold myself to. I also don't view celebrities the way most teenagers/twenty somethings do, and that’s because when I entered fandom we didn't have social media, so I grew up with a wall between myself and said celebrities. There is no wall now with the presence of social media. "Fans" nowadays have a weird ownership feeling over celebrities because they can read their personal thoughts or view personal pictures and think that they have this personal quasi-friendship with them. I can't get on board with that. I prefer having the wall and I still keep the wall.

If supporting Sebastian makes you uncomfortable, then by all means, stop supporting him. Just make sure you are making this decision for yourself based on credible sources and concrete evidence and that you're not letting this fake woke activist mob make you feel uncomfortable. Internet activism means nothing unless you put your money where your mouth is in your real life and 90% of the social justice internet warriors do not. Real activism is bigger than changing your avi to a black square.

[kustas]

I really like your breakdown on why you dislike fandom culture (that's putting it very very broadly but what I mean is the way that fandoms will ignore or alter things from the source material), but my question is what do you think causes this disregard for source material, individuals or the culture of fandom itself?

I'm really not sure, anon. Due to that dislike, I've not much engaged in fandom, and the ones I did engage in have either been brief experiences or ones much divorced from the fandom norm. I just...tend to talk about media with a few friends, post/share fan creations I like or made and bail. So the little I can think about it is...very limited. Don't take my word as wise.

I think it's a bit of both, but mostly down to the fandom culture, even if we have to be very cautious about it because what we see is NOT what a fan might think. When I criticize fandom folk, it's not them as people but the content they post and what they share online. There is a difference - because you cannot tell all a person thinks based on their online posts. As a simple example I've had some very insightful and interesting conversations about media with fellow fans who's online presence would lead you to believe they're just some random weeb character stan, when it turns out they have great insight on what they're into and just happen to not share it. Because most of my conversations are in private, no online presence will tell it to an onlooker. This is why I believe most comes down to the culture - because what we can tell is posts alone, not someone's whole thoughts, and fandom will encourage through engagement and shares more simple fun things with mass appeal. This is a broad generalization as you can absolutely find communities who seek out complex analysis and couldn't care less about character ships or whatever (and I have been part of some, it's not only hypothetical) but fandom on Tumblr and Twitter has mostly been about sharing nice pictures and fanfic and group giddy enjoyment of this. With a feedback loop of people having fun over fun things, it just encourages posting more, and that's what I believe drives fandom as a core thing, alongsides the feeling of belonging to a community.

But...I don't believe people as individuals aren't instigators of it either. A good example where I notice it: anyone following my blog for a long time has seen their fair share of me shitting down on shipping. That's because as a person I care very little to none about romance. And yet, it's popular, it was popular before internet existed, and romance as a genre written to make people gush about fictional pairings predates electricity if you ask me. It's clear that if it's so popular across this much time it's because it's something that motivates people! I just happen to be the odd one out.

Another thing that people enjoy and I bitch about from my grinch mountain is what I call the mass appeal. I've been pondering it regarding my future professional field in animation for the past year or so, and looking at all cinema too with that angle. People want different things from what they see, and from the media they consume, and contrary to what tumblr whines about time to time on my dash I don't think it's inherently tied to your morals to prefer media that makes you feel a certain way. I enjoy media that's new or fun, and as a result i love seeking out weird shit that's flashy and entertaining. Others might want to get their brains boiling, others might want to explore the ins and outs of a single genre. A lot of people just want more of what makes them happy, with the downsides of being quite conservative in what fields they'll explore, staying in a comfort zone of unoffending content. And that's what a lot of fandom is to me: by nitpicking what you don't like in a media, you can make it fit that niche you like, because you're here to be comfy and have safe fun and not anything else.

As a person I think it's a shame, and that not challenging yourself can have bad consequences, but I'm no one to judge, it's just my opinion. But given so many people live like this I do think that it's not very useful yelling about it because while that fandom culture part and the nature of posting online prop up content I don't appreciate much, it's like this because the majority enjoys it that way.

Hope that answers some of it 🏃

[captnjacksparrow]

I wish people would stop caring about the canon pairings and marriages in Naruto/Boruto because they should have absolutely no relevance for SNS shippers in terms of validating said ship. Those who say we are delusional because “Well, Naruto married Hinata so she is THE one he loves!” (I'll focus more on Naruto's marriage here... Is Sasuke's even a marriage?) simply don’t get that it just doesn't really matter who Naruto and Sasuke married because that in no way diminishes their feelings for each other. The main plot of the series revolves around the bond between Naruto and Sasuke. It is their story. They are each other's most important people and this was established back in Land of Waves arc even before the dramatic events that take place on the bridge - the whole point of that very first arc was making this a fact right from the beginning, because the story has always been and was always supposed to be about the two of them and the profound love and understanding that grows between them ever since they exchanged glances, smiles and pouts as lonely little broken kids. No reason to list all proof of their feelings and bond here, it has been done extensively, and if somebody watched the show/read the manga and missed it, they are missing half a brain. That these boys love each other more than anyone else is absolutely obvious.

So what about the canon pairings? Kishimoto stated time and time again that his focus was never romance, and that is not because he can't write romance as we know it (he clearly did), but it’s a matter of concept: what HE considers romance is the attraction that unites people with the purpose of marriage (confessing your romantic love for japanese people is the same as saying you want to be in a relationship, because feelings shouldn’t be voiced without an intention), and that, to him, is NOT the greatest expression of love, nor does it represent the most special bond two people can share.

It is understandable that westerners put so much weight into marriage because we consider it the epitome of love. Well, the truth is marriage in Japanese culture is mainly the only socially admissible means to have children and has very little to do with romantic love. In fact, in Japanese literature, it is much more common for unmarried couples to love each other than married ones. Obviously, there is no absolute truth when it comes to feelings and human relationships, what I'm doing here is generalising social norms and expectations (not exposing my opinion on them - that would turn this rant into something else entirely). A large number of Japanese marriages are loveless (and arranged, but no point getting into that either) and what motivates choosing a spouse is their ability to fulfill familial duties, meaning: is the woman good mother and consequently wife material? Is she going to devote her life to taking care of her children, house and husband, the noblest of acts for a female? Is the man willing and capable of putting his occupation above everything else, working extremely hard and for long hours, with total dedication and diligence for his job, to the point of not even seeing his family most of the time, as an honorable man should do as a provider? That's what makes a GOOD married couple: two people following their expected and strict gender-roles in a nuclear child-centered family (again, please, this is not MY opinion!). What a Japanese man should want in a woman is for her to be a dedicated housewife and mother, since having children outside of marriage is not only frowned upon, it is not acceptable at all, and not being married with children is not respectable enough (same with being divorced). Marriage is, therefore, NOT a symbol of undying love and a deep and special connection between two people, rather, it’s a partnership established with the goal of having and raising children.

Do these descriptions ring any bells?

In conclusion: the pairings were, in fact, created for the sole purpose of bringing forth the next generation, and that was made CANONICALLY true. Would it have been better if they hadn’t gone down that "safe" route? Hell, yeah! It would have been fucking amazing and could even have been groundbraking, for several reasons. BUT as unsatisfying as it may be, the fact is they chose a very TRADITIONAL depiction of marriage that has little to do with feelings, and that in itself shouldn’t be taken lightly, since it leaves the strongest bond, which is grounded on genuine love, untouched. In this scenario, justifying romantic love through marriage alone won’t cut it, and trying to discredit the obvious unmatched connection and feelings between two characters because they never got married to each other or married someone else is ludicrous. Yeah, a married couple can love each other deeply and above anyone else, but that is just not what marriage is ABOUT in Japanese culture and definitely not what Kishimoto wanted us to believe was the case here after dedicating 699 chapters to a story about the special bond between two boys that didn’t culminate in marriage. 

You know what IS a symbol of romantic love in Japan? Being willing to die together when the love you feel goes against your moral obligations, holding on to the belief that you will be reunited in the afterlife, where you will be free of any burden and able to love freely.

Are more bells being rung?! 

Oh, some bonus info: We also tend to associate sex with romantic love. Well, Japanese married couples with children rarely have sex, if at all. After a woman becomes a mother, she is no longer considered sexually desirable and becomes a mother figure to her husband as well (what happened to Hinata’s big "attributes" in Boruto? Huh). This is especially true when couples sleep in separate rooms and the mother shares a bed with her children. (Hinata co-sleeps with Himawari and we know Naruto sleeps in a separate room. Just saying.)

What's your say?

Is Sasuke's even a marriage?

Geezz!!!! LoLLLLL!!!! This sentence just made me cackle so hard for a good 5 minutes, Anon!!!!!

Hmmm.... So let's get back to your ask.

Well, I don't know how to react to this ask, Anon. Because, I don't know whether you are from Japan or you have a very close Japanese friend who might've told you all these cultural thing about marriage and relationships.

So, what I am going to do is to analyze from the facts you have provided , combine with my own cultural relevance and provide my answer. If there is any Japanese readers who are reading this, you can confirm or dispel this by sending me an ask. But again, I don't want exceptional case like, 'No, my family is different'. I want to know about the general lifestyle of a common citizen and their married life.

Having said that, this ask made me just yell at myself, 'Goshh!!!! Seriously???'

Because whatever you said, It fucking exist in my country too and is still followed by almost 70% of people in my country and I absolutely detest it. That is,

Most of the marriages here are loveless nd arranged - Check

Is the woman good mother and consequently wife material? Is she going to devote her life to taking care of her children, house and husband, the noblest of acts for a female? - Check

People following their expected and strict gender-roles in a nuclear child-centered family - Check Check

What a man should want in a woman is for her to be a dedicated housewife and mother, since having children outside of marriage is not only frowned upon, it is not acceptable at all, and not being married with children is not respectable enough (same with being divorced). - Check Check

Marriage is, therefore, NOT a symbol of undying love and a deep and special connection between two people, rather, it’s a partnership established with the goal of having and raising children. - Awww!!! A million Check.

That's why I was envious of Western people in this aspect, because they have a freedom to choose their own partner without any time constraints and when they do, their marriage can be said to be 'The Epitome of Love'.

My parents marriage is also an arranged one. And whenever they have disagreement and that leads to verbal war, they let out this words, 'I'm here with you because of my 2 daughters otherwise I would've left you long back'. So... Yeah. Here, most of the marriages are child-centered. Again, it's not just my opinion. Majority of the arranged marriage based family revolve around their child.

And I was born, a year after my parents' marriage, and If I hadn't been born, then people will question my parent's fertility factor and start to discriminate them. So, I can boldly claim that, I was not born out of Love or something. I was born because of social obligations.

But it doesn't mean, my parents don't love each other now. How should I say???? It's like a Stockholm Syndrome??!!!! Like when you stay with a person for a long time, you will eventually start to develop some feelings over the course of the time. It took them 15 years to come to a complete understanding of each other. It's the same case with many couples here.

Considering all these, Sasuke never even stayed with Sakura enough to make her understand him, So I wonder what kind of couple are they????? Weird!!!!!

In conclusion: the pairings were, in fact, created for the sole purpose of bringing forth the next generation, and that was made CANONICALLY true.

Awww!!!! Man, Seriously???? I made this claim long back in this post where I said, these women were used as a tool to bring out Next Generation Kids. My claim was based on Analytical Perspective.

And then one of the rabid SS stan reblogged my post and pulled out a hetero card stating, 'They are married and blah blahh...' when in reality, I never discussed about their sexuality in that post. That post was purely based on the number of pages each hetero couples shared with each other against the number of pages Sasuke & Naruto shared together.

Now, you have provided a cultural perspective for those shitty canon pairings.

On one side, I feel the need to smirk, because I am right.

But on the other side, I feel bad like, 'Is this how, this show must go on?? What are you trying to convey from this?'.

You know what IS a symbol of romantic love in Japan? Being willing to die together when the love you feel goes against your moral obligations, holding on to the belief that you will be reunited in the afterlife, where you will be free of any burden and able to love freely.

Hmmm.... It's interesting to know this. Anon.

This is where it differs slightly in my country.

Romantic love here is,

No matter what happens, I'll stand with you, You are just not alone. I will leave my fucking clan, parents, relatives if they don't approve you and we will start a new life somewhere.

[[Here, marriages happen mostly between their clan members. If you love a person from another clan, you will be ostracized or tortured or honour killed by your very parents. It just differs from clan to clan. I was subjected to this same problem and that's why I hate my Clan and left my parents. And this is also one of the reason why I love Itachi. Because we share similar Ideals. That is, Not to be obsessed over your clan and think beyond this restriction.

Also, here in Asian Culture if someone is willing to leave their family (when they don’t approve you) and prefer you over everything.... It means.... that's some Love beyond Comprehension. Just like how Naruto was willing to leave his Family (like Sakura and Kakashi) and like to stand with Sasuke... Just like how Naruto was willing to leave his own family and go on a long mission with Sasuke]]

So does it remind you of anything?????

It's the whole SNS dynamics starting from their childhood to VoTE2. That's why I started to ship SNS, because it represents the true love we always wish for.

Would it have been better if they hadn’t gone down that "safe" route? Hell, yeah! It would have been fucking amazing and could even have been groundbraking, for several reasons. BUT as unsatisfying as it may be, the fact is they chose a very TRADITIONAL depiction of marriage that has little to do with feelings, and that in itself shouldn’t be taken lightly, since it leaves the strongest bond, which is grounded on genuine love, untouched. In this scenario, justifying romantic love through marriage alone won’t cut it

This is very true, Anon.

I mean, they don’t even have to take a groundbreaking route. 

They should have given everyone an open ending, just like Kishi left at chapter 699. What is the need of a marriage, if Naruto is going to adopt Kawaki??? If Orochimaru was going to create a Baby Artificially?? If Rock Lee is going to have a child out of nowhere???

But I am happy that SNS bond is the only one that wasn’t diminished in this hot mess called Burrito. So, atleast we should be happy about that.

When someone pulls the marriage card, I just block them immediately because they are not even worth having a good conversation. NH will pull out the Last movie and SS will pull out, ‘Sasuke called Sakura ‘My Wife’.... So, it’s just pointless.

So, to conclude

Considering my Analytical perspective, I already made earlier in other post and your ask which provides some insight about Japanese culture which eerily resembles the culture I belong to, It all makes sense that this whole pairings and trash is just for the sake of bringing out Next Generation series and those boys never loved those girls whole heartedly. And I agree with you on this.

[redrainyumbrella]

Girl.. you're spitting nothing but facts, tumblr's cycle of falling for a new character, subsequently sympathizing for the actor, going feral over the guy until everyone gets sick of it and start bullying him OR a new actor appears and so goes on 💀

No yeeah exactly like. . I can definitely attest a lot of people I've spoke to have also compared this treatment to celebs like harry styles, Paul dano, etc. It's so interesting to see it when it happens if I'm being quite honest like I deadass think this needs to be studied 💀💀

Just to piggyback on what you're saying thats just how typical stan behavior is bc like ive said before i used to be a stan, as a teen i was in the TRENCHES of stan culture i was always in the middle of whatever fandom i was in so i get it 100% ive seen it on this site, and now that ive matured past those days im seeing it resurface with joe not just on tumblr but tiktok and Twitter as well from my personal perspective.

Like i know it's a thing when it comes to bands, kpop groups, Nicki Minaj, etc. But I just think this whole thing is soo unique when it comes to actors specifically ones like Joe Quinn that happen to be heart throbs that are just immediately thrust in spotlight and shot into stardom soooo quickly (as another introvert i personally would see the last few months as a nightmare) in addition to the chokehold he has on us I think that's why we've all become so smitten with him (including me, I admit it I'm very very guilty, I never said I was exempt from this).

but even then, what I never, ever liked in all my stan years was how cringey some fans would talk about them and how they'd act towards them like being creepy, infantilizing them, and theres going to extremes like sending hate to others around them, stalking, doxxing, etc, like. . . I don't think anyone likes that either that goes without saying.

On the other hand, I understand a lot of his fans are young/or underage(which makes it weird) but I know what that's like its just a weird crush/hyperfixation but it's right then and there where we need to draw the line between harmless fun and just straight up being awful.

Sorry i didnt intend for this to be a novel, I haven't been here in forever!! It feels good to talk about this lol

[qqueenofhades]

so…now that we all know what you DISLIKE about star wars (and 400% fairly so, you have my full support here)…

what drew you into the universe, what keeps you around?

favorite characters, ships (OTPs or actual spaceships lol), overall themes, do you have a favorite random weird creature or robot that you adore? whatever you wanna talk about!

go off honey (again, but supportively 💖💖💖)

tax paid: the very nerdy star wars punk vest i made and the even nerdier matching vest i made for starsky

Lmaooo, entirely valid. You were like "star wars?" and I was like the drunk person at the bar who can't stop shouting about how much their ex sucks. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest, let's talk about why I love it (since if I didn't love it, I wouldn't have such strong opinions). Basically my feelings on the OG SW trilogy are similar to my feelings on the OG LOTR trilogy, as that tumblr post floating around somewhere put it: sure, they have flaws, but also, they're perfect. I have a complicated relationship with the prequels, as do we all, since George Lucas cannot write dialogue or direct actors to save his life (stick to what you're good at, George, hire other people to do the rest), but even they have their moments. Like. Hit me with that "Across the Stars" love theme, John Williams. Gahh. Just like that.

Because... Star Wars wasn't actually this omnipresent corporate global entertainment monolith when it started out. It was a dorky low-budget indie sci-fi film in the 1970s which everyone thought was going to bomb. But it told a simple and compelling story in an interesting way, everyone agrees that ESB is one of the best films/sequels ever made, and then ROTJ gave it a happy ending while it was still okay to do that. My main thematic gripe with the Disney trilogy (I will try to keep those to a minimum, lol, but I have to bring it up to compare) is that it very clearly fell into the "actual happy endings are naive and unrealistic and a cynical postmodern audience won't accept anything less than things being Bad" trap that, yet again, we have GOT to thank for. It obviously existed to some degree before that, but GOT blew it up to huge levels, where the only valid situation or character is that which is Grimdark and Depressing. Which, in my view, misses the heart and soul of what SW is all about??

Like. ESB is genuinely dark. ANH was this fun plucky little sci-fi film where the scrappy good guys won the day against the Nazi stand-ins, as they were supposed to, and then ESB comes along (speaking of John Williams, let us all chant together, DUH DUH DUH DUHDUHDUH DUHDUHDUH, DUH DUH DUH DUHHHH DUHHH DUHHH DUHHHH) and things go... wrong. Leia and Han are on the run for most of the movie, then get captured and tortured by the Empire and and betrayed (however unwillingly) by Lando. The Rebellion is attacked on Hoth (I tell you, those fuckin AT-AT walkers were SCARY when you see it as a young kid for the first time), and forced into hiding. Luke loses his hand, doubts Obi-Wan and Yoda and realizes that his mentors are fallible, makes dumb mistakes, and of course gets hit with The Most Famous Line In Movie History. But it's also just adrenaline and excitement. THE ASTEROID FIELD! THE HAN-LEIA BANTER! THE FIRST LUKE-VADER DUEL! THE FACT THAT YOU HEAR TWO FRICKING NOTES OF THE IMPERIAL MARCH AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAHHHH!

But also then... Return of the Jedi. It gets shat upon for the Ewoks and reusing the Death Star as the Big Bad and being supposedly cheesy and not as Thematically Dark as ESB. Which is all kinda silly, in my opinion, but also, can we talk about Luke Skywalker's character arc and how he chooses possibly the most radical compassion ever demonstrated by a hero in an action movie, let alone a space opera. He insists that Anakin Skywalker is still in there somewhere and puts his own neck on the line to prove it. Luke doesn't save the galaxy by being a Badass Jedi. He saves it by throwing away his lightsaber and saying "I will not fight you, Father." He saves it by trusting that even in the depths of darkness, Anakin can come back from the charred ruins of Darth Vader and finally do what he was supposed to do all along. He can end Palpatine for good and all (we don't talk about "Somehow Palpatine has returned" because it's nonsense, obviously). Anakin can avenge the Jedi and what was done to him and all the lies he believed and the pain he wreaked on the galaxy, even then. It's not too late. It's not too late. Like. I don't care if this is Lightweight or Childish or whatever. It makes me CRY every time I watch it. Especially the moment where Luke takes off Anakin’s helmet and sees how ruined he actually is under there, and yet the downfall and death of the trilogy’s chief villain is not triumphant at all but instead utterly heartbreaking. “You were right about me Luke... tell your sister... you were right.”

Excuse me, I need to just /CRIES INTENSELY/

Luke won't be tempted to the dark side for his own sake, but Leia's ("If you will not join me, then perhaps she will"). I likewise hold firmly that Anakin/Vader is one of the best movie villains/antiheroes of all time and likewise have many feelings and Strong Opinions about his arc, prequel writing clumsiness and eye-rollingly tepid love story aside. (See: he and Obi-Wan were deeply in love and in a way they still are, don't @ me. I have no problems with Padme and obviously stan Natalie Portman at all times, but Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship is the real love story, the heart of the prequels, and in some ways even the subsequent movies, the end.) And “so this is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause” is... raw af as a line. For being in a Star Wars prequel movie. What?? (Also, the Revenge of the Sith novelization had no business being as good as it was. If only that dude had also written the movie.)

Anyway, my point is: the OG trilogy had plenty of moments of staggering emotional weight and where things genuinely sucked for the good guys and the outcome wasn’t entirely clear. The difference is that it didn’t choose to dwell on them, and it allowed for a transformative fictional space where a happy ending, fiercely fought for and squarely earned, was the right outcome. We didn’t need to go back thirty years later and make everything suck for fear that a cynical modern audience couldn’t connect with it otherwise. (Like I said, we didn’t need the new movies at all, but Disney heard that Cha-Ching of the Almighty Dollar). Star Wars was sci-fi, sure, but it also had the fantasy elements that allowed a happy ending to be the right choice for what we saw the characters go through and the philosophy that carried us through the original trilogy.

Likewise it’s just... Peak as far as dynamics go. C-3PO the fussy metal butler who worries about Everything and R2-D2 who is the droid embodiment of YOLO? Flawless. Sassy scruffy space pirate and badass politician warrior princess bicker constantly, butt heads, drive each other crazy, and then fall in love? Iconic. (And has shaped my ship tastes for... all of eternity, oops.) The above-discussed transformation of Luke Skywalker, whiny ordinary teenage kid, to the truly great man who fulfills what Obi-Wan, Yoda, AND the rest of the entire Jedi order couldn’t manage to do, because of their own flaws and blind spots and black-and-white moral views that didn’t know what to do with a man who loved as passionately as Anakin Skywalker, for better or for worse? The guy who managed to save the galaxy with love? STAN.

So... what? The Disney trilogy decides to retcon all that, throw everything that they’ve fought for out the window, make Han, Leia, and Luke miserable and rejecting the roles they grew into in the original trilogy, and die without ever really reuniting or seeing each other again as a trio? The underlying message was that “these happy endings aren’t satisfactory/realistic/sophisticated enough” and idk, maybe it’s just the shitshow of the last few years, but I’d like to see some entertainment that had the cojones to tell me that despite all the darkness and despair, maybe there’s a chance for hope. (”Rebellions are built on hope,” thank you Only Valid New Star Wars Movie Rogue One.) And Rogue One worked so well, despite being utterly GUTTING as all the heroes died one by one, because we knew what was coming next (A New Hope) and that their sacrifice was going to be worth it. I don’t care if that’s “realistic” or not. As I’ve said before, that’s what stories are for, and if I only wanted things that were Real Life, I would only read the news. Besides, the idea that happy endings never happen in reality is equally bullshit. We as a culture need to accept that more, instead of finding reasons to tear everything down.

So just... yes. The original trilogy might have flaws, but also, it’s perfect. And do I want to rewatch it all now? Kinda.

(Anyway. I warned you this was gonna be long. Oh look, it’s long, and I’m sure there is even more I could say, but still. Ahem.)

sleepover weekend asks