#kp discourse

[fleshandwires]

did something happen regarding kiss players or why am I seeing ppl complain about others being overly dramatic about it

[snickerdoodlles]

*sidles up to you* VegasPete would totally find omegaverse hot.

(re: something knotty)

...ahhh. sure? i guess? VegasPete would be into it as a kink in the same way they're into anything that feeds into their "they are intensely overwhelmingly unhealthy-if-they-were-anyone-other-than-them obsessed with each other" kink. but tbh to me an omegaverse fantasy is a lot of setup for something that would be much more easily satisfied by any of Vegas's domestic house husband ventures and doesn't play enough into Pete's preferences for long periods of intense focus (ie he'd rather Vegas whip him vs knot him imo). like. okay, going to contrast KimChay and VegasPete for a quick second, but the differences in their kinks:

KimChay possession kink vs VegasPete obsession kink: i think Kim and Chay would be delighted in being mutually claimed or referred to as the other person's +1 of any sort (esp by other people, like "why yes i AM his boyfriend/clinger/whatever 🥰"). i think Pete and Vegas want the other to be completely obsessed with them, but being specifically referred to as anything besides the other's boyfriend/husband, esp by outside people, would Get To Them.

Kim and Chay have the vibe of wrapping themselves around each other constantly. their abandonment issues lead to them being very grabby and both find a certain amount of reassurance in a "he can't get away from me" fantasy. Vegas and Pete canonically Do Not Do Well when they're forced together without a choice or option to leave, even when they want to stay with the other.

Kim and Chay would both have fun with the fantasy and story of the kink. coming up with the "rules" (for lack of a better term) of their omegaverse kink, finding "special scents" together, "building a nest", etc--all that setup is further enrichment, they would have a lot of fun making it up. VegasPete would think its a lot of work just to fuck.

and tbh think omegaverse as a kink is a ripe ground for triggers for Pete and Vegas given how poorly they react to any sort of dehumanization (call one of them alpha/omega and see them spiral) and Vegas esp given Gun's whole...macho alpha guy bullshit.

i'm sorry nonny, i don't mean to step on your fun and feel free to ignore me if you want to run with the idea! but i personally don't see omegaverse-as-a-kink satisfying any of Vegas or Pete's kinks, and definitely not in the way omegaverse-as-a-kink could give Kim and Chay an outlet to indulge in a bunch of their kinks at once.

[veliseraptor]

going to be the change i want to see in the world this week i think and put a temporary moratorium on reblogging discourse-y mdzs posts for seven days. see if it at least makes me feel better

this isn't like. ~everyone has to be positive~ stuff, it really is just about me wanting to improve my own feelings about this fandom

[fandom-hoarder]

I totally understand the sentiment to be wary of any mention or accusation of CSEM online. I don't ever trust that accusation at face value.

However, I find the inappropriate and incorrect term CP often used by antis to interchangeably describe both actual CSEM and fictional underage content.

CSEM or CSAM are not just "useful" terms, they are the CORRECT terms for the terrible real life material, because it acknowledges that a child can't consent and a REAL child has been harmed in its making. And people should really stop using the terms 'child porn' and 'kiddie porn' altogether because it's incorrect and harmful in BOTH reality and fictional spaces, because it perpetuates a cutesy, jokey term for child abuse AND allows antis to continue blurring the meanings of words to confuse reality and fiction.

It sucks because obviously the term is useful, but at this point I just assume that unless it's a specific person I know and trust, anyone using the acronym "CSEM" rather than something more common outside of fandom spaces/the Very Online, like "child porn," is likely an anti or at least trying to make something that is not actually CSEM seem like it is. The term was trending on Twitter yesterday and I just knew it was bad news and lo and behold, it was someone claiming fanart was "CSEM."

--

[unlikelypandahologram]

Reasons to ship every single version of MegOP

since Very Dumb Discourse™ exists about whether or not certain versions of this ship are valid, this is going to be THE most positive post about all versions of MegOP. refer back to this post for reasons to ship your favorite version of MegOP if anyone gets weird about it with you. now let us begin!!

G1: goofy '80s faction dads fighting each other in a denny's parking lot every week LET'S GOOO, that shit is fun as fuck. orion pax also totally had a celeb crush on megatron before megatron ruined that and shot him and his pals 😔 and there's a lot of angst you can add with megatron becoming galvatron and optimus coming back to life to see how much he's changed!

BW: it's the sheer fucking comedy gold factor of a newly minted college graduate and a terrorist dinosaur IMMEDIATELY singling each other out on a prehistoric rock and deciding to call their daily gang slap-fights the BEAST WARS, what iconic drama queens LMAOOOO. also, megatron made his final body in BM look like optimal optimus SPECIFICALLY to fuck with him, and that's just...incredible

UT: the fact that megatron CANONICALLY acted like a grieving widower over optimus after he died in armada is. amazing. never forget their absolutely insane obsession with each other that they can never EVER give up on played a direct part in unicron nearly ending the world <3

Bayverse: this is the one continuity of all fucking things that gave us the lore about megatron being prime's lord high protector. absolute galaxy brain writing from the tie-in comics. also these two would ABSOLUTELY have the messiest, nastiest, most brutal hate sex imaginable, and that's beautiful. <3

Animated: optimus being a rookie washout underdog and megatron being a super scary much older warlord is a really interesting and underrated fresh take on their dynamic! lots of fun to be had with exploring what their relationship would be like after megatron finally acknowledged him as his archnemesis, lol. also...age AND size difference ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Prime: do i even need to say anything, i'm pretty sure that one flashback still of orion and megatronus being friends is responsible for birthing a million shippers for this pairing alone LMAOOOO. the bitter ex-boyfriends energy was TRULY off the charts in this show, it's a damn shame megatron never appeared in RID15

Cyberverse: same bitter ex-boyfriends energy but this time with dates at maccadams. megatron also dies encouraging optimus to beat the unhinged alternate dimension megs AAHH THE ANGST

IDW1: they're both depressed gay war criminals in this one who CONSTANTLY live in each other's heads rent-free and that's amazing, lmfao. also, megatron becoming an autobot means this is one of the VERY FEW continuities where it's not nigh impossible to figure out a way to give these two a happy ending together in fanon

IDW2: space date space date SPACE DATE. they were falling together and everything. megatron also LITERALLY tells optimus to open himself to him...to give him the matrix...yeah megs my dude i'm sure that's the ONLY thing you wanted from optimus "opening" himself. toootally positive, lol

G1 Marvel: megatron was SUPER fucking pissed and weird as shit about the time optimus died over a video game. it counts

Dreamwave: their first fight had megatron urging optimus to join him AND they disappeared together in a space bridge explosion once which is like, a fanfic-esque setup for them to be alone. also i'm pretty sure this is the continuity where optimus accidentally gave megatron a lobotomy, so...uh...potential for angst is to be had

SG: mirror universe!! evil crazy villain optimus with noble goody-goody hero megatron has so much potential for absolute chaos. bonus if you also bring in the normal versions somehow through multiverse shenanigans <3

KP: the only way this version of prime can redeem himself from the creepy underage human girl bullshit is if he gets a good hard dicking from megatron. next

Prime Wars: huge "ex-husbands go on a road trip with their disgruntled daughter" energy here. megatron also LITERALLY says "oh optimus, if only you could see me now" <3

Earthspark: again...need i say why? they're pals and working together from the get-go, what's not to ship??

Skybound: optimus literally wears megatron's arm. truly beautiful <3

TF One: it's not out yet but give it time. the entire movie is going to be about orion and d-16 being madly in love and tragically breaking up, baby!!

[istanchan]

I keep seeing discourse about how different Great (4 minutes) is from Vegas (KP) and while I applaud Bible’s acting, and agree that Great is a cutie, GUYS Vegas was also babygirl wet pathetic cat material let us not forget that!!!

He acts tough but really he’s not!!! Look at him—

Mind you this is after his pet hedgehog dies.

He’s actually such a cutie look at him.

A side by side comparison to show that they’re both babygirl material and very very pouty.

I cannot be the only one who always saw Vegas like this. He may kill and commit crime but he is a brat end of story!!

[chicademartinica]

I just realized that Playboyy the series and Only Friends shared a writer. Originally a mystery novelist, acting coach on KP, he wrote Only Friends first and put all the sex trade/exploited sex work/more acidic political discourse in Playboyy. He wrote War of managers in War of Y and that shit was dark. So hum one thing that man can write is egotistical and manipulative borderline violent characters. Also this very queer man likes to make the straights uncomfortable, said it himself and doesn’t consider BL as a genre for heterosexual cis girls. Somebody’s gonna lose it and end up in Klong Prem prison for sure.

Bonus : He also wrote for BOC’s Mansruang.

[britts-galaxy-brain]

Y'all are really missing the point with the Jasmine game discourse here. ILoveKimPossibleALot wasn't defending the creepy aspects of the game, and while I personally find those things off putting, her point was only that art is art. A creator being a shitty person doesn't make their art not art. She wasn't defending anything objectionable about that game, just trying to go in with an open mind. Which is very different from Lily, and for instance her horror incest game she keeps prattling on about, where she IS either glossing over those aspects or romanticizing them. ILKPAL isn't getting flack for the 18+, she's getting flack because people are assuming that because she reviewed this game that she must endorse the questionable material in it, and she's not (just watched the video to see for myself). I don't know why y'all aren't pointing THAT out, because it's a much stronger refutation of Hatoheart, who is just pulling a whataboutism.

I did say multiple times to Hato that KP was making fun of it and pointing out how weird the game is. I made it clear she wasn't defending any of it. Hato just chose to ignore that.

[harry-sussex]

I think the issue more than the simple editing is a) the inability to produce a non edited photo and b) blaming it on Catherine herself. Both of these things are only going to fuel conspiracies - I say this as someone who firmly believes that she is simply recovering from abdominal surgery. But it’s not a stretch to say KP have completely messed up the PR and invited the speculation and continue to do so by not setting it straight properly. So no the blurry steps won’t topple an institution, but the image of said institution as being dishonest and throwing its own Princess of wales under the bus sure doesn’t help

I honestly do not think it’s a big deal. The cheating bullshit has died down and resurfaces every few months with almost no traction. The photo is edited as is literally every single photo released by every single royal in the world. I remember Charlotte’s first Christmas, there was a bunch of discourse about her little shoe on the ground and the shadows associated with the way she was sitting on Kate’s lap. Is Kate a graphic designer? No. The insinuation that she meant something harmful by editing her photo more poorly than usual? That’s batshit, and that will die down. In a week, nobody sane is going to say “we can’t trust our next Queen because she photoshopped a sweater cuff.”

And the team very much did not throw Kate under the bus. The team NEVER would have never signed the statement “-C” without her knowing. They’d be fired so fast they wouldn’t know what hit them. Kate did that herself - like I said the other day, the apology came from Kate, not HRH The Princess of Wales. The conspiracies are nothing. The palace has already reiterated their original information about Kate’s return and the stupid shit will all but disappear once she’s back. Sure, it’ll come back up (the conspiracies and the photo) every once in a while, especially when she inevitably takes a long break in August and while the kids are in school, but after her recovery and return after Easter, this will all be a meme. It’s already a meme - two different people sent me a photoshopped pic of Kate the day after her wedding walking out of BP hand in hand with Pete Davidson. A few weeks of making fun of Kate online is not going to hurt her image. It will die down, as it always does with Kate.

I won’t even say that KP invited the speculation. They said Kate would be back after Easter and reiterated that remained the same after the speculation and #WhereIsKate really took off. There’s nothing left for them to do other than live stream Kate’s recovery and post-surgery treatment and have the doctors give a press conference from the throne room once a week. KP did what they could do. The answer is to let #WhereIsKate roll off their backs until she returns.

They can’t combat the internet. We saw this with Harry and Meghan - they can’t combat the stupid shit every time it arises. The logic we have been trying to apply to the Sussexes all this time holds in this current situation with Kate/KP. Address it once maximum and move on. You cannot stop people from talking, all you can do is move past it.

This is so unserious. It is not a big deal. It reflects mildly on Kate right now in the media and she cannot get out there to directly combat the conspiracy bullshit, but that will end in a few weeks and we’ll go to business as usual in a few weeks after that max. The media forgets quickly and the general population on internet forgets even faster. We’re the ones who will remember because we’re active watchers. We can all collectively come to the rational conclusion that this is not a big deal and will not affect Kate’s reputation long-term if we take ourselves out of our bubble and think about this broadly. Wait until she busts out a tiara or hugs a child or wears a beautiful gown or makes a cheeky comment to William - it’ll all go back to business as usual. Pretty princess who is good with kids. She’s far more than that, as we know, but that’s what the media presents her as, and that’s what it’ll go back to, and that’s what the general public will go back to as well, for the most part.

This has literally no effect on the institution or Kate long term. Currently? Yes, it’s a headline and the talk of the town. But if Kate’s image can weather topless photos, her husband’s alleged cheating, the Sussex bullshit, racism accusations, etc. then it can definitely handle #WhereIsKate and the photoshopped picture. Give it a month or two. It’ll all be water under the bridge.

It is so unserious it’s actually funny.

[bcbdrums]

I saw the Reddit drama. Please explain why Drakgo is a more interesting ship than KimRon.

first, thanks for the ask! second, whoaaaaaaa i wouldn't presume to label one ship more interesting than another. some people will find ships interesting, others won't.

i'll give a diff example. in my other current hyperfixation, soul eater, my friend adores Ship A while i'm all about Ship B. her ship IS interesting to me! i think those chars are the most shippable in the show, they're basically canon w/o PDA, and they are deeply complex both as individual chars and as a couple.

they're just... not the ones i'm hyperfixated on. doesn't make them uninteresting.

what makes a person's brain and heart grab onto one ship and not another? who can say.

a lack of personal interest in a ship does not make it objectively uninteresting, or worse... and a ship having way more attention than another in fandom doesn't objectively make that ship more interesting, or better.

CAN a person make canonical objective arguments for or against ships? certainly.

let's just grab characters from KP to use as example. Bonnie and Brick. canonically a couple for more than one episode! we do not get a lot of canon info onscreen for them, so most of the interest in them would have to come from fan creations. compare to Kim and Ron, who have infinitely more screentime together, infinitely more individual character development than Bonnie and Brick both as individuals and as a couple...

one could argue that Kim/Ron is more interesting than Brick/Bonnie. there's more to grab from the canon at least. but if a person wants to draw/write/talk at length about Brick/Bonnie? why not!

no reason to be hating on any ship. if it's not your ship, then just...don't engage?? especially if you're against said ship.

now me, personally, i find Drakgo more interesting than Kim/Ron. (altho recent convo with @creatorping got my Kim/Ron juices flowing again). Drakgo just appeal to me more as characters, with their gritty backgrounds, a lot more unknowns to explore, the challenge of two villains developing a mutual trusting relationship so they can have a happily ever after... that just grabs my mind and heart more than the perfect girl and her adorkable boyfriend. it doesn't mean Kim and Ron aren't interesting, cuz ohhhhh they are! mostly post-canon for me because...who ARE they, after high school?? who is Kim other than the student who saves the world? what's she gonna do with her life? and what is Ron gonna do? he absolutely can't go to the same college as her, and she can't ditch a good opportunity to go to a community college with him... my hang-up has always been that Kim wasn't given enough individual development onscreen to do anything interesting with her post-canon. but aforementioned convo with Ping changed my mind, heheh. 😏

in any case, the point... one ship isn't more or less interesting. one ship isn't better or worse than another. it's us, the viewer, who either will or won't be interested.

so as i've always said.... ship and let ship. don't like? don't interact. don't hate on someone else's ships or headcanons or POVs... (reddit...)

and, that's not the same thing as discourse. discussing characters, discussing points of view, interpretations... sharing various headcanons... with willing parties who want to enter into that conversation! THAT is a major part of fandom! but it's all in how one goes about it. and! should people come to disagree about interpretations of characters, also fine!

i think the issue arises when people start to act like... my interpretation is correct OR, my interpretation is the only valid one. when people get up on that horse, that's where the problems arise... it can be tough if you feel like you're the only person WITH a certain POV, but... again, if the folks you're chatting with aren't into it, then find other people. i'm in that boat with some soul eater headcanons, but, that's okay. i don't need to convince everyone else in the fandom in order rto enjoy my thoughts. i'll still talk about them, but, not with the idea of telling anyone my view is the only view. that's the antithesis of what fandom is about. i'll talk about them because i enjoy talking about them, to like-minded folk, and on my own blog which is what a blog is for.

and, idk why it shows up so often in the KP fandom, especially the Drakgo side, that people can't simply say "hey i have this headcanon!" and someone respond with "oh that's neat!" and just. happily co-exist. everyone creating their things, sharing their things. and people will like what they like, as they always have, in every fandom. and if they don't like someone's idea, that's fine too!

but it's not worth fighting about?? it never is! it's just not that important. it's fandom. it's fun. it's our escape. if one feels SO strongly against a concept, or ship, or whatever.... then you don't interact with it. you don't make it your mission to disprove the other person. you don't actively seek out opportunities to hate on a point of view you dislike. that's not how fandom is supposed to be. find your people, and chill with them.

let's all be positive in the various fandom spaces.

i hadn't intended that to be such a rant, but...well, there you have it. sorry it probably was not what you wanted to hear, but yeah. thanks again for the ask!!

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL!! This is more of a data question then anything but it might not actually be answerable.

How does the world of BL define a successful show? Is it money made on ads revenue? Streams? Trending hashtags??

Granted in North American media I also couldn’t answer this question, but I could gage based on…article reviews or critical acclaim. Or something.

I see soooooo many people saying something flopped or was massively successful, but truly. How on earth are we making those benchmarks?

I figure you might have at least a tiny sliver of insight into how this works! Or at least a key word I can take to google LOL. Thanks as always!!!!!

Hum.

Well for GMMTV et al, it's YT views. So that's easy. We can see those eyeballs outright.

The streaming platforms obfuscate data (that is one of the reasons SAG is still on strike) but we can see things like where it's ranked on their internal leader boards (what's "popular on Viki" for example). How many reviews something has. How many collections and lists it's on. How many people on MDL have it listed as "currently watching"

More key is how much chatter a show is getting. How many comments. But also...

Literally when you do a Google search for that IP:

How are the hit returns?

How many top spots does it hold above the fold on Google main (using private or incognito mode).

Are people blogging about it? Think pieces?

Are there reaction vids?

FMVs?

Reddit chatter?

BTS's?

Interviews with actors?

The amount of fan content generated around an IP tells you a lot about the number of viewers - since it is all a numbers game. Commenters (those who visibly/trackably react to content) are more common than (content) creators. Ghosts (passive consumers) are more common than commenters.

There are those in EntDA working on formulas for predictive fan base numbers sourced in the ratios of these.

Lemme try to explain...

In other words, the fans who create content for IPs (fanfic, art, meta analysis, FMVs, etc...) are the rarest. Those who interact with the content, leave star reviews, comment on the above fan-made content, engage in discourse, leave YT comments, are the second rarest. Those who tend to do nothing more than ... well, ghost (maybe have a subscription, maybe save the vid to a playlist or on MDL, maybe read this on Tumblr but don't react to it). They are the largest contingent but hardest to track.

If we could get a good handle on the first 2, there's usually a predictable ratio that can be drawn for the fan base as a whole, the largest number 3 - ghosts.

For example:

For every 1 creator there are 100 commenters and 1000 ghosts. Something like that. However the nature of this ratio is dependent on venue and vocality of the fan base (often a generational thing). So like, most Kpop stans are vocal, but 4th gen stans tend to be more noisy online, even though 3rd gen groups tend to have bigger overall fan bases. (Superstars, like super hits, are non-viable non-predictive outliers. There can never be another KP, or 2g, and we can't use their numbers to predict anything. Just like Taylor Swift or BTS can't be used to predict/estimate the success of a new pop venture).

back to the BL fandom

Here on Tumblr you can tell what's popular by which ones are getting the most gifsets.

That's how we know Only Friends is out performing Dangerous Romance. (I mean I could check the numbers on YT but I don't really have to.)

Also, I bet you good money Kiseki is garnering more eyeballs than You Are Mine. Again, I can say that with confidence just based on the content that's being created for that IP in this one venue.

On a practical level, in the ET industry, if there is chatter about a BL outside of BL circles (as happened with KP) you know it's gotten HUGE (by BL standards).

The moral of this story, incidentally, is if you like a thing, doesn't matter how shy you are, if you want it to continue, get a second season, whatever, you gotta NOT JUST WATCH IT BUT TALK about it. Online, where careers are made and broken. Squeaky wheel and all that.

Entertainment is about attention. More money is always thrown at the thing getting the most attention.

Just like politics.

Okay, I done now.

[mrmrswales]

On another day of ‘stans are ridiculous’ — Andrew Parsons who have been working with KP on-off for quite some time, years even, but has in the past few months I think been hired to cover their engagements more regularly. He used to be the official photographer at Downing Street and BoJo’s photographer, but I think he’s freelancing now… and he’s also in a relationship with Rhiannon Mills.

Anyway, yesterday he posted pictures of William’s engagement in Cornwall as he usually does when working with KP, but because the pictures where released to the media before KP posted themselves those Charles stans seemed to pick up on Andrew’s name — bear in mind this is far from the first time he has worked with KP — and now apparently William is this master schemer trying to curate his image in a certain way, bypassing the royal rota (never mind there was media in Cornwall but the rota was focused on Biden’s visit) and how awful that is.

I can personally side eye a bit that they’ve hired someone who is in a relationship with a journalist that covers them quite closely, but I can also side eye them exclusively using Chris Jackson sometimes due to his relationship with Natasha, but as long as everyone is professional I don’t really a problem with it. But these people�� I feel like they see 2 + 2 and get 568 🤡

I saw some of the discourse about that and it made me laugh.. Andrew has been working for KP for a while, this is not brand new information. Also yesterday's visit was not an official engagement as it did not go into the CC.. and the cherry on top? he's photographed Charles before too

I've never been a fan of C&C but it really makes me laugh how these twitter people think they are doing him a service by acting all stupid and childish. like yall just make him look like a jealous/petty child

[supersonicart]

Samantha Harrison's “Pleasing Sorrow”

Currently on view at KP Projects in Los Angeles, California until March 11th, 2023 is artist Samantha Harrison's solo exhibition, "Pleasing Sorrow."

Samantha Harrison’s work focuses inward, toward the self, capturing in painted, drawn, and embroidered on textiles, the multifaceted thoughts that run compulsively through the mind. The work is a process of excavation and exorcism, observation and catharsis, from which new skin can grow. Introspective, self-deprecating, rebellious, and self-aware, each medium, including a new series of videos being shown for the first time, echoes the duality of the artist’s discourse with desire, worth, love and forgiveness. 

THE SUPERSONIC ART SHOP | FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

[daswarschonkaputt]

Look Don't Leap 👍

looking at the power dynamics of the story again but if the lead is a woman 👍👍

ohhhh, they're both bi. fem!Kinn bi!KP 👍👍👍

thank you!

(and if you were to write a continuation of when she stops looking and starts leaping, there would be no complaints here.)

ahhh i'm glad you liked the drabble!

i was actually fairly nervous about posting it because i knew how it was going to get painted by people who didn't read it. i'm someone who takes a more blurry view on gender and sexuality as a whole and feels that it's not something that's easy to quantify. attraction works in mysterious ways, basically. i knew people were going to look at it and go, "ew, she's making the lesbian straight." no. i'm making the bi woman bi.

one of the big reasons i went ahead and posted it is that i feel a lot of kinship with the bisexual community as an asexual. i don't talk about my sexuality much over here, mostly because i was active on tumblr during the ace discourse era. it was a really horrible time to be figuring out your sexuality, in amongst all this rabid, awful talk from members of a community that should have been supporting us and amplifying our voices. so i know how hard it can be when discussions of your own sexuality and experience get hammered into a box labelled "actually homophobic actually" by radicals in the community. and it's something i see happening with bi people, too. when "straight" people figure out they're bi, it's celebrated. when "gay" people figure out they're actually bi, it's seen as a downgrade. it's nasty and i don't want any part of it.

i do want to state that i am aware of the tropes that people may feel this fic invokes. i am aware of the "curing the lesbian" angle. i hate it too. i hope that's not what the fic is, at all. but if that trope's looming shadow is going to ruin the fic for you, i encourage you not to read it. but ship and let ship applies to all kinds of fic.

and lastly the final reason i posted it is that i cut my teeth in the glee fandom. so i guess i'm not scared of a little fandom wank.

[zanzibarhamster]

FORGOT THE NUMBERS UBh every oddly number

ALL RIGHT LET'S GO (character is big boss mentioned in another ask)

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

big boss has a really compelling negative character arc and has a lot of grayness to him. he's a hero to some and a villain to others, and we get to watch the slider slowly go from one end of the other, which is not a kind of main character that you see a lot, especially in games. i think a lot of the discourse about him, including the insanely polar-opposite takes of dudebros who think he's a super cool anti-hero vs the queer fans who think he's an irredeemable psychopath from day 1, is because neither one is entirely wrong. also, the che guevara parallel really really works for that reason.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

hayter's voice acting does not always land. sorry but it's true.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

definitely kings by tribe society (spotify, lyrics)

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

i like how many artists reject the way his canon models are mostly hairless with a chiseled six-pack (bc lbr neither one of those makes sense for the character) and go some degree of bear with him. 10/10.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

...my gut instinct was "no" but honestly he's lived in very tight quarters with other people for many years so he's probably a pretty mindful roommate. the downside is he also probably doesn't know how to function without a KP chart and will be more than a little bitchy if I don't stick to whatever day of the week i'm supposed to wash the floors. i could do worse.

11. Would you date this character?

absolutely the fuck not.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

he wouldn't use emojis even if he knew what they were and how to use them. but 📦 suits him for obvious reasons.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

shocking absolutely everyone, bbkaz.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

not sure how to parse this question so i'm going to hype my other bb ships which are bbeva and bbroy. he's weak to a very specific type of person okay.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

i don't really have this? i do wish we had more closure on his relationship with eva, the way i make sense of eva pining for him for the rest of her life while he barely even mentions her is that i hc that their last conversation was 1) about the twins, 2) went extremely badly, and 3) she feels guilty about how badly he took it while he just cut her out of his life and never looked back. but i wish we actually knew what happened.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

not sure i have a favorite but my least favorite thing by far is to have him watch someone else fight. choreographing fight scenes is a pain in the ass already bc i tend to try to work within specific arts a character might know like judo or aikido instead of just doing it by vibes, and the last thing i need is to deal with a character that uses every single technical term for all of those techniques and provides running commentary on top of it.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

i'm on mobile but insert screenshot of when he is naked against the wall of a cell in portable ops here.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

mgs3 was the first game i played bc i was told to play in timeline order and my first impression was that he was kind of a dumbass but in an endearing way and his relationship with the boss was cute. which more or less still holds up as part of my opinion on him at that point on the timeline. it got more complicated.

[onboardsorasora]

https://x.com/ritchiardo/status/1772241745545236518?s=46&t=ft1DrvS7KVl6ZdzNXzDoPQ

I just… like what???

This is not normal behavior

there's something wrong with them.

like, i say this with the utmost disrespect. Fandom in recent times is just toxic. Like general fandom, and this stretches from kp*p stans to b*rbz to b*yh*ve to t*yl*r as some of the most famous ones who will attack and think its ok and cute to d*xx people.

Its not, but they've been conditioned to think it is. and you bring that over into sport spaces where its already a general heightened sense of emotion at any given time and you have what's happening now.

and all of these stans are like keyboard warriors. They'll never say this shit off anon or from their burner pages with anime dp or their faves faces. they'll never say this shit in person, they'll never put their name to it. because they KNOW its wrong. they're very aware of what they're doing and they don't care.

I've been on the internet a long time and idc how old that makes me sound to the youngins. I've seen the internet go from 'oh this is cute' to TOXIC AF.

all of these stans are straight up bullies and I hope they find a different hyperfixation soon and leave motorsport alone.

once again, so that I won't be misunderstood by anyone looking to misunderstand or get upset at something.

I'm saying this 10000% disrespectfully. they need to look within and figure out why they think this is ok to do anonymously but not with their whole govt out.

Anyone wants to be upset at this, I'll entertain your discourse off anon. I'm not fighting with nameless faces.