#like 30 characters fall under this category for the most part

[cyanide-sippy-cup]

I haven't read the IDW comics, so I'm way late and all I know of personality is that from what I saw, she's like "oh, abrasive with a rough exterior but can be broken through" yada yada like Shadow maybe but

D'ya think Surge's design is in reference to or inspired by Manic?

Cause, like,

we got Manic. Notably, he has two earring hoops, a unique spikey mohawk-ish hairstyle, spikey cuff bracelets, and is generally very punk related.

And then we have Surge.

Two earring hoops, spikey hairstyle, spikey cuff bracelets, and punk related.

Also, they are obviously both green.

I don't have much else to say. I just noticed similarities and wanted an excuse to say them.

[ensemble-news]

This week on Ensemble News

A popular blog, @.katsuhiras, receives an anonymous attack under the pseudonym of "ribbon anon". The attacks last over almost a week and are rooted on the hatred of a popular enstars character.

Fans speculate about the possible second half of the current, foreign exclusive, bridal scout. Speculations conclude on the possible characters available in this new scout, the "white swans"

Want to know more? Stay with us

▶ Fandom Section

The anonymous attack to user "katsuhiras"

WARNING: This article contains mentions of violence, death threats and other similar topics. Proceed with caution.

The past day, May 30, a popular blog known as katsuhiras, who's fame in the enstars community comes from their editing abilities and icon requests, received a strange ask from an anonymous user in one of their requests.

This ask felt awkward enough for the community and followers of the editing blog to start discussing the topic. As it felt pretentious and just plainly weird to make such a request in a public blog.

But this was just the beginning of it. This anonymous user, who always signed their messages with a ribbon motif which made them win the name of "ribbon anon", continued to send repeated hate and to make strange demands to katsuhiras blog. Fortunately, this topic was taken with humor at the beginning.

Regarding the censorship of the Rei Sakuma layout, Katsuhiras did fullfil the request in a funny, comical way; changing their layout more than one time to accommodate everyone's "needs".

The issue escalated when "ribbon anon" started crossing a limit, by sending death threats, insults and just plain harassment to the admin and presumably to other blogs.

"it is 100% weird though when it's so easy to curate your own space on here. I am assuming the reason I wasn't blocked instantly is because they like the non-rei edits but if rei is such a dealbreaker, just find someone else who posts edits and art you like...?" (Katsuhiras via Tumblr) ¹

(delicate content) Some of the threats are included the following images:

On the current time, Katsuhira's inbox is completely closed, as they've stated their will to stop this situation that even trespassed and became stalking.

"official announcement: I don’t want my inbox to keep breaking + don’t wanna be subjected to more dumbass monologues from our dear failed theatre kid ribbon, + I have a lot of requests to fill anyway so my inbox is just fully closed for now" (Katsuhiras via Tumblr) ²

They also decided to add a couple of information, like the fact that they received 38 messages from ribbon alone overnight and that despite having blocked them three times, the anon didn't decide to seize.

We send our entire support to katsuhiras and hope this situation settles down soon. On a same note, we do not condone any type of violence directed towards anyone involved in this case.

References:

1. Katsuhiras (@.katsuhiras) via Tumblr. 30/05/2023. Link

2. Katsuhiras (@.katsuhiras) via Tumblr. 03/06/2023. Link

The white swan, potential scout

Because of the recent release of the "black swan" scout in the foreign servers, fans have been speculating of the possibilities of a second part, as it's well known that foreign scouts tend to have more than one part as seen in multiple occasions before.

The most important clue the fandom has encountered has to do with the black swan/white swan motifs found in the collab page. As it's stated that StarMaker Production falls under the category of black swans, meanwhile, Cosmic Production falls in the category of white swans.

As for the characters that the scout may feature, it is currently unknown, however, a user ¹ has pointed out some of the possibilities.

Himeru, Kohaku — Crazy:B

2wink

Shu — Valkyrie

Jun, Ibara — Eden

The list features character that haven't gotten any limited time overseas card, which makes the chances higher for them.

Of course, nothing is set in stone, so we'll have to wait.

References:

1. Ree (@.seavenwaves) via Twitter. 04/06/2023. Link

▶ Game Section

Event

"Sugoroku* Journey! Number Eight is Our BGM" is still ongoing.

It features 5* Rinne Amagi, 4* HiMERU and 3* Niki Shiina and Kohaku Oukawa.

Feature Scout

Feature Scout 2: Koga, is still ongoing.

It features 5* Koga Oogami, 4* Mika Kagehira and 3* Tsumugi Aoba.

Event Scout

Scout: Biblion, is still ongoing.

It features 5* Tsukasa Suou, 4* Kaoru Hakaze and 3* Hajime Shino, Nagisa Ran and Tsumugi Aoba.

June's Tsukisuta has been announced.

The guest will be Hiruma Shunya (Tomoya's VA) and the hosts will be Ono Yuuki (Koga's VA) and Kamio Shinichiro (Kuro's VA). It'll be premiered on June 13 at 9 pm (JST).

▶ Thank you for using Ensemble News

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hey! I’m really a big fan of crunchy, deep character builds but also a big fan of story-forward RPGs. I’ve yet to find any TTRPGs that really marry the two and scratch both itches at once. Any recommendations? (If possible, I’d prefer free or cheap options).

Theme: Story-Forward, Character-Deep.

Hello friend, so this is quite a conundrum you’ve presented with me here. This is what I’m interpreting as your request:

1. Crunchy, Deep Character Builds: you’re looking for characters made up of a lot of composite, interlocking parts that may or may not use math. 

2. Story-forward RPGs, which will give players tools that will help them tell an engaging story. 

3. Cheap or Free TTRPGs. These games are likely produced out of love, are unfinished versions of games, or contain only the core rules (with lore and other supplements provided at a cost). 

If a rulebook has deep character builds as well as some kind of story-forward mechanic, what you’re looking at is a complex set of systems that work together to provide satisfying encounters as well as strong character arts. I can think of quite a few games that would fall into that category, such as Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars games, Monte Cook’s Numenera, and Lancer, by Massif Press. The catch is this: most if not all of these games are expensive for at least one person at the table. 

I have one game that I found that seemed to fit all of the criteria above, but I found another way around this conundrum. I decided to track down two games that were relatively low-cost, that can be played together to give you the same experience. Let’s see what I’ve got. 

Ironsworn, by Shawn Tomkin.

This game is probably going to be the best example of a game that fits story-forward mechanics, deep character design, and the low, low cost of free. Set in a fantasy world, your characters move through a world in which vows drive the narrative. Your characters will make promises that matter, and work towards completing them… or else. Action resolution takes the form of moves, which could result in a strong hit, a weak hit, or a Miss. Even on a miss, the story doesn’t stop - your character has just lost control of the situation.

Despite moves that look to be part of a rules-light system, Ironsworn requires a lot of character maintenance: you’ll have to deal with Conditions and Burdens that threaten to pull you down, as well as assets and allies that can improve your chances for success in specific arenas. 

Ironsworn also has a Delve supplement that you can add for more options, although this one costs a little under $13.Since the base game is free, you don’t really stand to lose anything by at least checking this out.

Traveller: Explorer’s Edition, by Mongoose, paired with Station Zero, by tavos silva.

Traveller is very open in regards to the kind of stories your characters can play. The Explorer’s Edition isn’t the full game (that’ll cost you $30), but if you want to create a game with explorers, galaxies and star systems, it’s got what you need. Mongoose also publishes free adventures occasionally, such as Death Station.

The game is also pretty in-depth when it comes to character creation - your character will have to roll various stats and skills to complete certain careers, so it’s possible that their story ends before you get started. (You can check out a free character creator here, and the map of the Traveller universe here!)

If Traveller’s game mechanics don’t feel very story-forward, Station Zero is a very short game (only about 5 pages or so of plain text) that has a very specific focus. Your characters live on a station far outside the bounds of regulated space, tasked with dealing with emergencies in a place populated by pirates, rogues and outlaws. The rules are inspired by PbtA games and Forged in the Dark, which are heavily story-forward. Because Station Zero is built for one-shots, you could place games of your characters’ stints on the Emergency Task Force in between adventures of a longer Traveller game.

Confluence, by DaneAsmund, combined with So, The Beast is Dead, by Prepared Heathen.

Confluence is a very rules-heavy game with a lot of interlocking parts that make up your characters. You’ll choose a race that will give you special traits and abilities, and distribute a number of different-sided die among a number of attributes. Right now the game is in playtest, so there’s a little bit of lore and the document itself is in a slightly unfinished state, but the game is pay-what-you-want! The setting feels very fantastical, but there are elements of sci-fi and horror, as the game is meant to take place at a place and time where a number of different universes collide. 

Confluence is also a combat-heavy game, which is why it might pair well with So, The Beast is Dead. This is a story-first game that can fit in whatever setting you like, and can follow a plot in which your characters pursue and bring down a mighty monster. Because The Beast is Dead focuses on the heroes’ reasons for fighting the beast, the party could create their characters for both games at the beginning, filling in pieces of their backstory by attaching themselves to the beast - and what they need from it. Perhaps the beast is a literal monster that is attacking all of their homes, but it’s also a possibility that it is a larger-than-life threat that requires all of their skills and talents to take down. Either way, the beast likely has skills, treasures, or magic that could help the characters in a larger goal.

Once the beast is defeated in Confluence, you can switch to The Beast is Dead to narrate the scramble after the battle to claim their prizes from the Beast. As a group, you’ll discover whether the bid for pieces tears apart the characters’ relationships to each-other, if the reward is lost due to in-fighting, or if the characters are able to make compromises or sacrifices for each-other’s benefit. The Beast is Dead is GM-less, so whoever is GM-ing the game might want to make an NPC in Confluence who has a stake in the killing of whatever monster the group decides to make.

[dmss-blog-salian]

Blog Post - 01

Why Representation in Media is Destined to Fail

Like most other millennial humans, I spent my childhood binge-consuming almost every film or series I could get my hands on. Of course, a lot of this included western or various other foreign content. I enjoyed some of them and the others… Well, let’s just say that they were extremely forgettable. 

Fast forward to now, I keep people screaming this term. It’s called ‘Representation’. I’ve heard that term before but nowhere near as much I hear it now and definitely not within the same context. Apparently, in western nations, people groups outside of the white majority are not happy with the lack of and/or negative representation in the media. I can see where they’re coming from. 

You grow up in a country and its culture. You spend time and money to watch the shows and films produced by this culture, but then all you see are a bunch of people who look nothing like you. I can understand the frustration. So, the demand for representation makes sense, but, hear me out before you get ‘triggered’... I think representation is overrated and it’s destined to be a failure. 

Let me explain.

Representation is fine. It’s nice to see diversity on the screen or within the pages of a bestselling novel. However, in my personal experience, these representations are largely vacuous. I mean they’re absolutely pointless. 

You see, I’m an Indian who grew up in India - you know, the real Indian. Everytime I see my fellow countrymen and countrywomen yell and scream about representation, I become amused. Why? Well, it’s because any attempt to represent Indians will never be authentic enough and I’m sure this is true for every other ethnicity and culture. 

In fact, what is authentic when it comes to representation? Culture and society is incomprehensibly diverse. How can we expect any creator to get it right 100% of the time? Even in my own culture, which falls under the broad category of “Indian”, it is impossible to decipher who or what is Indian. 

In fact, even when Indians are represented in western media, I can hardly relate. Yes, you’ve got your brown skinned man or woman. But that’s about it. Indianness goes beyond brown skin. Indian representation, even when it’s done “right”, barely scratches the surface. Having said that, this is not a rant or a critique. I genuinely feel representation is overrated largely because it is hard for anyone in a foreign culture to acquire a complete understanding of what it means to be Indian. I’m sure this sentiment is shared by my fellow humans from other ethnicities and cultures. 

To illustrate my point, let’s look at ‘Master of None’. ‘Master of None’ is an American sitcom starring popular Indian comedian Aziz Ansari. The show revolves around Ansari’s character Dev Shah, a struggling 30 year old Actor. The general narrative focuses on the struggles and triumphs of a 2nd generation Indian migrant with regard to his career, romantic relationships and various other personal experiences. 

I found the show to be generally entertaining and humorous. However, representation-wise, the show failed to meet the standard of “authentic”. You see, the show’s protagonist is only Indian when it comes to skin color and appearance. I couldn’t relate to him as an Indian in any other manner. 

For instance, the major focus of the show is romantic relationships. We see Ansari’s character looking for love, going on dates, and finding himself in hilarious and awkward scenarios. This is one of the segments where I simply couldn’t relate. Dating or pursuing your own romantic interests is still very much forbidden in India. As an average Indian, I couldn’t even dream of finding my own partner. Arranged marriages are still how the vast majority of Indians enter into marital union. ‘Master of None’ loses me here. 

But, that’s not all. What I found even more amusing is that Ansari’s character is called Dev Shah. That’s a name that you will typically find being used in the Northern parts of India. However, in the show, the flashbacks of the character’s past show him speaking Tamil, which is a language spoken in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Interestingly enough, Ansari himself is the son of Tamilian immigrants in real life. This, in my opinion, is poor research on the part of the show’s creators and again, a failure to be authentic. The fact that Ansari himself failed to notice this is an indicator of how disconnected the average American-Indian is from his/her roots. 

As I stated earlier, some cultures are just too complex to pin down. Errors like the ones discussed above are almost unavoidable. Even so, Master of None was still an entertaining show. 

At the end of the day, what makes a movie/TV show/game entertaining and enjoyable is the plot, the narrative, the performance, the character arc etc. For instance, some of my favorite films from the west happen to consist of an all white cast. That’s because they had a narrative or storyline that was far more relatable than any of the characters. I didn’t have my mind blown by ‘Terminator II: Judgement Day’ because it had an Indian character (which it did not); I was mind blown because of the special effects and the existential dread it induced in me with the whole “machines vs. humans” narrative. Now, that’s something most people, irrespective of ethnic or cultural identity, can relate to. 

How This Relates To My Own Practice:

In conclusion, all I’d like to say is that creators shouldn't be burdened with impossible to achieve standards. Creating art should be fun - a thing born of passion; a labor of love. Everything doesn’t have to be politically correct. Everyone’s interests don’t need to be catered to. Good art transcends these trivialities. 

This is what I aim to focus on in my own work. Representation has its place but I do not intend to sacrifice creativity, engagement and entertainment at the altar of representation. 

Source:

Copes, C. (2021). Why All Representation in Media is Flawed. [online] BLK INK. Available at: https://medium.com/blk-ink/why-all-representation-in-media-is-flawed-e4068a5268fa.

Complex. (n.d.). Aziz Ansari, Diversity, and Being Able to Finally See Yourself on TV. [online] Available at: https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/11/indian-american-representations-television.

‌ Wikipedia. (2022). Master of None. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_None#Critical_response [Accessed 10 Jan. 2023].

[thesims4blogger]

IT’S OFFICIAL: Story Progression Coming to The Sims 4 on November 30th

The Sims team has officially announced that Story Progression is coming to The Sims 4! It is expected they will go into more detail during today’s Inside Maxis stream, but check out the official community blog below for the first details!

Hello, Simmers! I’m Nate, a designer for The Sims 4.

I joined the team during development of Island Living and have worked on several releases since then. Some accomplishments I’m proud of are: Professor Sims in Discover University (SimGuruMorgan and I made those happen together), the Onsen venue in Snowy Escape (it was surprisingly hard to prevent Servos from merrily wading to their doom in the hot spring), and the cows and llamas in Cottage Living!

Today, I want to give you all a behind-the-scenes look into the latest thing I’ve been a part of: Neighborhood Stories, which arrives on November, 30, 2021!

The Sims 4 has so much that your Sims can see and do, leading to interesting, and often unexpected, life moments. All these life moments add up to something very important: life change at an individual level. My team and I have been exploring ways to carry that same kind of life change to the whole world of The Sims 4 through Neighborhood Stories.

Neighborhood Stories are a set of gameplay moments that all revolve around a single purpose: bring more life to Neighbor Sims that live outside the active household. (“Neighbor Sims” refers to most of the non-player character (NPC) Sims in the game, not just ones who live on the same street as your household. Neighbor Sims excludes special NPCs such as Grim Reaper.)

There’s a lot we want to do to add more life to Neighbor Sims, so we’re rolling it out over more than one release.

This first release focuses on Sims connected to your household: coworkers they’ve gotten to know, friends they’ve met at the Gym or Library… maybe that one Sim who welcomed them to the neighborhood with fruitcake, which seems like a bold move, but to each their own, I guess.

In the same way that your Sims change as they move through life, these Neighbor Sims are getting some new life changes of their own such as choosing a new career or having a baby.

Future updates will build on this with more life changes for a wider range of Sims. Find additional info in the “What’s Next?” section near the end of this post, but for now let’s get a closer look at what’s in this release.

Neighborhood Stories begins with gameplay divided between life changes that your Sims can influence Neighbor Sims to consider, things Neighbor Sims autonomously consider, and some that fall into both categories.

Whether they consider a life change autonomously or under influence from your Sims, Neighbor Sims ultimately decide to initiate life changes themselves. That means these changes happen without any need to switch to another household.

“What if I don’t want Sims to autonomously change?” — That’s okay! Everyone has a unique vision for their Sims, and some of you have poured lots of time and love into  multi-household/multi-generation saves! All along, we’ve worked with the explicit goal: you choose how Neighborhood Stories affect your game. The two ways this happens are:

You direct one of your Sims to influence a Neighbor Sim to consider a life change, or…

…a Neighbor Sim autonomously considering a life change will always call one of your Sims to ask for input before taking any action. You choose the outcome by directing your Sim to say “Yes,” “No,” or leaving it up to the Neighbor Sim to decide.

Our intent is to empower you to decide if a life change makes sense in the story your Sims are living out, or to leave that decision up to the Neighbor Sim altogether.

Remember, these life changes actually happen, so they won’t occur instantly. Neighbor Sims will keep your Sim posted with updates.

Here’s the full list of life changes:

Autonomous or Active Sim Influenced Life Changes

Neighbor Sims may consider these life changes independently, or your Sims can try to convince them to:

Change their current Career to a different one.

Have a baby with their partner, if they are in a relationship where either Sim can become pregnant.

Hang out with other Sims to form or deepen Friendly relationships

Autonomous-only Life Changes

Neighbor Sims can only undergo these life changes independently, but they’ll check with a Sim in the active household beforehand. They just need a little confidence boost! (Or to be let down easily. Don’t worry, they’ll understand!)

Try to get promoted in their current Career.

Accept a marriage proposal, if they are already Engaged to another Sim. Neighbor Sims will not autonomously get married for now.

Active Sim Influenced Life Changes

Your Sims can do these things to cause life changes for Neighbor Sims:

Trash talk one Sim to another, which will greatly reduce the relationship between those two Neighbor Sims.

Try to get two grown-up Sims, or two Teen Sims, to form a Romantic relationship.

Try to convince a Sim in a relationship to dump/divorce their Romantic partner

Encourage an unemployed Neighbor Sim to find a job

New Aspirations

To celebrate these new and improved gameplay moments, we’re adding two new Aspirations:

Neighborhood Confidante is for Sims who aspire to be a helpful and positive presence in the lives of Neighbor Sims. Making friends and guiding others toward life changes will earn the new Confidante trait, which increases the chance of conversations being pleasant. Ever had a conversation turn Boring or Awkward in the middle of a party? Confidante Sims are less susceptible to these mood killers.

Villainous Valentine is for Sims who aspire to destroy the love lives of all Sims, including their own. Have your Sim break up with someone! Have them break up other couples! Sims that walk this deviant path will earn the new Twisted Heart trait, which makes all Sad and Embarrassed moodlets decay faster and provides a little bonus Social when performing Mean or Mischief socials. Twisted Heart Sims simply DGAFB, which as we all know, stands for “Don’t Give A Freezer Bunny”.

All this new and improved gameplay is available to everyone as part of the base game. It doesn’t require any additional content to fully experience. Everything here also works with existing saves, no new game required.

Neighborhood Stories will be part of the base game update arriving November 30, 2021.  Keep an eye out here for more details on that update.  Once you have that, your Sims need to form at least one friendship outside the household.

For autonomous life changes, Neighbor Sims consider them depending on factors like Traits, meaning not all Sims will consider every life change. You’ll need to wait for Neighbor Sims to consider a change, but having Sims with more friends at higher relationship levels will increase the chances for life changes to happen. We’ve really tried to balance Neighbor Sim life changes happening at an interesting pace, without being too spammy or repetitive.

For life changes that your Sims can try to influence, here’s a breakdown:

To have your Sim influence positive change in Neighbor Sim’s lives, look for these new and updated Friendly socials. (Very useful to Sims with the new Neighborhood Confidante Aspiration.)

Ask <Sim Name> to Pursue Dream Job

Discuss Expanding the Family

Other Sims… > Talk Up Another Sim

Other Sims… > Hook Up With

To have your Sim try to harm Neighbor Sim’s relationships, look for these updated Mean socials. (Very useful to Sims with the new Villainous Valentine Aspiration.)

Other Sims… > Trash Another Sim

Other Sims… > Break Up With

Let’s talk about the future of Neighborhood Stories by returning to the main goal: bring more life to Neighbor Sims that live outside the active household. In a future update, we will realize that goal more broadly with the following:

Life changes for all Neighbor Sims, with or without relationships in the active household. Just because my Sims don’t know anyone in a particular other household doesn’t mean that household isn’t also changing.

Gameplay settings to tune life changes Neighbor Sims can and cannot have.

Controls are layered, allowing a mix and match of rules down to individual households.

Neighborhood Stories settings are on a per-save basis.

Those familiar with The Sims 3 are probably reminded of Story Progression. Both Story Progression and Neighborhood Stories allow Sims all over the game to experience life changes. However, I want to highlight two key differences:

Story Progression is one giant system that can only be turned on or off, leaving many players feeling like they must choose between a chaotic world and a boring one. Neighborhood Stories adds the rich gameplay settings I mentioned above, alleviating this issue while solving for the goal: you choose how Neighborhood Stories affects your game.

Story Progression can affect a wide range of factors in The Sims 3. At the start, Neighborhood Stories will have a much smaller range of life changes. This is because most of the work we’re doing now is on the underlying systems that drive these life changes, plus the gameplay settings we just talked about. That means better tools to create better gameplay, but first we have to do the work!

Whew, that was a lot! I hope this provided a good look at Neighborhood Stories now, and that you are just as excited as I am for what’s to come!

Until next time,

Nate

P.S. – Some of this gameplay leverages content that previously was specific to packs. We’ve chosen to do this in cases where the gameplay is a great fit for Neighborhood Stories and we saw opportunities to deepen and improve it for the game overall. Here’s the full list:

Have a baby with their partner

The autonomous version of this life change originates from Eco Lifestyle. We have added support for Sentiments and the Sim-influenced version is all new.

Accept a marriage proposal

Originates from Eco Lifestyle. Added support for Sentiments.

Form or deepen Friendly relationships

Originates from Get Together. Added more dynamic outcomes: if your Sim encourages a friend to hang out with someone they already despise, they won’t like that! On the other hand, if they form a new friendship, then they may also gain positive Sentiments toward your Sim.

Trash talk one Sim to another

Originates from Get Together. Added more dynamic outcomes: Sims will not take kindly to trash talk about their friends. Added special moodlets for Mean or Evil Sims.

Try to get two Sims to form a Romantic relationship

Originates from Get Together. Added more dynamic outcomes: Neighbor Sims won’t pair up with Sims whose traits conflict, such as Good / Evil, and the active Sim has clearer responses to all possible outcomes.

Try to convince a Sim in a relationship to dump/divorce their Romantic partner

Originates from Get Together. Added more dynamic outcomes:  Relationship strength between Sims matters and a failed attempt to break up a relationship might backfire with a negative Sentiment from one or both partners!

Thanks for reading!

[scandalsavagefanfic]

I can't understand how so many people can say that Urban Legends did Jason character justice?! It literally ruined it to prop out Bruce.

In the beginning, we were all swayed by Jason getting a kid and the fact that characters who are often the conscious/voice of reason in the batfamily were sympathetic to Jason/critical of Bruce (in this case, Alfred and Babs, only one missing is Dick). We were so excited by these scraps, that we were willing to forgive/look past the red flags being thrown up.

And to be honest, some people are so desperate for Bruce to be written like a fucking human being, that they care less about the batkids that might be thrown under the bus for that, than the fact that they're finally getting the version of Bruce they want.

I love Bruce and I also desperately want him to be written as a flawed man who tries his best. But I also like the batkids, and nothing bothers me more than when their characterization is sacrificed for Bruce's sake. Because at the end of the day, each batkid is a child that Bruce taught to be a vigilante, and while I think the "child soldier" angle is silly and that's where we, as readers, should suspend disbelief so that we aren't ruining the fun of comics, I also think that doesn't preclude writers from remembering that fact and giving the kids the benefit over Bruce.

And with Jason specifically, it's extra frustrating when they tone down Bruce's tendency towards ultraviolence and rage, and simultaneously shove it at Jason. Because Bruce's violence and rage issues aren't OOC. He's been written like that on and off (and mostly on) for over 30 years. Jason... hasn't. Not really. Not in any meaningful way. Because the instances where Jason is written like that fall into two categories. Morrison, or retcons to Robin!Jason. The first category consists of a grand total of 6 single issues (one of which, Jason is barely in). And the second category is, in it's entirety, an example of Jason's characterization being cannibalized to Bruce's benefit. It exists entirely to absolve Bruce of his part in Jason's death and excuse his immediate replacement of a murdered child sidekick with another child sidekick. It exists to try to place all the blame of Jason's death on Jason, the 15 year old kid who was just trying to find/help his mother, so that Bruce isn't a villain who trained a child to fight supervillains and was surprised when his luck ran out, so that Bruce isn't a hypocritical sociopath for letting Tim become Robin just a few months after Jason died.

So yes, I want Bruce written better, but if the choice is between one of the kids and Bruce, I'm gonna choose the kid.

That said, I'm not sure why I have to choose? These characters can be written without fucking one of them over. I almost said Chip Zdarsky is a better writer than this, but now that I'm thinking about it, I only know him as an artist. Sometimes, I feel like DC thinks that writing is easy, anyone can do it, so as long as the art is nice (for the most part... for characters they care about anyway), then the writing doesn't actually matter. It's frustrating as hell when the thing keeping you engaged with these characters is their potential for amazing stories.

I rarely buy a shitty story because the art is nice (though I have before and I'm doing it now, with Urban Legends, just to support Marcus To). But I buy comics despite the shitty art in the hopes that the story will be good all the fucking time. By the time I find out the story is also garbage, it's too late, I've already given DC my money.

I want DC to know that hope is what drives their sales, not quality. Because of the way the industry is set up, comics companies don't have a reliable way to judge their sales. They know how many copies comics shops purchase, but they don't know how many of those copies actually make it to readers. AND they have a tendency to consider a drop in sales representative of a drop in interest in the character, when in reality it's almost always because of bad storytelling.

Does DC even have group editors anymore? Is there anyone there who has actually read comics for the characters they're in charge of writing/wrangling?

Sometimes it really doesn't feel like it.

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched This Fall

My first semester of college is officially over and the December holidays are upon us! I hoped to make one of these posts sooner, but I have been incredibly busy with schoolwork. Now that things have slowed down, let’s take sometime to reflect on things I’ve watched. 

These anime are listed in chronological order and encompass everything I’ve watched from 9/1/2020 - 12/15/2020

Like always, they will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn’t like about each show!

1. The God of High School - 6/10 

Despite the stellar animation from MAPPA and my high expectations, I was really disappointed by how this series was treated. Most of the story’s crucial elements were handled poorly. I finished this series feeling more confused about the plot than when I first began. The power system is really cool, but poorly explained. More time should have been spent on exposition and world building for this series, instead the fights were given the most screen time. 

2.  Doukyuusei - 7/10 

I really liked the style of Doukyuusei. Granted, this was another movie I chose to watch primarily because of the hype surrounding it. The dynamic between Kusakabe and Sajou is an interesting one, and I also enjoy how the movies different acts were separated by the seasons. However, there's nothing that really sets Doukyuusei apart from other romance movies, its a little generic. Still, I enjoyed it nonetheless. 

3.  Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8/10 

My opinions on Re:Zero’s second season are biased. This was, by far, the sequel I was most hyped for during the summer/fall anime season. I was so happy to see the story’s continuation and I’m looking forward to the season’s second part coming sometime in January. Re:Zero is one of my all time favorite series because of the way it handles it characters and power dynamics. I also really enjoy the show’s psychological aspects. If you haven’t already, give Re:Zero a try! 

4. Saint☆Oniisan (Movie + OVA) - 8/10

This was a wonderful comedy. I wasn’t sure how the subject of Jesus and Buddha living together would be tackled, but it was handled wonderfully. I was laughing for pretty much the entire movie. I love the art style and little references to both Buddhism and Christianity, plus the incorporation of Japanese culture. Saint Oniisan is a bright comedy, with two eccentric main characters. If you like a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and need a good laugh, I can’t recommend this more.

5. Clannad: After Story - 10/10 

Never, while watching anime, did I cry as much as I did while watching Clannad: After Story. I didn’t realize how much I related to Okazaki until I saw him grow up in After Story. I was left sobbing, especially after episode 18. I still, to this day, cannot listen to the Dango song without tearing up. The original Clannad is nothing special, but the continuation of its story its something heartfelt, emotional, and down-to-earth. I love Kyoto Animation with all my heart, and Clannad made me appreciate everything the studio has done just a little bit more. Thank you Clannad, for reminding me about the kind of person I strive to be. 

6. Nakitai Watashi wa Neko wo Kaburu - 5.5/10

The art in A Whisker Away was beautiful. The story itself, however, is nothing too enjoyable. I found it difficult to like our protagonist or her love interest. Nothing about this movie is inherently memorable. The emotional climax came far too early which made the second half of the film seem long and drawn out.  All in all, the movie has a wonderful concept, I just believe it could have been so much more emotional than it was. When I watch a move, I like to empathize with the characters. It’s difficult to do when the characters aren’t given the proper exposition to be empathized with. 

7.  Shikioriori - 6/10

This is less of a movie and more of a collection of short stories. Flavors of Youth is something you shouldn’t watch on an empty stomach, all of the food looks incredible. The same cannot beside for the rest of this feature. The stories themselves seems heavily clichéd. Much like A Whisker Away, the initial premise is intriguing, but the execution results in something that comes across as trying too hard and carries no emotional weight with the viewer. If you plan on watching, pay more attention to the artwork and animation than the actual plot. You won’t be missing anything. 

8. Vinland Saga - 7/10

Vinland Saga helped me get out of the rut that Clannad: After Story. Not only does this show have a great story, its action packed with lots of interesting fights. I especially enjoyed all the Nordic history embedded within the show. Its really unlike any of the other historical anime I’ve watched. I will say, it’s gory. But, compared to all the other things I watched this time around, I finished this series the quickest. Its good, its graphic, its fast paced! 

9.  Mononoke Hime - 7/10

It’s ironic considering how much anime I’ve watched that I have yet to watch all of the most classic Studio Ghibli films. Princess Mononoke is grittier than most other Ghibli films I’ve seen, but it’s message is positive and its characters are wonderful. I can’t really speak ill towards classics like these. I guess maybe my one complaint is that this movie could’ve been a faster pace. Other than that... I really enjoyed everything Princess Mononoke offered! I understand why it’s so popular.  

10. Howl no Ugoku Shiro - 8.5/10 

Can you believe it took me this long to finally watch Howl’s Moving Castle? Me neither!! This movie is so endearingly beautiful. I loved every second of it, from the characters to the soundtrack. So many iconic things come from just this one movie. I would like to take this time to thank my best friend for reminding me that Studio Ghibli films are wonderful! Thank you for watching this with me, I loved it! All in all, I regret not watching this sooner! 

11. Toradora! - 6.5/10 

Toradora took me a while to finish, just because I lost interest about halfway through. But, I powered through it, and ended up really enjoying the show! I’m not the biggest fan of the ending, but that’s just a personal preference. Somehow, this show also made me cry? I’m not entirely sure why because Toradora! is probably the thing farthest from sad. Apart from the show’s dull slice of life moments, it was super cute! A much needed light-hearted romance. 

12. New Initial D Movie: Legend 1 - 5/10 

Full disclosure, this is the only thing related to Initial D that I’ve ever watched. My band and I watched this expecting to hear some of that iconic Initial D music, itself all we got was a mildly confusing story about different types of cars. It was cliché and frankly a little boring. Although, I am still considering watching the original Initial D just so I can hear the music in the way it was original intended. I’ve got no other opinions on this movie. It’s best not to watch these movies without the context from the rest of the franchise.  

13.  Uchuu Patrol Luluco - 7.5/10

I didn’t really understand why people enjoy studio Trigger so much until I watched Space Patrol Luluco. I loved all the fun references to other studio Trigger works. I loved the humor, and I loved all the bright colors. The animation was extremely high energy, and the art style fits the show’s premise. Each episode was only 12 minutes long so it was a super quick binge. If you’re looking for something quick, light-hearted and comical, this is the perfect show to watch.

14. Orange - 7/10 

I owe a big thanks to a tumblr mutual for recommending this show to me! This holds the honor of making me cry by episode 3! I honestly did not expect the subject matter of this show to be as dark as it was. Usually when I see the genre ‘shoujo’ I do not associate it with a love story like that of Orange. The heavy subject matter made it a little too close to home for me, but I still really enjoyed this series. It reminds me off all the good times I had with my friends in high school, and of all the regrets I carry with myself to this day. 

15. 3-gatsu no Lion - 7.5/10 

March Comes in Like a Lion is another show that was a bit of a slow burn for me. Each episode left me feeling emotionally drained, so I had to take a lot of breaks while I was working on watching this series. Shaft, the studio behind this anime, holds a special place in my heart because I loved their work on the Monogatari Series. March Comes in Like a Lion is a little different. It’s driving force it is characters, and it was cathartic to watch our main character transform through the entire duration of the first season. I know the show’s second season is much better, so I’ll be starting that soon! 

16. Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei - 8/10 

I loved how artsy and smart The Tatami Galaxy is, but honestly I couldn’t watch too much at once cause it would hurt my head. I also couldn’t watch this show while I was tired because the speaking rate is much faster than typical anime. The Tatami Galaxy is so unique for its medium. I loved the different time loops and the crazy animation. The characters were fascinating. The dialogue, although very fast, it also fantastic. There’s an element of humor to this unique story telling, and I enjoyed ever minute of it! 

Currently Watching:

Hunter x Hunter - 6.5/10 (As of Episode 30)

I pride myself in having watched a lot of shounen anime, but I was reluctant to start Hunter x Hunter for years because I thought I would find it boring. I was oh so very wrong. Considering great shows like Naruto and Fairy Tail that fall under the same category, I expected Hunter x Hunter to be subpar in comparison. It gets a low score for two reasons. One, the power system was introduced a little too late and now I’m wondering if all the fights post episode 30 will involved nen in some way, shape, or form. Two, its still on hiatus. 

Two Cursed Additions For This List

Please to do not let these be representative of my anime taste. 

1.  Yarichin☆B*tch-bu - 4/10

I am a CLOWN for not knowing this was 18+. The only reason I watched this was to see why everyone was talking about the pink-haired boy with the glasses and tongue piecing. I know why now, and I regret it. This was a massive mistake on my part. But hey, at the least the art and ending song kinda slap? 

2. Euphoria (Dropped After 1 Episode) - 2/10

If you know what I’m talking about when I say Euphoria, I am so sorry. And no, I am not talking about the HBO series. Seriously, don’t google this. Don’t watch this. Don’t interact with anything related to this. You’re probably wondering, “Then why did you watch it?” I did not watch this willingly. You see, I have a very bad habit of starting anime and then taking months to finish them. I made an ultimatum with a friend, lost, and then was forced to watch this a punishment. Not a fun experience. I’m very glad there are no GIFs of this on tumblr...

[neechees]

Films of shows I shouldn’t watch for native representation

You know this is actually a pretty interesting question, but the reason I get the alternative of this (recs for GOOD Native representation) and why they are asked frequently is because it’s easier to list the GOOD or even just okay examples of Indigenous people represented in media than it is to list the bad ones since they’re so overwhelmingly common. So I guess the short answer for this would be... most of them, with some falling in between a debatable category depending on what “good” could be (ex: the Native characters are not part of the main storyline but are otherwise accurate and alright, or the media was revolutionary for its time but is now outdated, or the characters follow common stereotypes or overdone narratives about Natives but the plot has an important message to go with it, etc) and then the mentioned few who are diamonds in a sea of garbage. Most of these are unsurprisingly done by Natives ourselves.

But, in order to properly give you some recs on what you SHOULDN’T watch, I’ll give you a list of movies/shows with Natives that are commonly recommended or commended for their cast of Native characters (and usually beloved by white audiences but hated by Indigenous ones), but the content of the media itself is not great. So I’ll give you a quick list of that first,and if you’re willing to see why,  I’ll give a rundown of why I think it’s garbage (as short as I can, but under the readmore because altogether this is going to be long) while trying to spare you spoilers.

The Lone Ranger (2013)

The New World (2005)

The Revenant (2015)

Hidalgo (2004)

Apocalypto (2006)

The Lone Ranger

Whitewashing. This movie has whitewashing. The co-main character Tonto is played by white actor Johnny Depp, who uses a 1920s caricature caveman “Indian”accent the whole time, and his character is mostly there for comic relief. They also appropriated the W*nd*go spirit and call it a Comanche spirit which, as far as I know, is inaccurate since that spirit is specific to Algonquian tribes, and Comanche people are nowhere near Algonquian territory (and are Uto-Aztecan). Generally not a great movie.

The New World (2005):

I hate this movie with a burning passion, and with good reason, I promise. This is a fictionalized retelling of the story of Pocahontas, very similar to Disney’s rendition, but even worse and with even more inaccuracies. While Disney did the discourtesy of aging up Pocahontas to 18 so she could have a fictional romance with a 30-year-old in THEIR version, Terrence Malick’s 2005 version did the discourtesy of keeping Pocahontas young (but still 4 years older than the real Pocahontas counterpart) and played by Q’orianka Kilcher, who was actually 14 at the time, to still have a romance with the 30-year-old John Smith and still had her sexualized. I’ve seen many people praise this film for being very romantic (barf.) and “beautiful”, but the whole thing reeks of whiteness, and is essentially a fetishized white hippy wet dream. Many of the Native actors stated they regretted working on this film, and if you look at the script (which is even worse), the only reason it likely changed or improved somewhat is specifically because of Native intervention and rewrites. You can search my blog with this title to see more details if you like. There is little to no saving grace to this movie at all, and in my opinion it never should have been made. I could go on, but I’ve promised to keep things short.

The Revanant (2015)

You know that scene from spongebob made into a meme where he says to plankton, “you used me... FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT...”, that’s kinda what this film did in terms of getting an oscar for Leonardo Dicaprio. While there’s quite a few recurring secondary Native characters, and while this movie was praised for its sympathetic portrayal of said Native characters, this film is also essentially a tortureporn fest. It’s one of those movies you might not be able to watch more than once, and it’s extremely difficult to watch as a Native person. It’s one of those films that tries to “accurately” portray the brutality of another era by showing as much bigoted material as possible like its got a check list. So while it’s debatable for some people how “good” the rep in this movie was because the Native characters overall aren’t demonized or stereotyped and are shown in a sympathetic light, a lot of them go through an unnecessary amount of suffering and brutality on-screen, half of the time essentially so some other white characters (ike Leo’s character himself) have something to feel

Hidalgo

Hidalgo is the fictionalized account of American Distance rider Frank Hopkins and his horse Hidalgo. The character (who, in the film, is mixed Lakota/White) suffers from guilt and PTSD due to some events in his life due to his mixed heritage, and then shows the journey and race he goes on in Saudi Arabia and how he learns to cope with this and his relationship with his horse. But there’s just one problem: pretty much everything is made up. a DNA test of the real Frank Hopkin’s family members shows that he had exactly 0 Native American blood, let alone was allegedly raised by Lakotas (he wasn’t), his age doesn’t line up with when he was allegedly raised by Lakotas, he was never in Buffalo Bill’s wild west show (BB’s archives and documents show absolutely no evidence or mention of him), he very likely exaggerated the amount of races he won, he probably did not take part in the race in Saudi Arabia as in the movie, and to top it off, most historians consider him a con artist. But he did have a horse called Hidalgo, and the accuracy pretty much stops there. So this is essentially a fictionalized movie of a glorified pretendian with almost 0% accuracy in history, with bits of Islamophobia and Orientalism sprinkled in.

Apocalypto

Funnily enough, this movie is kind of popular with Natives, but desperation does that to you. While there’s SOME aspects of this film that are accurate (some of the costumes, and bits of history), it’s more of a mashup of accurate parts of history and different mesoamerican cultures, but at different time periods, mashed together, with some artistic license sprinkled in, and there is racism in the inaccuracies. Mel Gibson has stated that this was depicting the Classic Maya collapse, but there’s multiple inconsistencies that contradict this: a lot of the fashion and architecture and art styles are similar to the Classic Maya period of the Yucatec Maya peoples (and the film is spoken in entirely Yucatec Maya), but other costuming of the background characters suggests Postclassic Maya culture, and so does one particular scene that occurs that shows there is NO way this is the Classic Maya period (250-950 AD) and the representation of the Classic Maya collapse (which there are scenes of throughout the film that try to suggest this), but MUST be the Postclassic Period (950-1539) because of other historical events it is trying to portray at the same time, and the said other scene towards the end of the film that is the end-all confirmation of this. Said historical events are also more associated with the Nahua people and Aztec collapse (which would line up with the Postclassic period), not the Maya, and there’s also cultural practices that are seen within the film that Classical Maya peoples would not have done, but Aztecs would. There’s also this overarching theme that the Maya are to blame for their own colonization because they had already doomed themselves for failure first. So... overall, this is a historically inaccurate, pan-Indian film that blames Mesoamericans for their own colonization. But then, I suppose what would you expect from the guy that directed the infamously historically inaccurate Braveheart?

So sorry that was so long, but, I hope this helps

[writingwithcolor]

Worldbuilding and Yokai in 1920-30s Japan

@thecoldestcultist said:

I know you get a lot of questions about yokai, but recent posts got me curious. I have a spin-off of my supernatural story that follows a character's Japanese grandfather, and part of the story takes place in 20s-30s Japan. The worldbuilding already has its own rules in place, but I was wondering how it would come off if certain elements were interpreted by the Japanese in their own culturally specific way. In other words, is it fine to write spiritual forces viewed as yokai if they're not?

First: some historical context:

Japan during the Taisho/ Early Showa eras (the time period you describe) was all about competing with the West, shedding any “outdated” traditions or superstitions that stood in the way of modernization or unifying the nation. This was particularly true for regional customs and beliefs, and yokai fall under this category. Think of yokai as rather like how the fae would have been regarded in the UK and Ireland during the same time period. Though most people would have regarded them as being culturally real as opposed to literally real, the range of belief would have varied by things like income, education and loyalty to regionality. Particularly within the upper classes, overt belief would have been seen as evidence of being backward or superstitious. For any country, anywhere in the world, regardless of era, interpretations of folklore are never unanimous. Japan would be no different.

Japanese Religions versus Cultural Christianity

For the purposes of your worldbuilding, syncretism between Buddhism and Shinto allow for a broad range of interpretations of yokai-related phenomena from a spiritual perspective, but I think you want to tread carefully here and make sure that your particular world-building when it comes to spirituality is actually compatible with these religions. If the supernatural elements of your story are heavily influenced by cultural Christianity, for instance, I think you might have some problems. Some greater details on the world-building rules for your main story would be helpful.

- Marika.

[transmalewife]

"don’t bring real life fascism and opposition to it into it" Are you high? The original villains of this franchise were modeled after Nazi Germany. Star Wars has ALWAYS been about opposing fascism. And if you think otherwise, then I sincerely doubt you understand what politics in media looks like.

Have you even read my post? I specifically mention how the original villains and some of the new ones fit the definition of fascism. Also, even though the empire was very obviously inspired by nazi germany in aesthetic, their ideology is kind of sanitized of any real world political implications and kept to an all encompassing pure evil, so that the heroes can be made into a universal good, fighting to restore the system that was there before, without having to consider for a second how that system might have encouraged that ideology to flourish. To bring in real world politics into it for a second (in a way infinitely more relevant than antifa as ill explain in a moment) it's comparable to america fighting fascism in europe without really examining how the eugenics it was based on actually started in the US, and how capitalism allows for and even encourages sorting people into human and subhuman categories. Which is actually why we're dealing with a resurgence in fascism in real life currently, mostly stemming from america. So the empire in the original trilogy is overtly inspired by nazi aesthetics, I won't deny that, but even in the OT it has very few ideological similarities (or really, very little ideology at all). Mostly bc in 1970's america nazi germany was a really simple cinematographic shorthand to show a government is evil. It follows that the rebellion would share some aesthetic similarities with the allied forces, while very firmly being in favor of restoring an old system and not instituting a new one, to avoid any uncomfortable self reflection in the silly sci fi movie or worse, any potential assosiation of the rebellion with a communist revolution.

However, neither the prequel, sequel, or original trilogy villains share aesthetic similarities with modern day fascism (firstly because for a topic like that to be safe to explore in a silly sci fi movie you have to wait for a good 30 years so it's not too soon, and second of all bc modern day fascism has a really pathetic aesthetic) nor is the in universe oposition to it in any way similar to antifa, who are in support of a revolution to build a new system instead of desperately trying to restore the old one as it crumbles in their hands. and ideologically, it's even further from it. modern day fascism's core tennet is racial purity, (not the cult of personality single dictator thing that was the most obvious ideological similarity between the emire and real world fascism) and while that topic is alluded to with the empire's having only humans in prominent roles it's never actually explored in any great depth in the movies.

Ideologically, how is palpatine a fascist? what is his ideology even? it really does boil down to a universal evil kill everyone power for power's sake evil wizard politics. Even his genocide of the jedi is a very clumsy allegory for the holocaust bc the jedi were killed for being an actual credible threat to him as an organisation, which jews weren't in nazi germany. Dooku has that human supremacist motivation explored in the rots novel, but again it's not really shown in the movies or series at all. This is why it's extremely tone deaf to compare anakin or palpatine to modern day fascism, and why comparing the pro-establishment, conservative in the most literal sense of the word, pro-liberal democracy jedi who opposed them to antifa is borderline offensive.

Now, finally coming back to anakin. aotc anakin specifically, since that's where i see the term "baby fascist" applied more often, usually in the context of "how could Padme marry a baby fascist???". and yeah, how could she marry a mass murderer, a child murderer? those are terms strong enough to cause the outrage you want to, and actually useful for exploring her motivations and how fucked up the whole situation was, you don't need to compare him to the most destructive and evil political ideology in human history. And I say compare, because it certainly isn't character analysis. The modern idea of a fascist is "disilusioned young white man with a penchant for murder" and Anakin certainly fits that definition, but stopping there is ignoring so much context the whole thing gets absurd. The reason young white men in america are the group most likely to become fascists is because they are the most priviledged group in society, and in recent years increasingly being told that they are, while still being fucked over by capitalism like we all are, so they really don't feel like they're reaping the benefits of that priviledge (even though they are and everyone else is worse off compared to them). Anakin is not in any measurable way priviledged. His distrust in the system, his political ideas stem very directly from him being part of an oppressed group, a former slave, then being forced to assimilate into the system that ignored that slavery while his mother still suffers under it. (and also from palpatine telling him how cool it would be if he had absolute power over the galaxy since anakin was literally nine years old). His lust for power (which, very interestingly never actually involves HIM getting more power, just enforcing it for "someone wise") isn't a lust for more power than he already has, it's a lust for any political power to protect people like him being hurt by the current system. His masacre of the tuskens, while undoubtedly racially motivated (and as such, handled extremely poorly by the narrative), is not actually genocide: his aim wasn't to wipe the entire tusken population, nor is it in any way comparable to fascist violence: it's not politically motivated, or caused by hatred of the minority group in question for their very existence, it's very direct revenge for a personal hurt done to them. In fact, considering tatooine has no legal system we know of and its inhabitants solve problems with casual extreme violence, Anakin was probably justified (within that society's mindset, in which he grew up) in murdering the tuskens that actually killed and hurt his mother in an extremely violent way. (i mean the tuskens killed shmi violently, not that anakin was justified in using extreme violence specifically) He undoubtedly went too far in killing the entire village, and as a jedi he should know better than to kill in revenge at all, but he knew that it was the only way the actual murderers would be brought to justice, since tatooine is outside the jurisdiction of the republic's legal system, and has no legal system of his own. This is personal, emotional, desperate revenge for an actual harm done to him by (most of) the victims, not a calm and cool extermination of an (in his mind) subhuman race for being that race and no other reason. It's deeply, profoundly wrong, a sign of how low he can fall when pushed, directly causal to how he reacted when padme was in danger in rots, and a massive red flag for padme herself in aotc. It is not, however, fascist violence, it's homeric violence.

[apollos-boyfriend]

ranboo's other half is an ender dragon . . . kind of

so i came up with this theory as a crack theory at like 5:30 am, however the more i thought about it the more sense it made, so bear with me on this one.

to start, i'm basing this theory off of two things ranboo has said about his character:

no one has guessed his other half correctly because he wrote it to be "very specific"

his character has shown mannerisms of his other half before

with point 1 in mind, his character is most likely not just a regular mob, as that wouldn't fall into the specific category. so there's gotta be some nuance or feature that would otherwise distinguish him. which is why:

i think ranboo's other half is a white/albino (ender) dragon

far-fetched? kind of. but it would make sense, especially considering he couldn't just be a regular dragon, as that would make his other half black, not white. it would fall under the specificity category, and would, to an extent, explain why his council of endermen are so willing to help. they recognize him as a higher force, a protector, and would of course highly value him. ranboo's character has been very end-aligned, unconnected to any of the other planes, so it would make sense that both of his sides have end affiliations/origins. (it would also, to an extent, explain the non-endermen traits his character has, such as a tail, even though you could argue that that was inspired by fanon and not a part of his original plan.)

as for point 2 on mannerisms, look no further than his treasure room. dragons are known to hoard and collect mountains of gold and wealth, which is exactly what ranboo's done. if it was just regular amounts of money, it'd be one thing, but ranboo hoards. the chest-full of emeralds and barrel of totems is evidence enough of that. while he's not overly protective of it, necessarily, he is overly protective of something else: his friends. as he's shown, tubbo and tommy override all other priorities, to the point where he's willing to go against his own boundaries to keep them safe. they're part of his hoard, meaning he'll protect them until the ends of the earth.

it's not much, admittedly, but it does somewhat fit into what we do know about ranboo's plans for his character, and i think it'd open up a whole new range of possibilities that would be awesome to watch play out

[kaminocasey]

Writing ask meme: 1,3,5,7,14,15,17,21,25,26,28,29,30.

Hahaha oh man, That is a lot of questions. 😅 And just in case anyone doesn't wanna read (It's okay lol) I'm gonna put it all below the cut. <3

1. Is there a specific drink you like to have when you’re writing?

Either coffee or water, usually.

3. Where do you write best?

Either on my couch or in bed.

5. Do you write when you travel?  If so, where is the farthest away from home that you’ve written?

I do. I always have my laptop or notebooks with me. Especially my notebooks, I don’t leave home without one. The furthest I’ve been is Las Vegas, NV.

7. Which character that you’ve written is most like yourself?

Honestly, I don’t think any.

14. Would you want your books to be made into a TV show or movie?  Why or why not?

I think a lot of my writing is already for a tv show lol. (Fanfics) But if you’re talking about original writing, maybe. Definitely a movie. I think it’d do better as like a Netflix movie.

15. How do you plan your writing?

I do outlines usually on notebooks and then go from there on google docs.

17. Is there a specific category or genre your writings generally fall into?  Which?

Romance typically. It’s just what I’ve always written, except for a couple other pieces. Those usually fall under sci-fi.

21. Do you create aesthetics for your writing, ie. on pinterest or tumblr?  If so, what’s the board or tag?

I do a lot of playlists, honestly. I used to do boards on Pinterest back in the day.

25. How do you defeat writers’ block?

Answered this one already :) Check out the previous ask.

26. How often do you write?

Usually, every single day. Except when I’m uninspired and taking a break. Think of those Hamilton lyrics “How do you write like tomorrow won't arrive? How do you write like you need it to survive? How do you write every second you're alive?” Lol that’s me.

28. What’s your inspiration for writing?

Typically if I’m writing for fanfics, it’s the show or character I’m writing for. If it’s original, perhaps aesthetic photos or songs.

29. Which style/era of writing do you most fit in with?

Probably, this era. I think it falls under contemporary?? I don’t think my thoughts are complex enough for other eras.

30. What’s your favorite part about writing?

The freedom to write whatever I please. Fanfiction is so much more widely accepted now than when I was in high school writing it. I got tormented for writing fics back then so I stopped. People are much more accepting now. Also, I love finishing something now. I used to dread finishing a story bc then I’d be like “Now what?”

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Why do you think so many fans, even those who wouldn’t be considered casual viewers of the show think that those who romantically ship Mike and Will are kidding themselves? Sometimes I feel like I’m missing something, like we’re not even watching the same show. From my perspective, it’s beyond me to how someone could look at Mike and El’s romantic relationship, especially after s3, and think it’s proper.

Great question. I’ve touched on this issue a time or two before, but perhaps never in such a direct manner. I think there’s several things in play here that lead to the more “mainstream” fans considering it crazy when Mike and Will are seen as a romantic pairing. I think these same causes also lead to fans missing how improper, to use your terms, Mike and El’s relationship is. Some of these things are more valid than others, but they’re all valid in the sense that they are real, meaning that people aren’t just being petty. There are those out there who are petty, of course, but I think it’s unfair to cast all fans we disagree with in with that group.

First, let’s get this out of the way, heteronormativity maintains quite the stranglehold on American culture. Yes, we’ve come a long, long way. Gay characters and couples are portrayed in a much more positive light compared to twenty or more years ago. Still, they continue to be treated as a shock, either in behavior or reveal. By that I mean that these characters are either blatantly obvious or a complete surprise. There is seldom any middle ground here. This is, in my opinion anyway, a remnant of the transition of gay characters from caricatures to genuine characters. Fans, American fans at least, want to seem accepting to gay people, but they also want it crystal clear that gay people are different from them. To quote Homer Simpson from Homer’s Phobia, a 1997 episode of The Simpsons, “I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals flaming!”

The 90s were a time when gay people were starting to be seen as decent people instead of deviants. They still weren’t equal, though, and were often used as props and novelties. The Gay Best Friend trope came out of this idea that gay people were fun and exotic, and many would also use them as a way to show how progressive they were. It was a step in the right direction, perhaps, but gay people were still not seen as equals.

Why is this important? Well, maybe it’s not, but not only is Stranger Things the product of two brothers who grew up in that era of thinking, but so is the largest segment of the viewership. Most Stranger Things viewers fall in the 18-29 and 30-44 demographics. I, myself, fall in the latter category. While we all laughed at Homer’s idiotic homophobia, we all knew deep down that we were similarly taken in by stereotypes and heternormativity. That is to say, that being straight was the normal, expected way of things, and gay people was something neat and trendy, but that only happened to other people.

This mindset persists today, though it does seem to be slowly eroding. We still expect most characters to be straight. I suppose, in some ways, this makes sense. The majority of people in America (and likely the world) still identify as heterosexual, so, technically, statistically, being LGBT is “abnormal.” Still, the degree to which I see LGBT people being open about their identities sometimes catches me off guard when I stop to think about it. It’s something that was unimaginable when I was a teenager, barring being in an identified gay club or neighborhood. The fact that it catches me off guard, despite identifying as bisexual, is proof that those mechanisms of my upbringing persist.

I am able to see the romantic undertones of Mike and Will’s relationship because I’ve been there. I’ve been in love with a same-sex friend and been afraid to say anything about it. I’ve agonized over whether it was real or just a phase. I’ve struggled with hiding it. I’ve tried to keep my feelings hidden while also letting them slip out in controlled bursts of not-quite-platonic gestures. I’ve even wondered how I could be “like that” when I acted and dressed just like any other guy I knew. Despite living it, I still saw “it” as something foreign and different. It’s only because I lived it that I can see through the heteronormativity and recognize homosexual love in “straight” TV and movie characters. I’m sorry, but Poe Dameron was definitely into Finn, and Finn, at the very least, idolized Poe, and you can’t convince me otherwise, no matter what Disney tried to pull by giving them both inconsequential female love interests.

(Christ, this is turning into a real rant here, oh well, the bottle has been opened.)

So, yeah, heteronormativity basically tells us that if characters are gay then they’ll act a “certain way” so we know. Mike and Will don’t do this, so, to most fans, they aren’t gay. Heteronormativity and pop culture tropes also tell us that male and female leads are meant to end up together. Now, in defense of other fans, the Duffers do play around with all sorts of tropes, so it’s understandable that people would expect things to be just as formulaic in Stranger Things. The problem these fans don’t see, however, is that the Duffers seem to like subverting the tropes.

For those of you who aren’t aware, subverting a trope means that we are led to believe that we’re being shown something we’ve seen time and time again, only to end up with something else. Season 1 was so big on this that I fell in love with the show. Adults Are Useless? Joyce did not sit around while the kids solved the mystery. Hopper wasn’t the ineffectual drunk cop I was expecting him to be. Jerk Jock? No, Steve is actually a nice, if dopey, guy once he stops letting his friends influence him. Virgin Survivor? No, sex is not seen as a vice needing to be punished, so Barb dies instead of Nancy. The Duffers know what we expect to see, they tease us with it, then pull the rug out from under us.

So, what do we expect in terms of romance? We expect our opposite sex leads to pair up. This would mean Mike & El and Joyce & Hopper as our kid and adult lead pairs, respectively. Mike & El, in particular, seems to be something they’ve tantalized fans with, both in the show and marketing. We can look at that relationship, though, and see that it’s not built on much. That’s somewhat in line with many kid relationships, so, really, it’s expected that it would similarly fizzle out as those relationships generally do. These are two kids who knew each other for a week, then spent a year apart. If anything, they’re more in love with the ideas of each other they created in that time apart than anything else. This could explain why their relationship was so shallow once they’re together again. We all experienced this type of crush or relationship before, the one where we don’t really know the person so we create a version of them in our minds. This version often clashes with the real one once we get to know them. Still, we’ve all been there.

This brings me to my final point: identification. We identify with characters when we watch TV shows and movies. I dare say most, if not all, of us can identify with these kids getting these crushes and early relationships. The youngest fans probably identify even more since they’re currently in those stages of life. I’m sure many young fans identify with either Mike or El, and perhaps fantasize about being with the other (or both?). Whether we realize it or not, we’re casting our own wants and needs onto the characters. Some fans want Mike and El together because it validates their own feelings and experiences.

I know that I certainly identify with Mike and Will through my own teenage experiences. I identify with other characters for more mature, adult reasons, as well. Yes, a part of me ships Mike and Will because of this. The difference here, compared to other ships I’ve gotten behind, is that this actually seems real. There is canon evidence that Mike and Will appear to have non-platonic feelings for each other, feelings built over a very long friendship. Mike legit seems like the closeted, possibly not even aware, gay kid going through the motions of a straight relationship. Will seems like he’s actively suppressing any romantic urges because he’s spent his life being bullied for being queer. They’ve been written to have more genuinely romantic moments than Mike and El have had. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the writers will have some explaining to do if they don’t get together. Many fans will miss it, due to the reasons mentioned above, but it’s all been laid there before us. Nobody should be surprised, but they will be.

[the-lone-witch-and-secret-room]

How are you able to write 8+ word chapters? I've been trying to write longer chapters, but I can't seem to get a good handle on it. Got any tips?

Honestly, anon? Don’t do this to yourself. You don’t actually want to be writing 8k+ chapters (assuming that’s what you meant and this was a typo). It happens to me because I can’t get my characters to shut up and have a lot to say that I need a lot of text for, but honestly, I don’t recommend it. I love my story, but I miss the times when I was able to reasonably update it once a week. Those huge chapters are immense sources of stress and work for both me and whoever gets stuck beta reading it.

What can I recommend for writing longer chapters in general? It really depends on what your writing style is like, overall. Some people love writing dialogue. Some prefer thoughts and descriptions of actions and emotions. Some love making lush descriptions of the environment. (I find dialogue the easiest to write, myself.) Without knowing what your writing style is like, anon, it’s hard for me to tell which of these areas you could expand on. It’s not good advice to tell you to describe motions more when you could actually be describing in great detail and struggle in entirely different areas, so I can’t really give you great advice here.

If you’d like to, feel free to DM me an example of your work so I can take a look and give you proper advice :)

Also, general important thing to note when it comes to writing: longer doesn’t always mean better.

One of the best examples of this is actually a story series I read in a totally different fandom about… two years or so ago? It started out as a story with 30 chapters of reasonable length, but in the end, it had five huge parts, and both chapters and chapter numbers got higher with each installment. The fourth book had like 100 chapters that were each around 10k words in length. The fifth had over 200 chapters that were each over 20k. I gave up somewhere at… I believe it was about 30 chapters into the fourth installment, because aside from some major red flags and questionable writing choices the plot was just… really bad? I dropped the story because at I believe it was the eight kidnapping, the whole thing got kinda tiring. Extremely long stories can be tiring to read, as can long chapters, and as you can see here, you’re at risk of them getting repetitive.

Never stretch out a story/chapter if there’s no story you actually want to tell. Don’t put more into a chapter just because you think it should be longer. If you force a certain chapter length instead of ending the chapter naturally/stretching it out because you have something to say, chances are it will not end up being very good. Readers usually realize when things are just there for the sake of existing—even if it’s often just on a subconscious level. If you hand them a chapter with a bunch of filler sentences, it will get tiring to read, and feel like it goes on endlessly.

Sometimes short chapters are genuinely better! I’m a person that never shuts up, but depending on the writing style can work really, really well. Some of my favorite fics actually fall under this category!

TwoPercentMalk for example is hands down one of my favorite fandom authors. He has a bunch of shorter chapters, but they always tear me up emotionally, have some of the greatest characterizations I’ve ever read and make me laugh a ton.

Richynepp’s Blight twins fic is probably one of my favorites overall and the fic that first sold me on Vinira and Jerbric ships. The chapters are relatively short, but they have unique, interesting interactions and really great characterization.

Brave in Bronze has three chapters and is about 10k words total. It’s one of my favorite owl house fics to date because of the sweet scenes, heartfelt moments and great humor.

Heck, Mama's Gonna Wait Up Until You Get In is only about 700 words, and that oneshot tore me up emotionally!

So, like I said, it’s not always length that makes a story better. The important thing is the content, and getting that across in the most impactful way—not necessarily the most drawn-out way.

[hanijunk]

Alright boys, girls, and nonbinary folks of the world. It’s 5:36am (1/30 when I first started) as I decide to give up on my attempt to continue to focus on learning statistics, avoid studying for my two upcoming midterms, and put off my two actual essays for two different classes.

Instead we’re going into a dive about ✨ KazuFuuma ✨ . Is this me telling you you gotta ship it? No of course not, you’re entitled to your own ships! You don’t really gotta care about it as a ship. But I do want people to recognize it’s THERE canonically, and how disregarding it is extremely unfair to Kazuki as a character particularly. Also, I’m working on the assumption anyone clicking this at least knows the bare bones about what KazuFuuma (ex. You know they are a ship of Kazuki/Fuuma from Dolce, you know they are childhood friends, you know who Dolce is, you know about Honeyworks, etc.) I’ll be making references to specific things, but I won’t always go into heavy detail. Might just hope you know it or take my word for what it is, and go into analyzing it. Some I’ll put direct references to find, but some I’ll trust you can find it yourself. If you somehow read this MAMMOTH and want reference to a specific thing mentioned, hmu I can help you find it!!

Also I hate tumblr formatting sm if you legit wanna read this 7 page essay but hate tumblr format lmk I'll add it as a google doc link instead too. anYWHO

Before actually getting into the meat of things lemme preface some stuff.

Again it’s like almost 6am so this will be disorganized and very train of thought (and likely long due to the fact when I fly by the seat of my pants I’m known to get unnecessarily extensive). It’s definitely gonna be in large part why it’s important to recognize as a romantic relationship foundation and what about it shapes Kazuki’s character in particular. Maybe a bit of how it’s been built up and its general focus and implications. Dunno yet. We’ll see LMAOO

I say f*ck. Not a lot, just a handful of times. This ain’t something scholarly this is for my own enjoyment so if you don’t like that might not wanna read. And it’s not like spitefully I just curse a lot if you haven’t...read my tags before lol

Again this is through the lens of a Kazuki stan. Of COURSE I’m going to have some level of bias, but if anything that bias may help more than hurt because that means I become FIXATED and think a lot about Kazuki. Which plays into establishing just how important it is that Kazufuuma’s relationship is recognized, especially in a romantic light at this point. Lmfao. 

I’ll have a few more prefaces about the actual content below but to keep this from getting too long if you wanna read come below the cut owo

I have extremely limited knowledge of Japanese just taking a few classes in highschool (so like 3 yrs ago) and live in America. This means a lot of my knowledge is gathered through the english translations of the super duper incredible and lovely people in the Honeyworks fandom who provide translations (delaix and takanenene esp have provided so much for me being able to understand Dolce) and my own limited Japanese paired with Google Translate for things that remain untranslated.

This only will be drawing on information I have come in contact with and have access to and making assumptions based on that, most (if not all) of which is in the public domain. So things like the Dolce Manga Volumes released via Animate, exclusive 4komas, and Light Novels are out of my area for the most part (apart from again snippets of translations thanks to this fandom’s godlike and generous translators).

I will not be drawing on anything from the first Dolce album with the exception of Nade Nade. From a meta standpoint, I consider those songs as songs made as performance media as opposed to character explorations. Nade Nade is the exception because (1) it was released a whole year before the album and (2) you can tell it’s explicitly an exploration of Fuuma and Kazuki’s interpersonal relationship even if it’s in a slightly more performance based context than the songs that came out with the Dolce LNs. Easiest parallel I can make to show this is if you held Non-Fantasy, Yume Fanfare, and Samishigariya up against each other, you could tell the difference in intended audience and intended purpose the same way the Dolce 1st album, Nade Nade, and the songs of the LNs do respectively. Even if there is some basis to ground Kazufuuma, for the purposes of this essay I’ll be acting under the assumption the 1st album falls under the Non-Fantasy equivalent category.

THAT WAS A LOT OF PREFACING CONSIDERING LIKE 2 PPL WILL PROBABLY READ IT I just have a tendency to anytime I do anything analytical lay down ground acknowledgements for myself to work on just...cuz it makes me feel less guilty for any accidental misinformation even if I’m writing towards my future self to read lolll IM SORRY WITHOUT FURTHER TO DO HERE’S THE BRAIN DUMP

First let’s go ahead and establish why it needs to be recognized as an important relationship. Again, I’m a Kazuki stan. He’s my favorite character not only of Dolce but also of the entire Honeyworks series, and as much as I love him for reasons outside the ship, whether you like it or not Kazufuuma is an essential aspect of his character and narrative. Of course there’s the fact that him and Fuuma are childhood friends, so that’s going to in part define their characters and interactions with each other and those around them. They’re both going to be relevant to one another and important to one another’s stories to an even greater extent than the rest of the members of Dolce. But on Kazuki’s side at least, it’s an EXTREME amount. A running plotpoint in Dolce Diary is the sheer amount of dedication Kazuki has to Fuuma and how much his thoughts and decisions are influenced by Fuuma, whether it be how he feels happiest spending time with Fuuma, how he decided to get his piercing to represent he wanted to protect Fuuma, how he doesn’t want to dislike food so he can eat what Fuuma dislikes, etc. Not to mention running jokes about his borderline overprotectiveness and downright possessiveness of Fuuma, how proud he is when Fuuma gets praised, or that one 4koma that literally explicitly states he can read Fuuma’s mind when he thinks motherfucking ‘dirty thoughts’ about his childhood friend (Fuuma). I still don’t know what the fuck to make of that last bit. Genuinely. Or the fact it’s a fucking running joke. As in it’s not a one off. It’s been brought up multiple times. Kazuki what the fuck. 

That’s not to say that he doesn’t have character outside of Fuuma or he doesn’t interact with people other than Fuuma. He’s great friends with Sara, Girisha, and Kippei and is shown time and time again to have fun interactions with all of them, generally acting as the best support friend for every member of the group, not Fuuma alone. For instance how he helps Kippei with his self confidence issues or stays over at Sara’s to protect him from a cockroach (which he fails at lol). Nor is that to say all his interactions involving Fuuma focus solely on his devotion to Fuuma, especially in instances where the manga focuses on Dolce as a group dynamic (though even in that setting there are times where jokes about his devotion are thrown in). He’s kind, he’s stupid, he’s friendly, he’s an amazing character in his own right, and I love him for all those reasons. But that doesn’t change the fact a major part of his character and his character interactions are rooted in Fuuma, and arguably some of his most interesting, eccentric, and notable behaviors and traits revolve around Fuuma (again the mind reading for example).

Hell let’s take it one step further. If you look at the character bios of the Dolce members, you get everyone’s motives for being an idol and interests. Of them, Kazuki is the only one to have another character mentioned directly, not to mention that supporting Fuuma is explicitly stated to be his primary motive as to why he became an idol. Not even Fuuma’s sister is mentioned, though two arguments can be made for this. The first would be that Fuuma’s backstory about wanting to fulfill his dream for himself and his sister was decided later to explain Fuuma’s choice to crossdress though it can be argued it was intentionally done to leave it as a reveal at a later date, to which I would argue I don’t think this backstory was a choice in post. While Fuuma’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra exploring that backstory was released a little less than a year after Dolce was revealed, the preview to set up Fuuma’s backstory was actually the first thing released after the character bios on the Dolce Official Twitter page if you exclude a drawing of Dolce from Yamako. The second argument could be that information about his sister was intentionally withheld to set up the reveal when Fuuma’s extra released to explore it. However, going by that logic (which I do agree with), that would also mean that Fuuma’s inclusion and importance in Kazuki’s character bio also set up his dedicated extra, which I don’t think would be incorrect to assume considering what his actual extra turned out being.

Which brings me to the thing that makes it inexplicable to write off the romantic implications behind Kazufuuma: Kazuki’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra, Suki. I shipped Kazufuuma before even knowing of Suki, sure. But the fact that Suki even exists is a shock to me and drove into me the fact that Kazufuuma wasn’t just my own projection. Again, it’s not a surprise that Fuuma shapes Kazuki’s life. They’re childhood friends, of course they’re going to be important to each other. But this extra explicitly brought Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma under a direct spotlight. At first I was thinking oh, this extra was just to acknowledge the fact that Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship can have romantic implications, but the end of it the conclusion that we got was that it didn’t matter what type of “like” he felt for Fuuma. Originally, I thought it wasn’t anything more than saying there are all types of like, and it doesn’t always need to be explicitly defined, but I appreciated the fact they were aware that they were writing Kazuki in a way that conveyed romantic implications. 

Then I thought about it because, again, I love Kazuki of course I’m going to think about his character extra, and realized...that’s not how these character extras have worked. There are only three character extras out as far as I know and have read: Fuuma, Kippei, and Kazuki. If we look at Fuuma and Kippei’s, each extra had a conclusion, sure, but they didn’t have a resolution. Rather, they were simply setting up explicitly what each character’s primary character arc and conflict were. Fuuma’s extra brought attention to the fact that he’s particularly a crossdressing idol by exploring the motives behind it. His choice to be a crossdressing idol is constantly under fire both by himself and the world around him. He’s not immune to those who consider his crossdressing strange, and a part of his story is both finding people who accept his decision to crossdress and to succeed for himself as a crossdressing idol. It’s an essential part of how we understand and define him as a character and it’s a central part of how he interacts with the world around him. For Kippei, it lays the severity of his insecurity under the spotlight and his journey and motives for improving himself. Again, this isn’t something isolated and resolved in the extra; his extreme insecurity and negativity is constantly affecting how he interacts with practically everyone from his fellow Dolce members to his fans despite the fact in all honesty? He’s fucking insanely talented in his own right, his own brother mentioning how smart he is and how he has amazing reflexes. For Kippei, his negativity is an essential part of how we understand and define him and central to how he interacts with the world as much as Fuuma’s decision to crossdress is to him.

Which brings us back to Kazuki, of course. In his dedicated extra, in the chapter that’s supposed to explore and establish and bring attention to an essential part of his character, the aspect of himself under investigation is how he feels about Fuuma. It’s not just how he behaves around Fuuma, it’s explicitly an exploration of his feelings, on top of the fact it’s explicitly an exploration about whether or not he likes Fuuma r o m a n t i c a l l y. Literally the conflict is spurred on by someone outright asking “Do you like him?” and having to clarify “I mean romantically.” What they decided to focus on for Kazuki’s character and emphasize and establish is that Kazuki’s like towards Fuuma toes the line between friendship and romance. His ambiguous feelings towards Fuuma (if we leave them inconclusive as Suki did) are just like Fuuma’s crossdressing and Kippei’s insecurity in the sense the weight of whatever those feelings may be are seen in how he interacts with the world around him and influences his behaviors. It would be another story if they introduced the potential and shut it down all within the extra, because then his central conflict would to me be less directly open to romantic potential and more simply about how his arc was meant to explore the dynamic of the behavior of an extremely dedicated best friend. The fact that he may be romantically attracted to Fuuma or may be only platonically dedicated to Fuuma is instead something that looms over Kazuki in the same way Fuuma’s decision to crossdress constantly looms over him. It’s what Dolce wanted to point to and say this is Kazuki’s central character conflict and central arc: exploring what type of feelings he has towards Fuuma. 

Sure, it can be argued that there’s only three Dolce Diary character extras, there’s not enough to be sure about that being the purpose of the extras unless we get the other two’s extras. First, at this point I honestly don’t know if or when they’re going to release an extra revolving around Sara and Girisha just because not only has it been over a year and a half since the latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Kazuki’s) was released despite the gap between the first and latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Fuuma’s and Kazuki’s) were within a year of release but also because the Dolce 4komas and comics they’ve been posting to Twitter have decreased (last one being over half a year ago) potentially due to them deciding to focus on releasing Dolce manga content through the purchasable volumes instead. (This is not particularly related to the Kazufuuma argument, just wanted to put out there my two cents on what Sara and Girisha’s extra/focal arc would be. Based on a large part of the Dolce Diary in conjuncture with Can’t an Idol Fall in Love, I’d argue Sara’s would be his journey to regain his passion for performing, and if it’s not that I’d say it’d be coming out of his self-imposed isolation and opening up to people again. As for Girisha, I have less of a concrete idea but I’m assuming it’d be something pertaining to how people often misconceive him whether it be in tandem with his determination, his optimism and sociability, or his stupidity/ability to ignore those misconceptions and work past them. But Girisha is treated like the comedic relief 90% of the time so I’m not entirely sure, but his primary conflict is definitely rooted in misconceptions of him being his roadblock imo. #MoreGirishaContentPlz) That being said, I personally feel like the three are already enough evidence, especially considering it would be honestly even more cruel for Kazuki’s character-centric extra to be focusing on something that wasn’t essential to his character and character arc, anyway. And though it’s not explicitly stated that these chapters are extras exploring a central character, you can kind of tell based on how they are (to my knowledge) the only Dolce Diary updates with cover/title cards each which include their focal character front and center. So working off that fact, the Kazuki-centric chapter established that a pillar to his narrative was his feelings towards Fuuma and that those feelings are still open to romantic potential. 

But if you follow me, this is why up until Can’t an Idol Fall in Love With Another Idol’s release, I was terrified of them writing that off. I would have been ok if it was just an arc that was given attention then continued to actively work in the background, as all the character arcs have been over all of Dolce’s content. The fact that they might be giving Fuuma a love interest and giving Fuuma a love arc while Kazuki’s feelings were still up in the air and were still the primary highlighted narrative for him would have been fucking scuffed. To me, it would be like… why would they make him so Fuuma-centric to the point that even his dedicated chapter was not just focused on Fuuma but focused on the ambiguity and potential of him having romantic feelings for Fuuma, yet reduce him to being Fuuma's designated right-hand man. Don’t get me wrong, friendships are just as important as romantic relationships. But again, rather than conclude Kazuki’s answer in Suki to be that his feelings were of friendship, they left it open ended and allow audience members to be actively aware that Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma still had potential to be romantically coded. It would just be so weird to quickly close off that narrative by giving Fuuma a love interest as opposed to letting Kazuki conclude it himself. It would be fucking beyond frustrating for me, at least Eventually, I kept trying to drive my hopes that they would explore Kazuki’s narrative at all down to the ground because it was a Fuuma-centric novel; maybe if anything they’d explore those feelings in his own novel after the fact. But then they kept having little drops here and there of Kazuki being even the slightest bit relevant and I’d go back to questioning “Are??? They??? Is this on purpose??? Do they know what they’re doing or are they just doing this because Kazuki’s just so important to Fuuma as his best friend that he’s there as his right-hand I genuinely can’t tell???” And um. Welp.

Safe to say Can’t An Idol Fall in Love sold me on the fact that they know what they’re doing LOL. And to anyone who thinks that Kazuki’s feelings can still be read as ambiguous in CAIFILWAI as opposed to explicitly romantic - whether it be due to a fear they may pull the “I like him as a friend” card or due to the disbelief that they have an explicit mlm main character in the Honeyworks series - I’d like to cover any bases that may make you think this way. If you think it’s just Kazuki acting like a protective friend, why do you think he calls Yui a rival? If you’ve only seen the MV and think it’s ambiguous or can be taken as the "likfe" for friend, then does that mean you think Yui’s feelings toward Fuuma are also ambiguous or as a friend? With the way Yui responds, she is trying to rival Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma. She and Kazuki recognize whatever feeling it is that they hold towards Fuuma, both of their feelings are the same type. I don’t think most people would argue that Yui’s confession about Fuuma was one of pure respect and friendship. Plus, if anything I’d argue of the three characters in the MV, Fuuma is the one whose feelings are left the most ambiguous despite him being the central character. It’s heavily implied that he may be forming feelings for Yui, but nowhere is it established either in the song or in the MV, especially if you compare it to Kazuki and Yui’s declarations or if you compare it to Sara’s feelings for Uru in Can’t An Idol Fall in Love. Fuuma’s romantic narrative here is trying to figure out how he feels for Yui, while for Kazuki and Yui they’ve established a rivalry because they both have mutually established they like Fuuma romantically.

If the MV isn’t enough for you and Suki isn’t enough for you for...some reason…??? You can check out the snippets of the light novel which the wonderful takanenene translated: one which revisits the conflict set up in Suki and one that covers the confession scene in the MV in more detail. If the fact that the conflict set up in Suki (aka the lurking feeling of not knowing if all he felt for Fuuma was only platonic or more than platonic) was specifically reestablished in the LN for anyone who didn’t keep up with Dolce Diary didn’t tip you off that it was something important, his behavior in the confession scene as depicted by the LN definitely should have. He’s possessive about his spot by Fuuma’s side. He doesn’t want that spot to be taken by anyone else. Even if he knows that they can help Fuuma, he wants it to be him. And this line: “Kazuki then trails off his words, quietly saying ‘That’s why…’ and then gave Yui a slightly painful smile, his cheeks turning red,” before he declares Yui a rival and states he likes Fuuma. If you can tell me you read that line and are still on the fence about Kazuki’s “like” towards Fuuma being romantic, please message me and I will see how I can get through to you. Like it wasn’t even just a romantically coded confession. It’s just a romantic confession. That “like” is romantic. And I’m so proud that he’s not only come to understand for himself how he feels, but that he’s confident enough to ask the person he sees as a romantic rival to speak in private and not only clarify her feelings for Fuuma but before she can even do that firmly establishes that he loves Fuuma with conviction. Kazuki my boy I’m so proud of you. *sniffs*

And that’s it for establishing Kazufuuma as at least canonically one-sidedly canon and why there’s not only no reason to deny it but also why denying it is a fucking disrespectful move towards Kazuki. He’s a character, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact you shouldn’t write off his struggle to come to be convicted enough to say it out loud. This has been something weighing on him at least a year, if not more (all I know is it started when both he and Fuuma were in some year in middle school). And as a character in a piece of media, I’ve been saying this the entire time, but brushing it off as non-romantic is literally chucking a fucking pillar of his character’s story into the gutter. And to those who may be saying Kazuki’s confession came out of nowhere and is pandering reread this entire fucking essay again I dare you to do it and tell me to my face it’s pandering. Again. Writing off the buildup as pandering is disrespectful to him, disrespectful to his character and narrative, and disrespectful to the wonderful people who have been creating Dolce so diligently and have crafted this narrative for us. Saying his “supposed feelings” and “ambiguous confession” is pandering is like saying Fuuma’s crossdressing is pandering which. If you say either of those I will find you and I will shank you in the fucking gut. Even if you’re not fully into Dolce, recognize these characters are actually very well developed and executed amazingly, as per every Honeyworks character that has come to exist. I don’t blame you if you weren’t aware of the weight of Kazufuuma, but now that you read this I hope you are. That’s mainly what I needed to get out there, but as follows will be me more exploring how Kazufuuma has been built up and generally waving my hand off at where it may be going. If you want you can dip, thanks for reading up to here because I know I repeated a lot because it’s just. So important to drill into your head and has been something I’ve been hung up about constantly. LOL

As for where exactly they’re taking it from this point on, I honestly don’t know. In all honesty, I didn’t even expect them to take it the direction they did. But honestly, I think the direction they went with it is really interesting and better than I could have imagined, in my opinion at least. Honeyworks never ceases to amaze me with their storytelling and narrative choices, and I don’t think there’s any that stand out to me as being severely questionable that they haven’t reapproached at some point down the line. And, again, I think they’re treating this with a lot of care and deserved respect. So I’m just gonna be gushing about how smart they set it up and how smart they’ve been executing it and maybe my own hopes on the direction it could go.

Whether they make Kazufuuma reciprocated I have no real clue or bearings, but to me my gut reaction is they will. Of course, I’m biased, but again if you trace things all the way back to 2018 and step through Dolce’s content and growth from there, I’d say even if they didn’t know if they could execute it like this and see it to fruition, I’d argue that Kazufuuma has been at least heavily implied since the beginning as a relationship they wanted to explore from both sides of the relationship. Obviously I brought up Kazuki’s character bio already, but if you look at the *goes to count* 5th Dolce Diary update already has a joke jabbing at the fact that Kazuki is technically Fuuma’s type (and the way Kippei and Kazuki excitedly react is so cute). The fifth update. And as stated before there are tons of Kazufuuma moments in Dolce Diary, whether it’s played for comedic effect or played straight (and this is post Suki but oh my god I’ve said it before I’ll say it again get yourself someone who looks at you the way Kazuki looks at Fuuma oh my jesus). But song-wise, I mentioned the one Dolce album song I would bring up is Nade Nade and this is where it comes! 

Not only is Nade Nade specifically focused on Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship as opposed to the whole of Dolce despite being the first song, it included the setup/preview of the Fuuma-centric extra prior to the full release of the Fuuma-centric extra itself and was released early as fuck. Literally between the 6th and 7th update to Dolce Diary. Sure, it could be to isolate them as a duo for marketing purposes (they’re very often the two promoted idols together if the whole of the group aren’t included), but the way it’s established as a perspective song as opposed to a general idol duet is what fascinates me. Anyone who didn’t know about Dolce prior and only followed Honeyworks for music would be first introduced to these characters through this song alone, and maybe this is where my Kazufuuma bias comes from but I was one of those people LOL. I thought it was just a cute one-off relationship that they had set up for the purpose of a song and that it was an implied friends-to-lovers story that would never get a conclusion. Also I mistakenly thought Fuuma was a girl oop-. In the full context of Dolce, this song in part helped establish Fuuma and Kazuki more solidly as a unique duo out of all of Dolce, but it also specifically explored through Fuuma’s eyes just how much Fuuma recognizes and appreciates the unwavering support Kazuki gives him to follow his dreams as he wishes. For Fuuma, he loves Kazuki too, though whether it holds any romantic potential in the same way Kazuki loves him has never been explored to nearly the same extent. But Fuuma appreciates how Kazuki’s remained by his side and does everything he can to support him, so Nade Nade explores how his way of expressing his love and thankfulness to Kazuki is by never saying that he needs Kazuki by his side. He’s glad Kazuki’s always been there for him, and his reciprocation takes on the form of being ready to unwaveringly support Kazuki and not ask for more than he already has, even if it meant Kazuki would be leaving his side, despite the fact that he really does wish they could remain together forever just as Kazuki does. The one point he lets himself say something vaguely close to always wanting to stay together, he gets a surprised expression out of Kazuki and says an ambiguous “suki dayo.” Of course, this it much less romantically coded than what we get from Kazuki in Suki and CAIFILWAI, but there is an interesting emphasis put on it nonetheless. Keep in mind, this is all established through the song, which released long before not only Fuuma’s character-centric extra released but also Kazuki’s character-centric extra released, so there is at least a substantial setup for Fuuma’s feelings towards Kazuki’s being strong as well and possibly grow to be reciprocated one day.

I think for me the most fascinating part about Nade Nade is how they tied it back around to Can’t An Idol Fall In Love with Another Idol. Again, without remembering Nade Nade, I still thought CAIFILWAI was brilliantly explored and executed, even if some people would have preferred no love triangle. But honestly, revisiting Nade Nade makes me trust even more the direction they’re taking with this. Whether or not they make Kazufuuma canon mutually (which. Even if they for some inexplicable reason didn’t I’m going down with this ship.), I’m sure they’re putting a lot of thought into the story, because the last bit of Nade Nade directly parallels the misunderstanding that arose from Fuuma mishearing the Kazuki and Yui. Fuuma is resolved to support Kazuki in any area he’s given the chance, and that explicitly includes if Kazuki had some girl he liked, which is what he assumes is going on. The fact that they tied this back around in the form of a misunderstanding was really really smart and Honeyworks is always so good at parallels and references back to their older songs, but for some reason I didn’t expect this. I don’t know how to say why, but the fact that the song that started it all, kicked off both Dolce and Kazufuuma, was directly referenced both visually in the MV with a cameo at the start and narratively despite the central dynamic being predominantly explored in this story in particular was that of Fuuma and another potential love interest and involves said potential love interest for some reason makes me think that (sorry Yui) this is all planned out for Kazufuuma in the grand scheme of things. That being said, I don’t know if me thinking it was planned all along is just me with shipper goggles, but the idea it’s come full circle nearly 3 years later is not shipper goggles and a very very well done parallel in my opinion, whether this trajectory was their plan for Kazufuuma from the beginning or not. Just wanted to gush about that some more. 

There’s more I could go into especially if I went into specific details about interactions or specific implications established in Honeyworks' Dolce content about different characters that would be fascinating to explore in relation to and under the lens of Kazufuuma, but I think this is uh...plenty long enough. Plus, I doubt you'll stop seeing Kazufuuma posts from me so those ideas will probably just be miniposts or somethin.

Back to the overarching point of this segment, idk what they’ll do with this story in the end, but do I think Kazufuuma will canon? I’m used to looking at ships that aren’t explicitly apparent with a sliver of skepticism, but all things considered (as I stated before) yeah. I don’t see reason why they wouldn’t now that they’ve explicitly identified there is a romantic dimension to it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like to me, the setup isn’t something that would be written off as unrequited? And this doesn’t have to play into why I don’t think it will canon, my personal opinion on the Fuuyui relationship (again albeit through the lens of a hard Kazufuuma shipper lmao) has it’s own merits and is really cute, I find it cute in the way I found Koyuhina cute. I personally never really shipped Koyuhina, and especially since they slipped Kotarou into Ima Suki Ni Naru I was more curious about who this kid was and how he played into things I didn’t really see Koyuhina as something that would come to fruition. Similarly, there’s more importance in the overall sense on Kazuki than there is Yui (considering he’s one of the 5 original and focal members of this generation of idols, this would be natural), as well as the fact there’s just way more foundation and exploration in Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship than there is Fuuma and Yui. As for how much of a balance there is inside the LN itself, the fact that they seem to have spent a substantial amount relaying the foundation of Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship and re-exploring it (at least in Kazuki’s perspective) at all on top of how much content there is covering their relationship prior to the LN ever since Dolce’s origin just feels like that relationship holds more weight. Pretty much Kazufuuma feels more established as a priority in general. The way I personally hope Fuuyui plays out is whether they wind up holding mutual feelings or not or whether Fuuma doesn’t feel that way towards Yui is they get a relationship akin to Kotarou and Arisa. Albeit, Kotarou and Arisa never viewed each other in a romantic light, but they had mutual respect and solidarity. That’s the type of friendship I hope comes out of Fuyui. And considering there hasn’t been a break-up in any Honeyworks’ canon relationships (nor do I expect there to be… they’re all perfect for each other LMAO) it would actually be interesting if Fuuyui get together but don’t endgame and Kazufuuma is established as the inseparable endgame after some realization or another, though I don’t expect them to go that route nor do I know if that’d be the best way to go about it anyway. Also final point, Honeyworks seems to have a thing for childhood friends trope anyway soooooo owo All in all, don’t know where they’re taking it, just excited to see where it goes. 

TL;DR of this *counts* 7 page essay, stan Kazufuuma. Not gonna proof this. Maybe I’ll edit and repost but yall are getting a confusing clusterfuck of ramblings over 2-3 hr periods of me writing across 3 different days at around 5am each day. Uh. If you got this far like and subscribe and-- jk plz reply to this mammoth anywhere you see fit or tell me if you have stuffs to add or counter or whatnot I like hearing people talk about Kazufuuma ;w; I am Kazuki and Kazufuuma brainrot can you tell after reading this? No? Lemme just remind you I’m K--

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Jaicy Elliot, Grey’s Anatomy

We got the chance to chat with Actress Jaicy Elliot, best known for her breakout role as Taryn Helm on Grey’s Anatomy. This is her 3rd season on the critically acclaimed series. Her character is a surgical intern who can be a little strict and sarcastic but her willingness to be too helpful can sometimes land her in awkward situations with the other doctors. Elliot also starred in the short digital series Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team. The show centers on the new interns’ first day as surgeons forced to tackle the pressures of high-stakes medicine and difficult patients under the watchful and stern eye of Chief Miranda Bailey. The series was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category. Check out her Spotlight:

What’s your favorite Grey’s Anatomy plot line or episode of all time?

There have been so many iconic plot lines on Grey’s, so many interesting and clever turns that it’s hard to pick just one. I always really appreciated the way Callie found out that Arizona had been cheating on her in the finale “Perfect Storm.” The couple would sow their engagement rings into their scrubs to prevent them from getting in the way during surgeries. Callie finds out Arizona is cheating on her with Lauren after seeing Arizona’s engagement ring pinned on Lauren's shirt. This detail always stuck with me, I really enjoyed that couple and this was heartbreaking to witness. The finesse of how that unfolded was so smart, it was truly television magic.

When you think about the experience of filming season 16, is there a specific funny story or moment that sticks out to you?

Season 16 has a big drunk moment for Taryn and, as terrifying as that can be to play, it was also such a fun day! Everyone was there, I got to play with Meredith and give Taryn a little more depth and quirkiness. That was the highlight of my year!

What’s a storyline or challenge that you’d like Dr. Helm to tackle in an upcoming episode?

I really want Taryn to focus on her work. I also really want to see her fall in love but as time goes by, I realize that Taryn could become an example of focus and ambition, and I would be excited to represent that. I think having her be about her work and self-growth is an interesting and different angle.

Do you have any fun facts about the making of Grey’s Anatomy that fans would be surprised to find out?

Yes, O.R. montages! Even though they usually last about 30 seconds on the show, they take a day or two to shoot. I always find it kind of surprising that they turn out to be so short on TV. These scenes take a lot of work. They’re very intricate in the technique and filming them can be challenging, all worth it in the end though. I’m always excited to be a part of them.

What’s the funniest photo on your phone (either share or describe it)?

Well, we are in quarantine right now, so like many people I’ve been talking to my friends and family via the internet. From these web conversations a whole new file on my phone was born of ‘up close and personal’ screenshots of all my people talking together, those are pretty hilarious and embarrassing.

If you could take a masterclass on any subject, what would you learn?

I love music. If I could I would really enjoy taking a masterclass on how to produce good music. I’ve done the basic home tunes, but I dream of sitting down with a producer to learn all the tricks of the trade.

How do you spend your free time on set?

For me it’s hard to concentrate on set and do anything else but talk to people. I’m a pretty curious person and like to learn random facts about others. I’m usually walking around and striking up conversations with the crew or cast. I also like a good game, ‘Would You Rather’ is my favorite, very set appropriate and challenging if the question are well thought through.

Can you tell us your favorite fan experience?

I have quite a few funny experiences. My favorite though I would say is when people think I look like myself, I like to play along and ask them questions about the show, how they feel about the season, and the character. One time I was waiting in line at a restaurant and, after telling me the wait time, the hostess let me know that I looked like Jaicy Elliot from Grey’s Anatomy. I responded “I’ve heard that before” and then she said “Next time tell people it’s you, I would have given you a table”. Good to know.

Describe each of the following in one word: Who you are, what you value the most, and what you’d be if you were a food item.

Curious. Integrity. Cheese.

Thanks for taking the time, Jaicy! Catch Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays at 9pm on ABC.

Photo: Michael Anaya 

Hair & Make Up: Allison Noelle | Stylist: Brooke Shepherd