#like i enjoy it when ppl explore characters and identities

[varibean]

we took those characters and made them lesbians but uh, we stripped them of their personalities and traits. yeah, um, we made them another cute girl couple who only brush their fingers together and giggle while looking vaguely cottagecore. yeah, sorry, we reduced them to ‘boys icky, girls pretty’. sorry. 

[prismatiger]

AGREE WITH YOUR PREVIOUS POST. I like mean Loop as a facade only, but we know they still care and love...

Now I have a question, what's your favorite Loop takes/headcanon

Oh my god I'm so sorry I took like two weeks to answer this one I prommy it's not bc I'm exclusively a hater or whatever. I just straight up forgot to answer Oopsie. I'm putting this under cut bc it got long enough that you all would shoot arrows at me for putting it on your dash

Anyways there's a lot of Loop Thangs I like frankly. A big one that I enjoy is when fic authors in postcanon make the transition of Loop into the party structure kind of rocky. Usually bc Loop's neuroses creating a level 12 psychic barrier between them and the party + the inherent awkwardness of meeting somebody who's apparently super close in a way (that you'll never fully understand) to one of your friends. Who let's be real I feel like half the party (coughIsabeauandMirabelle) would catch the aura of "oh they do not like us at all" from Loop. I want Loop to be happy and with their family but you just know this bitch is going to make it as difficult for themself on purpose. The Siffrin Special.

I also just generally like when they keep Loop as a star postcanon. I'm not at all a hater towards Human Loop (in fact I think it can be itself an interesting setup for a Loop fic) but I do like Loop as a star more thematically. Something about having to accept that things have changed and moving on from it regardless. Also bc Loop being dysphoric about their body scratches a very transgender projection itch in my brain Yessss little star you're stuck in a body that draws unwanted attention and which you have no control over how it looks and functions in a way that feels fundamentally wrong to you. (Pointing at canonically transgender character) Yooooo this guy is such a cool trans allegory omg

Hmm what else. This is more of a sloops thing but I always enjoy in fics when they lean into the fact it's selfcest frankly. I've become a selfcest enjoyer bc of this ship I'll never get over that act 5 dialogue abt the cautionary tale where Siffrin says he never understood the moral of the story bc the idea of having somebody just like him who understands him. Oh my gyoooooooooooooooood. I want them to melt into sludge I'm always thinking of that analogy from superflyghtheart on discord comparing Loop and Siffrin to endlings of an endangered species. 💥💥💥It's like. This is less sloopy now but I'm caught between the intersection in my head of "Loop would probably benefit from developing their own identity as a person separate from Siffrin bc they need Something they have control over" and "Loop is of the Siffrin Species and they are significantly too sentimental to let go of the shreds of what they used to have, especially after having lost all of it once already". Both of these things are yummy as fuck when ppl smarter than me explore them and they're kinda the main Story Paths for postcanon Loop anyways so I'm always winning. So like idk tldr I like it both when ppl have Loop diverge a lot as a person and when they have Loop try their best to stay as much of a Siffrin as possible!

I'm limiting myself to four paragraphs so you don't all want to hit me with hammers but I do have Loop Biology Headcanons. I've explained mythoughts on their guts before and don't feel like recounting them but whatever True #codacheetahwarriors remember my deranged rambling. ANYWAYS I kind of mentally run on the assumption of Loop's body as like. The Universe couldn't keep Loop in Siffrin's body, bc they needed Siffrin to be in it (and I guess a system situation introduces too many factors of its own? idk). The Universe operates with the goal of fulfilling wishes with the least intervention possible, so The Universe makes a body out of cheap inorganic material (star-scrap basically). Miniature star for a head fueling the body with Craft energy (I'm not going to get into my conspiracy that all Craft is the same here). Molds the star scrap into a vaguely Siffrin-shaped/sized vessel and plonks Loop's conscious into it and calls it a day. So Loop's body as a poor simulacrum of a human body is like. They're capable of breathing but they only really benefit from doing it on a psychological level. They can't eat or drink and don't have a mouth because it would require a significant level of added effort to make a digestive system, when they can just derive energy from their star. They don't have reproductive organs because they're not made from organic material anymore anyways. They don't need to sleep bc their body never gets tired but they still do it because it's not really a great idea to leave your brain on running for too long anyways.

I fucking lied I'm on paragraph five bc the block of text is annoying me. To continue that's all a preface to say I think it's super fun when Loop has body functions that are weird and unpredictable. Their little frizzles on their body are reactive to their emotions the same way their headstar is, and feel like static if you touch them. Their head has a vague boundary so their eyes have something to be rooted to but the function by which their optic nerves work is unclear to everybody including themself. They glow based on intensity of emotion and the temperature of their star changes via specific mood. Bc I think it would be fun if the battlefield in twohats when from ice cold to boiling hot frankly. Ok these are all just my headcanons (temperature one very loose though I'm not a hard subscriber to it) but they're not uniquely mine it's just examples of what I mean. One I don't have as a personal headcanon but I do enjoy is when Loop feels the same physical sensations as Siffrin bc it's funny and I like inflicting misery on the star.

I'm going to shut up now like actually . Loop for your troubles

[brighteyedbushybrowed]

Okay but I really REALLY need ppl to understand that they/them are not the only pronouns nonbinary people use and acting like other ppls headcanons of nonbinary characters are inferior or shit bc they explore the nuance of someone using more than one set of pronouns is fucking gross. Stop that shit.

Like, as a nonbinary transmasc person who uses he/they pronouns and NEVER sees themselves represented in fics or media, even when a character is nonbinary, I am BEGGING for yall to stop insisting nonbinary characters can only use they/them pronouns. It erases not only nonbinary people like me that use more than one set of pronouns but also nonbinary people who use neopronouns.

If your vision or view of nonbinary characters is only that they use they/them pronouns and no other and your view of ppl who explore the nuance of pronouns and nonbinary identity is that they're inferior or you're automatically better than them or more correct, I don't want you following me. I don't want you enjoying my content. I don't want you interacting with me. Get lost and stop contributing to the problem of others trying to shove nonbinary ppl into a box that feels incredibly binary and restrictive

[radioregine]

Hi! Thanks for the reblog! 🤗 You mentioned being into writing that explores the "meta part" of fanfic - YES!! Are there other people who do this/fics you can recommend?

yes indeeeed. below are works surrounding this topic i've really enjoyed over the past decade:

-> TRAD PUB. BOOKS

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell [link to NPR review] this came out when i was finishing high school + starting to get disillusioned w HP (for story reasons & 'the author is Unforgivably Shitty' reasons lol) so i was very intrigued with how this book worked as a metacommentary abt HP (seriously, it felt like the book was deconstructing a lot of the issues fans had with the o.g. canon) while being a cute fantasy in its own right. i haven't checked out the sequels yet

New Waves by Kevin Nguyen [link to LA Times review] i read this a year or two ago and enjoyed what it had to say about online vs IRL friendships, grief, hustle culture, and creative identity.

-> FANFIC PROJECTS

running after two hares by chaparral_crown on ao3 this is probably my favorite fic of all time. no exaggeration. i have the whole thing printed out on 200+ pages of copy paper bound with comically large binder clips. and it's not even finished! there's this fanon concept called HEU (Hannibal Extended Universe) where people consider all of the different characters that the main actors played outside the show (in other shows, film, etc) to be connected to the showverse. for some reason i've never been able to suspend my disbelief enough to get into a lot of HEU content. i'm picky about fic just as i am with any other creative writing i engage with -- i have been for most of my life. THEN. i come across this author's insanely popular HEU fic, and i've read non-HEU stuff from them before that i adored, so i figure 'why not' ... and this 'crack treated seriously' quickly became one of my fav things ever. the prose alone is so masterful. and it's such a DENSE read, like, you really gotta slow down to appreciate all the introspective asides and jokes and commentary about the text (show) and metacommentary about how unusual pairings thrive, inside and outside of fiction.

Starsky & Hutch Virtual Season [link to Fanlore wiki] i got into S&H fandom in 2012. i remember how intrigued i was at the concept of the Virtual Season, which had its heyday a decade before i got into the online fandom. this kind of fan activity is the precursor, imo, to stuff like people calling installments of their webnovels 'episodes', the concept of a 'dream season' (ex: how hannibal ppl talk about how season 4 would play out if the show hadn't been cancelled), etc. people weren't just writing serialized fic, they were cultivating a really unique Experience

-> COMMENTATORS / ESSAYISTS

Shipper's Guide to the Galaxy (has not updated their channel in years but has such a huge backlog of thoughtful content about the relationship between media and its fans, including entire segments dedicated to fic recs)

Fionapollo (discovered them recently! i used to watch a lot of art commentary channels that preceded this one, and i'm obsessed w this channel because they focus more on the philosophy of creative practice & cultivating community between fans and media, rather than feeding into toxicity for views. they cover negative topics sometimes, yeah, but not in a sensationalist way at all. super refreshing)

[enemywasp]

OMFG A PROSHIPPER !!+! SAME BUT I HAVE TO HIDE MY IDENTITY BC EVERYONE HAS DNI PROSHIP IN BIO LIKE WHY?????

UMMMMM ..... Rant bc it's so rare to find a kindred spirit in this shitty immature ""war""

it fr just means i believe we should ship and let ship??? why is the "i don't judge u for your preferences" thing seen as bad idfk like. it's fucking fiction.

if it's problematic then I don't condone it irl. but I'm human. I have curiosities and shit. Like,, ppl don't listen to true crime bc they condone murder and ppl don't go calling true crime fans murderers. so WHYYYY is shipping any different, in fact it's b e t t e r bc at least fiction. isn't. real.

like why tf is what i ship anyone else's business??? unless it's bc we have smthn in common to bond over, why tf do ppl care abt the ships we don't have in common.

istg ship wars are crazy af and this whole pro- anti- ship shit is just another way to try to control smthn that doesn't need controlling.

it's like U said no one fucking cares abt it irl and the damn DEATH THREATS ppl get over **not giving a damn what other people ship** instead of being the fucking fandom shipper police or smthn is disgusting and i hate that im never allowed to talk abt this w/out ppl hating me and calling me a disgusting monster.

why can't I just do what I fucking want when in my own privacy while not causing any harm???

like ppl are so damn delusionalllllllll!!!!.!.!.!

-> some proshippers just mean they support any and all ships bc fiction is fiction

-> some proshippers ship "problematic" ships and that is FINE because it is NOT REAL and THEY ARE NOT HURTING ANYONE and i meannnnm ppl are curious right. they gonna explore alien concepts some way or another. why tf would ppl stop them from exploring it in a safe. healthy. fictional. harmless. way.

why is it that it's okay to consume problematic content but not okay to ship problematic ships?? literally what is the fucking difference ships are a subgenre of content.

if you think it's okay to be a fan of lotr or american psycho or some shit then it is damn hypocritical to say it isn't okay to ship something problematic. same thing if you think it's okay to stan/simp for a villain character.

it's only even called ~problematic~ bc that's how the relationship would be if it were real. which it isn't. so it isn't fucking problematic bc it's fictional content and the ppl shipping it do not condone the irl versions.

also sidenote,,, why tf are proshippers and multishippers grouped together in the dni stuff?? they are not related. a multishipper just. ships the same character w/ more than just one (1) other character. how is that problematic too?????

okay sorreryyyyyy i just have so many thoughts on this that im never allowed to share pls feel free to let this one collect dust in the inbox. or just straight up delete it lol.

Do not apologise! I love a good rant!

If you want to interact with proshippers more the tags "proshipper", "proshippers pls interact" and "proship positivity" are usually very nice and lots of wonderful people post there!

And you could always make a side account for proship stuff if you want to be able to take a break from the intense pro vs anti stuff if and when it gets too much, whilst still having a place to enjoy that stuff.

Honestly I think a lot of the issue is people seem to take the word "ship" as their ideal relationship. Less so than a dynamic they enjoy in fiction. But I don't know, I can't pretend to understand the mind of antis.

Proshippers and multishippers getting clumped together is probably linked to the idea that a ship is a pairing you want to see canon and shows actually pandering to ship wars lately. Or maybe people are just weird!

Everyone takes shipping way too seriously now and acts like a fictional pairings existence will romanticise the topic and brainwash kids. My general rule is that its for fun, who cares ?

And feel free to rant in my inbox whenever! It's always open to anyone. Glad you could get that off your chest :)

[the-stove-is-divorced]

So it just came to my attention that as an author with amazing writing and depth and quality, obviously you would know fanfics with amazing quality too

Like how a professional artist follow artist who makes professional art or sm like that

So like, what I'm trying to get at is, do you have any fic recommendations? Your favorite ones maybe?

Also Spider-Man ones and MHA one's please. I need something to get these fandoms out of my systems (I'm halfway through the Ben ten ones you recommend and oh my god your taste is perfect)

I do love hoarding fics I adore, so thank you! That's incredibly flattering ⸜( ´ ꒳ ` )⸝ And oh yeah, I have, like, 2k bookmarks, haha! Occasionally I delete some, admittedly, but ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE! ( ` ∇ ´ )ゝI will preface and say I don't know what you like to curate this list better, since I read a lot of fanfic, I've got a lot of choices to pick from.

Alright, for spidey fics, I dunno what iterations of Spider-Man you like? And what character interactions you go for? So here's a random assortment! -> -> -> college student!Peter is a long suffering intern of the Avengers (comedy, mcu) + peter just trying to graduate (mcu) + yummy psychological horror of peter w/ venom symbiote + spideypool exploration of spidery behavior + spideypool where peter fights for his fucking life to keep his identity hidden but ppl think spidey's harry osborn + poetic spideypool (love the writing style) + combo of mcu and comics where peter is trying his best to graduate, grieve, and more (series) + spideytorch chronicles peter trying to prove he can settle down for a kid on the way + just spideypool silliness

That was harder than I thought, but should be a good range, bonus crossovers tho, peter and felicia suffering as STEM students in Gotham + peter being spidery in gotham + post NWH gone wrong! peter suffers and Orochimaru barges into his life

MHA I will just admit straight up Izuku is my favorite character, so they're all gonna be focused on him! Also man this was a trip down memory lane, haha! -> -> -> incredible comedy horror about an exorcist Izuku + psychological drama about izuku's inability to die + fav au of quirkless izuku in HSC + all of izuku's bitter feelings manifest when a quirk changes his personality + epic ongoing story of izuku being half demon, WC: 500k + izuku can see spirits, is incapable of helping people, and suffers + comedy about izuku making friends with villains instead of going to UA + izuku time travels and concerns literally everyone around him (comedy) + HC's plan to study Izuku fails because this mf is haunted + izuku is blind + katsuki is haunted by a dead(?) izuku + literally one of the best DFO fics to me (comedy) + OFA users memories get muddled with Izuku's + quirkless journalist izuku discovers the truth

This quickly made me realize how much I adored Bnha. But that should be enough for ye!

If we're talking any fandom kind of favorites, hard to say?? Kinda like when I get asked a fav movie, a lot disappears from my mind, but here's some random ones: -> -> -> jeremiah keeps appearing in bruce's dreams nightmares and it's getting harder not to listen (gotham tv show) + will graham is catnip to every serial killer on the planet for 200k + literally anything by this author + time travel fic of the century (haikyuu) + khaji da discovers the beauty of consciousness and identity

Did not think this would take me this long, but this should be more than enough! (o^ ^o) Glad ya enjoying the ones I recommended before!

[icequeenfanfic]

Fionna & Cake Episodes 3-4 First Impressions, Speculations, Etc.

[Obvious spoilers]

THESE EPISODES WERE SO NEAT IN TERMS OF LORE AND CHARACTER WHATEVER,,

PRISMO BEING REVEALED TO BE THE CREATOR OF FIONNA AND CAKE AND THAT THE F&C UNIVERSE IS THE RESULT OF A WISH MUCH LIKE FARMWORLD IS SO PERFECTSKNDKDJ

I LOVVEE THE SCARAB- LIKE I LOVE VILLAINS THAT ARE DOING THE “RIGHT THING” BUT FOR MESSED UP MOTIVES AND HIM BEING JEALOUS OF PRISMO IS SO FUNNY

i also think hes not but lets not talk about that

CAKKEEEEE i feel like a lotta ppl are gonna say that the beginning chunk of her episode felt like filler but i really enjoyed seeing her again AND her getting a proper song! it was rlly cute and its also funny that that episode dropped when i LITERALLY have a cake plush coming in the mail today dkdbfkdjd

fionna sleeplessly looking for cake all throughout the city with as heartwarming as it is sad- cake really is one of the only things that gives her joy in her bleak reality- it was also nice seeing more of ellis and marshall as well as gary who was acting just a LITTLE bit sus not sure whats goin on there🤨

i also love that ellis and marshall just fall asleep synced like what😭

one thing i WILL say though is that i wish we saw a few more genderbends that weren’t seen in the first episode, im sure we will later on but yknow-

it was really nice to see that universe’s ICE QUEEN though! oddly enough she feels like the most underrated character of the F&C universe, only having a really prominent role in the first episode and like 2 of the comicsdkdjkdj i just hope we see more of her and her ice cream escapades

this will never happen.

i really hope we get to see more of astrid shes rlly cute and the dynamic between her and fionna- first thinking both being fans and then realizing “oh shit its the real fionna” was really fun

ending this little rant off, the end goal being to bring the ice king back is honestly really heartbreaking

simon can’t just live as himself anymore- his identity will forever be in the shadow of the ice king and his insane antics.

however i really hope the show doesn’t just settle on this as the only way things work out. the message “damn you were a lot better when you were self destructive” would be INSANE to ride on so i think they’re building to a compromise that splits the diff- maybe simon learns to be ok with the ice king being his past while making an effort to explore his new world without shutting himself out because its not the way HE wants it to be

TLDR i really liked these episodes and am hyped to see what they do with this series now that the stage has been set for their multiversal adventure

[convenientalias]

Kdramas I Watched in 2024

A little roundup as the year comes to a close :D

First, the dramas I watched that aired in 2024:

A Shop for Killers - I wasn't as big a fan of this as I expected to be. I liked Jeong Jian, and the uncle-niece moments, but there was a lot of screentime that was just gunfights and explosions, which kind of bore me. When it comes to action, my preference is fistfights and swordfights. I also think I might not actually be a Lee Dong-wook fan; this is the third show I've watched of his, and I never quite get into the characters he plays. I'd rate it 2/5.

Bitter Sweet Hell - Ever since watching Mine, I'm always looking for the next female-led thriller that can deliver the same femslashy energy, or at least an intense and complicated relationship between two women. Bitter Sweet Hell seemed like a good bet for this, as the two leads are both women (a woman and her mother-in-law), but it never quite hit for me. It is a bit femslashy between our FMC and the woman having an affair with her husband, especially towards the end, but overall, it's not a very shippy show, and as a thriller, it never quite got me fully invested. 3/5.

Black Out - I watched this show primarily for Byun Yo-han but also because I like plots about ppl getting framed for crimes. I read the book beforehand, which led to me constantly scrutinizing it for differences lol, and there were many. Some good, some perhaps less so, but I won't go into that here! I really enjoyed the whump (lots of that in the book too) and I loved Geon-oh's character, who barely appears in the book but here actually got some screentime. There are a LOT of terrible people, of course; probably the majority of the characters have committed some crime they are trying to cover up, and after a certain point, you're constantly watching them rip into each other and throw each other to the wolves. Barely anyone makes it out intact. I would recommend this one! 4/5.

Queen Woo - The first few episodes of this show are amazing. Beautiful costumes, political intriguing, complicated relationships, and a villain played by Lee Soo-hyuk who comes across as both sadistically evil and rather pathetic. Then the second half of the show is consumed by chase scenes and fight scenes, and the political intrigue kind of gets confusing and falls apart, and Lee Soo-hyuk barely shows up anymore, and the female lead's character goes from survival mode to girlbossification. This show infuriates me in a way only a show with great potential could. I still love the first few episodes though. Queen Woo/Go Bal-gi forever. 2/5.

The Trunk - I'm not sure what to think about this one. I really liked the two lead actors, Seo Hyun-jin and Gong Yoo. The atmosphere of the show (especially at the beginning) is strong, in turns mellow and tense, very absorbing, a bit slow paced. And the exploration of two people cohabiting, in a "marriage" that is at first stiff and impersonal but that slowly becomes something more. At the same time, I'm not sure I buy the central relationship as much as the show wants me to--I'm not sure I'm convinced that either lead would get over their past so quickly, or that these two really could not just be interested in each other but love each other. Maybe they just sold a tone of estrangement and nostalgia too hard, idk. I also don't love the way the second female lead is portrayed less and less sympathetically as the show goes on--the last episode tries to dial it back, but she's become very flat by that point. So, mixed feelings all around. I'd recommend more for vibes than for plot. 3/5.

When the Phone Rings - I'm only 2/3 through this one so I won't rate it yet, but so far it's been good. I love the identity porn and the complicated central relationship. Also the representation of mute and deaf characters, though I'm not sure the female MC would technically be called selectively mute, as she seems to be able to talk and chooses not to. In any case, the sign language is a cool aspect of the show. And I hadn't seen Yoo Yeon-seok in anything since Mr. Sunshine, so it's fun to see him again! (I also hadn't seen Byun Yo-han in anything since Mr. Sunshine until Black Out, so I'm associating these two shows in my head lol.)

Shows that didn't air in 2024 that I watched this year:

Circle - This was my fourth time watching this show lol. I think I've said all my feelings about this show before but!!! ITS SO GOOD. There are lots of shows that play with a split timeline, showing half the show in a flashback and half in the present, or just a short flashback every episode, but I've never seen a show use the format as successfully as Circle. The way it uses the separation of time as well as space to show the longing of two separated brothers to find each other; the way events in the past are slowly revealed at a pace that makes sense given what's going on in the future. The fact that the future portion has a significantly different setting in a dystopian sci-fi city, and the very existence of this city ties into what happened in the past. THE ACTING. Yeo Jin-goo and Kim Kang-woo at their best! AMNESIA. MIND CONTROL (of sorts). ALIENS. This show truly has everything. I know it came out in 2017, I KNOW I have recommended it a hundred times before, but I am never over it and yes, that's right, I'm not over it now either. Not only 5/5 but 100/5 To Me.

Crime Puzzle - This show? is not? good? Speaking of shows that use a bunch of flashbacks, that happens here too, but? it's just not well done? It was so boring I can barely remember what happened in it, and just... not satisfying. My favorite character died. The answers to certain mysteries were kind of obvious. I feel like the central relationship could have had Flower of Evil vibes if I had cared about them at all, but the chemistry was simply not there. 1/5.

The Deal - Kidnapping show! Kidnapping show! I LOVE KIDNAPPING it is my favorite trope of all time. And I don't know if I've ever seen a show that was as purely "Hey, wanna watch a kidnapping go wrong and everything be whumpy and fucked up" as this one. The two kidnappers and the kidnap victim are equally protagonists of the show, and both sympathetic. You just want them all to somehow come out of this situation okay and yet everything is constantly going wrong and the longer the show goes on, the more emotionally unstable everyone gets. Incredibly shippy between all the main three characters. I AM BEGGING YOU TO WATCH THIS SHOW. mostly bc I need more fanfic but also I would settle for just more ppl talking about it. 5/5, the best show that I watched for the first time this year.

Jirisan - I'd recommend this show primarily for the atmosphere and setting. It takes place on a mountain (Jirisan) and is about rangers trying to save people from life threatening accidents (and also murder). There's just so much panning over the landscape and it's absolutely gorgeous. Lots of hiking etc. As a thriller, it's decent; the setting leads to different sources of tension than usual, a lot of man vs. nature rather than the usual man vs. man conflict of the average thriller. But also a certain amount of detection and investigation. Also, one character spends a certain amount of the show as a ghost!!!!! which is very cool but I won't give too many spoilers on that. The only downside of this show is that the pacing can get kind of slow if you binge watch it due to the aforementioned focus on the beautiful landscape. 4/5.

Pale Moon - I rarely watch a show focused on an affair that I actually like, but Pale Moon really did it for me. Part of it's the acting. Kim Seo-hyung in the lead creates a quiet, withdrawn character who sort of steps out of her life and starts creating the world she would want to live in: A younger lover rather than her distant and dismissive husband, a lover she can pamper with her own money rather than accept money from submissively. But it's fake - the money is embezzled from her job at a bank, and the lover, at first awe-struck by her and utterly infatuated, becomes less the person she loves the more support she offers him and the more success he finds on his own. Money courses through the show, enchanting and corrupting all the characters. The minor characters are also great, especially the MC's best friend, played by Yoo Sun. And the ending, while not entirely tragic, is still emotionally devastating (or at least, it devastated me). 5/5, maybe not for everyone but I think more people should try it out.

I also watched a lot of Korean movies this year! I won't go into too much detail here but I did rank 15 Park Sung-woong movies here. TLDR everyone should watch Daemuga, For the Emperor, Method, and New World. Apart from that, a brief summation:

In Dream (2023) - Spooky dreamwalking, but basically your average serial killer thriller apart from that. 3/5.

Love and Leashes (2022) - I came for the femdom and I did enjoy it but the structure of the plot is still very man-pursues-woman, plus the femdom in question barely seems to enjoy BDSM. So, it wasn't quite what I hoped. 3/5.

The Night Owl (2022) - Spooky happenings and Murder in Joseon. Lots of political intrigue. 5/5.

Tomb of the River (2021) - I just wanted to see Jang Hyuk in a gangster movie and I did get that. But the plot was not so strong, and after all the Park Sung-woong movies I watched this year, my standards for gangster movies have gotten higher. 2/5.

Burning (2018) - Have you ever watched a Murakami adaptation and said to yourself, yeah, that sure seems like a Murakami? I hadn't until this year but now I have. That said, it did make one change that, without having previously read the short story, I could completely pinpoint--there are some things Murakami just doesn't do. I liked the change, though, and I liked this movie. 4/5.

The Divine Move and The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful - I like watching people play go and murder each other in convoluted ways. Both these movies are a bit ridiculous and over the top, but I enjoyed them! And Woo Do-hwan is in one of them :D. 4/5.

Old Boy (2003) - Wins the "most fucked up movie I've watched this year" award. If you know, you know! 4/5.

Overall, I had a good year for kdramas and Korean movies both. The dramas I would recommend the most would be: First and foremost, The Deal, more people need to watch it ASAP. After that, Pale Moon and Black Out were really good; I also would recommend Jirisan but you do need some patience!

I hope you watched good kdramas this year too! We'll see what the next year holds :D <3

[batsplat]

adsfdfgjk spuffy are kinda my eventual post s7 endgame and I mostly ship just them, even tho as a lesbian I obviously see the vision w faith/buffy. but I also don’t really read any spuffy fic at all bc I am mostly satisfied with what we got on the show and how it all concluded - clasped hands ingulfed in flames?? the “I love you” “no you don’t” WHO DID IT LIKE THEM. but many fics just want to flat out ignore s5-7, and specifically s6, and there are lots of like time travel aus or spuffy getting together earlier etc. and obviously I am not judging anyone you do you and have fun but that’s not my jam at all. like if there is a spuffy fanfic that mets my super specific expectations I would love to read it but overall I’m fine as is!

and in general this seems to be happening quite a lot when it comes to het pairings for me? like no matter how frustrating/painful some parts of it are, as a whole it makes sense that x and z can’t be together at this point in canon (but maybe they could in the future). maybe it’s bc i gravitate towards more unconventional het pairings and quite a few ppl’s ideas of a happy ending/happy relationship are too white picket fenc-y? perhaps but🤐

right righttttt yeahhhhhh I think a lot of fans like an idea of the relationship that didn't actually happen? to be clear I'm ON BOARD with the spuffy post s7 vision, I don't need to choose between that and buffy/faith in my mind, I'm just... hm, even as someone very anti the idea of redemption equals death, I'm also kinda okay with the idea they can't really find a happy ending with each other? like it's kinda the brevity of that relationship also provided it with meaning in canon, it's two people who did love each other in a weird way and found comfort in each other in a weird way and gravitated around each other and... can that work, can it not, could they ever have made it 'work' in a long-term sense, who knows!! but it's the canon specifically that I'm into rather than kinda... the hypothetical version of the relationship spike and buffy could have had. I wouldn't want any changes to canon!! I couldn't see them get together earlier with each other!! it's very. all power to you lot. do whatever. but to me there's one version of that relationship that works - and it's the one that's the mess it is in canon. spike is a vampire without a soul who falls in love! he has a chip that makes him impotent! he ends up getting a soul and a trigger! he's basically just one big experimental test tube used to explore what identity even means, what behaviour tells you about identity, what the conditions of morality are and so on... buffy dismissed him, then finds herself leaning on him, then eventually finds herself needing to confide in him as she is alienated from her own humanity... I don't know, one thing I've always really loved about buffy as a show is its flexibility, how playful it is with genre and what roles the characters fulfil in a way that still provides consistency in characterisation. I really like how that relationship has a completely different vibe in every single season!! I think spike is kinda uniquely well suited to that flexibility, that malleability of identity, and it's cool! I don't really want something that messes with that!

and yeah big agree on enjoying unconventional het lol. the thing is, right, I consume a fair bit of het (something that sounds a bit weird now I've typed it out but I'm keeping it). part of that is just how I, y'know, like women, which definitely doesn't mean I DON'T engage with plenty of m/m slash but I would quite like stuff to occasionally have women in it? and whichever you slice and dice it, the femslash pickings are just slimmer and often doesn't get produced about characters I'm particularly interested in... or just ends up falling into. weird. boring tropes when people are writing for it. but also het is fun!! I like playing with my het couples, I love doing a gender on them. I like spike and buffy doing a gender!! one of the big things with spike is constantly being emasculated, he's doing weird genders, I'm not saying the het relationship is Actually Not Het but idk I like the gender stuff!! like yes threaten him with those stakes!! straddle that evil vampire!! I'm enough of a romantic to occasionally want my doomed hets to have a happy ending, but like, yeah! don't white picket it!!

[aerithisms]

hi! I just wanted to share my 2 cents about your aerith post and her screen time bc after I finished the game I shared the same sentiment, but after 2 weeks of thinking, rewatching and analysing cut scenes (this game lives rent free in my head now), I realized why they pace her arc the way they did. basically her arc deals with her duty as cetra and coming to terms w/ it. however there wouldn't be any progression if she was already resolved to do it, hence at the beginning of rebirth we have aerith who is happy to start her adventure w/ her new friends (the one she wanted to go w/ her mom as we learn from her trial, so her moment of joy after leaving kalm feels even more deep). but as we continue we can see the mix of inner struggles that resides in her: being last cetra, trying to moving on from zack and dealing w/ dark thoughts about hojo. her Costa del Sol scene suggests that she'll learn how to deal w/ all of that and she believes it'll make her a better person in the future (in some way it has come true bc aerith sacrifices her life and any chance to spend it w/ ppl she loves, and of all things she wanted exactly this). despite that it doesn't cancel her desire to have a normal life and enjoy every moment while she can (in the same Costa del Sol ch. where everyone leaves the beach you can see aerith lingering and watching the sunset as she tries to take it all in for the last time). I think starting from Cosmo canyon her resolve comes into form bc she admits about the loneliness she had to face. At the temple she's willing to learn how to control lifestream (even tho you can see moments when she's upset when it doesn't work out). and at the end she's resolved to fulfill her duty not bc she's a cetra but bc of her friends.

This way you learn to care about her as a person and not just her role as a chosen one. also it's just my personal impression that the devs didn't want her to be a walking sign of death to preserve that feeling of her loss. instead they tease the player the idea of saving her to via marlene, red xiii and partially zack scenes (which feels even more cruel imho).

i can definitely appreciate your perspective!! to clarify i didn't want her to be fully formed in her identity and duty as a cetra at the beginning of the game, and this sort of arc about her learning to explore that side of herself more was in fact exactly what i wanted, i just feel the game doesn't really address it as much as i wish it did. like besides the cosmo canyon fire scene and the last couple chapters there's not a lot there and you're left to infer a little too much imo. i would've liked to see aerith voice her feelings about it to someone more so that we could get inside her head about it. nanaki would've been great since he has a similar connection to the planet/responsibility to uphold the legacy of his people, or tifa since she and aerith confide so much in each other already. or even cloud! that could've brought more attention to their relationship in the narrative so it wasn't so sparse.

i do get that they don't want it to be obvious she'll die for new players but by the same token i sort of feel like if they were that concerned about that they wouldn't have had marlene straight up say sephiroth is gonna kill her. by and large this game's story feels targeted at a primary audience of people who've already played ff7 so i don't know that i feel that's a good enough justification not to explore all the facets of her character in more depth while they could.

that being said i absolutely agree that i love her arc about her connection to the party and how she clearly struggles with but ultimately is able to accept her fate because of how much she loves them and how much they brought to her life. i thought that was really beautiful and heartfelt. and for all my griping i did sob over the ending so it's not like these critiques i have ruined the emotional impact overall!

[transyonic-iv]

yes it's transphobic to assume ppl "are only trans bc of fetishes" and as such do not deserve autonomy, and this attitude especially hurts asexual/otherwise sex repulsed trans ppl, particularly transfeminine ppl, who are assumed to be into certain things just bc of their gender identity. but the defense of, "nuh uh!!! im not trans because of any dirty fetishes or finding out i like transsexuality because of exploration in porn or other elements of sexuality!!! don't think im one of those nasty queers!!!!! " NEEDS to stop being passed around.

i largely realized i NEEDED to transition, because of finally starting to recognize myself as a sexually-inclined being, and relationship to "confusing" fantasies or relationship to gender in fiction (like: only enjoying m/m , f/f, or t4t eroticism, or m/f eroticism in non-conventional ways, in any capacity regarding sexuality), or even (more explicitly understood to be uncontrollable) sex dreams, even when i still understood myself as asexual/not wanting to "actually pursue this". this is pretty common within trans experience, actually. connection to "cross-gender" characters or other sexual dynamics, ie: "fujoshi" culture or "i keep wanting to play as a female character in video games" type stuff, are often the earlier stages of eggcracking/transgender realization.....

tbh a lot of popular attitudes towards forcemasc as a kink make me rlly sad to see. not only does kink just, not inherently have to be progressive within scene, like, rapeplay is one of the most popular/widely discussed kinks in it's "problematic" content,, but it rlly has helped me heal so much in response to my binaristic abuse as a transmasc/ftm person. not so much in being "the coerced" but "the coercer" getting to play up my own femininity ive had to repress in order to be respected as transmasc person (though sometimes i enjoy that "coerced" role or a more, equal in "forced"dynamic, of just feeling comfort in knowing a partner has a more understanding/negotiated perspective on my masculinity) even though that's typically been used to nonconsensually pressure me into certain sexual roles, in order to "push" another questioning/transgenderqueer person into stuff that they themself feel shame about wanting in a binarist+transphobic society. genderplay in general tbh, both "affirming" to a personal ID as a man or not.

[jimmynovac]

i don't want to say this in the tags of that post but i love ack and i have personally experienced psychosis and i really hope people understand that i don't enjoy the things i enjoy bc of the sensationalism of that kind of stuff and i'm conscious of what i consume and am aware of the problems in them

[nose-bl]

when it comes to raine, i really don't want to assume their agab. and i don't want to know if they're transfem, transmasc, or neither. i like that raine is just. there. they exist freely and they're androgynous and nb and i want to steal their gender

obviously i love seeing like, raine with top surgery scars or a binder on, and i like seeing transfem raine, etc etc. i like seeing raine wearing dresses, i like seeing raine prefering masculine clothes. every trans and nb person projects onto characters we love so it's normal some ppl see raine as amab and others as afab and others just don't care!

i like that it's ambigous and that their agab is never revealed or anything. some would say there are hints as to raine being afab, but at the end of the day....it really doesn't matter. raine is amazing nonbinary rep and we can just enjoy that and make fanfic and fanart where we explore them more and add more to their identity and experience. it's nice

[heretherebedork]

Hi💕

What did you think about yesterday’s eclipse episode? I was expecting my heart to be ripped out but it was much softer? Calmer? Than I was expecting. Though, based on the preview I should get ready for ep 6😭

I am really enjoying all the different characters. In this episode we got to see a snippet of the struggles each character goes to. It made me remember all of them are just kids trying to find their place. Each character’s issues were unique to themselves and realistic and multidimensional. I am obsessed 🥰 but this softer pace also made me realize how the system doesn’t break ppl down in one go. But it erodes their little by little 😭 and honestly that’s a little bit scarier because it has already affected you by the time you realize it

Thua and Kan are so interesting. They are so considerate of each other that it’s stopping them from taking the next step. It feels like they are waiting on this line until the other person is ready but they have to deal with their own concerns before they can take this step. Their concerns are also very different and yet so similar. I really want to just wrap them in blankets and tell them it’s okay😭

Who do you think Bruce Wayne is? I immediately assumed that it was Kan and that it was his own way to approach Thua but I’ve also seen some theories that it might be someone else maybe trying to hurt/cheat Thua. I really hope not though. Thua could use a way to express his feelings without worrying about.

The main reason I thought it was Kan was because they used Bruce Wayne and not Batman which I find very interesting. Batman is a hero and yet moves in the shadows but Bruce Wayne is not a secret identity (idk if this makes sense outside of my own head😅). Bruce Wayne doesn’t have to hide. It’s the identity of Batman that he needs to hide. I really hope it is Kan and they really get the chance to express their feelings in what feels like a safer? Non judgmental space.

Wat- I love him 🥰 I really want to know how his family raised such a great young man (minus the whole career choice situation😒). He’s so supportive of his friends, great at communicating and just a wonderful personality in general. I’m really glad he has teacher Sani who could recognize the signs that he wasn’t doing well and just be there for support and advice. Their relationship is a sharp contrast from the rest of the teachers and really shows what a good teacher can offer. I can’t wait to explore more of his storyline.

World remembers gang- Honestly my heart broke for them at the end. Especially when they talked about how they should make their protest worth all the things they’ve experienced and the relationships they’ve lost. All because they just wanted freedom to express themselves😭😭😭 I wish I could burn the system single-handedly just for them. At the same time they truly represent the revolution (even more than Ayan). While ayan might have been the spark that initially spurred them on. They are the true heart of the fire. They can burn down the systems that hurt them but also provide warmth and hope and light to others that may not be able to fight the same way. Ugh I love them so much😭🥰😘 I really hope none of the get hurt 🙏

Sorry for the long message. I’ve had eclipse thoughts invade my mind randomly throughout the day and finally had time to write everything out😅

First, I have loved every episode of The Eclipse yet and it is my current favorite airing BL so, there ya go.

Onto the more specific parts!

This show really is about how society is trying to force them into boxes that don't fit them and how some people just can't fit and others force themselves to fit and how some people hurt themselves to fit and others refuse to hurt themselves and it's a painful overview of how people deal with their own fears, pain and lives. We watch them struggle and fight and ache and it's so painful because we know it can be better and people can be kinder but not where they are.

Thua and Kan are my entire life at this point. I have written so many posts about these babies, these aching and hurting self-hating babies who each handle their issues so differently and just... the pain.

I think Kan in Bruce Wayne. Could it be someone else? Yes. Could it be someone out to hurt Thua? Yes. But the idea of Kan being Bruce Wayne, of hiding himself in another way but also specifically hiding himself behind the identity of a superhero when all he wants to do it protect Thua? It's just so perfect. Kan desperately wants to be Thua's hero but he knows he can't be and his agony shows in not choosing Batman but deciding to be Bruce Wayne instead is just so good. Kan needs a secret identity and he needs a place to be safe and I truly believe that he is being Bruce Wayne and that this is a chance for him to share his feelings for Thua in a safe place.

And I suspect that Thua is gonna figure out who he is before he reveals himself, honestly.

Wat is a baby but he's on such a different (yet similar) journey to his friends and it's really fascinating to see how he relates to them but also doesn't relate to them at all. It's really, honestly, fascinating. He's on a journey of freedom but one that has nothing to do with queerness but rather going directly against his parent's wishes and the relationship between queerness and taking your own path is really fascinating in a pluralistic culture like Thai culture where you are defined by your place in society rather than individual place is even more interwoven.

The World Remembers is powerful proof that the revolution is almost always lead by the people who cannot hide. Ayan can hide, Akk can hide, Kan can hide... Thua and The World Remembers? They cannot hide. They cannot help but be seen. And so they are the ones who fight but they are also the ones who we are fighting for and that's the real beauty of their scene. They speak the words everyone has thought.

Tomorrow will be better. It will all be worth it. This fights, these battles, this pain, will be worth it in the end. This will all be worth and we will be happy. We will be happy in the end and we will show them that we are worthy of that happiness and they will support us, they will join us. Tomorrow will be better and we will not be alone.

[emperorsfoot]

For the ask box game:

I want you to know that an older fic of yours about Evil-Lyn’s parents, Fall of Zalesia, had some of the most fascinating, meaningful, & sensible societal worldbuilding I have ever read.

The Ram & Shepardess roles as well as the customs between them & everything else about their community in the aftermath of war was something so richly made but with no equal that I have found before or since.

The polyamorous/polygamous(?) nature & rules of their relationships as well as the existence and acceptance of those who do not partake was…brilliant.

I do appreciate the portrayal of respect, concern for safety & consent, & devotion in sympathy with healthy open relationships the characters portray. It is written so well and conscientiously to the many perspectives therein. It’s so honest and refreshing.

((This next part is a bit tmi but, an ex admitted cheating on me & in the same sentence excused the action as stemming from polyam desires. I was blamed for not mending the situation by agreeing to an open relationship. The funny thing is that, before the fact, I would have been open to try & my ex knew that, but after…I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

I would never hold it against polyam ppl & their relationships but I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t made me sensitive to related topics. I have since moved on and hardly recall that past pain anymore when consuming content with polyam themes.))

Fall of Zalesia invokes an unmarred sense of wonder & curiosity to see & understand how others live & love that I had not fully felt since before I was hurt. Thank you for sharing your work so that I may indulge in this experience again. I feel like I have gotten a piece of myself back. :’))

You are a phenomenal writer. 🌻❤️🌻

(P.S.: I know there are many dark and serious themes in this story. I don’t mean to romanticize, I’m just in awe of how cool and thoughtful your writing is. Take care!)

Anon, your story is so moving, I am near tears. I stopped writing "Fall of Zalesia" because I thought I was the only one who was into it. I had no idea that someone else was not only enjoying it but being affected so deeply.

Yes, my headcanon of ancient Zalesia was a sex-positive society and part of sex-positivity is accepting those who don't want to participate in sexual acts, as well as accepting and making space for those who want to explore multiple partners. Rules are build into their society specifically for poly relationships.

The Shepherdess is the head of her household and hold authority over her husbands and sons, as well as he daughters until they achieve the age of adulthood and gain their own independence. If two or more people who do not have a formally recognized union want to sleep together, they must seek permission from the Shepherdess(es) that are the heads of their respective households. (This is why Maligna tells Nick that if he desires another Shepherdess he should tell her before the communion orgy so she can "negotiate" with the other woman and agree on the boundaries of their couplings.)

Before I stoped writing, I also had plans to explore gender identities within Zalesia. I don't recall if I even put it in or not, but in an earlier chapter when I explain that Nick's uncle was Ace I say something along the lines of "Bash-Or is a mischievous goddess and likes to put people in the wrong bodies". I was planning to have one of the younger Rams who returned from the war with Nick, now that the war is over and all the soldiers finally have time to consider other things besides just survival, that they would realize they're not really a Ram, they're a Shepherdess and Maligna would take her on as an apprentice.

I still think about this fic more often than you realize.

Now that I know someone else is interested and it means something to someone, I might try and go back to it. (I hope I can still find my notes.)

Thank you so much for sending this Ask. It really means a lot to me!

To anyone curious, this is the fic we're talking about:

[knarme-stray]

little thingor

My art and stories heavily cater to queer transmasc gaze as a queer transmasc myself btw, but everyone is welcome here, - I don’t believe in gatekeeping what kind of body types or relationship dynamics etc. ppl are allowed to find sexy and enjoy in fiction, regardless of who they are.

There’s a lot of stigma esp. around trans bodies and sexuality, and I want to address that for a bit.

I think we transmascs struggle a lot with how when we express our sexuality in our own terms, often uniquely to our various ways of experiencing gender, either dysphoria or euphoria and the desires and boundaries that come with those things and vary a lot on an individual basis, - people are a little scared to encage with that.

And I guess it’s because so often even trans people ourselves get accused of “degrading” or “fetishizing”... For... Portraying trans bodies and sexuality, trans bodies as attractive and desirable and portraying trans ppl in various sexual and relationship dynamics!

This talk often comes from internet zoomer queers who have only seen sexuality so far as something society imposes on them a. k. a. defies autonomy (esp. a lot of trans people have this trauma bcs we get policed so hard), so they’ve never conceptualized sexuality and especially trans people’s sexuality as something that can belongs to ourselves and can be explored with our own terms.

I’ve known for more than 10 years now how much I YEARN to portray queer transmasc relationships, sexuality and bodies, but felt scared to do so. At first there was just kinda nobody else doing the same, so I could not find community. Later, when I learned how much in-community lateral transphobia and policing towards identity and sexuality there is among trans people, that actually made me feel like I’ll be crucified for drawing guys getting their sweet pussy lips hungrily eaten by another dude who’ll soon plug a double-sided strapless silicon cock in his  own cunt and then manage to fuck his adorable breedable boyfriend, orgasming from the clitoral stimulation from fucking his bf with that toy as if he was just putting his dick in him.

Our sexuality is so stigmatized that it’s genuinely scary to openly express it at times, - to the point where I’ve often cis-washed a lot of my queer male characters or ships to avoid the scrutiny. I don’t do this anymore because I want bodies and sexualities like mine to be just business as usual, normal stuff. Just like writing m/m couples is normal for anyone to do, I want transmasc ppl to be considered just as normal, and not a taboo.

Also; Fictional characters are objects. You are allowed to, in fact, objectify the everliving shit out of them.

Fetishization/objectification of a marginalized population refers to hunting sexual interactions or relationships with real people of that group, for the sole purpose of the “exoticism” of it, and treating living IRL human beings more like a porn category than people. For example, IRL cis people who hunt trans people as a taboo sexual outlet etc. would be considered this.

So honestly. Consume and create any art, with any body types or sexual dynamics you want. It’s other people’s job to maintain their own personal boundaries and to not encage with art they don’t like. Nobody should feel pressured to disclose their personal information or identity online just to be able to enjoy or create any fictional content in peace.

On my page, everyone is welcome to enjoy and express appreciation of what I’m putting out in here. Even if we aren’t a part of the same demographics, I’m not gonna think you’re “creepy” for liking my art. So just a word, - transmasculine artists like me who put our work out there, aren’t some poor little delicate flowers who wilt and die when people interact with it. When needed, I will express personal boundaries about things, and that’s allright, not an end of the world but just respectful communication.

About queer transmasc gaze in my art, - while how I decipt na’vi/avatar anatomy is actually tied to my headcanon of fantasy/alien anatomy of versatile naturally hermaphroditic genitalia, and not trans by its lore, it definitely comes from a place of wanting to explore characters having the potential to “have any genitalia” or sexual role regardless of the rest of their presentation or sex characteristics.

While my Quaritch isn’t trans, he’s a curious exploration, by a queer transmasc dude, into the concept of a cis dude waking up with a fat pussy one day (and discovering that said “pussy” is actually finely packaged alien genitalia that lets you fuck and get fucked lmao). It’s fascinating to explore the fantasy of characters experiencing bodies that, in some ways, operate similiarly to certain transmasc body types, but without the baggage and trauma of being born trans in a cisnormative society. To me that’s a liberating exploration of queer men just ~happening to have all the pussy abilities on them~.

Also that + I’m a furry and a monsterfucker so lanky werecat humanoids with funky genitalia are territory of my specialty, too.