#project onto any sonic character you like all is valid

[creem-soda]

“Shadow has religious trauma” I’m sorry but BIOENGINEERING SCIENTISTS WHO LIVE IN SPACE would not be fucking religious. I think the religious headcanon/fan theory we SHOULD be pondering is that Sonic would definitely be a reddit atheist. He’d be respectful towards others in public but he’d DEF say shit like “ahaha magic man in the sky huh? yeah I bet.”

[valkylander]

I mean this is the most sincere way what is appealing about incest shipping or underage shipping ? I understand dead dove stuff I like dead dove but ????

Okay, genuinely thank you for asking. Not just because I like to talk about it, but because I sincerely appreciate when someone asks what the appeal of something is instead of just blanket condemning people who enjoy it. And I apologize in advance that the answer is both long and, because I do not know the sum total of human experience, incomplete.

So, someone might ship something they would never condone IRL for any number of reasons.

1. The ship appeals to you for completely different reasons. Most people don't think of characters in terms of canon age and many familial relationships are not written in a way that scans to those actual relationships. Because of that, a person might ship a set of characters "in spite" of an age gap or a familial relationship. Most Wincest shippers aren't incest kinksters, they would just ship Sam and Dean together regardless of whether or not they're supposed to be written as brothers, and literally no Sonic fan artist has ever thought about a Sonic character's age in their life.

2. The forbidden love trope. You mentioned that you like non-ship dead dove content. That tells me you probably understand that sometimes the appeal of something isn't that you want it to happen, but that it is very emotionally affecting. A romantic relationship that one or all parties involved believes is completely off the table, no matter how much they want it, can be very emotionally affecting. It works better when you would also agree that that relationship shouldn't happen and having it be something you would condemn IRL does a good job of that.

In my experience, this also works very well as a queer metaphor. I don't like stories where the only reason two girls don't get together is because of internalized homophobia. But, as a lesbian, I do experience that same internalized homophobia. So I have an easier time connecting those feelings to a story where two girls resist getting together because they're related instead.

3. You have some kind of kink. I won't lie, this is the case for some people. Human brains eroticize taboo subjects, especially ones that a person has a past trauma with. This is normal and healthy. And anyone with a guro or inflation kink (or, hell, a furry) can tell you it doesn't mean you want it to happen to someone for real.

For many people this one applies to, they actually project on the would-be victim of the situation rather than the perpetrator (the younger party, the student, etc). Most of the people shipping Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask together in the 92 anime didn't want to groom middle schoolers, they wanted to pretend to be a middle schooler with a cool college aged boyfriend. (Though I should note, this does not mean people projecting onto Tuxedo Mask would be doing anything wrong. No one is being hurt, which is the important thing.)

4. It helps you cope. Projecting your trauma onto fictional characters, using fictional scenarios to play out events similar to your trauma, or even writing new, happy endings to things that happened to you, are all documented ways therapists and psychiatrists recommend coping with and healing from trauma. They allow someone to take control of what happened to them.

5. Spite. Look, is it pretty? No. But sometimes you want to do something harmless just because someone told you you can't. I feel like this also applies to crackships. Like, if someone's out there shipping Gary Oak with Delia Ketchum just because they thought it would be funny, that's a valid reason to do it. Of someone genuinely enjoys shipping Dib and Zim together solely because someone told them it was immoral and they thought that was ridiculous, that's valid.

These are generalities and specific people can talk about specific ships in more detail. And there are probably other reasons that don't fit into these categories that I don't know about or didn't think about. But these are the big ones that I know about, and none of them require ever thinking those relationships would be acceptable IRL.

[caffeine-clouds]

Hm... SonElise with numbers 7 and 9? :3

Ooooo, anon hitting me with the interesting one. DISCLAIMER: I don't give a shit whether anyone ships Sonelise, Roupaz, or Eggline like- who honest to God cares? The beastiality argument, which I'm so glad has died away over the years but some dumbasses keep bringing up, never really held any validity in my eyes. The Sonic characters have way more things in common with humans than they do animals - they are short weird mutant creatures that act like humans and have some animal features. So chill out - I'm tired and depressed, and we're all going to die soon so let's just fucking vibe. That being said though... I dislike this ship! - Are they an absolute NOTP, or are there very specific requirements a fanwork must have for you to enjoy them? I don't seek out Sonelise content nor do I stumble across it often - but I think for me to enjoy them at all - Elise is in need of some, *some* amount of personality. I understand that Elise being reserved and non-expressive is kind of the *point* with her - because she's constantly restraining her emotions because of the fire demon - but with her being the way she is, I fail to see what SONIC sees in her. To me, it always seemed that Sonic would prefer a partner that could keep up with him and fight alongside him as an equal. Elise doesn't offer him that, quite the opposite - she was often the damsel he had to chase after. So I don't really see what was appealing about HER for HIM. She's strong, I get that - she didn't cry for like her whole childhood - that's a strong will right there, but just - it's hard to ship Sonic with a piece of cardboard, you know? I see where the affection comes from on Elise's side - I can imagine her being in love with the guy who taught her to smile, run, and be free. i think she'd be happy to run off on Sonic's adventures alongside him, but she kind of needs to hold onto his hand the whole way - and I personally don't think Sonic would be in a romantic relationship like that. I feel like Elise would want a lot of affection as well - and we all know Sonic isn't really the type to give an abundance of it, especially romantically. But for a fanwork - if you can expand on Elise's personality and give some concrete reasons as to why Sonic is interested - I dunno, I might check it out. I dislike this ship! - Do you understand the appeal at all? Or do you not see how anyone could enjoy it? I do see the appeal tbf. It's got similar elements to ships like Sonadow, Sonknux, Sonaze etc. - where Sonic helps out someone who is clearly struggling and is far more rigid than him - he teaches them to let loose and be free, and that is romantic - don't get me wrong! And tbf to Sonelise shippers - ya'll have more validity than most other Sonic ships because ya'll got a canonical kiss lmao. It's also got the general appeal of opposites attract - and maybe some people just want to see Sonic with a nice gentle lady and you know what? Good on you. I also think the ship is vague enough and dances around their feelings for each other to the point where you could slap any headcanon you wanted on it - which is totally valid, some people just like having the freedom. And I think some, not all but some, can probably self insert with Elise a bit - because still - she's a bowl of bland oatmeal with not much going on, so if you wanna project and imaginine yourself on a romantic expedition with Sonic the Hedgehog - Elise is your vehicle. But anyways - thanks for the ask anon!

[purplecatghostposts]

List of things I’ve Seen in the HLVRAI Fandom that I Love

In Art:

- All of your headcannons are so valid I don’t think I’ve seen one that isn’t

- Monster Benrey gives me LIFE. Multiple eyes? Lots of arms? Biggggg? Eldritch being?? SHARP TEETH? Weird shade over the eyes that no one can explain but I LOVE? God it’s all so good, every single one

- To Anyone who gives a Bubby Sharp Teeth: You give me +10 years to my lifespan. You are so so so valid

- FRAT BOY TOMMY.... ITS SO PURE N FUNNY

- If you’ve ever drawn Coomer either short n round and/or with his arm sleeves torn out to reveal pure muscle: I Owe You My Life

- GOD THE FASHION... ITS ALL SO GOOD... I think I’ve seen Coomer wear a Hawaiian shirt a few times and everytime I see it, I die inside, it’s so utterly perfect

- Gordon in general honestly but especially the HAIR. The lil long haired ponytail thing he’s got going on in several drawings I’ve seen is just... sooooo good...

- I’ve seen some Virus Benrey since the stream and y’ALL!!! ITS SO GOOD!!! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!

- Benrey’s hair. Need I say more? There’s never a bad take.

- Allllllll the stuff from the ACAB Payday Stream?? ITS SO GOOD!! Flamethrower Benrey has a special place in my heart and the random sonic doodles I see in some of them just make my day

- Whether you put in a JPEG of Sunkist or draw her out with Tommy, it’s so good either way. Sunkist drawings are so pure and seeing just a JPEG of Sunkist edited in will never not be funny.

- It’s a small detail but everytime Forzen is drawn with like a French flag patch on his outfit somewhere? That’s some good shit.

In Fanfiction:

- Holy shit there’s so much I’m ECSTATIC!! Everyone is so ACTIVE too like I almost always see at least a few comments on every fic I read and that!! Is so!! Important!! Tell the authors you love their stuff!! I’m gonna go do that after I finish this post

- (also to anyone who’s commented on one of my fics: You Give Me Life, thank you so much)

- Any Fic where it’s Post-Game AU and Benrey just kinda. Shows up in Gordon’s house. You. Yes you. I love you. You’re so valid.

- The Science Team coming to the real world trope never gets old. Gordon’s reaction is always GOLD and usually the embodiment of that one John Mulany Quote, “You ever think you yourself, ‘Life is already so goddamn weird, this might as well happen?’” And I greatly appreciate that

- mmmm...soft ships... goooooood...

- Benrey does weird unexplainable stuff fics and/or Eldritch/Alien/Inhuman Benrey Fics? yO!! It’s so COOL!!

- Adding in new translations for the Sweet Voice (Especially for Showing Feelings For Plot Reasons) is always fanTASTIC

In Animation:

- I’m constantly binging whatever animations I can find but ohhhhhh bOY ITS ALL SO GOOD

- Expressions... How people draw the characters... How scenes are depicted... ALL OF IT

- This one is for anyone who’s made animations to a song. (AMV? Is that the right word?) You? You make me cry but in a good way. I’m sobbing they’re so beautiful.

- Meme animations, thank you for feeding me. We have 3/4 of the main meme animations (Who Broke This, You Have Uno, Starbucks Discord Call). If anyone makes ‘The One Thing You Can’t Replace’, I will implode immediately. It’ll be fantastic. I love y’all so much.

In General:

- This Community is so good?? Everyone cares about each other?? Respects each other?? Everyone just vibes on a similar wavelength?? Also I’m pretty sure most of the fandom is either in the LGBTQ+ Community or very supportive and it’s so GREAT

- That being said, if you HC any of the characters a certain way because you’re projecting onto them, You. Are. So. Fucking. Valid. I care you.

- All of the AUs I’ve seen are so COOL!! Mothman Benrey?? Mermaids?? Absolutely any of the AUs in the HLVRAI Hellhole Server?? Band AU?? Benrey n Barney are brothers?? Y’all,,, I can barely express how much I love all of them.

- I haven’t seen a single bad ship- it’s all so SOFT!! Boomer and Frenrey hold a special place in my heart but everything else has been so good!! Frenmy? Tommy and Darnold? Darnold and Forzen? Tommy, Darnold, and Forzen? Benrey and Forzen? It’s all done so FLUFFY and WARM and GOOD.

- The Cast really said, “Yeah more fluffy stuff less sexual stuff” and the fandom listened and I’m so glad it’s all so wholesome

That’s all I got off the top of my head but if you got more, feel free to add, and if I remember more I’m gonna add more! But bottom line is, all of you content creators for the HLVRAI Fandom? You’re absolutely amazing and I appreciate everything you do.

[nodesiretogrowup]

LET’S GET READY TO RE-CAAAAAAAAP

“I have numerous science-based questions” I mean, same. It also sets up that Huey is gonna be out of his element this episode

SCROOGE HAS NO TIME FOR SCIENCE

“I AM THAT CHAMPION.” A bit full of yourself there. I couldn’t hear this line without saying “I’M. THAT. HERO.” Oh VeggieTales, you’ll always be with me

THEY ALL LOOK SO ADORABLE!!

I like that Louie does a finger gun when Scrooge gets to him

Like I said earlier, I DO NOT care Scrooge already putting pressure on these kids

Poor Dewey seems like he’s the unfavorite, which is probably how Donald felt as well

Huey makes a good point and I do NOT like how dismissive Scrooge is of the twins

That being said...they totally killed someone in battle

SOMEDAY WE’LL FIND IT, THE RAINBOW CONNECTION!

Why didn’t Launchpad crash? I know he can land w/o crashing but it’s usually when he lands in water. THIS FEELS IMPORTANT SOMEHOW though it probably isn’t

“THEY FOUND A WAY TO MAKE RAINBOWS BETTER!” God, I love Webby

“This is the best day.” WEBBY, YOU ARE REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS OF ADORABLE

Birds with beards look odd

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Poor Huey, magic and mythology aren’t his strong point

I love that it says Odin’s Closet over the shirts. It’s the little details

“Guess Louie knows what Louie’s doing today.” And then he disappears into the shirts. I can appreciate someone who knows what they’re about

I want ALL the shirts from this episode!

“WHOA, IT’S WRESTLING!” He looks so dang happy, it’s ADORABLE

“THIS IS AWESOME!” Chanting is fun

“So these guys just copied professional wrestling?” Huey, you’re form of logic is not welcome here

Does that mean Scrooge told someone about his battles and inspired them to create pro wrestling? I’m gonna go with that

“And they will love me for it!” Dewey, sweetie, that’s only how it works half the time

I loved all the man-snake stuff. Made me giggle

Man snake be THICC. HOT DAMN

I love the little pig ref. HE’S SO CUTE

Jormungandr knows how to pump up a crowd

So, like, is everyone in the audience technically DEAD?! That makes this episode slightly darker. I dig it

 I wonder if Jormungandr sees Earth’s destruction as a good thing for Earth. Like if he genuinely thinks they’d be better off in Valhalla. Or if he’s just a bastard who wants to watch the world burn

Scrooge is a bit too into playing the heel

The way Scrooge moves and the faces he makes as the Millionaire Miser remind me of Glomgold

“I watch a lot of wrestling while I fly.” “Wait, while?” This exchange always cracks me up

“Uncle Scrooge is the greatest hero of all time.” “Huh, I guess not everyone thinks so.” I feel like this is foreshadowing later events

RIP Announcer Puffin

“DIBS ON ANNOUNCING!” A dude just got KO’d bro! Have a bit of respect

And the return of the dynamic sports announcer duo. Glad Huey got his badge

I NEED MORE WRESTLING ANNOUNCER LP

Strongbeard is DOPE

“How did you know that?” “Just calling it like I see it. WRESTLING!” The real reason Launchpad knows is because he’s actually Thor but doesn’t remember. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

FEAR THE BEARD

“What matters is I’m doing the right thing.” I don’t know, you really seem to enjoy being a heel

This whole match is great

Dewey, there ARE NO RULES IN WRESTLING. Plus you aren’t the ref, so you can’t make that call

I have very inappropriate jokes go through my head when only one arm absorbs the beard energy

“I am so confused.” CONSTANT MOOD

DID SCROOGE NARUTO RUN AT STRONGBEARD?!

I like that Scrooge dives onto him the same way he dives into his bin

LP is so excited he pushes Huey out of the way for NO REASON

HOLY FUCK THAT DUDE THREW A CHAIR AT A CHILD!

All the bone cracking in this episode made me uncomfortable, as in my bones hurt during it

“He is such a good guy.” I’d say he’s a fair guy, not necessarily a good guy

“Which two of you will fight for me?” Webby has been waiting for this moment her WHOLE LIFE

Louie, always taking time to make that money

Who gave him a shirt cannon?!

I love that the dude comes up wearing the shirt

Dewey just slaps Scrooge in the face

Champ POPular! Too cute! I love his hair and outfit. Though I don’t think Champ POPular’s “too popular to hate.” If anything he might annoy people due to his popularity

I thought he was gonna pull out yo-yos as his “finishing touch” and I was sad when it was lollipops even though that makes more sense. BRING BACK THE YO-YOS!

“Do all the fighting and make sure he doesn’t die.” That is a valid concern

WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU! I’D KNOW IT ANYWHERE

Huey taking notes is adorable

“Just in time for the tag-team round.” “Wait, they’re playing tag now?! MAN!” I love how Danny says MAN

How does Huey not know what a tag-team is? It’s a pretty common term

I love Launchpad’s reading face

Dewey has red, blue, and green lollipops. Cute

“HE’S THROWING LOLLIPOPS BECAUSE HE THINKS WE’RE SUCKERS!” That took me off guard and I laughed so hard

“I’ve known you my whole life, I kinda knew how this would play out.” Louie is genre savvy. Perhaps too savvy. He’s gonna figure out he’s in a tv show

“More like Champ POP..ulation zero because he has no friends...in Friendtown.” I fail to see how that was any worse than LP’s “more like Champ UN-POPular.”

“WE HATE YOU NOW!” Tough crowd

Huey’s face after that. I just want to pinch his lil cheeks

WEBBY DON’T NEED NO WRESTLER NAME

It TOTALLY went over my head that they censored Hela with Hecka (at least they used her better than the MCU did. WE COULD HAVE HAD SO MUCH BETTER)

I would let her pin me to the mat and crush my skull in

“Oh, COME ON, THIS is what you like?! A creepy goth and her pet dog!” SHUT UP, DEWEY, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT! I’m surprised Webby didn’t slap him for the “creepy goth” comment seeing as Lena is goth and misunderstood

“HECKA YEAH! HECKA YEAH!” SHE’S SO COOL AND SEXY AND SHE HAS A DOG

Poor Huey, he’s doing his best. Hope he takes a shower later because he got pretty sweaty

HECKA COULD STEP ON ME AND I’D SAY THANK YOU

Why did Huey have all those corn puns?

“YOU’RE THE WORST! YOU’RE THE WORST!” It’s just not Huey’s day

“You don’t have to try to make it sound great, it already is.” Did this remind anyone else of Dewey’s “don’t overthink it” advice to Launchpad from Double-O Duck? He’s doing his best to help Huey

I WANT HECKA TO DESTROY ME

“EMBRACE THE BOOZE BOOS.”

Poor Dewey

WEBBY IS A BEAST! SHE WAS BORN FOR THIS!

“EMBRACE YOUR INNER HEEL!” Cuz being a heel is fun!

DUDE, WEBBY TOOK DOWN THE GODDESS OF DEATH WITH NOTHING BUT HER LEGS AND THIGHS! WE STAN!

I like that Fenny has knee pads on

“AW, YOU’RE SO DANGEROUS AND CUTE! I JUST WANT TO PET YOUR LITTLE BELLY!” WEBBY IS ME

“A classic ‘who’s a good boy?’ gambit!” AND I’D FALL FOR IT TOO! SUCH A GOOD BOI

“Wait, am I the Launchpad here?” Bitch, you WISH

“YOU CAN’T GIVE CANDY TO A DOG!” This is why you don’t have a pet, Dewey

“WHOA, back from THE DEAD for the QUEEN of the DEAD!”

Kind of a dick move, Louie

AIR GUITAR!

Jormungandr looks like a Masters of the Universe knock-off toy

WHO’S A GOOD BOI? YOU ARE!

“With a toxic personality” I think you’re projecting a bit, Jormungandr 

How does Huey not know what a battle royale is? That is a very common term! Hell, there is a well known book and movie with that title!

“I’m just a humble, noble snake man of the people.” Why does the term snake man make me laugh so much?  

WOY REFERENCE FTW

Dewey needs a hug! And some therapy would probably be a good idea

Scrooge’s speech started on a good note then went downhill FAST

“And lastly, I’ll use the dust of your bones as sweetener in my tea.” DAMN

“TOO FAR!” I DON’T THINK IT’S FAR ENOUGH! TELL HIM HOW YOU WILL BATHE IN HIS BLOOD

FUCK YEAH BEAKLEY!

SHE GAVE HIM THE CHAIR! I think this CONFIRMS Beakley as a wrestling fan

“I know we’re supposed to take over for Scrooge one day, but do you ever wonder if maybe we’re not cut out for it?” YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO WONDER THOSE THINGS AT ALL! 

Louie’s like WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!

“Be LP” My new mantra

Aw, Louie sees Dewey as a hero. Like how LP saw Drake as a hero. I think @drakepad is onto something, this scene and the fight scene seem WAAAAY too much like Drake’s intro to be just a coincidence

I keep saying this, but Louie should consider a career in motivational speaking. He knows what people need to hear

“Let’s do this!” “I don’t know.” “Let’s Dewey this?” “I’m in.”

“I’LL SHED YOUR SKIN FOR YOU!” If he hadn’t of had an old man back moment that would have been a BRUTAL CUT

OMG WAS LAUNCHPAD WEARING THAT THE WHOLE TIME? You see his clothes fly off when he jumps in the ring

“Whoa. In a COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED TWIST, the announcer was Captain Crash THIS WHOLE TIME!” LP does underground wrestling matches in his spare time, TELL ME I’M WRONG

“YOUR CATCHPHRASES ARE FORCED!” I agree, Dewey could have done WAY BETTER

I like Louie just GLARING at the dude who insulted Dewey’s catchphrase

LP looks so proud of Huey

“I don’t care at all, why should I?” Methinks the snake man doth protest too much

I like how Jormungandr’s pupils are thinner during the climax. It shows off his true nature

Dewey should have been the one to do a spin attack, ya know, cuz he’s Sonic? I’ll go now

“The Pop never Stops.” That was better

WHERE ARE ALL THESE CHAIRS COMING FROM?!

I LEGIT thought Strongbeard was gonna throw Dewey his axe and I was like Dewey wouldn’t be able to lift that

SUPER SAIYAN DEWEY! Also was that a TIGER SNARL?

I like the ice pack on Launchpad’s head. Just because he can take a lot of damage doesn’t mean that LP is immune to pain

I like that the crowd CHANGED THEIR BANNERS! Nice

LOUIE AND WEBBY LOOKED SO CUTE!

LP tearing up

“A true people’s hero” I feel like that phrase will come back in relation to other characters (cough DW cough)

Scrooge is such a little shit, it’s kind of adorable

THAT END SHOT! THAT SONG!

This was a SUPER FUN EPISODE! I couldn’t really tell where they were going and I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT! I wish we had gotten Huey in some wrestling gear but maybe next time. I like the message that doing the right thing isn’t always popular but I kind of feel like Dewey getting the crowd on his side muddled the message somewhat. Poor Dewey needs therapy or something so he doesn’t feel like he needs CONSTANT approval. Again, he’s 11 YEARS OLD and shouldn’t be put into such a serious position. LP was VIP this episode. I’m bummed we’re on hiatus again, but WHAT an episode to end on!

[emeraldspiral]

Just got out of the Sonic movie. Pretty good overall. James Marsden’s character especially I liked. He spends most of the movie playing opposite Sonic but the best moments are when he’s playing off Jim Carey’s manic insanity with cool-headed sarcasm.

One thing that really bugged me though, and this is most definitely influenced by my post-TROS bitterness, is the film’s message. Like, I don’t even feel like I should call this a spoiler because it’s incredibly predictable and kind of a phoned-in paint by numbers plot that doesn’t tell you any of the actually cool or interesting parts of the movie but what it is, is this;

At the very beginning of the movie, the main character is about to make a big career advancement and move out of the small town he’s living in and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever, the attitude he and his wife have is completely healthy and valid. But then Sonic comes along and projects his baggage about not wanting to leave a place where he’s happy onto him and the movie plays it like he’s in the right and ultimately ends with them all staying in the small town. Like, the message is literally that change is bad, dreams and ambitions are bad. Throw away your life goals and settle for mediocrity. It’s a celebration of stagnation and a condemnation of growth. Like, the only reason given for why the guy should stay where he is, is because the people in the small town “need him” despite him doing absolutely nothing for them that literally anyone else could do and his goal being to be more useful to more people.

[velvet-tread]

so revisiting octavia blake (especially after what we’ve seen of her in s5e06 tonight)... what’s your understanding of octavia blake, in relation to bloodreina and also as one of the most disliked characters in the fandom?

 TW – there follows some discussion of abuse so if that is one of your sensitivities, I wish you well and recommend caution with what follows. Are you asking if I still stan Octavia now she’s Blodreina? Because the answer to that is complicated but basically yes. For clarity: stanning, to me, doesn’t involve nailing my colours to the mast and then contorting myself into ever more unlikely shapes to justify every single thing my fave has ever done. It’s possible to love and emphathise with a character, while also acknowledging the terrible things they’ve done or are. Maybe I don’t need to tell you this, but maybe others need to hear it: don’t let ANYONE shame you for loving Octavia. And by that I mean if someone tries, just tune them tf out. They don’t get it, they never will. They aren’t worth your time and energy. Let that truth set you free. So yeah, I still love Octavia, with all her flaws and her sharp edges. I can’t love Blodreina, but while Blodreina is certainly Octavia, Octavia is not Blodreina. Blodreina is the very worst of Octavia. Spoiled, demanding, hard, judgemental, imperious, unyielding, cold, unempathetic and very, very violent. She is the culmination of the story of a non-person, disempowered and locked up under the floor, coming into being and being handed a sword. And power. So much power. She is a product of necessity. She is an amalgamation of Jaha’s lessons, Indra and Kane’s guidance, Kara’s support and Gaia’s teachings. She has a god complex which, imo, can only go the way of Mount Weather. By which I mean it will probably consume everything in its path before blowing to smithereens and taking at least one of our faves down with it. But while Blodreina is certainly real, let’s not get carried away with OCTAVIA IS REVEALED AS FOR THE MONSTER SHE’S BEEN ALL ALONG. Deep breaths everyone, and maybe a sip of water. Blodreina is a persona who enables Octavia to carry out the most monstrous of deeds (hi Jaha!) and live with it. Has Octavia drunk the Blodreina Koolaid? Most certainly. But Octavia embracing her worst is not the same has Octavia being the worst. Also see: Bellamy season 1 and season 3a. Would you look at that A PARALLEL WE LOVE PARALLELS. Blodreina serves a purpose for Octavia-of-the-butterflies too. Because this show is this show and we are never more than a few monologues away from “love is weakness”, Blodreina is also a protective casing that locks away Octavia’s grief, her pain and her misery, her loneliness and self-loathing, along with her vulnerability and empathy. It seems super obvious to me that Octavia’s personal journey this season, apart from trying and presumably failing to keep Wonkru intact, will be about disassociating herself from Blodreina. And that, probably, won’t come without falling spectacularly from grace and facing her pain, and reckoning with the things she’s done. Also see: Bellamy seasons 1-4. Huh. What happens when the exoskeleton crumbles? What’s underneath? What will Octavia-who-washed-Lincoln’s-wounds, come to think about Blodreina and the things she’s done in the name of her people? How will she confront the agony of being Octavia Blake, naked, piteous and vulnerable, the girl under the floor who was denied existence?

I want these things for Octavia. I want the narrative to subject her to the most abject moral scrutiny because that is what you should want for the characters you love. It’s what makes them interesting. It’s what makes them matter. ALSO SEE BELLAMY FOREVER. Now I’ve been in this fandom long enough not to expect many others to see it this way. We are balls deep in moral monochrome here in the Bellarke fandom, and while that gives me pause for a sip of tea and a short prayer to the patron saints of patience, it’s not a situation that anyone can change, least of all me. And why would I? People are free to engage with the show how they want, as long as they stay in their lane.

And look, I get why some people can’t see past some of her sins. I, too, have characters that I dislike with varying degrees of rationality. But objectively, Octavia’s level of moral turpitude is at about the same level as any of the main characters. That’s just a fact. People’s personal preferences, while as valid as any other preference, are just that: subjective opinions. Where I start to sip my tea and raise my eyes to the heavens is when people start presenting their subjective opinions as objective FUCK YOU AND YOUR INBOX truth and thanks but no. It seems to be fanon lore now that Octavia is unempathetic and…it just makes no sense. This is the girl who was filled with wonder at Earth, who refused to let Jasper die even when everyone in camp wanted him to. She saw the humanity in Lincoln when Bellamy, Clarke and Raven could not. She saw the humanity in humanity when all anyone wanted to do was kill each other until they burned in Praimfaya. Wonkru exists because Octavia inspired them with her faith in them. The only way it begins to make sense is when you consider Octavia’s actions through the prism of Bellamy’s experience – which 8/10 is how the BC fandom at least views the show. (Also valid btw. I also project onto my faves! Bellamy among them! But see above for subjective opinion vs objective fact.) With Bellamy, the lack of empathy is real. Octavia, or at least the Octavia of seasons 1-4 high key struggled to see Bellamy as a fully realised person with desires and feelings of his own. But, while this sucks for Bellamy, from Octavia’s perspective it is entirely understandable. No matter how young Bellamy seems to us, to Octavia he is her parent figure. How many of the people on here haven’t put their parents through hell from time to time? I shouldn’t have to point out the bleeding obvious here, which is that teenagers who care deeply about animal welfare, trans rights, LGBTQA+ rights, poverty and climate change can also go through phases of being absolutely fucking awful to their parents. Often, that’s because in our world, teens are subjected to an unholy amount of pressure with which they struggle to cope, and the overspill of that hurt lands on the people responsible for them. It doesn’t make them bad people. And, yes, that can, occasionally, tip over into emotional and, more rarely, physical abuse but we don’t usually call it that. We call that “teenagers being fucking awful” and I am 100% sure that this is the context the writers room is working from. Do I think it’s acceptable, or justified? Hell no. But it’s important to take these narrative threads in the context of the real-world understanding of the people who develop them. This show isn’t created in a vacuum. Now work the scenario I outlined above into a post-apocalyptic landscape with 2x traumatised victims of systemic injustice, one of whom was locked up by the other because of that injustice. Yeah. What is so interesting to me is that the blind spot Octavia has wrt Bellamy – the blind spot that denied him access to the empathy she showed everyone else - has come into play again now she’s Blodreina, but in a different way. After 6 years of having everyone kowtow to her, and after vowing not to love, suddenly Octavia is making concession after concession for her brother at huge personal risk to herself.  It might not seem like that to us, or to Bellamy (and legit! I get why, from Bellamy’s POV), but to Octavia it must seem like she’s trying SO HARD to give him what he wants within the framework of what she thinks is achievable. Consider love is weakness. Consider that she throws herself into his arms on sight, in full view of all of her people. Consider being the arbiter of life and death for 6 years. Now consider Bellamy asking her to trust him. She does and is rewarded with a sonic blast. Bellamy delivers her an ultimatum about Echo, and she concedes. She fucking concedes! When has she ever willingly conceded on anything and ESPECIALLY NOW SHE HOLDS THE POWER OF AN EMPEROR? It’s fairly obvious from the Blake siblings sparring session that Bellamy was the symbolic winner. He got through to her. Octavia NEVER forgives. But she offers Echo – the woman whose sins Octavia will never forget - a way out. When Echo and Bellamy refuse, does she banish Echo? She could do. She’s Blodreina. She’s used to doing whatever the fuck she wants. But, no. She accepts the alternative, and even helps Echo on her way. Yes, it’s brutal and Blodreina-y and serves a double purpose but still, she helps her. She’s not doing that for Echo.  She’s doing it for Bellamy. No, she’s not doing it with a winning smile and a cuddle, but that’s not Blodreina’s style. She tries to thank him for saving them, in the only way she knows how. She reaches out, and he lashes out with cold anger. And perhaps it’s deserved. No, it’s definitely deserved, but GODDAMMIT that was a “you’re dead to me” level of cruelty. Can I just roll back a second and talk about how co-dependent the Blake sibs are? Cool. A friend (I can’t remember who, sorry) once said that Bellamy and Octavia carried their cage back down to Earth with them. And for seasons 1-4 that is absolutely what happened. They are spectacularly co-dependent. Bellamy depends on her to give him purpose, and a direction and reason to live. Octavia depends on him to absorb the overspill of her hurt, to push against, to take the blame for all of the ills in her life. It sucks for them both, and they’re TRAPPED, so terribly trapped, and neither is the other’s jailer but neither can walk away either. And just, what strikes me about the interactions we saw in the sneak peek for 507 is that maybe, FINALLY, Bellamy has broken free of their co-dependent relationship.  He may not even realise it yet, but he has completely re-centred his world around Spacekru now. And I think, that if push comes to shove, he will prioritise Spacekru above Octavia, even if it hurts them both.  It doesn’t mean he loves Octavia any less, but after 6 years of love and support and peace and quiet, Bellamy has broken out of the cage. Bellamy is free. Excuse me while I cry tears of joy. But Octavia isn’t free. Octavia hasn’t had 6 years of peace and support and love. Octavia’s life has been marked by trauma from the moment of her birth, and the trauma hasn’t let up for a single goddamned second it just keeps coming and coming and coming until all she has is her walls and an alter-ego and the hope that she can keep Wonkru together and her brother by her side. Believe me when I say that Octavia is still very much trapped inside the cage which Bellamy has now vacated. IT IS ALL VERY HEARTBREAKING OKAY. IT HURTS. So yes, I still love Octavia and I am ready to see her again when Blodreina falls.

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Weekly Update #54: COVER ME (7/13/2018)

Finally, after months of solid drought, the barren wasteland known as the TØP fanbase has finally been blessed with rain. And not just a gentle sprinkle; it’s been a consistent heavy downpour, a veritable flood. Even before new music, this week gave us new content from the group every single day. There will probably be something new out by the time you’re done reading this. So let’s not waste any time! Here’s your week in Twenty One Pilots news.

This Week’s TØPics:

Your Band Is Back: Trench Coming This October

“Jumpsuit” and “Nico” Released

New Logo/Theming/Everything

Josh Speaks

And SO. MUCH. MORE.

Major News and Announcements:

This time last week, I was certain that we would be getting new music on the 6th because it was my birthday. Turns out, myself and many others in the Clique read a little too deeply into Clancy’s promise that “everything would be different” by morning. We did not receive new music on that date, which, for the record, was way earlier than most reports had pegged. The fanbase wanted music ASAP and interpreted the letter to fit that, and anyone who said the band lied about when music was coming was just not being honest with themselves. 

Things were different starting last Friday. On the one-year anniversary of their departure, Twenty One Pilots directly reached out to their fans for the first time, not through the wide platform of social media, but with an email message to their mailing list.

The message only consisted of the subject line “ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?” and a gif of an opening yellow eye, with images fitting the iconography of the Dema site flashing under the eyelid. The Clique basically lost their minds at this direct contact, so much so that major publications like Billboard finally started to report on the long gestating speculation. Everyone was excited to see the eye open over the course of the day, bringing everything full circle and culminating (presumably) with new music.

That... didn’t happen. Rather, dmaorg.info was restored after being down for only a few hours, and this gif of torches was added onto the site. This indicated that Clancy had escaped Dema, and the Clique promptly set about assuming that the next day would mark the band’s full return. Further, the name of the gif, “they_ca_ntseeFCE300″, seemed to confirm what people would be speculating ever since Josh dyed his hair nearly two years ago: the next era’s color would be yellow (specifically, FCE300) to symbolize hope and light pushing back against the dark.

The next day brought with it another update from Clancy (and the general concession among the Clique to stop expecting new music every night and just go to bed). In one of my favorite bits of attention to detail so far, Clancy’s latest journal was messily handwritten on a scrap of paper, due to the fact that he had successfully escaped Dema and was now traveling through- big shock- a region called “Trench”. The writing itself is kinda rambly and generic (so I can relate), with Tyler Clancy marveling at how much he loves being in the trees being alone out in nature. That said, I do love that there is a definite story being presented, with Clancy experiencing changes, taking action, and going on a real journey through this world that Tyler’s created.

On the back of the paper, however, is something much more interesting: a blown-out image that, when reversed, revealed a dead body. That was creepy enough as is; far more creepy was the Clique’s CSI-level discovery that this ripped photo fit with several other dmaorg.info images in a giant puzzle. Who was this man? Was this a random poster that Clancy grabbed as he escaped, or are we supposed to take it as a metaphor? Was it a random citizen of Dema? A bishop? Clancy himself? Blurryface? So many questions.

Twenty One Pilots truly made their mainstream return on July 9th, when they posted a second video of a half-opened eye, not just for hardcore fans, but on all of their social media platforms. This return was accompanied by a total overhaul of the band’s general branding: a new yellow-and-black ||-// logo was revealed for the new era, while the old “silence” banners and even the website subscription box were covered up by bright yellow tape. Billboards featuring the logo on this yellow tape aesthetic sprang up in cities all around the world, from London to Toronto, Berlin to Melbourne, even an entire building in São Paolo. The boys were back.

On Tuesday, Twenty One Pilots again returned to social media to post a second video. The eye, now about 3/4 open, depicted even more of this medieval battle, now with the addition of the Watchers on the cliff throwing... something (rocks? rose petals?) into the air. Instead of generic white noise, this clip was scored by a muffled but still obviously crunchy bass line. As radio stations across the country began to tweet about a major alternative release coming Wednesday morning (with a few even mentioning they were from Columbus), we finally knew that we were going to be ok....

New Releases:

And then I was not okay.

Early Wednesday morning, Twenty One Pilots dropped two singles and announced the names and dates for the next album, Trench, and tour, Bandito. My prediction from last week was 100% correct, and you all may thank and validate me in the comments below like and subscribe. “Jumpsuit” is our main single with a full cinematic music video, while “Nico and the Niners” is the more lore-heavy low-key song for the fans. I’m going to pull back from fully going in on picking apart every sonic and thematic element of both songs and save that for (hopefully) a less busy week, but you know I gotta write about their first new music in two years. Cause that’s what I do: I write too much.

Guys, “Jumpsuit” is a straight-up banger. Featuring a killer driving bassline, some of Tyler’s most impassioned screams, and a truly devastating bridge, I have not tired of this song one bit in the last few days. It takes me on a complete emotional journey in just four minutes every time, and it does so mainly through its soundscape (there’s only the hook, three couplet verses, and that damn bridge). It’s so, so, so, so good, potentially (dare I say it) the best sonically arranged and produced song the band has ever released.

So... what’s “Jumpsuit” about? Well, a lot of things, but in a word: pressure. Again, the lyrics are super vague, I think deliberately so. Clearly the song is about the singer feeling pressured by others into taking a path that he does not want to travel down. That bridge, delivered in an eerie detached falsetto, shows Tyler pushing back even at his weakest point, stating that he will not submit to what others want him to do unless they “grab him by the throat, tie him down, and break his hands.” Certainly you can argue that this is about the music industry. The “breaking his hands” line is killer in that context, as it signifies that the industry can’t control him without taking away the things that makes him valuable to them in the first place, his artistic ability and freedom. You can also say that it’s just playing straight into the concept, with Clancy breaking away from the bishops’ control. But the deliberate vagueness of the lyrics means that the audience can apply the message- and the empowerment of that killer bassline- to whatever struggle they are facing. That’s pretty darn rad.

The music video, directed by “Heathens” and “Heavydirtysoul”’s Andrew Donoho, is sick. Tyler (looking extra fly in his new yellow hooded jumpsuit) attempts to flee from this creepy Red Riding Hood old dude on a white horse (Nico?) through what is certainly a Game of Thrones filming location while other figures in yellow duct tape jumpsuits look on from the cliffs above. Tyler is captured by the bishop, who “smears” him by putting the black Blurryface makeup on his neck. Tyler is freed briefly from the bishop’s control when the other yellow-clad figures throw yellow petals down on him, but he is chased down knocked out or killed. The others flee the scene, save for one very handsome looking drummer boy... Oh, and there’s a bunch of intercut clips of Tyler on the car from “Heavydirtysoul” for some reason.

Besides those “Heavydirtysoul” scenes, which truthfully don’t connect much to the story of the video beyond artificially welding it onto the end of the Blurryface Era, this is one of the band’s best videos yet. It totally fulfilled all of my expectations of a more epic scope for this era, from the gorgeous Iceland setting to the dope as hell costumes to the implication that the story might continue on from this point. And there are tons of little Easter eggs, from brief flashes of the nine bishops to possible cameos from the Josephs and Duns. We don’t really know for sure if Tyler is playing Clancy or if the red dude is Nico, but it will certainly be fun to continue to fill in the blanks as we move forward and (hopefully) hear more from Tyler directly.

“Nico and the Niners” is a weird track, but one that I still absolutely love. In some ways, it’s a more traditional tøp track, with some of the raggae elements found on Blurryface and a rap verse to fit all of Tyler’s lyrics in. But in other significant ways, it’s a totally different path for them. For starters, just look at that title: it’s very explicitly about this album’s concept from top to bottom, with Tyler singing about fleeing Dema and its bishops’ control and even heavily referencing “Jumpsuit”; there’s clearly going to be a great deal of thematic cohesion in this project. But there’s also just the general vibe of it: just as “Jumpsuit” was a heavier rock song than anything we’d yet seen from the band, "Nico” is way more laid back, its repeated references to being high and even its visualizer of assorted shrubbery making it a potential stoner anthem (whether that was Tyler’s intention or not). Regardless, the song is brimming with character and hooks, and it’s already grown on me significantly in just a few days.

Oh, and one more thing: this song lives up to its Dema-referencing title and content by being cryptic af. The track is littered with reversed audio in the instrumental bits, including the “we are banditos” snippet from dmaorg.info and another sample of someone who sounds a lot like Josh saying “We will leave Dema at true east, renounce Vialism [the bishops’ ruling philosophy, alluded to be Clancy in an earlier journal].” I swear, if all it takes for Tyler to make all this stuff is a year break, he should do this after every album.

With all that new music, the fact that we finally have a name for Album 5 almost got lost in the shuffle. Trench was a popular guess over the last few days thanks to dmaorg.info, but it’s good to finally know for sure. Graphic designer Brandon Rike from the Blurryface Era is back again, revealing a cover featuring a badass-looking vulture/falcon/whatever, some new logos (including the return of FPE!), and some more yellow tape that appears to be covering the names of the rest of the album’s songs. Not too much else to say at this point; we’ll just have to wait until some of that tape gets peeled off between now and October 5th.

Finally, let’s talk about the Bandito Tour. It bears mentioning that, amidst the otherwise overwhelmingly positive positive atmosphere of the band’s return, this tour name received the most general opposition from fans and non-fans alike. The fact that “bandito” was probably going to turn up in a lyric from two decidedly white dudes was already enough to put some folks on edge, but the idea of an entire tour of predominantly non-Hispanic tweens flooding arenas and calling themselves banditos was enough to turn a few people against the band. And look, I get it- I hear “bandito” and the first things I think of are John Wayne Westerns and Speedy Gonzalez, and I get why a lot of fans might feel uncomfortable with that. But, to be fair, the band hasn’t used any of those stereotypes and banditos is a word for outlaw used in a number of Romance languages. Perhaps most interestingly, there’s not yet any evidence that the word even appears in the album itself. So far, the only appearance of “bandito” is in a coded message on dmaorg.info and in reversed audio in “Nico”. If this does turn out to be a name meant to only make sense to the most hardcore of fans, it is almost redeemed (I mean, I still think the name is a little silly, but I’m already in presale).

So, with that out of the way, let’s actually talk about the tour itself. It will be an international arena tour- even if the band’s sound is not going in a pop direction, they still clearly feel confident that the Clique will show up wherever they go. The first show will be hosted in Nashville (their first arena concert in that market) on October 16, not even two weeks after the release of the full album. What a baller move, and much preferred to the Blurryface rollout where we didn’t hear most of the songs on the record until nearly two months after the album release and they didn’t play near me for even longer. The boys will tour the U.S. until November 21, even playing arenas in a few markets that they’ve never played large venues in before, and then hit up Australia and New Zealand in December.

The most objectively interesting leg will be in Europe from January through March. Not only will the band play their first arena shows in markets like Moscow, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Central Poland, and Manchester, they will return to markets like Dublin and Glasgow they’ve been absent from for years. Most exciting, Twenty One Pilots will play their first shows in Bologna and Stuttgart and venture into the countries of Ukraine, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal for the first time ever. Needless to say, the rabid fanbases of all of these regions are super excited, and I’m super excited for them!

Other Shenanigans:

While Tyler has continued to stay silent (much as he has since mid-Blurryface Era), Josh immediately jumped back on Twitter with a standard Josh joke and even resumed his morning workout Snapchats. On Thursday, Josh even called into BBC Radio One with Annie Mac to give a quick interview about the new era. He didn’t provide a ton of information, but it was just a delight to hear our kid’s voice again. A few tidbits of info:

Josh reported that he was calling from Trench, I hate him.

The sick bass riff on “Jumpsuit” was born from soundchecks toward the end of Emotional Roadshow. He says that, as a result, it sounds closest to the Blurryface sound, serving as a good transition into the new era. (If this is what he thinks is close to Blurryface on Trench, this album’s gonna be nutter butters.)

Both Josh and Tyler are really nervous about the elaborate rollout, both out of the usual fear that no one stuck around and out of wariness of severely disappointing people when they hear the actual music (so far, so good...)

Trench continues to have the “diverse” sound of the previous records and also was designed to be played live.

Josh also tuned into Apple Music’s Beats 1 for an interview with Hanuman Welch. This conversation was less about the new album and more about the “hiatus”. More tidbits: 

The band views collaboration as a “sacred” thing, and while they’re not against it in the future, it has to be done in a context that makes sense and not merely for marketing purposes.

The band has never used the word hiatus because they’ve been working. They drew back from the spotlight to allow themselves some time to recharge, but also because they were worried of oversaturation (particularly after the Grammys pushed them into that next-level pop culture sphere). Rather than make a bunch of social media posts that didn’t mean anything just to stay relevant, the band decided to draw back, focus on music, and in the process “thin the weeds” of fans who weren’t the diehards.

For the last few albums, the music has come from a specific personal place the band was at while write, whether it be a spiritual journey with Vessel or tackling insecurities on Blurryface. Josh says the same remains true with Trench, but notes that there will be a little more fleshing out themes by working on a specific story with this one (he still says it’s not really a concept album, but ok).

Believe it or not, we are not done. While the boys were blazing a brave new path forward, another bit of content reminded us of where the band came from. Greg Wells, the producer who made Vessel the masterpiece it was, gave an hour-long interview to Billboard’s Pop Shop Podcast. He mainly speaks about getting started in the industry back in the 90s and working on the mega-blockbuster Greatest Showman soundtrack, but he does talk about Vessel for a bit approximately forty minutes into the interview. I won’t give the exact time-code, not because I’m lazy, but because the entire interview is worth listening to. Greg just seems like a rad dude. His laid-back nature and the seriousness he takes with his craft really shine through; he and Tyler must have gotten along just fine.

Community Spotlight:

The Clique took some heavy losses over the last year, as a great deal of old fans moved on to greener pastures. But that just left room for a whole host of new fans to rise to the occasion and help us get through that long drought. Today, I wanted to give a shout-out to GingerSheep and Stolen Potential, two Clique vloggers that have really kept the fanbase informed and uplifted and have been working their butts off reporting on the daily content. I know how long it takes me just to research and write one of these- I can’t imagine the work that then goes into filming and editing on top of that nearly every day. Hats off to you, good sirs. Make sure you all check out their channels if you haven’t already! But, you know, don’t stop reading these. I have bills to pay with all the Tumblr money I’m not making.

Well, that wasn’t too much, was it? If you made it all the way to the end, mad props. See you next week for a slightly tamer week (probably).

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[semi-sketchy]

the-gitz replied to your post                                                                                

Gee, thanks for that generalization there! Nice to know I, and anyone else who actually do like him, apparently don’t exist at all, and then backpedaling. Thanks for continuing to help assholes feel validated for constantly giving people like me in the fandom shit for actually liking him as a character. Also, fuck you with that whole, “HE CAN’T FEEL LONELY BECAUSE HE’S GOT MONEY AND PEOPLE AROUND HIM” manipulative bullshit.          

Many people who suffer from depression(like me), or feel like they have no one to truly confide in, have friends and family with them, yet they still feel like they want to put a bullet through their temple! Being called “attention seeking” or told to just suck it up because others “have it worse” than me is the same shit people told me growing up, and I was not financially well off and still not!                             

It’s still a valid emotion or personal problem, and you and the rest of the fandom can take that shitty fucking mindset and shove it! Next you’re going to tell me there’s starving children in Africa!                             

Alright, so thank you for leaving that long comment chain and thank you even more for messaging me. I gotta answer this because this is honestly amazing.

Dude...you need to calm down. I don’t like Chris, alright? I made a joke about how Chris is a generally hated character and referenced Sonic Boom. Me saying I don’t like Chris isn’t giving you any shit. I stand by that he’s not a great character, but that’s also my opinion and the fact that I formed a negative opinion on a character you like has no affect on your life whatsoever and is not a form of attacking you. You project onto him? Whatever, I said in my post that was probably his purpose, which is seeming why we aren’t getting along right now.

I never said that he couldn’t feel lonely, just the idea to go to such an extreme as to ruin the universe to avoid losing a friend. Even Eggman scolded Chris for being selfish and wanting to keep Sonic around. What Chris did was wrong and it was outlined in the show.

Alright, I gotta show the messages you sent, this is incredible. I hope you don’t mind me sharing, after all you seem pretty passionate about proving your point.

Gee, thanks for that generalization there! Nice to know I, and anyone else who actually do like him, apparently don't exist at all. Thanks for continuing to help assholes feel validated for constantly giving people like me in the fandom shit for actually liking him as a character.

Also, no. Amy Rose is the terrible character in Sonic X, for reasons I stated before in the past and still stick to. She's a god awful one actually, and was much worse and insufferable Chris and Cosmo ever were.

There were so many links I couldn’t put them here, my god you sure are passionate about how bad Amy is in X and having to prove your opinion is fact when you’re going after me for the exact same reason. I like Amy in X because she has spunk, alright? I miss that in her modern day counterpart. Amy is one of my favorite characters while I noticed on one my the many links you sent, she’s in your top 5 hated characters. So, differing opinions there.

You can especially take that, "Well he had school friends and family members, so still feeling like he had nobody is invalid!" and shove it! It's basically, "But there's starving children in Africa!", manipulative bullshit people use to shut down others when. Just because someone may have it better than others doesn't make their emotions or personal invalid! That's the same shit people would say to guilt me into feeling like I had no right to vent my emotional problems, whenever I actually tried to speak up on how I felt growing up. And my family was not that financially well off! But because other people "have it worse" than I did, that apparently my problems didn't matter!

And that's exactly what Cream did to him, when he dared tried to be upset over his mother leaving early to shoot a last minute role during a time where she was actually at home with him. Yet you're all shocked and butthurt when he inevitably snapped when someone he felt like he could confide in was about to leave forever!

I never said his emotions were invalid, I said his actions were uncalled for. He had a supportive group of people to fall back on.

God forbid a child character actually be flawed and not act like a miniature adult or a mini-Satan for once!

Yes, I agree we need better child characters, however I don’t think Chris is that.

I'm projecting? Probably. You bitter ass Sonic fans clearly are whenever you use Chris' financial status against him for why he should have just continued to keep things pent up and continued to wear a false smile, so I think it's fair when I see people like talk about things you clearly haven't personally experienced in your life or childhood.

I never did though? I said his parents were rich sacks of shit and that him being rich was a plot device so the cast could basically do whatever without the question of “where are they getting the funds?” That’s not anything against him at all and I don’t think Chris being rich was a bad thing.

Also, assuming I’ve never had to fake a smile, tsk tsk, you aren’t special, sweetie. I get you’ve had a tough time, but degrading others without even knowing them. I don’t have to expose my entire life to the internet to have my feelings validated nor do I want to. It’s my business and nobody else’s.

And I'm not saying any of this as a matter of opinion, either. I'm saying it as a matter of fact.

Oh boy let’s get the popcorn I smell a rant.

Oh, but NOBODY in the Sonic fandom likes him, according to you. So I guess I'm just some computer program, or you're just going to call me a "fan brat".

No? I’ve seen lots of people who like him. That’s why I put “some people like him” followed by “I’m not one of those people.” Look, you’ve got your own opinion and I might be able to respect it more if you didn’t come and yell at me, assuming aspects of my personality and life based on my dislike of a character.

How about you, and everyone else, stop writing about your personal problems online and just shut up and suck it up? According to you, you have no right to ever feel depressed or emotionally down for whatever reason, or act out, because there's that have it worse than you.

A. Someone asked me and I answered. I didn’t vent about personal problems, I gave my opinion when it was asked. B. I have never said and never will say that people can’t be upset because someone has it harder. The people who say that use it to invalidate and shut down people and it doesn’t solve any problems. There’s a quote I like that goes: “You almost drowned in deep water and I almost drowned in shallow water, but in the end, we both almost drowned.”

Oh, but woe is you to be disappointed by something in a piece of media, and not be constantly given a hard time or not be acknowledged by the fandom for it! Poor baby!

Maybe people wouldn’t give you a hard time if you didn’t come and yell at them about their disappointment in said media.

At least fucking wait to actually know things about a character before I decided if I like them or not, unlike you going all "PWOTECT THIS BABBY" about an upcoming lemur character that we know absolutely nothing about outside of superficial details!

I’ve watched the show since I was like, 12. I’ve seen it a good 6 times now, I think I know what I like and don’t like in these characters.

And yeah, I like Tangle so far. Her design is appealing and I fail to see how being excited for a character and reblogging a piece of fanart, tagging it “protect this baby” is wrong. It’s a thing people say, heck I might end up hating her, I don’t know, just I’m enjoying myself and enjoying what the fandom is creating with the news of this new character. Ya gotta be a spoilsport?

Yeah, no. Chris and Cosmo are the ones who actually need protecting, or hell, need to be armed!

Shhh! You’re bringing up guns on Tumblr! Don’t you know that’s a bad idea?!

But again, the average Sonic fan only likes and dislikes characters based more on what they and not who they are. So thank you for continuing to prove that point of mine.

But like...I never said that or even talked to you before.

Alright, that’s where the messages end. I might have had some respect for you if you didn’t block me immediately after you sent all this. You make allegations against me, both publicly and in private chat, then don’t even give me the courtesy to talk it out with you? That’s low.

Also, you’re far too involved with this. I understand you’ve had a rough time and some people might’ve attacked you for liking Chris, however that’s just as wrong as what you did here. Seeing parts of a character in you and relating to them is fine, although when that character becomes your identity it underlines a problem. You need to take a step back and disconnect yourself from this because it’s clearly causing you grief.

You sent me an entire paper about how you’re right and I’m wrong, but... I actually think I was pretty fair on Chris and gave a mostly constructive opinion. I don’t like him, I stated why, and this act of yours was entirely uncalled for, a lot like Chris stopping Sonic from going home. So you like him, okay, good for you, I like unpopular characters too, but I don’t send people essays about how they’re shitty because they don’t like Marine the Raccoon. You can’t present your opinions as fact and I never did.

All I said is I don’t like this character. You act like I threw a grenade in your house and kidnapped your wife. Just learn to chill out, stop taking these things to heart. Someone’s opinion on something you like doesn’t define you.

[ayoswim]

The Problem With XXXTentacion

By Kyle Mantha

As humans, we are obsessed with danger. We love to watch movies and listen to music about people who have a complete disregard for the rules, as well the lives of other humans. We don’t love Scarface because Tony Montana is a great guy, we love it because seeing a man go through life without giving a single fuck is liberating. We get to live vicariously through the lives of people who let nothing stand in their way. It makes us feel better about the lives we live. When we see Jordan Belfort show a complete lack of empathy towards anyone and everyone in “The Wolf of Wall Street”, it allows us to escape from our mundane, 9-5 lives. That is why artists like XXXTentacion are so wildly praised. The idea of being completely unhinged and not giving a fuck is appealing to many people because they feel trapped in their own lives, unable to say how they truly feel or follow their heart.

I have avoided writing about XXXTentacion for a while. I’m not really sure why. I guess it just seems like everything that needs to be said has been said already. He’s also a bit of a controversial subject due to his legal troubles, and I kinda hate dabbling in controversial shit. But, I thought about it, and the job of a writer is to talk about things that are uncomfortable to talk about, and if I’m avoiding controversial subjects just because they are controversial, then I am not being honest with myself or others. So here goes nothing.

For the unfamiliar, XXXTentacion is an up and coming rapper from Florida that is quickly gaining traction in the hip hop scene. His abrasive and accidentally Lo-Fi single “Look At Me” became a huge hit in the underground trap scene, eventually moving up into the mainstream consciousness. The song is mostly known for it’s vulgar lyrics, overblown production, and XXX’s loud, screaming delivery. “Look At Me” is a pretty good representation of X, both as a person and a rapper. It sums up his very brutal and minimalistic style, and also goes along with his wild public persona.

One of the first major co-signs that X got was from Los Angeles podcaster Adam22. Adam brought X on his No Jumper podcast. For those that don’t know, No Jumper has become a bit of a cultural landmark in the underground hip hop scene. Once an artist has been interviewed on No Jumper, they tend to pop off pretty quickly after that. X’s No Jumper episode is a particularly popular one, mostly because of the controversial subject matter. Over the course of an hour and some change, X describes many of the violent fights he’s been in, including an incident in prison where he nearly beat a gay man to death for staring at him while he changed. That’s not an exaggeration either. X states in the interview that the goal of the beating was to kill the man.

Because of this interview, I wasn’t exactly the biggest XXXTentacion fan. I was only further turned off from his music when stories began to circulate of him assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. Now, the facts of the case are up for debate, and nobody's exactly sure what the truth is, but X is currently sitting in jail awaiting his court date. Some say that the woman wasn’t pregnant, while others claim that the entire story is made up. I’m not here to make judgements on an on-going criminal case, but it’s likely that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. As of now, the most commonly accepted version of events is that X locked his girlfriend in the bathroom and assaulted her because she played one of his friends songs. To me, this sounds like an oversimplification, and it’s very likely that more was done to provoke X. That doesn’t excuse his behavior, however, and it’s interesting to me that so many of his fans will rush to his defense.

Kendrick Lamar said in the song “Mortal Man”: “When the shit hits the fan is you still a fan?” It’s a valid question. Many fans claim to ride for an artist, but then something goes down and all of a sudden the fans have turned on the artist without even a hint of evidence. We saw this happen when Freddie Gibbs was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. Freddie was found not guilty, but the damage was done. The incident will forever be a mark on his career. The same is true for XXX, but the difference is that Freddie didn’t leave a breadcrumb trail of behavioral problems that lead people to believe he could do such a thing. So much of X’s mystique is that he is wild, crazy, and will snap into fight mode at any moment. Is it really so hard to believe that a man who admittedly has no problem assaulting other human beings over trivialities would assault his girlfriend? I’m not calling for the man’s execution, but we need to look at the facts here. We need to stop saying “Free X.” We need to stop glorifying and romanticising the behavior of someone who is clearly mentally ill. It’s only serving to create an environment where abusive people are able to shine and gain notoriety without being truly criticized for their behaviour.

News broke yesterday that XXX is out of jail. The details haven’t been released yet so it’s still not known whether he is out on bail or out for good. Regardless, big things are going to start happening for X once he is released. He’s poised to be the next big artist, and to be completely honest, I feel like it’s a bad look for hip hop. Even if you put aside all of the accusations, he is still a violent, volatile, mentally unstable person who needs severe rehabilitation. If X makes an effort to better himself and right his wrongs, then of course, he should be given a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, as long as you make the effort to fix what you’ve done. I’d really like to see that happen for him.

Personal life aside, I think X is a very interesting rapper and will take the genre to a new place sonically. His style is pretty much lifted from his contemporaries, and he brings nothing new to the table lyrically, but his strength lies in his mixing (or lack thereof). Everything is turned up to a ten on his tracks. The bass is distorted beyond belief and the drums and samples often sound like they are being played through very old and worn out speakers. He may be the first example of lo-fi trap music to truly break through to the mainstream. There is a lot of talk about rap entering it’s punk phase, and whether or not you agree, you have to admit that rap is certainly more experimental than it has ever been, and XXX is definitely going to help push the genre in a more experimental direction.

However, despite his obvious effort to break musical norms, many consider XXX to be a lackluster artist. I can’t say I disagree. While his contributions to the growing experimentalism of hip hop are definitely something to be commended, I just can’t help but feel like that’s all he has to offer. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong with his debut full-length project, but as of right now it seems like the only thing X puts forward is an edgy aesthetic that people can latch onto. His music is all about the style and vibe, but there is absolutely no emphasis on songwriting, lyricism, or production. Don’t get me wrong, not every song has to be lyrical or full of meaning, but if you are going to pull back lyrically, you need to be able to make up for it with your production. X doesn’t even come close to making up for it with his production. The majority of the beats he raps on are just run of the mill trap beats that are distorted as much as humanly possible. Other than that, he really doesn’t bring much new to the table in terms of production.

At the end of the day, XXXTentacion is probably not going anywhere any time soon. Many speculate that he will be a one hit wonder, but his fervishly devoted fanbase seems to say otherwise. His ship will never truly sink because he has built a cult like following that will keep him afloat no matter how choppy the waters get. What matters now is how we choose to respond to his incoming stardom. Do we demonize him? Do we romanticize his poor behavior? Truthfully, I don’t have the answers. I think it’s best to wait and see how he responds to his controversies, and go from there, but others may disagree. All I hope is that we as hip hop fans are careful not to endorse X’s horrible actions.

We, as a society, are often enamored with fictionalized violence. Unfortunately, this infatuation with the dangerous elements of life often bleed into real life. It is important that we do not allow our desire for escapism to cloud our judgement when dealing with real people. Rappers are people just like me and you. XXXTentacion is not a movie character, and we certainly can’t treat him as such.

Kyle Mantha is a writer and musician living in Ontario, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter here.