#rather than a fictional character representing a real person who doesn't want to show their face online

[technoxenoholic]

anyway if you know that the otherkin community exists and you still choose to ""kin for fun"", that does indeed make you an asshole.

you can literally just call a character your favorite, comfort character, muse, blorbo, or anything else. you literally don't have to steal our word and misuse it. you don't have to do that.

[ladyloveandjustice]

I've seen people say this is proof that Marcille's not a lesbian, but this is definitely a character (or based on a character) from the romance novel she obsesses over. There is nothing more lesbian than obsessing over a fictional man and being like "yeah i'm down" but not being attracted to any real men. Only fictional men appeal to us because they don't feel the same as real men. This is very much a fictional ideal that Marcille had created for herself. It's her blorbo from her shows. The male character the lesbians claim as their own and relate to is a well known phenom.

(I also want to note this person is incredibly feminine looking even by elf standards)

We'll also see later that succubi don't exclusively operate as romantic fantasies. For Marcille, this person also represents her fantasy of being in this romance novel, which was something she really connected to because of [spoiler] reasons. It was her first experience of seeing herself in a story and feeling accepted as a result.

I don't think Falin is her fantasy ideal type, and she's never been. Marcille's expressed several times she thinks Falin is really cute and pretty, and we've also been shown that she considered Laios's appearance kind of gross because it was more masculine that Falin's and she expected him to look like her which...i mean... gay

But Falin was not someone she expected to fall for, and I think she fell for her based on who she is rather than her it being a specific type she has. It doesn't mean she doesn't love her. Anymore than Chilchuck's actual wife not appearing (based on their daughters she was probably not blonde) means he didn't love her.

(And I will also acknowledge you could read Marcille as bi, she's just one of those characters I relate so much to as a lesbian I just see her that way)

[eros-thanatos89]

meta/thoughts on BCS

Oh, man. I've never posted meta, or just thoughts on shows before, but I'm trying to give myself permission to be as cringe as I want and to ramble on the internet about the fictional things that I think way too much about. So here goes, my first meta post!

I just rewatched BCS S5E3 "The Guy For This" (let's be real: mostly for thirsty reasons, because I wanted to see Lalo and Nacho looking pretty in the garage scene with Saul) and Goddamn, it just smacked me in the face and reminded me what a pivotal episode it is in so many ways.

One of the many recurring themes that I love to see explored so well in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is the many ways that people deal with (or don't) the consequences of their actions, and this episode is just chock full of that, as well as setting up the first steps down the "bad choice road" or the road ahead for so many characters.

In that garage, Saul really steps into Saul as we know him in Breaking Bad. By taking Lalo's money (even if under duress) he's taking the first step into leaving Jimmy behind and becoming the *criminal lawyer* we all love/love to hate. Jimmy's pattern of avoiding the consequences of his actions or uncomfortable emotions like the guilt over Chuck's disgrace and death is running away: by escaping into his scams, and by literally running away from himself, choosing a new identity--he's not Jimmy anymore; he's Saul, so he doesn't have to lug around Jimmy's baggage. And even though he tries to backtrack from this first step onto the bad choice road leading to him becoming "un amigo del cartel", when he tries to suggest that Lalo find another lawyer, it's too late. As Nacho tells him, "When you're in, you're in."

And Nacho would know! Speaking of running away, Nacho has been trying to evade or escape his problems for so long: first by setting up Tuco to avoid having his side hustle with Pryce discovered, and in this episode, trying to convince his Papa to run away with him to Canada. The scene where Manuel confronts Nacho at his house never fails to break my heart. Nacho is so desperate for Manuel to escape with him to a new, safe life, and Manuel is so adamant that Nacho face up to the consequences of his choices. Which ultimately, he has no choice but to do. He has to confront what he's done and give himself up to save his Papa's life, just like Manuel encouraged him to do so long ago. But by giving up his life rather than turning himself in to the police. It's so damn tragic.

And then there's Kim. She's always running away from the poverty and instability of her past by so doggedly pursuing success as a lawyer. I love how this episode highlights her increasing dissatisfaction with Mesa Verde and her yearning to pursue more meaningful pro-bono work so she can use the law to help people like the little, powerless girl she used to be. The confrontation between her and Mr. Acker is stellar. Kim has this rare moment of vulnerability, letting down her walls to share a story of her childhood struggles with Mr. Acker in a genuine attempt to connect with him, only to have him scoff at her and accuse her of making it up to manipulate him. You can tell his tirade about her being ultimately a selfish person who tries to comfort herself with acts of charity really rankles her because it goes so strongly against her sense of self and represents everything it seems she's afraid of becoming, and so much of what she resents about Howard: the entitlement, the sense of ease and privilege, the self-congratulatory charity acts (don't get me wrong, I really like Howard, pompous as he can sometimes be, but I think this is how Kim views him). By the end of the episode, when she escalates Saul toying with a beer bottle on the balcony into throwing them into the parking lot, you can already see her pivoting and taking those first steps down the road that ultimately leads to the plot against Howard, which she justifies to herself in the name of using the Sandpiper money to fund her pro-bono work. And then in the end of the series, she both runs away AND atones for her actions by moving to Florida and living a life literally leeched of all color and joy, and is just doing penance by living a muted, mediocre life.

Domingo's arc in this episode is so crucial, too! Lalo and Nacho recruit Saul to feed him the information to undermine Fring, but when he meets Hank and Steve Gomez in prison, it starts him on the road to transforming from Domingo/Ocho Loco to Krazy 8. Ultimately leaving the cartel (I like to think because of the loss of his friend Nacho) and setting himself up as an independent dealer and even snitching on his own cousin, Emilio; which then leads to his collision with Walt and Jesse.

And the scene with Mike in the bar! The way he's barely holding it together as he tries (not very successfully) to drink away the pain and guilt caused by killing Werner just a few episodes before (S4E9) and is so triggered by the postcard that reminds him of their conversation is so powerful. I just love how he encounters the group of guys who try to intimidate and rob him and he defends himself in this episode, but we later see him intentionally return and seek them out in S5E5 "Dedicado a Max" in an act of self-loathing and roundabout self-harm via taking a beating and not even trying to defend himself.

I'm rambling, but these shows make me litcherally mentally unwell with how fantastically nuanced and textured the writing, acting, visual storytelling, music, everything is! I'm just going to be ruminating on all these many facets of accepting consequences, atoning, and/or running away affects these characters and the arc of both shows and the world they inhabit for the next long while....

[anonil88]

Epidode 7 was probably my favorite episode of Under the Bridge. Felt like we finally got to the thick center of this chowder before I start to skim the fat.

The fat: I get the sympathy "look at how these two characters relate and reflect" angle but the writers have shoved so many different dates and non irl instances into the same day it feels like time isn't passing the way it was before. Certain scenes i felt like someone was yelling out "okay and then next." Those and the odd likely time constraint fictional case changes aside i did enjoy a lot about this episode.

The stock; Its hard challenging your sense of justice in our society when you're not used to it and that is possibly easier when real life people are made fictional characters or more increasingly divorced from their real counterparts. It is difficult to rewire a brain that has already been wired via religion or socialization for crime = all good all bad human. But, thank God life is not so simple there's a lot of gray. As we the viewers reach closer and closer to the finale and trial more has been changed from the real reena virk case. Writers made certain changes in the beginning that now when any of the kids on trial say "we didn't know anything about her" it asks the viewer to think back to the first 4 episodes**. Does anyone here really know who Reena is? They know she was murdered, they are finding out how, but what about this girl. She is a vehicle for their ambitions, guilt, and anger but beyond that who really has found out about Reena or hell any of these kids. Cam? Us the audience? Rebecca? Very clearly not Rebecca (character) even though she has so much in common with Reena as well as Warren. But, she can identify herself with the boy because of their mistakes and race. Becca cannot see why Cam doesn't relate to Warren* despite their similarities because she doesn't understand why Cam doesn't sympathize with her.

That quote about Reena being seen as an animal and weaker than Warren sits in my head a little. Based on another tumblr users post this may have actually been said in court not to Rebecca directly, which was a good change for tv imo. But, it made me think of Warren in his drunken angry state went to his "primal human urge" to hurt something weaker or ignore rather than help. As did every other kid who was a bystander that night but they aren't seen as animals in the same way Reena was up until people saw she was in fact dead. Even now in death she is dehumanized and animalized on the internet because of one bad school picture day. A day we all have tried and failed to get the perfect photo. Still, the most animalistic rabid like behavior is coddled because of privilege. One thing the writers have not held back on us how much they personally do not like Kelly Ellard and offer her 0 remorse that she was given as a child. I dont feel bad for character or real life Kelly but I firmly believe she was failed because of her privilege long before she killed Reena Virk.

One thing i loved about this episode is that I felt Rebecca Godfrey (the writer) all over this episode and in Riley's portrayl. Especially when the character says "I will make sure they know your heart." I think that's what she set out to do with her book and by extension allowing this show, she wanted people to know who these humans are at their very human center. Complicit and redeemable? Complicit and capable? And she felt bad about what tragically happened. I hope wherever she is, if she believed in that sort of thing, that she is proud of her story.

* I think and that moment of his verdict in court shows Cam does care about Warren, Rebecca, and extension all of these kids. This is her home, no matter how small these writers have shrunk its vastness. She sees these kids as versions of her, Gabe, and Rebecca but she is a cop and she does have some standard to uphold. Even though her career and who it represents, her dad & brother her family, is starting to show themselves to be harder to stick by. Similar to Josephine and that false sense of family with CMC disintegrating. Will Cam even go ahead to Vancouver for her job by the end of this?

** Which is quite different from the real life accounts where genuinely it seems those kids and the main group imvolved did not know Reena outside from her extreme antics, the lesser teen cruelty one, and her face.

[marzipanandminutiae]

I think the line between representing gnc women in the past and interpreting the NLOG trope as applying to any gnc woman in fiction is difficult to chart—I don’t deny that authors do this, but the thing is that real historical women did feel like this for very legitimate reasons, even if they come off as condescending today (I’d be pissed too if I was told I Had to wear skirts and corsets, and I am someone who personally really enjoys wearing skirts and corsets). Representing women who did not conform to gender norms on various different ways is important, and I don’t think Cox’s critique of any of her chosen movies/shows is particularly convincing in part because she does not acknowledge this at all—and while not every YouTube video essay has to be all things to all people, this is a touchy topic and some effort on her part would’ve been really appreciated, because it very much comes off as “gnc women make me uncomfortable” more than anything else.

See, I really don't get where the whole "she doesn't talk about real GNC women!!" thing comes from

because I am literally watching the video right now and, direct quote, "while rejecting traditional gender norms of their era happened, that doesn't mean it can only be expressed in the rejection of distinctly feminine articles of clothing..."

"And while I'm not saying there's anything wrong with breaking gender norms in historical dramas...Gentleman Jack is a good example of this...I'm frustrated with the reliance on 'Girly Bad! Boy Good!' clothing defaults...without what seems to be a second thought on how problematic it can actually be."

"The idea of creating the bloomers and the trousers could have come from this very genuine place of like 'I want...to be able to run...without having to deal with all these skirts around my legs.' And that is fair..."

and the big part, prefacing AN ENTIRE SECTION OF THE VIDEO: "Now, all that being said, I want to acknowledge the historic reality of women who did dress in masculine clothing." She actually goes further than I would in using they/them pronouns for George Sand (I have a "pronouns they used in life" policy, personally), and discusses in detail some examples of women who presented masculine at various times, for various reasons. She also gets in-depth about Gentleman Jack, and why the show was more authentic to Anne Lister's life (as a distinctly butch woman in the 1830s) for showing her having to bend slightly to accepted feminine modes of dress rather than just...sticking her in anachronistic pants all the time.

I don't think the video is perfect- it's clear what presentation Abby herself prefers, and thus she can sometimes muddy her own message. For example, to me it's clear that she's not saying it would be BAD for a suffragist character to be GNC, but it would be UNREALISTIC due to the emphasis the actual suffrage movement had to place on conventionally feminine attire to avoid distracting the press from their own message. But I can see how it might come off as "feminine suffragist character good, masc suffragist character bad" to someone with less baseline knowledge of the speaker's general views.

(It could also be hard to get that she's not decrying the rejection of feminine attire wholesale in criticizing Anne W*th an E, but rather saying that it's unfaithful to the character as originally written. Also she could have been clearer that the issue with Miss Stacy is that she would be INSTA-FIRED if, as a small-town teacher in the 1890s, she showed up to a town hall meeting in trousers. Like. I cannot overstate how fired she would get from any position overseeing children's education, as an outsider and not even an "accepted local eccentric," in a backwater like Avonlea.)

In short, while it has its issues, I don't really see that it's as horrible and prescriptivist a video as everyone makes it out to be. But you're entitled to your opinions, just as I am to mine.

[orbmanson7]

I can't seem to go five minutes without thinking about more Logan angst today, so have this, too. It's an old thought that I've mentioned for years but never really posted here on tumblr.

Thomas' immediate reaction to Logan's appearance in Accepting Anxiety (Part 1) is to say "Ah, Logan's here, so I probably did something wrong." Logan then appears genuinely surprised and even somewhat distressed to hear Thomas say this, dismissing it as untrue before continuing to address his concern with Thomas' behavior.

The implication here, though, is that Thomas doesn't care about what he's saying but may commonly think this, even if only subconsciously, due to Logan's role in the series.

Thomas had become very accustomed to Logan only showing up to give exposition, provide knowledge and resources to better understand and discuss a topic, and to ultimately assist in resolving conflicts and issues Thomas has had. It makes sense that, through all that, Thomas may have inadvertently made a correlation of "I did something wrong" with Logan's arrival.

This is not necessarily something uncommon, both in real life and in media. Take, for instance, the myth of the Mothman. Some believe multiple sightings of the cryptid was a warning sign to an upcoming danger, based on a single instance in which several sightings of the Mothman occurred in and around Point Pleasant in a short period of time before a tragic bridge collapse that took many lives. There is nothing to suggest the cryptid had anything to do with the situation, but people were inclined to believe it merely due to the creature's appearance leading up to the disaster.

In Logan's case, even all the way back in Accepting Anxiety (Part 1), Logan was already being seen as his role of Thomas' logic and reasoning, not as Logan, a nerdy teacher character. He represents Logic, and logic dictates knowledge and advice, creates schedules and routines for Thomas' benefit, and only really exists to provide what is needed. Logan, on the other hand, is a big nerd who likes learning new vocabulary, indulging in his interests of space and watching Doctor Who, and reading mystery and sci-fi novels. He likes puzzles and trivia and Crofters and feeling like he's been useful and helped Thomas to the best of his ability.

Take another example, as it is not unreasonable for someone in the fictional version of Queens, NY to see Spiderman as a sign that crime is happening. While the hero's goal is to help fight that crime and serve justice, it is not as though merely seeing Spiderman means there is trouble afoot. But because people often only see or hear of the hero in regards to his role as the city's protector, they are more likely to see Spiderman for what he does rather than who he is.

If Peter Parker (or any other variation of Spiderman) were to walk around town, people wouldn't immediately associate his presence with danger or crime, but they might if he was still dressed as Spiderman. And that, right there, is the center of the issue - recognizing someone more for their role, but not as a person.

But Logan isn't the one who the other sides or Thomas seem to ever appreciate or want around. What they need is Logic, and what they don't want is Logan.

Virgil said it himself in Learning New Things About Ourselves with "No matter what we do, logic always has a part to play, Logan." While meant to be a positive message in context, indicating there are many different ways to address a problem, there is a negative connotation to this message, as well. The others' failure to consider Logan's difficulty in understanding their methodology only resulted in Logan believing his methods were ineffective and wrong. Being told that "logic has a part to play" indicates to him that they need Logic, but they didn't say they needed Logan (even though they spent a whole song stating that they needed all the other sides, specifically).

While some of the others also struggle with their identity separate from their role in the series, they often seek out the other sides for comfort and help with this issue. They are met with empathy, efforts to understand, and the assistance they need. Unfortunately for Logan, this doesn't happen for him, both due to what he understands for his role (he is meant to provide, not to receive) and his unwillingness to reach out to the others and break away from his role (especially as time goes on, as we've seen). Logan does not reach out and does not challenge the others' perceptions of him, and this results in his identity being taken up more and more by his role.

At this point in the series, it's a wonder he's involved at all except to provide exposition when asked. No matter all the times he's been dismissed or silenced, he adapts and finds new ways to benefit Thomas and fulfill his role while staying out of the way as much as possible. But, at some point, he's either going to adapt to something harmful (either to himself or Thomas) or he's going to refuse to keep adapting and stand up against his unfair treatment, challenging Thomas and the other sides' perceptions of him and the role he serves.

I hope it turns out okay, at least.

[rainbowsky]

Hi!!! While I'm really happy with the successful completion of season 5 of SDC, but I came across the clips of 🐢 and 🏍️ fighting with each other & there were staffs removing the red lights from the crowd which kinda made me upset. I know that it's completely fair for the staffs to promote wyb & his team in a show where bjyx related stuff is irrelevant. Anyway I know I should stay away from Twitter it's just bloodbath out there.

A lot of people have written me about this incident, and @accio-victuuri did a post about it as well, which you can find here. I just have a few things to add on this topic.

The question that keeps coming up is, "Should BXG be showing up at GG and DD's events with BXG banners and fan materials?"

To me the question isn't, "Should BXG be there?" the question is, "How should we conduct ourselves in public?"

We have every right to go wherever we want, online or off. We have the right to show our support for GG and DD. What I don't think we have the right to do is make a big spectacle of ourselves, or escalate tense situations in public places or in online spaces.

Here's the thing that I think we always need to keep in mind: we are the fringe group. We are the group that is going to be targeted for bullying and hate. In the eyes of the world at large, we are pervs who ship together real people using crazy theories and tinfoil hat clues. The myths about who we are and what we are about are far more widespread than the realities.

It is the fact that GG and DD are real people that makes our fandom fall under greater scrutiny, and it is why we have to be extra careful about how we behave. These aren't a couple of fictional characters. Everything that we say and do reflects on and has a potential to impact two very real people.

And if we believe they are in a real relationship, that makes it doubly important that we conduct ourselves with extra caution.

Going to an event - even an event that only one of them is present at - with turtle light banners and cute little dolls is totally fine, what isn't fine in my view is to cross over into behavior that might be disruptive. I have said it a thousand times, we should always stay in our own lane.

Solos are going to attack, bully and harass us. It's just the way things are. You've heard me say this a lot in the past - we don't have any control over what other people say, do or think. The only thing we have any control over is how we respond to what other people say, do or think. And if we care about GGDD and the turtle fandom we should always be choosing the response that will lead to peace.

When solos attack us, it is better to take the high road and do what we can to de-escalate the situation. This goes for online or offline.

The friendlier someone is to somebody who is being cruel to them, the nastier the cruel person looks. But as soon as we start behaving nasty back, we start looking just as nasty as the person attacking us.

And let me guarantee you, this is one area where appearances do matter. As I stated before, we are a fringe group. We are going to be targeted. If we look like we are asking for it, we're only making matters worse for ourselves. We are only jeopardizing our own existence as turtles.

If our behavior escalates rather than de-escalates fan wars, then we are generating fan wars that can harm GG and DD, and can jeopardize the turtle fandom.

It's likely that some solos are fully aware of that, and try to actively bait us. Be well aware and simply block and ignore.

As for the claims being made about what happened, and who said what and who did what, and which light banners were removed and which were not - and why, none of it matters. What matters is putting a stop to the fan wars. Or, at the very least, putting a stop to our contribution to the fan wars.

It doesn't matter whether turtles or solos, they were all there representing DD and they embarrassed him, at an event that he was not even supposed to be the focus of. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that both solos and turtles made a negative spectacle of themselves. No one here comes away with a clean face.

Everybody from both fandoms should be deeply ashamed and humbled right now, not trying to justify themselves.

I see a lot of hand-wringing from people about what so-and-so said or did, or what so-and-so posted on Twitter. We shouldn't be fooling ourselves. Anything posted on Twitter is going to have a high chance of generating conflict. Conflict is a core feature of the culture of Twitter.

Nothing posted about GGDD or about turtles, no matter how benign or even positive, ever fails to draw solo hate and personal attacks toward BXG. Anyone who thinks that kind of BS can be avoided is fooling themselves.

I've been on Twitter, I see the kind of things that solos flock to and attack. They are just as likely to freak out over a cute piece of fan art as they are to freak out over a video showing fans arguing.

As I said before, it doesn't matter what solos do, what matters is how we respond to what they do. We should be blocking, ignoring, and reporting where appropriate.

Their behavior is their own responsibility. Our only focus should be on our own behavior.

I will never understand why people freak out over the fact that solos are saying hateful things about us on Twitter. Their opinions simply don't matter.

Edit: Follow-up post here.

[makiruz]

So I watched the first 3 episodes of Andor and what I have to say is that the tone is weird; not bad, weird

Something doesn't feel right about this whole thing and I suspect that it's that it doesn't really feel like Star Wars. It's hard to explain what it is, my brother says is that it has the tone of cyberpunk, and that might be it, Andor feels too realistic. What I mean is that Star Wars is in reality fantasy, but Andor feels like science fiction, feels too down to earth, too much like an extrapolation of the real world, rather than a fantastical world.

This isn't to say the show is bad, it's good actually; I can see why people like it, it's more serious, which is what Star Wars fans want, but I don't think it's really Star Wars. There are aliens, despite what I'd been led to believe, but so far they have been extras, no significant character has been an alien; and there's no spirituality, which you might think is silly but spirituality is an integral part of Star Wars.

Also some story choices are weird, first off Andor's background; he comes from a tribal non-industrialized culture, but he's human; in Star Wars this kind of tribal people tend to be aliens, while humans represent the West, no everyone is the same of course, but a human group that doesn't speak basic? How did that happen? How did that people get there? In Star Wars lore there's the implication that in the past Humans expanded from their unknown homeplanet (sometimes believed to be Coruscant) into the rest of the Galaxy and with time evolved into different cultures; I suppose Kenari might have been isolated for a long time and that's why they developed their own unique tribal culture, but that just feels weird in this universe, again, this sort of people are usually aliens.

Second I don't get why would that guy would travel all the way to Ferrix to recruit Andor into the Rebellion; what's so special about Andor? He doesn't have the Force, he's not a former Imperial officer, he doesn't have a special McGuffin, he's a completely ordinary person, there's nothing about him worthy of the special attention. And if you want to say, "that's how the Rebellion operates" no it isn't; we've seen how the Rebellion recruits people: they're unhappy with the Empire, something push them off the edge, some Rebels are there, they join them; sending someone to pick up someone else needs a reason: they have specialized skills, they want to join the Rebellion but they can't leave their current location on their own, they have information; the Rebels don't go after random normal people in a different planet who don't want to join the Rebellion in the first place; when they're insistent is when the reluctant person is there, next to them and often partially involved in the Rebellion already. This scenario feels all wrong

Next the first two episodes are too long, it should've been only one episode leading to the confrontation in Ferrix

But I will say that I really like the cops; those guys are absolute clowns, they're all acting like they're going to war to protect the Universe when they're only going to pick up some guy. That part IS very Star Wars, I love it (uniforms could've been better though)

Final verdict of the first 3 episodes: This feels like a cool sci fi show, but not Star Wars; the problems I have (besides pacing) wouldn't exist if the show was original and was creating new rules; within Star Wars it feels weird and wrong

[cacodaemonia]

okay but. when the vast majority of the "antis" are poc asking you to take a moment to consider the often racist tendencies behind your actions, have you considered that you /might/ be in the wrong here?

if you're doubling down on this stance because you feel you've been harassed, there are some really helpful and well worded posts i can send you if you're interested that explain some of the issues facing the tcw fandom at large! as a white person, they've been very helpful showing me some of the harmful aspects of fan engagement that i didn't have the words for

Ah yes, another anon with concrete proof of their claims.

Anyway, this is a good example of a whataboutism, where anon is trying to take my stance that sending death threats to real people over fictional ships is shitty, and turn it into me being racist.

It's a super common tactic in political arguments, and is often successful at burying the original point in layers of other, usually unrelated topics or accusations.

As I've said before, I'm not going to argue or try to change people's minds, because that's an exercise in futility.

The rest of this post, under the cut, is not directed at the fandom police (who, by not just blocking me, show how devoted they are to being angry over harmless internet content), but to others who might be at risk of being manipulated by their gaslighting.

So first, I apparently need to point out that shipping doesn't inherently have anything to do with race or racism. It can, for certain individuals, and there are obviously a plethora of nasty aspects of fandom that are racist and awful. But antis muddy the waters by crying wolf about others enjoying fictional space people who do not in any way represent a real world group and have no equivalent because they're millions of literal clones.

When they make such a fuss about something that is not harming anyone, they drown out the voices of those addressing actual problems. I know of several poc who have been driven out of fandom because they disagreed with the antis and were then shouted down and harassed for not caving to the arbitrary demands (much like religious extremists, who harm others if they don't conform to their religious creed).

As someone who has been heavily involved in political activism (not keyboard activism) for anti-racist causes and various other progressive issues for many years, it's easy to see through the attempts by antis to hide their obsession with policing fandom experiences of others behind the claim of 'speaking for poc.' Elevating the voices of those who have been historically marginalized is extremely important, but when they simply use that as an excuse to be hateful, they're not doing anyone any good.

Ask yourself: by harassing individuals (about whom they truly know nothing) online, how are the antis helping marginalized or disenfranchised groups? If they really wanted to create positive change, they could put their excessive energy toward fighting systemic racism and inequity by holding mass media and lawmakers accountable, rather than bullying fans who have no power and just happen to have slightly different views on fictional characters.

It's a way to get attention and feel powerful, plain and simple. They drag others down in order to feel superior—or whatever motivates people who enjoy harming others, idk.

I'm glad that the internet preserves this stuff, because maybe some antis will look back in a few years, after they've had enough life experience to understand that real world issues aren't black and white and can't be solved by screaming on the internet. Maybe some of them will realize how needlessly cruel they've been, and how much harm they've caused to real people who just want to share something they like with others.

I won't be responding to any other similar asks. I'm on Tumblr to have fun with fandom stuff, not to engage in the dumpster fire that is the real world or listen to poorly constructed arguments for why everything is 'problematic.'

[fastrainbowdas]

Adding onto your recent meta about the Pregames, one line stuck out to me. Where you said for the pregames that are supposed to be 'real people' they sure feel a lot more like caricatures. I'm really glad you brought up this point, especially considering the Pregames are supposed to represent the Danganronpa fandom, which is us. I feel like the understand the Pregames better, you need to world-build a little bit as to what their 'outside world' is like. It's heavily dubious what Tsumugi said about the outside world being peaceful and non-violet. With how people people were willing to sign away their lives so easily, the pregames feel more like su//c//dal teens that need a fuck ton of therapy. Many people in the 'real' DR fandom (at least from whom I met) have many personal issues that cripple their mental health and make them turn to fiction as a escape from their harsh life. I mean.........who hasn't thought "I wish I could live in that fictional world?" before?

The Pregames are really supposed to represent us, the Danganronpa fandom. So it actually makes me greatly concerned that people would 'self-project' the 'accepted fanon' of Pregame Shuichi being a sadistic yandere, Pregame Kaede being a nihilistic bully, Pregame Kokichi being a uwu femboy cinnamon bun, etc. It really does come to show that people would put shipping characters into a trope rather than using these pregames as their self-projection canvases

And while everyone in the Danganronpa fandom isn't the same, no version of the pregames have to be either. There's many pregame stories on Ao3, which has probably influenced and encouraged the misconceptualizing of the pregames. I understand that none of them have a canon personality, and since Ingame Saimatsu and Saiouma can never happen canonically, people will turn to the pregame AU to make it happen the way they want it. Then again, it is totally okay to write whatever an author wants, but it does take away good character discussion when the Pregames are boiled down to *insert name's* love intersted

Anyways, sorry for rambling. But yeah, here is my two cents about your essay. Great thoughts and I appreciated reading that very much as a pregame V3 enthusiast

I'm so sorry but you sent this to the wrong person SNGJFDNSZFDJVFGNJDNVJS

@hello-kitty-shuichi-saihara This is for you

But ya I do agree that the pregame characters are supposed to represent us. And deciding the characters' personalities based on tropes and shipping only is really funny when you can just Go Replay The Prologue and see the character is Nothing Like That Trope

Like, in the prologue Kokichi asks reasonable questions very clearly which is very different from uwu stuttering "pwease dont huwt me" fanon pregame Kokichi (Who probably would've been silent tbh). Kaede has a bit of a temper (and so does ingame Kaede) but is still nice to people around her (Shuichi is the obvious one) which. Y'know, if she was the popular bully girl like in fanon she probably would've insulted absolutely everyone without hesitation right? But she doesn't. Yandere Shuichi (Like, unironically) straight up squicks me? Because the way I see it, people decided he's like that because of his audition tape. Like, good job guys, you took a guy ranting about his kinda fucked up interest and decided he's a homicidal maniac who obsesses over Danganronpa and his uwu soft boyfwiend who needs pwotection at all costs. I'm flabbergasted that people don't realize what picture they're painting of themselves, since they're also Danganronpa fans, but aside from that... As someone who also rants abt their interests like that it just. I hate it DJKSANKJDSNFANFDJS

These characters are a lot more similar to their ingame selves than people give them credit for haha

[wenellyb]

Can I ask your opinion on the what if... series? I'm really hating the Captain Carter trailers. I feel like it's disrespectful to Sam's character who has only just taken up the mantle of Captain America and the shield. I get that this is an alternate timeline series but from the sounds of things they plan on launching these alternates into the main MCU via the multiverse. If rumours are true and Peggy appears in Doctor Strange 2, then that means Captain Carter will appear on the big screen as a supersoldier shield-weilding Cap before Sam appears. And that doesn't sit right with me. Not to mention the merchandise that's already everywhere. Feels like Sam's getting sidelined again before he's even had the chance to shine on his own. Anyway, I'd be interested to know your thoughts on it, if you've seen it. (Also, less related, the uniform being the British flag just reeks of WW2 British imperialism which is also just ugh. And I'm an Australian, our flag literally includes the British one! I just do not like any of this.)

Hi Anon!!! Thanks for the ask it's a very interesting question.

I haven't thought about it a lot because I have seen the trailers and I liked it, it looks like a very cool show and I llike Peggy Carter's character.

They have announced the What If... series since a long time ago and one of the scenario announced was indeed what if Peggy was "Captain America", so this isn't exactly a surprise.

I have seem some posts about the fact that there is much promotion and much more merchandise is done for Captain Cartet than for Captain America. And that are disappointed that Sam's character is sidelined and maybe it's too spon and I will changer my mind, but I personally don't feel that way for now.

I guess I would have more of a problem if:

-it weren't an animated series and there was a real show with Captain Carter. I didn't know about Peggy appearing in Doctor Strange 2, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what is the screntime, if she appears as Captain Carter or not. But for now, I personally don't see Captain Carter as a problem or as Sam's character being sidelined.

- if they brought back Chris Evans' Captain America on a different project, like those rumors said some ago. It would annoy me to no end if they used the excuse of the multiverse to bring back another version of Steve Rogers as Captain America, or as

Honestly, for me, there is a problem with Sam's character and how him being Captain America is handled, but it has nothing to do with the What if series. I think it's important to put the blame where it should be.

The problem isn't that there is more promotion or more merch available for the What If series or Captain Carter, because the show is about to air, so it's normal that it would get promoted, that's how it works.

To me, the problem is that we had a TV show with Sam as Captain America, and then... nothing???

The problem is that we had an announcement for a Cap 4 movie but with no realease date nothing? Not even a TBA date in 2024 or whatever? With all these MCU moves already lined up there should be at least an official announcement, even a vague date.

And I'm thinking maybe we'll get to Sam Wilson in other movies, before the Cap 4 movie, but it's not a certainty, and also what about the official dates for his own movie? Not even something like "confirmed" or "announced" with the Captain America logo.

That's what doesn't sit right with me, because for now it looks to me that Disney has no plan to follow up on Captain Sam Wilson... Just from the looks of it, I don't know what they will or will not do.

Am I the only one who remembers that we were supposed to have a Cyrborg solo movie in the DCEU? It was announced and it never happened? So that's what's really making worried regarding Captain America.

From where I'm standing, Disney wants the diversity points without putting in more work than necessary.

Another issue is that historically the fandom never stands up for the Black Superheroes and the Balck actors.

It happened woth Ray Fisher, it happened with John Boyega, and I think John's case it's even more disgustimg because the behavior of the fandom eventually led to his role beong reduced in the Saga...wtf. They preferred to run an incoherent story and make a mediocre movie rather than pay Fonn his due!

Just an example of what I mean when I say that the fandom doesn't support Black Actors: You see all what is happening with Scarlett Johansson right? The lawsuit etcetera.... I have seen dozens and dozens of posts supporting her and her lawsuit.... And this isn't coming from her fans... It's even coming from people who dislike her but understand the importance of what she's doing. I understand the importance of what she's doing... But I can't help and compare it to he support Ray Fisher had in the fandom, when he was calling out the abuse he received from Joss Whedon and from some Executives. Since the story with Scarlett started every 10th post on my dash is about it. And yes, it's still fresh, so it's normal people are talking about it. But when the whole story started with Ray Fisher, the reaction was just not the same.... People were amkong posts that wouldn't get more that a 100 notes, and for me it was easier supporting from Twitter because at least I could retweet Ray's tweets.... but let me tell you that he was bassically fight alone. ALONE.

I have seen so many posts saying.... "I hate Scarjo but..." "I can't stand Scarjo but..." So from where I'm sitting a problematic White actress will get more support than an unproblematic Black actor denouncing abuse. And just to be clear... I do think that the fandom should support Scarjo's lawsuit because Disney is never held accountable for the sh*t they do, I'm just making a comparison and saying they both deserved support but only one of them got it.

That's why I have absolutely no fate that the MCU fandom will stand up for Anthony Mackie or Sam Wilson if it's ever necessary seeing how they turned their back on Anthony Mackie the moment they thought he was against "Sambucky". They will turn their back on him and his character the minute a minor inconvience happen. And Disney/Marvel will love that because they will have a justification as to why they will not follow through with Sam Cap (His characyer is unpopular.... or whatever excuse they will find).

And about the interview thing, I guess I could understand if and only if they had a problem with some of the things he had said... But the fandom made it clear that they only cared about what they thought he said about Sambucky, not the rest, proving once again that the fandom is untrustworthy. Because they were ready to condemn hom for something as trivial as a fictional ship.

If push comes to shove, and for instance they brought back another Steve Rogers from another universe, I'm sure they would be quick to support THAT character instead of Sam.

To me the problem is Disney & Marvel Execs and also the fandom of course... Because the Execs go where the money is... If the fandom is hyping up anybody BUT Sam Wilson... the execs will do the same... because they will promote characters who are the most popular.

It's important to reward reprensation, and hype up movies and shows with reprensentation, but to me it is as important (if not more important) not to reward lack of representation.

That's why I have absolutely no intention to pay for a MCU movie other than Shang Chi, and Black Panther and also Cap 4 whenever it comes out! But other than that... I'm staying away from the movies with always the same group being represented.

TL:DR; in my opinion, there is indeed a problem but the problem isn't the What if series, far from it.

[flufffysocks]

let's talk about andi mack's worldbuilding

sorry this took forever to make! i've been pretty busy with school stuff and i kind of lost my inspiration for a bit, but i ultimately really enjoyed writing it! i wish i could've included more pics (tumblr has a max of 10 per post), and it kinda turned from less of a mini analysis to more of an extremely long rant... but i hope it's still a fun read!

i've been rewatching the show over the past few weeks (thanks again to @disneymack for the link!), and i’ve been noticing a lot that i never did the first time around. this is really the first time i’ve watched the show from start to finish since it aired, and it honestly feels so different this time - probably a combination of the fact that i’m not as focused on plot and can appreciate the show as a whole, and also that the fandom is much, much smaller now, so there’s a lot less noise. so the way i’m consuming this show feels super different than it did the first time, but the show itself doesn’t - it’s just as warm and comforting to me as it was the first time around, if not more so.

i think a lot of that can be attributed to andi mack’s “worldbuilding”. i’m not quite sure that this is the right word in this context, to be honest, because i mostly see it used in reference to fantasy and sci-fi universes, but it just sort of feels right to me for andi mack, because you can really tell how much love and care went into constructing this universe. for clarity, worldbuilding is “the process of creating an imaginary world” in its simplest sense. there’s two main types: hard worldbuilding, which involves inventing entire universes, languages, people, cultures, places, foods, etc. from scratch (think “lord of the rings” or “dune”), and soft worldbuilding, in which the creators don’t explicitly state or explain much about the fictional universe, but rather let it’s nature reveal itself as the story progresses (think studio ghibli films). andi mack to me falls in the soft worldbuilding category. even though it takes place in a realistic fiction universe, there’s a lot of aspects to it that are inexplicably novel in really subtle ways.

so watching the show now, i’ve noticed that the worldbuilding comes primarily from two things - setting and props, and oftentimes the both of them in tandem (because a big part of setting in filmmaking does depend on the props placed in it!).

one of the most obvious examples is the spoon. it really is a sort of quintessential, tropic setting in that it's the main gang's "spot", which automatically gives it a warm and homey feel to it. and its set design only amplifies this:

the choice to make it a very traditional 50s-style diner creates a very nostalgic, retro feel to it, which is something that's really consistent throughout the show, as you'll see. from the round stools at the bar, to the booths, to the staff uniforms, this is very obvious. the thing that i found especially interesting about it though is the choice of color. the typical 50s diner is outfitted with metallic surfaces and red accented furnishings, but the spoon is very distinctly not this.

instead, it's dressed in vibrant teal and orange, giving it a very fresh and modern take on a classic look. so it still maintains that feeling of being funky and retro, but that doesn't retract from the fact that the show is set distinctly in modern times.

of course, this could just be a one-off quirky set piece, but this idea of modernizing and novelizing "retro" things is a really common motif throughout the show. take red rooster records. i mean, it's a record shop - need i say more? it's obviously a very prominent store in shadyside, at least for the main characters, but there's no apparent reason why it is (until season 2 when bowie starts working there, and jonah starts performing there). a lot of the time, though, it functions solely as a record shop. vinyl obviously isn't the most practical or convenient way of listening to music, but it's had its resurgence in pop culture even in the real world, mostly due to its aesthetic value, so it's safe to say that it serves the same purpose in the andi mack universe.

the fringe seems to be nostalgic of a different era, specifically the Y2K/early 2000s period (because it's meant to be bex's territory and symbolic of who she used to be, and its later transformation into cloud 10 is representative of her character arc, but that's beside the point). to be honest, exactly what this store was supposed to be always confused me. it was kind of a combination party store/clothing store/makeup store/beauty parlor? i think that's sort of the point of it though, it's supposed to feel very grunge-y and chaotic (within the confines of a relatively mellow-toned show, of course), and it's supposed to act as a sort of treasure chest of little curios that both make the place interesting and allow the characters to interact with it.

and, of course, there's andi shack. this is really the cherry on top of all of andi mack's sets, just because it's so distinctly andi. it serves such amazing narrative purpose for her (ex. the storyline where cece and ham were going to move - i really loved this because it highlights its place in the andi mack universe so well, and i'm a sucker for the paper cranes shot + i'm still salty that sadie's cranes didn't make it into the finale) and it's the perfect reflection of andi's character development because of how dynamic it is (the crafts and art supplies can get moved around or switched out, and there's always new creations visible).

going back to the nostalgia motif though, the "shack" aspect of it always struck me as very treehouse-like. personally, whenever i think of treehouses, there's this very golden sheen of childhood about it, if that makes sense. i've always seen treehouses in media as a sort of shelter for characters' youthful innocence and idealistic memories. for example, the episode "up a tree" from good luck charlie, the episode "treehouse" from modern family, and "to all the boys 2" all use a treehouse setting as a device to explore the character's desire to hold onto their perfect image of their childhood (side note: this exact theme is actually explored in andi mack in the episode "perfect day 2.0"!). andi shack is no exception to this, but it harnesses this childhood idealism in the same way that it captures the nostalgia of the 50s in the spoon, or the early 2000s in the fringe. it's not some image of a distant past being reflected through that setting; it's very present, and very alive, because it reflects andi as she is in the given moment.

some honorable mentions of more one-off settings include the ferris wheel (from "the snorpion"), the alley art gallery (from "a walker to remember"), SAVA, the color factory (from "it's a dilemna"), and my personal favorite, the cake shop (from "that syncing feeling").

[every time i watch this episode i want to eat those cakes so bad]

these settings have less of a distinctly nostalgic feel (especially the color factory, which is a very late 2010s, instagram era setting), but they all definitely have an aura of perfection about them. andi mack is all about bright, colorful visuals, and these settings really play to that, making the andi mack universe seem really fun and inviting, and frankly very instagrammable (literally so, when it comes to the color factory!).

props, on the other hand, are probably a much less obvious tool of worldbuilding. they definitely take up less space in the frame and are generally not as noticeable (i'm sure i'll have missed a bunch that will be great examples, but i'm kind of coming up with all of this off the top of my head), but they really tie everything together.

for example, bex's box, bex's polaroid, and the old tv at the mack apartment (the tv is usually only visible in the periphery of some shots, so you might not catch it at first glance) all complement that very retro aesthetic established through the settings (especially the polaroid and the tv, because there's really no good reason that the characters would otherwise be using these).

besides this, andi's artistic nature provides the perfect excuse for plenty of colorful, crafty props to amplify the visuals and the tone. obviously, as i discussed before, andi shack is the best example of this because it's filled with interesting props. but you also see bits of andi's (and other people's) crafts popping up throughout the show (ex. the tape on the fridge in the mack apartment, andi's and libby's headbands in "the new girls", walker's shoes, andi's phone case, and of course, the bracelet). not only does doing this really solidify this talent as an essential tenet of andi's character, but it also just makes the entirety of shadyside feel like an extension of andi shack. the whole town is a canvas for her crafts (or art, depending on how you want to look at it. i say it's both), and it immensely adds to shadyside's idealism. because who wouldn't want to live in a world made of andi mack's creations?

and, while it's not exactly a prop, the characters' wardrobe is undoubtedly a major influence on the show's worldbuilding. true to it's nature as a disney channel show, all of the characters are always dressed in exceptionally curated outfits of whatever the current trends are, making the show that much more visually appealing. i won't elaborate too much on this, because i could honestly write a whole other analysis on andi mack's fashion (my favorites are andi's and bex's outfits! and kudos to the costume designer(s) for creating such wonderful and in-character wardrobes!). but, i think it's a really really important aspect of how the show's universe is perceived, so it had to be touched upon.

[^ some of my favorite outfits from the show! i am so obsessed with andi's jacket in the finale, and i aspire to be at bex's level of being a leather jacket bisexual]

and lastly, phones. this is a bit of an interesting case (pun intended), because the way they're used fluctuates a bit throughout the show, but i definitely noticed that at least in the first season terri minsky tried to avoid using them altogether. these efforts at distancing from modern tech really grounds the show in it's idealist, nostalgia-heavy roots, so even when the characters start using their phones more later in the show, they don't alter the viewer's impression of the andi mack universe very much.

so, what does all of this have to do with worldbuilding? in andi mack's case, because it's set in a realistic universe and not a fantasy one, a lot of what sets it apart from the real world comes down to tone. because, as much as this world is based on our own, it really does feel separate from it, like an alternate reality that's just slightly more perfect than ours, which makes all the difference. it's the idealism in color and composition in andi mack's settings that makes it so unmistakably andi mack. even the weather is always sunny and perfect (which is incredibly ironic because the town is called shadyside - yes, i am very proud of that observation).

the andi mack universe resides somewhere in this perfect medium that makes it feel like a small town in the middle of nowhere (almost like hill valley in 1955 from "back to the future"), but at the same time like an enclave within a big city (because of its proximity to so many modern, unique, and honestly very classy looking establishments). it is, essentially, an unattainable dream land that tricks you into believing it is attainable because it's just real enough.

all this to say, andi mack does an amazing job of creating of polished, perfect world for its characters. this is pretty common among disney channel and nickelodeon shows, but because most other shows tend to be filmed in a studio with three-wall sets, andi mack is really set apart from them in that it automatically feels more real and tangible. it has its quintessential recurring locations, but it has far more of them (most disney/nick shows usually only have 3-4 recurring settings), and it has a lot more one-off locations. it's also a lot more considerate when it comes to its props, so rather than the show just looking garish and aggressively trendy, it has a distinctive style that's actually appropriate to the characters and the story. overall this creates the effect of expanding the universe, making shadyside feel like it really is a part of a wider world, rather than an artificial bubble. it's idealism is, first and foremost, grounded in reality, and that provides a basis for its brilliant, creative, and relatable storytelling.

tl;dr: andi mack's sets and props give it a very retro and nostalgic tone which makes its whole universe seem super perfect and i want to live there so bad!!

[gellyfishical]

Alas! Here I am; back to the posting board to finish showing you some designs I hadn't finished. I say designs plural despite this being just for one character because I have a couple of variations I was playing with and I wasn't really happy with any of them.

Let me start with some backstory; the concept came from the prompt 'lyrical' so I wanted to make a character from Aviator's 'Godhunter' song. So I was designing a godhunter. I decided to go a bit beyond the line than most people go with this prompt and rather than have them go after the Greek gods or anything like that I went straight for the Christian god. This decision was completely disparate from any angst or personal unhappiness Christianity has brought me and it's ridiculously that you would think otherwise. Please do not be offended :) I believe that you should believe and follow whatever god you like, however if it's so common to critique and turn other gods into some sort of fictional antagonist in other stories than I can do it too.

Anyways! Here are the designs:

I wasn't quite finalized on any of them yet. Basically, as I hope you can tell by looking at these, she is a disgraced nun repelled by the cruelties that many (not all, there are a lot of kindly Christians in the world, but there are just as many corrupt ones, I personally was involved with two, one where there was embezzling and the other where the minister was cheating on his wife with prostitutes) Christian churches have been responsible for. Rather than try to live her life with no job history and nothing to her name our protagonist decided to spite the god who allowed her to be hurt in such a way after learning it was possible for mortals to reach the realms of the gods.

If the storyline were to continue she would successfully kill god and go onto to kill other gods as well.

The first design here was created with only the rule of cool in mind and the idea that she sort of ripped off her nun costume to reveal who she is now. Her axe is a broken cross and her upside down rosary was the one she wore as a nun. Her prayer shawl is torn. She wanted to show she was a nun and now she's the greatest hunter. Sort of to show the injustices I suppose. This design I mostly liked but I thought it was a bit generic and I definitely wasn't sold on the broken shackles on her limbs (though they'd be such a cool weapon).

This design was less of her just tearing off her nun gear and more of and anime representation of a nun. I went more cyberpunk here since I think it congrats nicely to more traditional elements visually. She has a sort of lightning bolt blade that she holds with her hand that I quite liked. In total I thought the design was a tad to Hatsune Miku looking and I missed the cross axe.

This design I made even more nun like and I really love the gun and the total design but I thought it looked a bit too much like she was just a nun rather than someone actively trying to kill god.

I was very pleased with this design. Her lightning blade was much more defined and the broken chains being tattoos was much cooler and made more sense. The axe is back. The top had more nun references than the top one and was less generic. I still think it's missing a few things as a design so I decided not to use it either. I also could not decide if I wanted her to be white or not because nun(lol) of the designs were actually designed as white (we have Filipino and African American) but I wasn't sure if wanted to make them white to make fun of some churches' racism as one of the leading concepts was critiquing a church that doesn't tend to get criticism. However Filipino made a lot of sense to me since they are Roman Catholic and have some of the same flaws. Race was pretty important to design here since I think it added more depth to a storyline. I also considered making her African American to highlight some of the racism that has occured.

At some point in the story, after she has killed god I wanted her to run into a church that was kind since in this story (and in a way in real life) it was the gods who pulled people astray while people were intrinsically good.

•

Sorry for the edgy design and concept. The idea is fairly messed up and that's the main reason I didn't finish it. While I'm angry at quite a few churches for homophobia, corruption, racism, general outdated opinions that come with following ancient books, I also really love a lot of Christians and I don't think they deserve to be represented only by my anger towards them and not the whole situation. I still really love the idea of a godhunter being for more than just ancient gods and I do think that people's inability to critique the Christian Church in such a way is hypocritical since so many other religions are used so disgracefully in media (voodoo, paganism, Islaam, etc) but I don't truly want them to be hurt in the same way they have hurt others. I was just angry when I designed this character. And in such I created a negative character.

It's kind of awkward to still be here and I hope that I have not offended anyone though if this is the case it is rightfully so. Regardless, this closes out the character designs I did not finish for Swan's Oc-tober.

[adriennestar]

Loved Endgame but... I'm gonna be that b*tch

I loved everything except Steve's ending. I will never be able to accept it and according to social media, I'm not the only one.

It's a slap in the face (actually more like an axe to the spine) to everything that Stucky has been through together in the MCU. All of their chemistry and feelings for each other that have been established are undeniably romantic and still stand. The Russos can't "Thanos" away "I'm with you till the end of the line" (ie "till death do us part") or that the only person Steve repeatedly goes to the ends of the earth for is Bucky, or that Stucky's story arc falls into many romantic tropes in the CA trilogy.

Evans said that Bucky is Steve's home and everything he needs while Seb has said that Bucky's relationship with Steve is probably the only thing keeping Bucky from killing himself. So in short, Bucky is everything Steve could ever need and Steve is Bucky's literal reason for living. Sounds pretty romantic.

In TWS, Steve goes on about his love life and wanting someone with "shared life experience" minutes before Bucky (his genetically enhanced super soldier ex, who has been frozen for a majority of the past 70 years, fought in ww2, and grew up in 1920s/1930's Brooklyn) shows up with just that.

Thor gives up the throne for Jane in Thor 2, Tony gives up his suits for Pepper in Iron man 3, and Steve gives up his shield for Bucky in Cap 2 AND 3.

"You're keeping the outfit right?"

"He left me for a damsel dark" (From the tavern scene in TFA when Bucky visibly is sad about Steve and Peggy)

"It's Been a Long Long Time" is still Stucky's song. It get's introduced with Stucky during their reunion scene in TWS.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky"

"Your Bucky"

"Rumlow said Bucky and all of the sudden, I was a 16 year old kid again in Brooklyn". 16 is the stereotypical age (especially in fiction) people experience their first love and Steve without warning, reminisces about being that age upon hearing Bucky's name. He get's SO distracted that Rumlow is able to detonate a bomb in front on him.

Bucky is the only reason why Steve has EVER surrendered himself in battle.

In fiction, whenever a main character's love interest is captured, killed, etc, it becomes the main character's main motivation to save or avenge them. That is Stucky's entire story arc in Cap's trilogy.

1. Steve opposes 117 countries, for Bucky.

2. Steve fights half of his friends, the avengers, for Bucky.

3. Steve fights Tony practically to the death, for Bucky.

4. Steve would rather die by letting Bucky kill him than fight Bucky.

5. Steve single handedly storming that hydra base to save Bucky is the same energy as an old fashioned Disney prince, storming a castle and slaying a dragon to save the princess. (Not even joking)

6. Steve before he loses Bucky in TFA doesn't want to kill anyone but as soon he does lose Bucky he wants all of Hydra dead or captured.

Cap pulls a helicopter out of the sky with his bare hands to keep Bucky with him.

The images below are tweets by the writer for CA:CW

Did anyone else notice when Endgame Steve encountered his Avengers self, the 2012 Steve had the same reaction to seeing Steve's compass and hearing about Bucky still being alive? Because I did lol.

Picture either Steve or Bucky as a woman and then all of the sudden, even the most heteronormative minded people can acknowledge how immensely romantic Stucky's story arc is.

Over the years, Marvel sets up all of this romantic subtext/chemistry between Stucky, literally say Steve and Bucky are soul mates, then they shove a heteronormative end that goes against Steve's character/character growth down our throats.

They even add insult to injury by giving us a dry and lifeless Stucky scene before Steve goes back in time. The Ned/Peter and Tony/Peter reunion were 100 times more emotional than Stucky's. I feel like the Russo brother's intentionally drained the life out of Stucky's reunion scene while directing it by telling the actors to act as hollow and uninterested as possible because they're trying so hard to bury Stucky alive in a shallow grave.

Deep down I always knew they didn't have the spine to explicitly represent Stucky as the canon romantic couple they were in the MCU but Stucky is still real. They're just not OPENLY lgbt.

Speaking of the openly gay character in Endgame... thanks alot Russos 😧🙄. Thanks for throwing us some scraps on the floor when it comes to explicit representation while the cis/het's get to enjoy yet another banquet.

The MCU prior to Endgame has done nothing but heavily hint that Steve and Bucky are the love of each other's life and now they turn around and say "haha heteronormativity ftw". Stucky is a broken promise.

But I'm not giving up on Stucky. They are canonically lgbt just like Valkyrie(bi) and Loki(pan) even though they too didn't get explicit representation.

I guess I'm just going to stay mad about this forever. Someone has to. Stucky deserved better than to go out in such an insulting way.

PS

Peggy may be "the love of Steve's life" but Stucky were each other's first love back in the 1930's. "The first cut is always the deepest" is the notion that your first love will forever define your perception of love. Maybe that's why the very next person after Bucky Steve finds himself attracted to is essentially the female version of his first love.

Bucky and Peggy are virtually the same person, just of the opposite sex. They are both brave, intelligent, strong, capable, compassionate, good looking, sharp shooting, army brunettes, who hate bullies. They even get introduced by beating up a bully while sporting their army clothes. You just can't make this sh*t up!

You can have it both ways. Maybe one day Marvel will understand that.

My hopes are lower than the bottom of the Mariana trench when it comes to that though.

Rant over. Bye.

[trashcat-hiss]

An informed rant about the resolution of the SU movie:

Just gonna put this on main blog rather than a more focused side blog:

So like, SU MOVIE SPOILERS OKAY

... as a person who is still split and really, really fucked up by childhood trauma and neglect and who did 15 years of work and research and two degrees in mental health attempting to fix this shit...

... probably should mention that I almost destroyed my life and lost tens of thousands of dollars of my -partner's money- (yeah, not just my own resources but theirs too) trying to pull my fucked up birth family together this May after I was inspired by how "easy" it was for Steven to get White Diamond to hear reason. Yeah, not all toxic families are gonna respond the same way, whodathunk? Not to completely invalidate the story, bc it's a valid thing to try... but not all birth families are gonna heal with you, no matter how much you practice relationships with your found family beforehand. For sure, try it, but like... Cope Ahead (to use DBT lingo) just in case. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT if your birth family doesn't react like Steven's. He's a fictional character, and also his story is just one story; he can't possibly represent all of us.

lemme just say that the SU movie was extremely difficult to watch, I experienced a lot of flashback. If you have any flavor of disorder (Dxed or not) stemming from neglect/abandonment, abuse, etc (Spinel + the scythe + her song lyrics are relatable to CPTSD, BPD, DID, OSDD, etc) _PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE_ try and make sure you've got the spoons for viewing (and some hasty processing) and if you have support watch it with them (though other people seeing you switch or otherwise react is it's own issue tbf).

And here's the thing I need to get off my chest:

AS A SURVIVOR AND AS A PROFESSIONAL BOTH I FUCKING HATE THE RESOLUTION.

There, I said it.

Rebecca, you just sent an abused person who had her first fuckin breakthrough BACK INTO THE ARMS OF THREE ABUSERS. The Diamonds are obviously still learning how to be less shitty, still codependent af, and the likelihood of Spinel -learning how to be a good friend- from the Diamonds is, well, p fucking slim.

Sure, playing matchy-match with people's codependencies is a convenient way to not have to deal with Spinel on a day-to-day basis. Yes, she's clingy and is probably gonna still have rage outbursts/all the other flavors of trauma reactions bc flashbacks and emotional flashbacks (often in CPTSD our bodies remember the feeling of a scary event but not the actual events like one does in PTSD--in CPTSD we tend to have both, and I'm having more of the latter as I heal tbh).

Spinel CANNOT learn to be a better friend or learn how to handle her outbursts without consistent friends maintaining boundaries. This is what this ending misses completely. When you're surviving hell, you don't learn appropriate communication skills. She needs to learn them now; new skills don't just appear, they take lots of practice and slips are gonna happen along the way. REAL friends will both try to understand why we have outbursts but will also learn to define their own boundaries with us because honestly they don't deserve our abuse. It's a delicate balance, but there really are people in the world who will stand with us when we try our best, even when sometimes our best is not very good. These people are the ones who help me see why I want to do better in the first place.

Spinel's early life consisted of MAKE PINK HAPPY, which, as we see, doesn't leave her with her own sense of meaning or purpose without Pink.

Those of us healing deep childhood trauma need role models of HEALTHY relationships, we really do need to be adopted in a way by people who can Show Up but who can also place a healthy divide between themselves and us. We have to physically experience many, many, many times that there are people in the world who (for example) can hang out with other friends without us AND will return to hang out with us. We have to learn that there are people in the world who will actually not abuse us or take advantage of us.

Overcoming Learned Helplessness is hard work and we can't do it alone. Spinel needs to see people like the Gems living their own lives, each with their own meaning and drive. (imho a good sitdown with the B-team could really help. Bismuth also was "abandoned" by Pink but since she was already a Gem at the time (ie an adult) she has been able to recover a little more quickly--still probably some similar feelings to relate and talk about managing, esp anger; Lapis really struggles with her trauma responses, too, but in the end she remembered the people who Actually Showed Up for her and she's finally feeling like she has a home--but she likely still managing her fear and she could explain how she moves through it in order to keep her home; Peridot also showed up to Earth with an abuse-informed purpose (conquering) but through Gems (and humans) taking their time and learning to be kind to her and DEMONSTRATING healthy friendship, she's a great, loyal friend and a rad inventor-artist. Remember how racist and kinda shitty Peridot was when she first showed up? She didn't know better, and she does now because people took the time to actually talk to her. She still has moments where her fear rumination makes her freeze, but now we see people actually engage her about those fears so she can overcome them and move into action.

(tangent: Peridot is coded as autistic, and in my personal experience and secondarily in my old career of meeting people in the mental health realm, autistic people and those with CPTSD have a lot of similar work to do as far as having to teach themselves how to person bc we didn't learn the thing naturally--esp in the arenas of emotional regulation and social communication. Some of us are both autistic AND traumatized. If you relate mostly to the B-team Gems, check out skills developed by both of these communities. The actuallyautistic community has been a fucking awesome resource for new ideas and skills, and honestly I find a lot of relief in reading stuff under a lot of the actually tags, like actuallytraumatized... relief in knowing I'm not alone in this.)

NO ONE HEALS IN A VOID.

I'm just... really frustrated and angry that Spinel went from one abuser to another set of abusers, because that's VERY often what happens to us survivors irl. The Diamonds have shit for boundaries, they're still trying to take Steven on all the guilt trips and they're still classist/racist af. Better, definitely, bc they do eventually respect Steven's imposed boundary of not wanting to live with them... but man am I scared that Spinel is headed right back into the garden, so to speak.

Sorry if this is disjointed or rambling or incomplete, I still stan SU overall but as someone who is healing and has -some- words to talk about these feelings, I thought I should put them out in the world instead of bottling them up. Even the most wonderful things can be flawed: Radical Acceptance.

[dan-alexander-art]

Personas

Man it has been a long time since I posted anything. I wanted to apologize for that, things have been hectic. Especially with University but through all that I've been doing a lot of self discovery and realized I'm not one person, but actually six (plus a train of thoughts). Most people might think it's Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID or Multiple Personality Disorder) but that's not what I have. After talking to a therapist about this she's helped me see that they're just different parts of me. I knew it wasn't DID to begin with since I didn't have blank memories. It took awhile but after trying to listen to my different parts I figured out who they are and their own stories. Most have their own tastes of music and that has helped me a lot in figuring out on who they are, what they do and what they're like. So below I their bios as well as a short story of them and how they came to be. This is right to left.

Name: Love and Memories

Nickname: Rose

Likes: Listening to Maroon 5 and songs about love. Look back at happy memories. Giving Lillies or Bonsai Trees to friends.

Bio: Love has been around a long time, he's the second longest persona that existed. When he's around he doesn't care what to wear. When he's present he likes to go back and remember both the good and bad in my life. He has a deeper understanding between a good relationship and a bad relationship. The vines represent a current relationship I have, weather it's a friendship or family relations. When the vines are mostly thorns rather than flowers it means the relationship is toxic and should be fixed. If there are more flowers than thorns then the relationship is healthy. The point where the toxicity has gotten really bad is when the rose on his right eye begins to wither. Whenever we get friends he symbolically gives said friend either a lily or Bonsai tree since these require lots of care, love and patience just like a real friendship. Love isn't too hesitant about forming new bonds but only after a certain amount of time. He's not shy but most people would assume since he doesn't speak much, but in reality he just doesn't know how to communicate well and worries it might come out wrong, misunderstood or offensive.

Name: Beast

Nickname: ---

Likes: Feeding off my insecurities and taunting me

Bio: Beast is a dangerous persona that requires me to have full control of what goes on. Beast can control the other personas. For example Beast can make Love rewind traumatic memories and leave me feeling paralyzed. He is the embodiment of negativity and he enjoys seeing me suffer. If I'm not careful he can and will slowly crawl up behind me. Starting with small whispers of insecurities then building on until he's shouting taunts at me. Shouting all my fears, my worries and my worthlessness to the point of crying.

Name: Hurt

Nickname: Wolf

Likes: Listening to Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, Katy Perry and any type of strengthing music. Wearing rings and bracelets.

Bio: Hurt carries a lot of scars and wounds on him that represent emotional and mental scars and wounds I carry. He doesn't mind showing them off, he actually finds them empowering. To him it shows not only what he's been through but even through all that he's still here. Hurt isn't afraid aside from Beast. Beast is the only thing that scares him. Hurt also doesn't mind crying, it just means he's human like everyone else. When he's around he lets me cry when I need to but also reminds me that there's always a better tomorrow. That whatever is going on in my life doesn't mean the world is going to end and this experience is only going to make me stronger. Hurt's nickname comes from his ability to change into a wolf. The form represents the pride he has for being able to continue walking down this path dispite the curveballs life has thrown at us. Hurt is very wary of new people and doesn't open up on the spot. Though he's very kind and is willing to comfort people who are hurting. He always puts other people ahead of himself. The cracked eye shows that Hurt's soul is part broken, since the eyes are the windows to the soul. The cracked has a tendency to bleed every now and then and because of the cracked eye his perspective is warped. What caused the cracked eye is something Hurt doesn't want to talk about or explain.

Name: Ying & Yang

Nickname: Unity

Likes: Listening to NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) and other types of beat music. Wearing a black hoodie.

Bio: Yang has a deep understanding for human behavior and human emotions but doesn't understand his own. When he's around I just have a strong emotion of movement and color. Yang is very powerful, he can alter my reality. He helps me see different perspectives. Yang also has a different side called Ying. Yang is calm, collective and uses his ability to make my day brighter. Ying is a bit more unstable, he changes my reality in order to escape it. Ying doesn't always show up but when he does it's often from stress and a sense of lack of control. Unlike Yang, Ying doesn't see color. He only sees static black and white. This static helps calm my mind by focusing on less. Ying is also chaotic and makes me go through healthy mental breakdowns. Though Ying's mind is also disturbing compared to Yang's. Ying doesn't mind listening to twisted music and watching gorey movies.

Name: Smart Alec

Nickname: Yukio

Likes: Listening to lo-fi and reading music. Reading fiction books. Peace and quiet whenever possible.

Bio: Alec is the first persona to be around, he only focuses on school and is always planning ahead. He rarely makes me forget to do HW. Alec would often scare me into doing HW fast and early. Though it pays off. He loves reading especially the Wings of Fire series. The combination of music and reading helps keep him immersed into the world. He's often very technical and often likes to argue with science. He's all about the facts and research, he sees educating one's self is important especially with the type of world he's in this time around. He's hardworking and studying whenever it's necessary. He use to push me to my limits but is now more lenient and doesn't make me overdo it when it comes to studying. He's not really too comfortable in crowds and prefers to be with a small group or being alone. He doesn't mind a challenge, in fact he actually welcomes it. Alec doesn't see any reason for emotions and he lacks a lot of emotion himself. Although he doesn't see it as bad he does see it as a burden, especially if when I'm upset but there's a task to be done. Though he encourages me to do said task, like he always says: Once you hit rock bottom, the only way now is up.

Name: Creativity

Nickname: Twilight

Likes: Listening to Alan Walker, Zedd and any upbeat music, but mostly music in general. Drawing and painting, especially adding a new drawings to my bedroom walls. Playing videogames, mostly JRPGs. Wearing hoodies and comfortable clothes.

Bio: Creativity likes to turn Yang's vision of colors into meaning. He often translates those colors into drawings. The same goes when he listens to music. When he's around he always compeles me to draw even if it's late. He gives me a drive to continue drawing. He also looks out for my wellbeing by helping me balance between downtime and chores. Creativity is also the one who gave the other personas nicknames. He's mostly shy but that shyness doesn't stay around when he's playing competitively. He won't hesitate to pick up a controller when it comes to games such as Smash Bros. Playing games helps with the ongoing stresses in life but also helps spark new ideas. Creativity also likes to world building and create new characters for his world building. He's always positive and helps me through my hard times by drawing vent art. Creativity is a Walker fan himself, if you're curious he's Walker #37804.

Name: Lust

Nickname: Blaze

Likes: Listening to Ke$ha, Avril Lavigne, Green Day and any type of party music. Think about sex as a means to relieve anger, frustration or irritation. Wearing multiple necklaces and high tops.

Bio: Lust didn't always have free will especially early on. He was always fueled by rage, hate and anger. He often protected me by being cold and learning to fight back. He was present in my early years of starting Elementary school as a way to keep a distance from people who would try to hurt me. Though because of his lack of free will he would often make me feel angry and ready to clock anything even if it was just bothering me. The lack of freewill came from Beast. In fact Beast and Lust use to be one. With Beast fueling his anger with hurtful words. It wasn't until Ying and Yang helped them be their own person that Lust started to control his anger. Now he just likes to display himself as someone against authority when he believes something is wrong. And he uses that anger as a passion to participate in marches and protests. Though Lust hasn't completely shed influence from Beast. He possesses the ability to become a dragon. He can do this at will but not when he's angry. The angrier Lust gets the more dragon like he becomes. Only when he gets enraged does Lust become a full dragon. Lust is very protective, not just protective of me but also of my friends. He cares about other people and displays it as being protective. If anyone messes with my friends, Lust won't hesitate to get even. He's also very raw when it comes to intercourse and sees it as nothing more than human nature and not something to be ashamed about. Though he also holds consent to a high standard. If we're out he'll make sure me or someone there doesn't end up getting taken advantage of or be in a dangerous situation. Intercourse is very secrete to him and not something someone should have the ability to abuse.