#something something disregarding canon character development

[atlantablack]

Also also, I can (sometimes and grudgingly) overlook the anti-Steve rhetoric to read an otherwise well written fic, but I’ll be dead before I get caught reading something that makes May Parker abusive in anyway shape or form (this includes her somehow having a bf that is abusive to Peter)

Like tell me without telling me that you have absolutely no regard for the characters

[menuliso]

i actually think i have some sort of brain damage from chapter 403 because now ive taken my bkdk obsession to a whole new degree. like, i was insane before, but now i feel as if i should be genuinely put into an asylum.

ive gone through a full on awakening.

before this chapter i refused to believe that bkdk would become canon/hinted bc like its wishful thinking. but now? ive fallen into the fucking deep end. i am of full belief that bkdk will become canon or at least be hinted bc horikoshi is cooking something and im so glad im not the only one to see it.

there is no way that man doesnt know what hes doing. bkdks entire arc has been fucking perfect and this man just keeps BUILDING UP. like all this talk about feelings, and how bkdk have never really spoken about them to eachother before??? this is like, building up to a fucking love confession i swear, because katsuki DIED for izuku, and izuku cant control his heart when it comes to katsuki, and like… what other explaination is there? atp i consider it canon that theyre in love with each other.

and the other most likely ship that i thought was gonna be canon, izuocha, just is not feasible. its not like i dislike the ship, no hate to it at all, but making it canon would be so fucking harmful to izuku and ochakos characters and we dont talk about that enough. it would a dissapointing, flat conclusion with barely any build up and itd be the bland, predictable formula. like, ochako has already basically wrapped up her thing with izuku with that entire fight with toga. shes admitted herself that her crush on izuku was more admiration than anything of massive substance. and dont even get me started on izuku. barring some fluster and embarrassed blushing in the early seasons, this boy has NOT reciprocated AT ALL. its actually ridiculous. izuku has been focused on like, two things only: hero work, and kacchan. izuku does not show ANY romantic feeling to ochako whatsoever.

surely, surely if horikoshi were to make this canon, he’d put in a little more effort? add some more chemistry, more development, more than just ‘boy meets girl. blush and get shy. little crush. get married. the end’?

that is bad storytelling, and horikoshi is anything but a bad storyteller. this guy adds foreshadowing YEARS before the chapter. horikoshi is INSANE when it comes to character + relationship + plot development. if horikoshi throws all that out the way, and makes izuocha canon, id be extremely, extremely disappointed. not because i hate the ship, but because itd be out of nowhere, disregard practically ALL development, and be nauseatingly dissatisfying.

talking of which, for the entire day ive been thinking about the foreshadowing for bkdk.

there. is. so. fucking. much. it feels like everytime i read like a new section of the manga, their relationship is described in the most frutti tutti rainbow gay way. im sorry, shigafo, did you just say that katsuki is closer to izuku than ANYONE else? excuse me, aizawa, did you just describe them as pair, a pair that the class revolves around? dont even mention the shit that izuku and katsuki say referring to each other. i cant even choose one to add in here, but every out of context bkdk quote has like these SEVERE more-than-platonic undertones, especially when you consider their past and their development. i feel like horikoshi has been doing some fucking insane foreshadowing for something MORE.

yk, i keep on thinking about how in the double spread in 403, the words ‘the beginning’ are displayed right over bkdk, as they find each other. call me delusional, but that has to be on purpose. i also keep on thinking about izukus green and orange gloves in so many official arts, and the light in both their eyes when they see each other, and the way theyre both always observing the other, never speaking about how they feel directly.

their relationship is just so, so……. and i feel like the only next step is for them to talk. just. fucking. talk. its been hinted at for so long, and horikoshi is doing SOMETHING.

them simply being together would be the most satisfying, developed, beautiful ending.

if they arent canon, i will die. ill say it now. bkdk canon. there is too much proof. as a writer, i know for a fact that i write everything for a REASON. why would horikoshi write this, if he wasn’t going to do anything with it?

bkdk will be canon. i dont care if i sound insane, or get proved entirely wrong. i now fully believe that the last page of the manga will be bkdk at a theme park eating crepes.

thank you chapter 403 for driving me off the rails.

[dorlilymylovesss]

I want to speak out on a topic that has been really bothering and stressing me out. For several months now, Me and my friends who don't even ship jegulus, but are just Regulus fans have been harassed by Jily shippers. And not just with hateful words, but with specific accusations of fascism.

I want to start by saying that fandoms are a place where people can express their creativity and interpret characters as they like. Fanfics, art, and shippings are forms of self-expression, and they don't have to conform to canon. It allows us to look at characters from different angles, develop alternative plots, and create something new. And I don't judge or hate people for their favorite characters and ships.

I'm a huge Regulus fan even before the Jegulus ship came along. Regulus Black is a character I have a deep interest in for many reasons. Despite his limited appearance in the Harry Potter books, his story and character leave room for a lot of interpretation and thought. And I don't like it when people describe him as a regular Death Eater.

First, Jily fans often argue their dislike by saying that their ship is canonical( of course this is true and no one denies it) and James would never date a death eater. However, it should be remembered that fan art and shippings are inherently activities for the self and the soul. Even if a couple doesn't conform to "official" canon and never even met, it doesn't diminish the right of fans to create their own stories and interpretations.

Second Jegulus shippers are called misogynists.

But they may simply see these characters as interesting dynamics that catch their attention or interesting tropes that can be created. Choosing this ship doesn't necessarily mean they are intentionally excluding female characters and being negative towards them. Yes there are people among jegulus shippers who dislike Lily and exclude her from the story, but they are a minority. Plenty of jegulus shippers love Lily and also ship jily.

The charge of misogyny implies a conscious and systematic disregard for women or female characters. However, in most cases, Jegulus shippers simply enjoy a particular story or interaction between two male characters. This does not preclude an interest in or respect for female characters. Many shippers actively create and support content featuring female characters in other contexts or ships.

There is always a diversity of interests and preferences in fan circles. Not everyone likes the same characters or couples, and that's fine. However, to infer misogyny just based on someone's preference for a certain male couple without considering the overall context of a person's interests is wrong and unfair. Plus, I've seen thousands of Jily fans who were blatantly homophobic towards the marlily and pandalily enjoyers, and called James her only love, and erase her identity, leaving only her relationship with James.

Third, why calling the death eaters fascists is wrong and insulting to the actual victims of the tragedy.

Fascism as a political ideology and movement had specific historical roots and consequences, including brutal repression, genocide, and war. Death Eaters are fictional characters created by transphobic Rowling for a work of fiction, and their actions and motivations are part of a fictional universe.

Using historical examples of real-life suffering and tragedies to compare to fictional characters is disrespectful to those affected by real-life events. Historical tragedies such as the Holocaust require special respect and careful handling. And many Jewish content makers have already spoken out about it.

The kind of hate I've encountered as a Regulus fan is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. That being said, I've always loved jily, but after the hate, stupid accusations I've cooled off to them. You can't treat living people like that because of fictional characters. A lot of people don't care about canon written by a creepy transphobic woman, can you imagine?

Instead of wasting time on conflict and hate I suggest you create content on your favorite ships and leave other people alone. You have no idea how your hating can affect a person.

Not all shippers have the intention to demean or exclude other characters. Many of us simply love a particular dynamic and choose to explore it in our writing. This should not be taken as a threat or insult to other fans.

I love jegulus and jily, but my fav ship is dorlily and it saddens me that fans of the same fandom hate each other so much.

Not all shippers have the intent to demean or exclude other characters. Many of us simply love a particular dynamic and choose to explore it in our writing. This should not be taken as a threat or insult to other fans.

Leave other people alone. If u can't create content for your favorite ship and only can hate others its your f..king problem, it's unhealthy and childish.

I'm deeply sorry for jegulus artists and writers who got hate here and even death treats. I hope you will continue creating something that makes you happy.

[meanbossart]

Lore Ask Compilation: "Every Other Question Is About The Drow's Dick" edition

Oh I LOVE Minthara, her dialogue is absolutely fascinating and in my opinion some of the best written In the game. Experiencing her in my Evil Durge playthrough without having been spoiled to her companion scenes prior was great - the amount of depth they managed to add to her, without it at all feeling forced or rushed, and considering how much less time she gets to develop at our side is really well done. While nearly everyone's quests had me immersed, she was one of the few characters who really made me pause and think about the things she had to say to me, what she truly meant by them, and what they meant for me as an avatar doing an evil run.

We have a lot of characters in this game that are meant to be full of wisdom and experience, who are meant to be the ones who say the right thing at the right time that inspires us to make the correct choices, but I don't think either Halsin or Jaheira (and I love Jaheira) made me feel like I knew so little about life quite as Minthara did.

And, of course, she's absolutely hysterical. 10/10 I wish she had a proper companion quest past being rescued but I understand why she doesn't.

[MORE ASKS UNDER THE CUT]

It doesn't connect to the urethra since the slit in on top, so he nuts and pisses normal.

Also you 100% are not sorry, stop lying to me.

Man, I thought a lot about this one because I play so fast and loose with the content the game gives us that I'm positive there must be SOMETHING I'm completely disregarding, but I couldn't think of anything! I've chosen to pick slightly less obvious interpretations to some lines and text but nothing that completely deviates from canon, I don't think. If anyone has noticed something I neglected to mention, feel free to let me know - not because I want to revise it, but just because I'm curious!

For the second part of the question, not really. Larian did a great job of giving us plenty of room to play around in the dark urge's background, I think I'm yet to see something that I find to truly "not fit" in the ample freedom they've given us. I have my preferences, of course - I'm shocked to find that most dark urge's are NOT big hulking beasts, for example - in fact that seems to be the minority by far, but I realize that I have my... Uh... Biases.

You can see a cute little divot through the fabric if you look closely LOL

And nah, I think his penis has seen enough sharp points for a lifetime.

Well.

Unless someone decided to add some bite-marks to it.

HMMM, I... Don't think so.

He didn't cry as a baby, he didn't cry as a child (and this isn't something I just decided on now - this is a major reason why his foster drow mother even kept him around) he didn't really cry growing up or at any point during the campaign. I think he is capable of it - sadness in him just tends to be far more confusing a feeling than anything else.

He will have emotional moments in ANE, whether or not that will culminate in crying is something you will have to wait to find out LOL

Astarion has noticed this and just took it as a character trait - the drow doesn't cry, he just gets confused, angry, frustrated or simply bottles it up. While he can be demanding of his emotional maturity, he isn't going to try and dictate how he should experience his own feelings. If it did happen it would definitely catch him majorly off-guard, perhaps even shift the perception he has of him to a certain extent.

Oh my god you just know they All managed to be utterly quiet about it for as long as humanly (and unhumanly) possible until like, I don't even know, halfway through the Shadow-cursed lands where one day Karlach finally turns back to the group around the campfire after a half-nude drow has strut past and she's like "SO

"DOES ANYONE KNOWS WHY HIS DICK HAS A SNATCH"

And Wyll is like :0... Karlach you can't just ask people that.

And then she pointedly turns to Astarion and starts trying to interrogate him on how it works while Gale covers his ears and Shadowheart is like:

This is gonna blow you guys backwards but he does not do those things in front of people and thinks its rude if you do.

HMMM Mostly physically but it's a little subtle. He really enjoys interacting with Astarion's (and previously Orin's) hands - kissing, holding, caressing. Touching hair and faces as well. He can engage in more overt physical affection but usually Astarion has to be the one to initiate.

A disarmingly earnest proclamation of love and adoration here and there as well - he isn't shy in the slightest to tell people how he feels about them, he just isn't constantly reminding them of it unless inspiration strikes.

Most of all I think he expects his loved-ones to see his care for them in his tendency to go out of his way to help them achieve their goals.

He went with them to the Shadow-cursed lands but I never helped him fix the curse, so he stayed behind when the gang went onwards to the city. DU Drow didn't really like him so it was good-riddance as far as he was concerned.

If he had come along and propositioned him during act 3 - uh, you know the really mean rejection line you have as a choice during that dialogue? Yeah, that one lmao.

Alas, DU drow is just monogamous. He could entertain group-sex with a partner for fun at the most, but not ever a third person in the relationship. And In my personal interpretation (but by all means - everyone else have fun with their poly arrangements!) of Astarion and his delivery of the "this is about Halsin" line, I also thought he was lying about being comfortable with it, so I write him as monogamous as well.

Nothing. Nada. Not a thing. Say what you'd like about Bhaal but he sure knows how sculpt them out of his murder-meat.

(Thank you!!!)

[ninainthetardis]

Just something I need to get off my chest

I really think that series like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, fantasy novels with high stakes focused plots addressed to children, should be romance free. They would be so much better without any romance in it.

I mean, as a young reader, I was just there for the action, the magic, the adventure, the plot twists, the plot itself, the characters as individuals, some of their friendships... that kind of stuff in general. I didn't give a sh*t about romance, not even when I grew up and became a teenager. And those are books meant for children and younger readers, right? So, I'm going to share the opinion I had when I was younger (the one I have now would be much harsher, not to mention much longer).

Now, all the romance in HP bored me to death; most of it didn't even make sense. I just wanted to know Voldemort's back story and then proceed to see how they were going to destroy the horcruxes, you know? And yes, I get it, they're teens at that point and it's realistic they have love interests, etc etc etc, except it felt like that author (*insert disgusted emoticon here*) only chose those couples to make all the characters related by the end of the series and none amongst the relationships was really developed to make any sense or look good. Take Hermione and Ron. They'd have zero chances to work irl. Be honest. But mostly, they're lame, boring, casual, rushed pairings with no development whatsoever (thankfully, I dare to add), usually involving characters who are not compatible at all/in the long run.

This is about the canon, but moving on to the fanon ships (Dramione/Drarry), I don't think that that author would have been able to write enemies to lovers properly (I'd add the plus: involving an LGBTQ+ couple, for the Drarry). The sole idea of any of it gives me the ick. Like no. Thanks, but no thanks.

About the PJ ships, on the other hand... they are a mess. None of them is even remotely good. They're all just a total mess, featuring the following problems:

Weird/creepy age gaps

Toxic behaviour

Emotional abuse

Physical abuse

Disrespectful behaviour

Judgemental behaviour

Disregard/dimishment of other characters' trauma

Isolation of characters from other characters they care about/may meet and befriend

Pairings of characters who are not exactly compatible/would never work in long term relationships

Glossing over problematic stuff, which is a big problem considering the audience the books are aimed at

Also, when they get together, some of them are still KIDS. KIDS!

(Fanon ships also fall under some of these points)

In both cases, it's not even like they are necessary to the plot. The funny thing here is that these stories would flow much better without those parts. What's the point of forcing romance into a story where so much is already going on, which leaves little to no space to develop things properly, and in which such romance has actually no purpose?

No romance at all is better than sloppily executed romance. And not every story needs romance in it to be compelling. Especially if they're meant for kids and are full of magic, action and adventure.

A better exploration of the characters and their trauma would have been much more interesting for me to read as kid who became a teenager while the series were coming out, instead of reading cheap romance while the characters were, well, you know, fighting wars and dealing with tons of sh*t.

[calciumcryptid]

Apparently, people liked my demiromantic Vegas and demisexual Pete headcanon making VegasPete a demiromantic for a demisexual couple (which is the best dynamic), so here is a long winded version of what I think that would look like.

First, for those who don't know, demiromantic is an aromantic spectrum term that describes people who do not experience romantic attraction until they have formed a deep emotional connection or bond with someone. Demisexual is an asexual spectrum term that describe people who do not experience sexual attraction until they have formed a deep emotional connection or bond with someone.

My source for Vegas being demiromantic and Pete being demisexual is me, a demiromantic and demisexual who kept pointed at the screen every-time Vegas and Pete showed up and opened their mouths like that one reaction image.

Without a further ado I present-

DEMIROMANTIC VEGAS

Vegas grows up viewing romantic relationships like high risk high reward business transactions, not realizing there are supposed to be feelings and emotions attached to it.

(Now, I'm not saying that when Vegas got to the arranged marriage section of his historical textbook he agreed with it, but I am definitely saying Tankhun and Kinn were horrified Vegas was vaguely chill with the concept.)

In his defense, he wasn't raised around the healthiest relationships with his mother committing suicide and his aunts gone, so there was no one around to showcase a healthy romantic relationship and maybe clue him into the genuine emotion behind it.

This next part might get controversial, but I believe Vegas' silver tongue is greatly exaggerated. My evidence is the way Porsche and Pete cringe every time Vegas flirts with them. While I have no doubt Vegas is charismatic, I do think his looks and his wealth are doing a lot of heavy lifting.

To get even more controversial, while I know the intention of his love bombing is to showcase he is toxic, I can't help but interpret it a little as him using pattern recognition.

The most glaringly obvious example of this is when Vegas proposes to Tawan, then gets surprised when Tawan thinks it gives him the okay to change Vegas' plans. It is almost like Vegas doesn't realize the deeper emotion and symbolism behind an engagement ring other than it being the next step in a relationship.

Vegas is good at going through the motions without ever making the genuine connections even when there are glaringly genuine connections he can make.

(Hello our favorite frenemies, Vegas and Porsche who definitely developed a genuine friendship post-canon, fuck you, because they had so much they could have bonded over even though I don't believe they would have worked out in a long-term romantic relationship thanks to being fundamentally different people. Now I am sure there is something about demiplatonic in here, but I don't know enough to call that beyond Vegas seeming confused at the idea of simply having a friendship with Porsche without any side sexual benefits.)

The final but of set-up here is the fact Vegas only positive relationship (before Pete, of course) is Macau, but, obviously, Vegas isn't going to view Macau in a romantic light. Even disregarding that last little fact, it is a well-known thing among the aroace spectrums that you latch harder onto platonic and familial bonds when you don't need a romantic bond.

Alright, onto the VegasPete of it all.

*twirls my phantom hair because my head is shaved* So, there is this section of the narrative that perfectly encapsulates the deminess of the VegasPete relationship because the setting demands they forge an emotional bond and create an emotional connection.

When I am looking at whether a character is demi, I am looking for a clear shift of when their relationship with a character turns from its previous stage to romantic. I affectionately call this a marker, the place that marks the shift.

For example, if you don't mind a little side tangent, there is another Boys Love character I interpret heavily as demiromantic. His name is Q, he is from the GMMTV series We Are, and his marker is a pencil box given to him by his deceased grandfather, an important familial bond in Q's life who passed away prior to the series and it's story.

The reason I know the pencil box is the marker is because Toey, Q's love interest, finds it and that is what kick-starts their relationship and their emotional connection which continues over the course of the series. Including, sticking post-it notes on the back of an art piece Q has created (since art is like Q's thing).

Vegas' thing is torture, so he tortures Pete until his father comes in to slap Vegas around. At the end, Vegas takes Pete with him to the safehouse Vegas has been blacklisted to.

This is the perfect set-up for a demi for demi relationship because isolation is considered the most inhumane thing you can do to a person, and when it is two people in isolation (and a hedgehog, can't forget our strongest soldier Khun Spikes) those two people have to rely on each other to not go mental or more mental.

The impending loneliness can be felt when Vegas realizes he might cause Pete to die and then he would be truly isolated in the safehouse, so Vegas nurses Pete back to health which causes Pete to be so delirious on drugs and pain he reveals VegasPete's marker.

To put it simply, the moment VegasPete's relationship shifts from captive and hostage into prospective love interests is when Pete tells Vegas he is a victim of child abuse at the hand of his own father. The two form their deeper emotional connection over being abuse victims, and their bond deepens when Pete point-blank tells Vegas victory won't make his father stop hitting him because abuse isn't about them it is about the abuser feeling more powerful.

The shift is felt because later you see Vegas bantering with Pete over a book, feeding him multiple times, and, of course, sleeping with him which LEADS US INTO THE SEX SCENE-

Now, this would be better with pictures but I am not in a space where I can acquire those so you are going to have to bear with me.

Say what you want about Be On Cloud, but they understand sex scenes don't have to be pointless smut (outside of the smut book genre) and can serve as a narrative tool. Many people have already made jokes about the most vanilla sex scene being in the actual dungeon, but it isn't a completely vanilla scene because Pete ends up back in the chains and hands Vegas rope. However, the sex scene isn't the actual point of this point it is the build up to it.

After they bury our strongest soldier Khun Spikes, Vegas and Pete are on the dungeon bed where they are having another quiet moment, furthering that emotional bond, but Vegas hasn't realized he has romantic feelings for Pete yet. He knows he has feelings, but he has never felt these types of feelings before so he can't place them. You can see the evolution of this realization with the buildup to the VegasPete sex scene, where Vegas is content with Pete, then freaking out about the feelings, then defaulting to what he knows (sex), then goading Pete into giving him explicit consent.

The moment Vegas realizes what he feels is romantic? Come on, you know it, it is when Pete is holding a knife to his throat while Vegas is pleading with Pete to not leave him. If I remember correctly, Vegas flat out says he needs Pete in a vulnerability never seen before like you can see Vegas' heart being ripped out.

Afterwards, Vegas is a mess. He is moping in the little dungeon he has, staring at rice, and then he is anxious to see Pete again making it his sole demand in his agreement with Porsche. The alleyway scene. The motorcycle escape where he sees Pete coming and retreats rather than fights. The way he took blow after blow from Pete and confessed his love.

Simply put, this is a man's first experience with the severity of romantic feelings.

After all of that, Pete resigns and goes with Vegas and the pure glee Vegas has before the shots ring out and the way he promises to treat Pete well in the hospital is a lot.

Now that I have rambled all about how Vegas is totally demiromantic, here is how I think he figured it out and how that reveal shook a lot of the perceptions about him!

As I said in my previous post, Vegas doesn't learn he is demiromantic until, like, five years post-canon when everyone can be on reasonably good terms and he can be at a get together with the rest of the cast.

(The reason I say this is because for anyone to clock Vegas as demiromantic and inform him about it, Vegas must be delirious enough to let information about himself and his relationship with Pete to slip.)

In this scenario, Vegas is definitely tipsy and more loose lipped and Tankhun and Kinn zero in on it like hawks because free blackmail material on Vegas that isn't the whole coup thing. At first, it is like pulling teeth until they get on the topic of Vegas' relationship with Pete.

What happens is Vegas starts on a very drunken rant about how bullshit romance and love is, but not with Pete because Pete is different. Anyways, romance has caused him nothing but pain and suffering, not Pete though because Pete is different. Anyways, how the fuck did Kinn tolerate Tawan and Porsche enough to want to marry them because there was no reward high enough to match that risk, and why didn't Kinn go after Pete because Pete is different. Anyways, even if there was no reward to being with Pete Vegas would take that high risk again and again because Pete is different.

The more Vegas goes on the clearer it is to everyone Vegas' views on romance goes beyond regular concerning mafia-centric views to more why is this man using business terms to describe romantic relationships?

It ends with Kinn asking if the reason Vegas hasn't put a ring on Pete's finger (despite them probably having Venice at this point, so definitely parents) is because he finds traditionally romantic gestures repulsive to which Vegas, deeply offended, responds.

Vegas: Why would I propose to Pete? I'm not trying to manipulate him.

Pete: ...Thanks?

Porsche, bewildered: What do you mean?

Vegas: I mean, getting to the engagement ring stage was never worth the hassle because people thought it gave them the right to do things I would never permit.

Macau, way too invested and hasn't stopped recording: Hey, Hia, what do you think an engagement ring represents?

Vegas: You know, it is when the transaction is almost permanent but isn't.

Porchay: ...The engagement ring purchase?

Vegas: No, the romantic one.

Tankhun: Romance is not a transaction!

Vegas: Yes it is!

Pete:

Vegas: Except Pete. Pete is different.

Porchay, starting to pull out his phone and make a search: How is Pete different from the others?

Vegas: I feel things.

Kinn: Did you not feel things with Porsche?

Vegas: No.

Kim: Did you not feel things with Tawan?

Vegas: No, was I supposed to?

The worst part about that night is how genuine Vegas sounded about everything. Of course, Vegas wakes up hungover the next day and Pete is suspiciously quiet and looking at him but won't tell Vegas anything besides a lot of things about their relationship makes sense now.

Porchay is the first one to visit Vegas after that night and teams up with Macau to make a presentation about why Vegas might be demiromantic and why that is fine but also he has a lot of reevaluating and (potentially) apologizing to do-

It is a very eye-opening presentation, but what do you mean when Vegas was fucking around with whoever Kinn was romantically into at the time Kinn felt the same way towards that person the way Vegas feels about Pete?

Vegas: I get why you didn't kill Tawan now.

Kinn: Uh-huh.

Vegas: I mean, I couldn't figure out how you could stand him. I still can't figure out how you can stand Porsche, but at least he has redeeming assets. Tawan wasn't even good-looking-

Kinn, blood vein pulsing: Uh-huh.

It takes Kinn and Tankhun a while to rationalize one of the reasons Vegas was like that was because he didn't understand. Unfortunately for Vegas, this means Tankhun has dragged him in for a romance movie marathon since Vegas might finally understand which Pete has no interest in saving him from. Surprisingly, Vegas gets into the romantic dramas genre and becomes Tankhun's new discussion buddy.

With all of the demiromantic reveals, Pete asks if this means him and Vegas can get married since Vegas now knows what engagement ring actually means and symbolizes and Vegas confesses they have been legally married for years he just never told Pete because he didn't want to think he was manipulating him.

Pete: Wait, but if you thought romance was a business transaction why did you get us legally married?

Vegas: I didn't want you to be able to return me.

Pete: ...I am choosing to find that sweet instead of another indicator we need therapy.

DEMIROMANTIC PETE

What? You thought we were done? Ha.

Fortunately, demisexual Pete is less of an essay because Pete's whole deal is he is more comfortable with violence than intimacy. Genuinely, almost every scene he has in KinnPorsche the Series supports this in one way or another such as the iconic scene of him pummeling Vegas before kissing him.

The only way this intersects with canon is Pete is in a different page as Vegas at points throughout the story.

I believe Vegas fell first but Pete fell harder. Since Pete, for this thought experiment, isn't on the aromantic spectrum, this means he is aware of the emotions he feels towards Vegas. To me, he simply denies them for a long time until his breakdown over the noodle bowl. That is the moment I believe everything crashes into him and he realizes he genuinely loves Vegas but knows their situations would prevent that.

Until, you know, the coup and everything.

It is simply the sexual aspect of their relationship Pete is behind on.

Now, I go in-between Pete being a virgin and him having some sexual experience before the safehouse sex scene, but I tend to lean toward him being a virgin because it is funnier.

After all, the idea of asexual spectrum Pete vaguely knowing what he likes from, like, porn, and offering the rope on a silver platter? Delicious. I love it. It is great fun.

Also, it is fun when Pete reveals he lost his virginity to Vegas at the safehouse and everyone has a what the fuck moment.

Mainly, because I believe Pete wouldn't give a shit about the concept of virginity or the importance placed on it. He seems to have bigger fish to fry, but since he is demisexual he never found anyone he was into like that.

Which brings me to the revelation!

This one starts with Porchay who is nervous about his first time with Kim, so he asks the others about their first times (for bonus points make Porchay ask about it at a family dinner). Porsche refuses to answer. Kinn is frustratingly vague. Vegas is frustratingly vague. Eventually, Porchay gets to Pete who dodges around the question for a while until Pete admits his first term was with Vegas in the safehouse. (Bonus points if this is the first time people learn more about what went down in the safehouse).

Initially, Vegas is preening like a peacock because he was his partner's first and he was so good (ignore the chains and bondage and the overall hostage situation) and no one else has ever seen Pete in the throws of pleasure besides him and Pete is his, his, his-

Until Porsche goes blastic because he assumes it was nonconsensual because he saw those wounds, which isn't an unfair assumption to make considering the situation around it was still questionable even though Pete went for it. Tankhun assumes the same thing.

Pete is quick to say it was consensual, which relieves Porchay and Macau though Tankhun and Porsche are definitely throwing Vegas nasty looks across the table. Though, Vegas doesn't really care because he was Pete's first and his dick made Pete change allegiances, so his dick game is clearly superior to Kinn's.

Sorry this was so long, but Demiromantic Vegas and Demisexual Pete, you know?

[mintacle]

Was talking to some friends about how Jason hits differently as abuse victim representation than many female characters, specifically what the difference between him and Harley is, considering that they are both victims to the same man. And disregarding the meta differences in their character development over time, the biggest difference for why it's easier to identify with Jason as a victim is that Harley is treated completely voiceless as a victim. She is not given her own personality, motives or character while she is abused and manipulated by Joker, but is the "female" media archetypical victim. She later emerges to have agency and a character, but in her abuse she is interchangeable, her context or her actions do not matter and in a way she is the perfect, innocent victim and can not be faulted for what happens to her.

This is what AFAB people are told and expected to be, if they are really victims. You are exoected to show your purity in modern witch trials to assess your innocence in your own abuse, but that is not how it works. Jason is commonly denied his status as a victim in canon, and during his assualt and murder by the hands of the Joker he was never portrayed as without agency. This agency is a blessing and a curse, because it makes him real and gives him that voice, but it's abused to paint him as responsible for what was done to him. He never got the benefit of the doubt to be considered a true victim. He brought it onto himself, he could have known to defend himself, he was reckless, he was overconfident, etc.

The truth is that victims don't fit Harley's story well enough. That deliverance and forgiveness is not given to us for the crimes committed by others onto us. Victims are made to pay the price of their abusers actions because it's easier to believe they must have done something wrong and deserved it, than to face the staggering evidence of a world that is catered to protect the image of the white cishet male savior and defender. To defend that under the status quo those deserving of safety will be granted such and perserve the illusion of a just world.

So it's not about something superficial like the character's gender why people might gravitate towards Jason and not Harley. Even for cis women, relating to Jason might be easier, because who is ever so completely exonerated from fault from their own abuse? Who gets the luxury of being such a perfect victim, so easy to care for? No one gets that in real life. Which is why Harley's victim story is more fiction than reality and certain beats can only be hit by a character so consistently controversial as Jason. Because victimhood is never granted easily.

[dreamwreaver]

When the pilot first dropped, I was a teen who shipped Chaggie only because it was canon and it was cute. But now that I'm older and watched the series, I realize how... simple and dare I say it, flavorless this ship is. They don't have that much in common, I can't really think of at least 3 things they have the same interest in. Their viewpoints are different and sometimes it can really broaden the perspectives of the couple for the better, but for Charlie and Vaggie, it only serves to clash in a way that doesn't amount to a lot in the long run, considering how Charlie often disregards Vaggie's caution and Vaggie shuts down most of Charlie's ideas. Not to mention that the whole "exorcist reveal" was poorly handled and did no service to their characters, only butchering these two further.

For me, I cannot see Vaggie providing any essential and substantial development to Charlie's growth in the series because of how bad the show makes her out to be only the love interest. Also, what is Vaggie's purpose to the hotel and for redemption as a whole? Simply being the manager and supporting Charlie doesn't really help much especially when she seems not to care all that much aside from her girlfriend. She cannot relate with all these sinners she was originally tasked to kill because she is most likely a heavenborn angel so what can she offer?

While I don't ship Chaggie anymore, I wish the show would take this ship seriously. They are doing their fans a disservice by failing to make their main pairing mean something more than scoring sapphic points.

My sweet nonny, you took the words right out of my mouth. Like, I feel that most charlastor shippers don't have an actual issue with chaggie being canon in and of itself, they have a problem with it being canon and yet it not meaning anything. Which isn't to say shows can't have main characters with stable queer relationships going on in the background. I think Kipo and the wonderbeasts did it? The new She-ra DEFINITELY did that, Steven Universe walked, and I'm guessing had it not been canceled after like 2 seasons Ok Ko let's be heroes would have developed lord box man and processor venemous' relationship in the background with major plot points being their on and off again dynamics (side note please watch it it's made by Rebecca sugar's spouse and it's so good!)

The problem with chaggie, is that they're BOTH main characters. Charlie is essentially the titular protagonist. Vaggie is one of the core six. Them being together in a relationship can be casual while not being missable. Let's look at a straight example of this being done right; Kim Possible. Nothing about Kim and Ron's dynamic as friends/heroes changes once they're in a relationship. Sure, fears and concerns that drive plots change, but the fundamental characters and dynamics do not. Moreover, we see the casual displays of affection between them that definitely indicate they're not just friends. (Then again KP did an awesome job of establishing that Kim and Ron both have this weird attachment to each other long before they got together. They had an official Kim/Ron night on Fridays).

Chaggie at least as far as season 1 is concerned, is not the focus. And yes, I know, "it's only 8 episodes!" Okay, but tell me if every episode counted why did we have one focused on introducing the Vees? Why did we have an entire episode focused on Huskerdust? These are not complaints in and of themselves but it makes you wonder when the big season 1 plot twist is that Vaggie's been an Angel the whole time.

You're also right about Vaggie not... really having a place there? She's just kind of there, and it's very glaringly noticeable. She's manager in name but Alastor handles all the facilities work and is by his own admission (believable or not) that he's there to watch people fail for his own entertainment, Charlie's the one involved with lesson planning and activity development and she certainly doesn't lack for cash to fund the place, Husk and Nifty both have positions within the hotel but are very obviously only there because of Alastor. Angel and Pen are guests. So what does Vaggie actually do besides wrangle sinners and tell Charlie no?

And part of why I'm so annoyed by this is that I think everything we do know about Vaggie's character could make her super compelling if it wasn't so heavily dependent on Charlie. A fallen angel and former exorcist who was cast out because she did the right thing rather than follow orders? Awesome! Injured in the process losing both her wings and eye? Badass! Believes that people can better themselves long after the lives they've lived? Cool! Is constantly fighting against her own self hatred and projects that out onto other people without meaning to? Feels she's utterly useless if she's not being of service to someone or something? Like this is barely scratching the surface but it's all there and it's all super interesting!

Except for the fact that tying it to Charlie negates all of it. Vaggie doesn't seem to have a character outside of Charlie, which is why they aren't really separated. Think about it, even when Vaggie's confronting Carmilla is on Charlie's orders. And while I'm sure vaggie always means well, her way of helping Charlie involves Charlie changing herself to be more acceptable to others. Alastor's way of helping Charlie involved him bringing her to a place where he knew her natural inclinations would actually be welcomed with open arms.

Alastor and Charlie just make too much narrative sense to not be together. They're foils, dark reflections, and they have so much chemistry it's honestly insane. People said that shippers got shafted when dad beat dad came out but all I saw was the greatest "your daughter calls me daddy too" joke of the last like 20 years. Alastor, who is canonically only in people's spaces to piss them off, who makes even his closest female friends wait for permission to touch him, both climbs over Charlie like ivy on a brick wall and lets her touch him on prompted without recoiling. Alastor always offers something useful to Charlie, even if he delivers it in an insult, and more importantly; not once has he ever laughed at her. He wants to guide her and watch her reach her full potential; malicious intent or not he's in it for the long haul. Again I say this not to bash on Chaggie but to emphasize how WEIRD it is that there's this dynamic isn't present in the canon ship.

I'm with you on your last point nonny, I can not actively ship chaggie and want better for it. I cannot tell you the rage that filled my body when I watched the last episode and saw that out of 8 episodes Chaggie got 1 30-second song and not only was it a REPRISE it was a reprise of the FATHER-DAUGHTER SONG!!! If that creative decision doesn't tell me everything I need to know about the ship's treatment going forward, I don't know what would.

[ecto-hazard]

I just rewatched ii s1 (fucked up right?)

im just gonna make a post compiling some barebones concepts that im curious about. cause with the latest reveal, im wondering how much previous stuff might become relevant.

Obviously this was made years ago by a bunch of kids so its possible that most of the details can be disregarded as random bullshit. It does seem like they put a lot of work in creating retcons though so I have reason to believe theyre building off their previous work on purpose but i could be wrong and thats fair. im gonna post about it anyway tho

ii16 spoilers discussed under the cut

Who Mephone created (or rather, didn't create)

Mephone supposedly made every contestant for the show, but there's a couple vague characters.

Fan: weirdly enough he's in a gray area cause he appears as a background character before s2, but he also glitched out in that one episode, so its unlikely he wasnt created by Mephone. But yknow.

Apple: Apple is a fan character who was submitted to the show, and this is addressed in canon. It's possible that mephone made her and the other fan contestants based on whatever the submitters asked?

Bow: she randomly shows up after an ad read. Mephone doesnt seem to even want her to join, but he receives a call from Adam to insist she join. Mephone seems quite resistant to the idea (which would be weird if he made her?) Most interestingly, she's the only one in this list that Mephone couldn't recover.

Dough MIGHT be one mephone didnt create, but it seems pretty likely that Mephone would create him as he was specifically requested by adam to get bow back. Dough does seem like something he'd throw together really quickly to cover his ass

The reason any of this could be relevant is that if they arent created by Mephone, they probably cant be deleted by Cobs.

Adam

Stuff about Adam (the character not the guy) has been kinda quiet lately? He was supposedly the producer of ii, and pays mephone apparently? He clearly has a role to play since he showed up in one of Mephone's memories and seems to be a creation by cobs. So observing his actions in s1 might be valuable, especially since cobs would be able to manipulate the show through him.

Some notable actions of his:

Insisting on Bow being in the show. This is doubly interesting if Bow isn't one of Mephone's creations. She could be an industry plant of some kind?

Telling Mephone to keep 4S out of the season finale. This is supposedly to keep the finale from going crazy. If Mephone had been successful, he wouldve been killed by Mephone 5. Its possible this was on purpose so 4 could be destroyed and replaced

Investing in another season. at the end of s2, despite things going wrong, he tells Mephone they're going to do another season. He sweetens the deal by offering a raise and agreeing to get Mephone an assistant (Toilet). Cobs clearly got invested in this show, so it makes sense he'd encourage more of it from the shadows.

Mephone 4S

Yeah talking about 4S isn't anything new, the fandom's obsessed with him. I am too.

The implications of Mephone4 being in 4S's body never really got explored in s2. I guess they were similar enough that it didn't really matter. But he clearly still has some relevance in the modern series. One of Mephone's memories shows him getting developed as a replacement for 4, and he actually appears in Invitational, Sorta? Clearly Mephone's bothered by the sacrifice he made.

At the very least, the show's reminding us that he existed, so maybe he still does exist? I don't think he's going to necessarily make a comeback or anything but I dunno. It seems like he might be able to talk to Mephone in his head so maybe there's something to that.

Evil Paper

Im just gonna be upfront that I don't have a dissociative disorder and its not my place to talk about how it works or what is good or bad representation so I'm not gonna get super deep into talking about this. I'm just curious if the team has any plans for addressing Evil Paper. They seemed to make an effort into writing Yin Yang more thoughtfully (whether or not they actually succeeded, again, not my say). I could see them giving Paper similar treatment. If they did I doubt it'd be very plot relevant though.

Is the Taco we got the Taco we were supposed to have?

I've actually seen this conversation circulate a little bit already. This sort of debate could apply to any character really, but Taco is perhaps the most interesting example because she's so involved in the latest episodes AND because Brian actually addressed a tweet about this.

Taco behaves like a goofy idiot for the majority of s1, only revealing at the end that she was faking it so she would make it to the end. She specifically says she was "built to win" (the quote Brian addresses), and shows a much more competent side when she actually competes. In fact if it weren't for Bow's interference, Taco would have won the challenge (another case of Bow being weird).

This all seems to imply that Taco may have been intended to win the series by Mephone. Cobs points out to Suitcase and Knife that Mephone had "high hopes" for them, so it's not unreasonable to say that maybe certain characters were liked over others. Mephone never seems to give special treatment openly, but that doesn't mean that when he made certain contestants he didn't at the very least expect them to do well.

What is highly unlikely though is that Taco was created to be a twist villain. This results in Mephone's death after all (though the activity of Bow and Mephone 5 also could be to blame). Especially since he had pressure from Adam to keep things running smoothly, it just wouldn't make sense that Mephone would specifically create someone to toss a wrench in things. Most likely Taco developed like this on her own accord.

But that also raises the question, if she wasn't meant to be a villain, what was she supposed to be? How much of the taco we have now is the Taco that Mephone created? We don't actually see how he reacts to her "reveal" because he's in the middle of running away from 5. But everyone else clearly never saw it coming. OJ specifically comments that this doesn't seem like "the Taco he's been competing with all this time," and while that's written in reference to her reveal, it also could mean she WASNT the Taco he'd been competing with. We do get a hint or two of her true self in previous episodes, but its possible she wasn't ever supposed to be like that.

I think its possible Mephone4 created her as a goofy goober joke character initially, and over time, she changed. She developed into a more tactful and villainous character with her exposure to the contest.

A few things in the most recent episodes might allude to this. One thing being how in ii15 she discusses how she became aware of how much the contest is changing everyone, herself included. Secondly, in ii16 she tells Pickle that at the time she didn't consider how her actions were going to hurt him. This is a really shitty apology and no excuse for it, but it ALSO could mean that at the time, Taco really didn't think about it. In S1, she claims that she was just using him, but we don't know how aware of herself she was back then. Its possible that there was a past version of Taco who wasn't deadset on winning no matter the cost, and being in the game changed her.

Anyway these have been my slopthoughts. It's like 9 pm and ive been writing this for like an hour. Maybe most of this wont get addressed at all in the series, but I figured i might as well compile it down since I just finished s1

[mazzystar24]

What I don't get is why people think it's problematic to still wish for Buddie. Like isn't it worse to be happy just because he's with a dude now. Like so you didn't ship Buddie for their amazing chemistry and history, you just shipped them because they were two hot dudes.

(This is not directed at people who are enjoying Tevan for the ride, this is about people who jumped completely)

((obviously bi Buck is important, but I don't think seeing it as a step towards Buddie is bad. We've been waiting for something like this for so many years))

Sorry but this is all that’s in my head^^

But yes yay now I get to have my rant-

The fact that so many people genuinely just wanted buck to end up with a dude is just

Look there is wanting representation which I GET I am all for

Then there is not caring about anything to do with that representation as long as you see two hot guys kiss

Representation without substance, meaning and actually changing what we usually see on screen is just so surface level

and listen we are ALL guilty of that thing where we hear about a show with a queer couple and we instantly get excited and rush over there but some of these people don’t give a shit about the storylines as a whole, the characters as a whole, character development, etc all those things that make representation MATTER

Like we aren’t just happy that bi buck is canon because oh look here’s a bi man character

No we are happy because we got to see his development we got to see his insecurities, history, his personality and his bond with these other characters through the years. Now look I’m not saying oh look at this fictional character think about his feelings, I’m saying that characters and their complexities drive a story they are what make me invested whether it’s a book a movie or show, and to not care about any of that just for the sake of tokenism is insane to me

I also feel it bares mentioning that this is one of the RARE times that this representation in media isn’t a case of tokenism like they’ve taken a character and built him and built the show and built the dynamics outside of his sexuality and made it canon in season SEVEN like Tim and Oliver and the entire team did something we don’t see much or ANY of in media like the way they made it is like we have this journey with the character like it’s a double blind test ( sorry I’m revising for a psych exam rn and my brain can only use that analogy) and until the reveal seven years in we don’t know for sure even if there have been inklings and people are more focused on the fact that oh look some hot dude kisses another in this show

Like genuinely ship what you want to ship and enjoy the time but don’t disregard meaningful potential representation which would have 1. A character navigating sexuality in a situation as complex as Eddie’s 2. A gay couple which wasn’t planned and they actually listened to fans for 3. A well done queer slow burn with the same gravity and meaningfulness that straight slowburns get

Thank you for the opportunity to rant anon🫡

Sorry for the long ass reply😭😭

Edit: also wanna add that yes I’m in analysing media mode because I also have sociology revision on representation in media🤭🤭

[isitisitearlymichael]

I think there’s a mentality in the Stranger Things fandom, or certainly outside of Byler spaces, that Byler is just another m/m ship.

What do I mean by “just another” m/m ship?

We all know there’s a long history of shipping male characters together when the show they were in clearly had no intentional romantic subplot.

M/m shipping has existed since the days of Star Trek - and it’s existed for many different reasons. But over time, it’s developed a bad reputation because fans of those ships were reading into things way too much and had so much hope that something might happen to those characters, only for them to end up incredibly upset and frustrated by the end.

There has also been a lot of accusations of fetishisation.

Some of this is also because especially in the early 2000s/ 2010s, these shows used to play on those hopes and have a lot of fun exploring “bromances”, where the writing would be intentionally stirring the pot, but not crossing the line enough for there to be any real plan to take things further.

What’s really important here is that Byler are NOT that kind of ship.

There would never be this much animosity if Will was Mike’s female best friend from childhood.

Yes, there would be a Byler vs. Milkvan war. That would never change - but the excuses as to why Byler have no possible chance of being together would be entirely different. Because yes, their arguments can currently include that Mike’s in a long term relationship, or that the 1980s environment would make it difficult for them to be together, but that’s about as realistic as the arguments have been.

Compare the circumstances to other canonical unrequited love stories

Take away all of the analysis about why Mike might be gay or Bi or even interested in Will in the first place, and just look at the plot in its bare bones state.

Will is canonically in love with Will, and Mike is canonically unaware of this and in a relationship with El.

There are SO MANY examples of this sort of love triangle in fiction, and most importantly there are more scenarios than there aren’t of this love becoming requited. It’s so normal for an audience to see a scenario like this and wonder if this is going to be one of those stories.

What’s happening instead is a lot of heteronormativity.

And that’s either down to the environment that Stranger Things fans find themselves in (people still live very unexposed lives) or they are just generally ignorant about anything that isn’t really in their face or what they want to see.

So there’s a heck of a lot of fans who didn’t even recognise that Will is gay, or just disregarded their assumptions and played up the “slow to grow up” narrative because they were more comfortable with that kind of story, or could relate to it more.

And so from their point of view, because they didn’t see anything, it couldn’t possibly exist. Bylers were seeing things and making them up. Now, after the Duffers and Noah confirmed things, they’re finding a lot of comfort in instead taking some of this fandoms bigger reaches (don’t mean to offend here, sorry) and using them as ammunition instead, e.g. Finn glancing at Noah’s lips for a millisecond during a take.

But the main point I’m getting at is that people who are dismissing Byler are not recognising that this is a traditional love triangle premise.

Now compare the canonical story to previous m/m ships

So because there are some similar activities happening in this fandom to what has been seen in those previous famous m/m ship fandoms, many Stranger Things fans are dismissing Byler as an imagined ship.

But how many of those old ships were able to boast about actual confirmed feelings, albeit one sided, with time left to explore things further?

There is absolutely no reason why the Byler ship resembles any of those “bromances” or queer baiting storylines in previous franchises and fiction.

This isn’t me saying that Byler will 100% become a couple

What I’m saying is that if nothing happens between them in season 5, that doesn’t undo the fact that Byler are a legitimate ship. It doesn’t undo the fact that Will’s feelings for Mike are canonical and that their storyline follows the premise of a traditional love triangle story.

There are people out there who are already trying to make Bylers feel stupid or ashamed for even exploring the potential of the ship, and all they’re doing is showing us how incredibly ignorant they are.

But that’s not to say that lessons can’t be learned from those previous m/m ship disasters

The one thing you should take from them is that people did get really attached, and so being let down by the show really hurt. It’s fine to speculate about Byler, but please don’t set your heart on them and let it break.

If we start to get legit info or confirmation that the ship won’t be requited, please don’t let yourself fall down the rabbit hole of conspiracy and set yourself up for disappointment.

But we have no legitimate reason to rule out Byler right now

The set up is there, the filming looks positive and the Duffers haven’t said anything to dispute the ship’s potential. Speculation is more than allowed - it’s normal and an inevitable result of season 4. So let’s have as much fun as we can and know that we’re doing nothing “deluded” or wrong.

[demonsfate]

I'm so tired but at the same time I just wanted to write that... TK8 may truly be one of the worst stories in all the games lol. Not as bad as TK6 (solely because I'm biased and TK6 ruined my favorite character) but like... with each game, it feels like they're just making more and more of a mess with the lore, and TK8 just felt like they stopped caring completely about consistency. And really? It is actually getting harder to care about the story because of that.

But why exactly? You see, it's just hard to care about anything at all. It's hard to even know what's going to happen next, and not in a good way either. Not, "they're so clever, they're good at surprising and subverting expectations!" But in a "they will literally just do anything even if it contradicts previously established lore." Like there are zero stakes. If a character dies, it means nothing. That character is very likely alive, and we'll even probably see them soon.

It's hard to even really like characters when they can be completely altered on a whim.

Like Claudio, who was clearly being set up to be a bad guy in next game.

Only for... that to not happen lmao. In fact, he's very good now. Which also just takes away stakes of Xiaoyu being placed in a situation where she could be harmed, and Kin having another adversary that isn't just Kaz. which yes, a lot of ppl prefer Claudio being a good guy after all. But again, it's a thing they completely disregarded.

Devil Jin is another example of a character just being completely changed for no good reason. How he went from a murderous, cannibalistic, highly violent and sadistic person, to... being a force of good, someone that was always trying to protect Jin but Jin was just denying it? Like yes, those two examples I show from Tekken 6 are technically "non canon", but it's clearly what Devil's character was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to like Jin, he was ashamed of Jin, he saw Jin as a weakling. He was never meant to be his protector - he wanted Jin out of the picture so he can be free to do whatever he wants, which usually involves killing, maiming, and gaining power.

But see? A character can go from a parasitic force that corrupts the host, to being a guardian devil just because the writers decided they wanted to do that. Disregard to previous canon. The same thing happened to Jin in Tekken 6. Jin was a complete good guy, but then he was suddenly turned into a ruthless, heartless, warmonger all because Harada thought it was "cool", again - disregard to what Jin was, what his story meant, everything his character was.

Or how Zafina had Azazel in her arm, could've potentially became a more important character because of this new power she possessed. Only... for Kazuya to take it away from her at practically the start of the game. A story for her character that went nowhere.

Because of that, it's just so hard to even become attached to a character because you just don't know when they're going to be completely changed into something they weren't... or when their stories will be dropped and they'll go nowhere. (Paul from being a comedic relief who had amazing feats of strength, to just becoming a complete joke with no wins and that nobody takes seriously. Or Asuka, obviously meant to be Jin's cousin and even hinted at possessing Jun's powers of purification. Only... for her to become Lili's sidekick and completely irrelevant to the story. Even Lili gets more respect than she does in TK8)

Then of course, with characters not being able to stay dead... not even for a single game. It's becomes more difficult to care when a character "dies" or is "about to die" when you know nothing is gonna happen. The character will come back, regardless of how they died, just because the writers want to use them again. Even if it means ruining the weight of the other games, or the developments characters had.

There's also the problem with the game itself becoming too saturated with jokes. I've spoke about this somewhat recently, but before, a lot of the characters were allowed serious endings or side stories. (Like check out Tekken 4's endings, I think almost every character had a serious ending with real character development in that one). But now the majority of the character endings are just either fluff or wacky shenanigans. Which again, makes you feel less invested in the characters when nothing serious is actually going on, and also makes it feel like the writers just... don't care as much anymore.

And I get that Tekken is a fighting game, but like... it still has a story it "proudly" presents. Therefore, it's still something people are liable to get invested in, and become disappointed when all canon is thrown out the window. It just makes you wonder what's the point of caring about what happens if it's gonna be undone in the next game. It makes you wonder why care about a character when their story, or even the character themselves, can be changed completely next game?

Of course, I love Tekken, and I am interested in seeing how crazy it can get. But I will say, I am becoming less invested with each game lol! TK4 had amazing writing and aesthetics, and I really wish the game could've kept following in TK4's footsteps rather than going completely off the rails like this. Really, TK's writing peaked at TK2-TK4, then it started going downhill from TK5.

[charcubed]

I'm curious, what are the main reasons why Dean is your favorite canon bisexual in media? Love your meta and that video btw

Ooooo, anon, thank you for the kind words and for giving me an excuse to talk about my love for bisexual icon Dean Winchester <3

I'm going to be really annoying (sorry) and quote part of my meta first. It summarizes and articulates many of my thoughts on this. And then to further answer your question I'll add a bit under it!

From the very beginning, Dean Winchester has been a character tied to classic elements of American masculinity. He was introduced with a superficial veneer involving those elements, but almost immediately the early episodes provide a look at the complexity of his character underneath it. Over the years, that complexity was further explored, and he came to embody a study in things society would often have us think should be incompatible contrasts: the gruffness and grit of hunting life and its associated masculine iconography, paired with his open and deep emotional care for the world; unabashed love for classic rock, superheroes, and horror movies, as well as unabashed joy connected to TV dramas, chick flicks, and childhood favorites like Scooby-Doo; life on the road with a muscle car, but the desire for a home base with creature comforts he can make his own; motivation to always help people, but the clear longing for balance with personal domesticity and relaxation so he could save not only others but also himself.

As a whole, his character functions as an effective deconstruction of toxic masculinity and stereotypical American heroism. And while much of Dean’s most masculine traits and interests are said to come from his father’s influence, part of his journey is loving those parts of himself on their own merit not because he ever had to but because he wants to. He is not his father, and he redefines those valued parts of his identity so they are his and his alone. He also crucially learns to recognize and joyfully embody that those masculine traits were never all that he had to be, working through and overcoming shame and hesitancy along the way. The result? He’s “good with who he is.”

He and the audience are encouraged to see that there are no rules his identity and interests must subscribe to, on a micro or a macro level. The message is to disregard predetermined destiny or duty. Free will means his life is his to determine, his family can be what he makes of it and how he defines it, and what he needs and wants do not ever have to be mutually exclusive. Dean’s journey is about freedom from outwardly-imposed limitations–whether those limitations come from his father’s example and the God altering his story, or from the pervasive societal ideals and network/executive interference outside of it. Dean can and should contain multitudes, all at once.

In this way, Dean’s story is a powerfully queer narrative that acts as metacommentary. In the fullness of its execution, it is also specifically a deeply bisexual narrative.

The not-so-hidden truth is that Dean is canonically a bisexual man. His story was afforded something that’s rare for most characters and almost nonexistent for queer ones: fifteen years of lengthy, nuanced development.

[...]

Again: Dean’s identity journey is about how he can and does contain the capacity for multitudes, and it’s part of what makes him such a compelling character. He can like “this” and “that.” He can be attracted to women and men. Or, as writer Ben Edlund and director Phil Sgriccia said in a DVD commentary, Dean has “the potential for love in all places.”

I wanted to include the above verbatim because it spells out something specific: Dean's narrative is bisexual in its bones. Supernatural evolved to become a queer text, but the specific ways the show and Dean as a character evolved are very intertwined with and informed by the fact that Dean is a masculine bisexual man. SPN is a story that was not meant to be about being queer, but as it became about freedom through free will, those themes were then leveraged and emphasized in connection to queerness because of Destiel. And by the end, the free will narrative and Dean's journey as a bi man are utterly inseparable, because Dean's fight for true freedom is tied to his love for a man and their untraditional family in a way that higher forces are trying to hinder.

You cannot cut out or edit or remove Dean's bisexuality from the story, or several narratives and plot lines (not just Destiel) would at minimum be misunderstood or at maximum fall apart. And yet, simultaneously? Dean's bisexuality is also far from being the sole important thing about his character because he is written with such nuanced complexities and across so many years of material.

Of course, add onto this the overall unique situation that surrounds Supernatural as a piece of media. People talk at length about how there will never be anything like it again, including me; that's obviously true from multiple different angles and for multiple different reasons, with Destiel being prime amongst them. But a related yet distinctly significant branch of that topic is there will never be another bisexual character who is written and evolves quite like Dean.

Was Dean supposed to be bisexual from the very start, out of the mind of Kripke? Who can know for sure, but probably not. Were certain writers and members of production deliberately putting more queercoding and subtext into Dean's character/story from the very start? Who can know for sure, but potentially yes, and certainly the answer becomes unarguably definitely yes the farther you get into the show. That's part of my love and passion for him too, because all of that is deeply unique and incredibly cool.

Dean's bisexuality evolved in a way that (against all odds) actually feels organic, seamless, and like it's simply a part of his character that's been there all along. The effect when you look at Supernatural as a whole body of work is that Dean's always been bi, and his expressions of and acknowledgements of that part of him ebb and flow depending on situation–which is a very relatable notion for many queer people. And as those writing the show became more committed and certain about that piece of who Dean is, so did he, in nuanced and subtle ways skillfully embedded into his story by design. It's bafflingly, impressively cohesive; gives him an incredibly realistic feel; matches his overall character growth; and rings true to his demographic, age, personality, and experiences.

Dean and his story and the situation(s) surrounding both are simply incomparable, and that will be true forever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

...also. Well. I simply love him, y'know? For even more reasons unconnected to this. How can you not, right? :')

Thank you for asking, and thanks for reading this bi Dean manifesto!

Putting my video that you mentioned here for anyone who's not watched it:

My new magnum opus, please stream, etc.

(or watch on Tumblr here)

[merakiui]

AHHHHHH I LOVED THE RIDO FIC SO MUCH!!!

Well in my interpretation, the both of them were copying each other— in Riddle's case unknowingly and I just love the idea that there were implications of Tako, sleazy and disgusting Tako doing Riddle's favorite professor— dare I say his professor, yet nothing was confirmed except for the part where professor was late.

It could be Riddle reading too much on the appearance of the professor that he became so delulu!!! I'm not sure if I didn't understand the fic much (I apologize to you and to my fellow readers, English is my 4th language aside from my birth language huhuhu) but I really liked that you didn't exactly confirm and just gave subtle signs that are up to us if there were something going on or if we were adapting Riddle's pov in the matter, with him thinking to much and became paranoid ever since Tako came unto the picture.

BUT BUT it got me thinking, since Riddle is a goodie two shoes who's a nice and talented young individual. I wonder what his preference really is?

If given the chance will Riddle like the same girl who follows the rules and obedient—perfectly made for him or or would he choose the student who's the exact opposite of who he hoped to have as his own, someone who disregards the rules and instead does whatever she wants?

Back to the fic!! I'm sorry if the structure of this ask is too much, when I ramble too much I forget how to write coherently huhuhu, I love the line where Riddle said that Tako would be the one who'd destroy the professors life but he stated that Riddle would be the one who'd do both. And that's exactly what happened! The part where Riddle finally had enough and thought that Azul was smiling before he died.. I wonder if the sleazy Tako wanted that to happen? He set up the trap where he'd let Riddle's mind destroy himself and the thought that if Azul couldn't have the professor (if professor really was professional and had a strict student-teacher relationship) then Riddle absolutely can't have what Azul couldn't have?

YOU CAN'T TELL ME THAT ITALIAN AZUL ISN'T IN THE MAFIA!!

Love lots to you Mera!! I love all your fics and rambles of twist! It has me foaming in the mouth and I want to inject it into my every being. (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤

(＞ω＜)♡ THANK YOU SO SO SOOOOO MUCH OMG!!!!! Gently cradling your words and this ask!!!! It means so much. <3 I'm so happy you enjoyed the story and various aspects of it!! I loved writing about Riddle and Azul copying each other. It happens so suddenly that it's difficult to determine which one of them started it, but it's still jarring all the same from Riddle's pov.

And you're correct!!! I decided to leave the relationship between Azul and Reader ambiguous so that readers could theorize whether Riddle's paranoia has any credit or not. He seems like such a reliable narrator in the beginning, but when his obsession gets the better of him and those slivers of doubt and copycat behaviors worm their way in then his own sensible narration loses its veracity.

I'm so glad you liked the line about Riddle ruining both Azul and Reader's lives!!!! I felt like this >:) when I wrote it. Azul knows what he's doing, but he's going to continue being a cockroach rat about it because that's just how he is!!! Truly a troublesome tako... >_< and look what it got him: blunt force trauma. ;;; although Azul was probably prepared for the worst when he stepped into Riddle's room. In my heart, there's a sequel to this fic where it's revealed Azul was indeed practicing Riddle's handwriting to frame him for things he didn't do so the gravity of his crime seems even more severe and premeditated even though it was mostly a crime of passion. If tako's going down, Riddle is coming with him.

Italian mafia Azul....... 👁 👁 oh, he would be so terrible. One day I'll write a fic with mafia boss Azul x spy reader hehehehe.

I think Riddle's ideal girl changes with his character development. If it's keeping with twst canon, then pre-overblot he drools over the demure sweetheart from his hometown who his mother sets him up with because she approves of you and your demeanor. You follow the rules, you listen to authority, you're conditioned to be the perfect wife, etc. After his overblot and once he learns to be more lenient with himself and others, he'd enjoy a more outgoing, rebellious sort of girl. Or maybe he's always secretly admired that type but has only ever scoffed and turned his nose up at you because of your behavior. But now that Riddle's healing and doing all sorts of things behind his mother's back while he's away at NRC (and has the freedom to do so) maybe that type grows on him more than he realized it would.

( ꈍ◡ꈍ) hehe Riddle is so precious. Thank you again for enjoying my work, lovely anon!!!! Sending you all the love and joy and many sweet treats~~

[adhdnojutsu]

I’ve always thought about this, in the manga, it says it’s been 11 years since Orochimaru left the Akastuki, because of the failed attempt to take Itachi, Itachi made Orochimaru leave. This was discussed when the Akastuki met up, Itachi was allegedly “21” at this time.

But Itachi said to have become the anbu captain at 13, it was mentioned by Kakashi im pretty sure when Itachi and Kisame came to capture Naruto.

Therefor Itachi was around late 13 or early 14 when the massacre was committed, he left Konoha after to join the Akastuki as a spy.

So 13/14 + the 11 years that was confirmed Itachi was in the organization for, that’s 24/25 years.

Is Itachi actually 24/25 years old and not 21 as “official sources” claim?

That would make him around 19/20 when he first came to “capture Naruto” and die around 24/25

I feel changing the “11 years” would be much more complicated than changing Itachis age, Sasuke was 6/7 around the time the clan died, so fast forward, he’s 17 when Itachi is “21”…how did Sasuke age around 11 years and Itachi only 7?

Idk if you already thought of this but it’s just a curiosity I’ve always had, correct me if I’m wrong at all

Glad you asked! Piecing timelines together is a thing I need for closure LOL so I already did it for the brothers!

I don't remember where, but it was said (not by an official source) that the "10 years since Orochimaru left Akatsuki" statement was a continuity error and should be disregarded. Because I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember that this statement was (also) made in the anime when Itachi was only 17/18 (after the chunin exams) and it would make absolutely 0 sense.

As for the massacre, the anime and manga make him 13 at the time. His official age of promotion was only mentioned that one time by Kakashi.

I don't know if you consider the Itachi Shinden novels canon, but personally I like to do so because they don't contradict any manga events, other than where Itachi's hands were when Shisui died... and add a lot of logical context. If we go by the novels, Kakashi only said Itachi was 13 because Hiruzen and Danzo aged him up on paper so as to not stir the pot too much by promoting someone at an age where others barely finish the academy. Itachi was actually 12 at the time of the massacre. It wouldn't be "wrong" for any character to say he was 13 as everyone was fed (and thoughtlessly believed??) the same lies about that poor kid. In his first detailed flashback in part 1 of the anime (on his way to the inn), Sasuke remembers how he was the same age Itachi was when he graduated, after auntie Uruchi (the chubby lady) said he was 7. That was the day of the massacre. It would also make the most sense. Canonically and in the anime, Itachi is 5 years older than Sasuke, and 7 + 5 = 12. In Itachi's first anime appearance, Sasuke just had his 13th birthday and Itachi should just have turned 18 the month before. This would make sense, too, as Sasuke is 16 when Itachi dies at 21 (Itachi's birthday is in June, Sasuke's in July).

Itachi's physical development isn't portrayed proportionately to his age or even true-to-data, which adds to the confusion. From the very beginning, Sasuke's flashbacks of 11-12-year-old Itachi show him much bigger than the Rookie 9. And he gets MUCH bigger within just 1 year. 11: 148 cm. 12 (officially 13 thanks to Danzo: 175 cm. LOL did Fugaku put something in his food to make him bigger faster because he also suddenly looks much more masculine??

But then, you put ANY adult in the room with him, and he suddenly shrinks. Danzo is officially shorter at 170 cm, but always shown taller, while Itachi wears thicker soles (Danzo wears slippers mostly).

Danzo has to bend to make eye contact with the squirt:

This is more than 6 cm difference! (175 & 181)

This was around the time of the massacre judging by Sasuke's size. Ummm... Wasn't Itachi officially as tall as Fugaku (175) here...

And this is just before the massacre, after Itachi got tired of trying:

He was supposed to be 6 cm taller than Kurenai (169 cm vs 175 cm), but he's drawn shorter than her!

And to make it all extra sad, I looked up what Itachi would look like in an accurate live action adaptation of the massacre, because Kishimoto draws him looking way older so the "groomed and exploited child soldier" part is more palatable:

(found on Pinterest)

For comparison, 12-year-old Itachi in the anime (average for Japanese boys that age is 153 cm, by the way, not 175 which is above average for ADULTS):

Naruto was said to be depicted as smol and scrawny on purpose, but while anime styles usually make a character look younger than their real life counterpart, Naruto was probably closest to that?

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

[tiktowafel]

personal lore dump for Shihai Kuroiro!! (where i'm probably a little mean to him but it's out of love guys i swear)

verrry late for his birthday but it's here!! :] love this kid. so many thoughts about him to share

i'll just start with the part that i find the most important - the core of his character, to me, is that he is not what he says he is and not what he desperately tries to convince himself and everyone else that he is.

i'm mostly basing this off of how ultra analysis gives him one of the two lowest wits scores in his class (as shown above) despite the fact that he calls himself "the scheming hero" and spends half his joint training match dramatically talking about trickery and psychological traps - while i like to ignore canon sometimes, this little piece of information is something i could never disregard. it's so endearing to me, plus him apparently trying really hard to seem way cooler than he actually is fits with the chuunibyou archetype he's supposed to represent.

severe headcanon territory & a generally slightly lengthy textpost under the read more lol

now, why do i hc he's that way in the first place? well, basically: his whole life he's admired underground heroes very strongly and ended up developing this very idealized mental picture of the perfect underground hero - a mysterious lonely mastermind who hides in the shadows and avoids the spotlight, quietly pulling all the strings and relying on plans and schemes instead of a powerful quirk and flashy moves. but despite all the dirty tricks they're capable of, their heart is in the right place - in fact in a way their motivations are far more noble than those of all the popular celebrity heroes, because they don't care about fame or recognition, they act out of a genuine want to do good. this is what Kuroiro aspires to be and what he bases his entire persona on, pretty much.

and that's because this is also the only kind of hero he could ever identify with - he was always an odd, withdrawn kid who had trouble making friends. he couldn't see himself in all those shiny charismatic always-in-the-spotlight heroes that everyone else seemed to love. so when he learned about underground heroes, he fell in love instantly and decided this is who he wanted to be, over time forming this perfect underground hero image to set as his goal.

except, again, a lot of traits possessed by this ideal of a hero aren't really in line with what Kuroiro himself actually is. he's nowhere this badass. he's nowhere this smart. he kinda sucks at this whole scheming thing actually! he's sneaky, sure, that's by nature of his quirk - but his schemes are way less elaborate than he likes to make them seem, most of the time they're just ways for himself to catch people off guard. he doesn't have the multi-step coordination-based planning capablity of Kendo or Tokage, the adaptability of Honenuki or the sheer sophistication of Monoma (note that almost all of 1-b's plan during joint training match 2 was invented by Kendo and Kuroiro's only strategic contribution was tricking 1-a into thinking he was gonna target Tokoyami so he could ambush Aoyama instead - which is something yeah but still nothing particularly complicated). and he hates that about himself, because intelligence is something that he values and admires so so much - so he exaggerates his strategic prowess a lot, with his hero title and dramatic speeches and all, and does everything in his power not to be perceived as stupid (often failing miserably). it's out of insecurity.

he's also not that much of a lone wolf, either. he does have a strong tendency to isolate himself from others, which is partially because he's convinced himself that he's destined to walk a lonely path in life & content with it (what's a better way of coping with your childhood loneliness than romanticizing it) and partially because the fact that he's constantly putting up a facade does by itself kinda prevent him from forming proper relationships, BUT he's not really happy this way. he's introverted but ultimately not meant to be alone. he does need friends! and he does wish for a romantic relationship, too! but, of course, he sucks at managing those feelings, as we can judge by his interactions with Kinoko and his general incapability of normally talking to girls mentioned in ultra analysis.

i actually really like that he has a crush on Kinoko specifically because it plays really well into everything that i said earlier in this post! remember that something he admires a lot about underground heroes is that they don't care about fame and recognition, and therefore in his view have the most genuine motivations? i like to believe that odd as it is, he actually has a very strong moral compass and greatly values selflessness. so, imagine how he feels when he learns that Kinoko, whom he already has a crush on because she's cute and she's nice to him and she has a really cool quirk (something something mushrooms like darkness so they must be meant to be), wants to be an idol hero. bro's devastated. those people are the epitome of modern hero society's shallowness and superficiality, and she wants to be one! she apparently wants to spend her precious time doing silly little dance routines and shaking people's hands at conventions instead of dedicating it all to proper hero work! and Kuroiro still has a crush on her! that witch...!

and you see, Kinoko isn't actually a shallow person. what motivates her to become and idol hero isn't selfishness (refer to my old Kinoko headcanon list - some things in there are a tiny bit outdated but my headcanon on why she wants to be an idol is still the same!). except Kuroiro doesn't get to know that at first so he remains bewildered and conflicted for quite some time - and i just think that's funny y'know? he eventually learns more about her (second hand, they don't directly talk to each other much, in canon i think Kinoko doesn't even pay much attention to him in general 😭) and starts to change his mind, probably falling even harder in the process - but still the whole thing is complete disaster on his side. he was always shy around her, now there's also... all this, no wonder he can't talk to her at all!!

so, to sum it up: Kuroiro is intense, he's surprisingly idealistic, he's tragically insecure, and he has some very rigid ideas about himself and the world around him that he probably needs to let go of. he's just a mess of a teenager with a lot of to figure out - and he does figure it out, he does get his happy ending eventually! (a conversation with Kinoko, among other things, is something that definitely would be a crucial part in his,, character arc, i guess? and y'know what, while i do really like them as a couple, i think them just getting to talk things out is a "happy ending" regardless of whether they end up together)

OH and by the way: i'm not saying that he's like, going against himself at all times! he's not an actual master schemer or a complete lone wolf but a lot of things about how he acts are perfectly genuine. his affinity for all things dark is genuine, his interest in taboos is genuine, and his love for theatrics is also genuine! in that matter, it's actually not a phase lol he's just like that :] would be blasphemous to say otherwise, that's what we all love him for..!

aaand this concludes my little essay about one of my favorite 1b kids!! the picture of him that i have in my head is very clear, that's why he's the first character that i chose to write this kind of post about - i'm just pretty confident about the hcs i have for him haha. i'm also thinking about writing a more lighthearted list of hcs to complete the vision (ya know, like the good ol days) because there's STILL so much that i haven't shared since it didn't fit this post - so stay tuned for that if you enjoyed this!! see you next month probably