#the parasocial relationship just got so much worse

[priestfrommidnightmass]

last night i had a dream that i fell in love with his ex like straight up hardcore fairy tale type fucking love and i’m not even gonna lie it is extremely fucking with my head rn lmfao

[mellosdrawings]

How are Vil's fans (and Leona's fans, as I'm sure he have some) with the n2 team? Have they had a big reaction to the fact that it's a polyamorous relationship? How does Jamil deal with this attention?

Do the Asims know about their relationship? I mean, I think Vil as a public figure and Leona as a prince would draw attention.And how does Jamil's family react? I think they want Jamil to be happy, but they're afraid of what the Asims might do. And I think they expected Jamil to end up with a servant (I'm using the reasoning that Viper is Jamil's father's last name, but his mother also seems to be very used to being a servant, so she must be from a servant family of the Asims, less important than the Vipers) or at least a commoner and lower class person than Jamil's current boyfriends.

For now I'll only answer for Vil's fans. The Asim and the Viper reactions will be coming sometime soon.

Vil dropped the news little by little. Leona and Jamil in the background of more relax pics, a couple dance sessions with Jamil, inconspicuous things. Just to get his fans used to their sight.

The he dropped hints, bigger and bigger, until the reveal. Aside from the few fans who are far too into parasocial relationships and are salty about Vil dating coz that means they have no chance anymore (not that they had any), it went relatively fine. They took one look at Leona and went "Yup, our Queen deserves a prince, good for him good for him."

The thing that surprised Vil though is that his fans latched onto Jamil more than Leona. After all as you said Leona is a public figure. They know him. Jamil though doesn't even post pics of himself on Magicam. He's a total mystery. They know he's a dancer so they try to check music videos (useless), they try finding his magicam (they don't), and eventually someone finds out those two pics taken at the Tapis Rouge event (which doesn't help much coz they still don't know who he is lol)

The mystery actually helps fans ease into it. They're just so obsessed with finding who Jamil is that they forget to (maybe) be upset about their Queen's love life.

As for Jamil... he just doesn't deal with the attention. He's not much on socials so he doesn't care, and despite being eye candy he isn't all that charismatic so people don't pay much attention to him. He got cornered by a few hardcore fans who miraculously managed to recognise him and he just plastered his best customer service smile until they left him alone. He's dealt with worse than pushy fans before. He might not be used to being the center of attention, he's still good at dealing with stressful situations.

[twistedpink]

BIM BAM BOOM what about bff trio!Lilia & Idia x f!reader, with romantic tension and petty jealousy, with a reader who's as much of a chaotic cheerful extrovert as Lilia (because the idea of Idia's favorite people all being his shut-in nightmare is hilarious, and the bat needs a bff to match his energy and go on adventures - and drag Idia along)

If you have the time and energy, perhaps a before and an after "you're musclered/gloomurai???>reveal" parts, for the shift in their respective relationships with reader and each other (more/less snark, judgment and rivalry...)?

I understand this is a big ask, if it's too much feel free to ignore this! Thanks for sharing your writing, have a nice day~

I’ve been plotting on this 😈@bju3c0re

BSF!Idia really is,, Something, once he warms up to you. It’s already rare for him to reach out online, nevermind speaking to a 3D “g-g-girl 🤯”.. He thinks a lot about the alternate reality where your wifi was a touch worse and you couldn’t join that first vc- of course he’s grateful for your friendship and all the ‘wise advice’ you dole out (“just pop a tidepod bro”), but you’re SCARY!! So, NO, he can’t handle meeting up yet :( But aren’t you just nice enough to wait, though? For him? If he was given the chance to go back in time.. He’d fall for you in every universe, even if you only ever see him as another raid buddy <\3

BSF!Idia knows better than anyone else that you’ve got him on a short leash- but do you really have to show it off to Musclered? Out of everyone on the web? He’s tired of third wheeling your campaigns, hearing your hushed laugh over HIS mic once you meet up or how you act all surprised getting a gift from the guy who should’ve been your fav.. That kind of happiness is supposed to be his, you were his friend first,, Once he writes a text good enough to trick you into loving him, he’s sure he’ll NEVER feel jealous again!! (Isn’t security like the only meta buff relationships get? WDYM NO?) Despite the horror show he’s sure your first meeting’ll be, he can appreciate the hypothetical benefits of meeting you IRL- seeing you, touching you, smelling and just.. Taking you in. He’s bidding his time for anything scandalous (BOO! hand holding >:0), but in the meantime he’s just peachy getting to grind as a duo, so long as you are <3

BSF!Lilia’s never been your friend, duo, or partner. He’s just,, A guy you’re weirdly into online, and he wouldn’t have it any other way!! He wants you to pine and get all needy at the sound of his voice- because he’s just as shameless… Straight up nasty with how hard his knuckles strain against his phone at the prospect of being your only gamer friend, but of course his dream gets crushed by some noob :/ It’s very much a cat fight for your attention between the two, and you know it’s toxic, but what’s the point of being chronically online if you’re not indulging in pointless drama?

BSF!Lilia is obsessed with you, in the sense that your relationship is entirely parasocial- PLEASE vent about your day and let him comment on allllll the freshmen he knows and hates, that’s what he’s here for! He’s also, like, the worst with advice to a comical degree.. Whether he’s giving or taking, do NOT trust anything he’s saying, because he DOES use his loveable face to lie to you on the daily. Send help. It’s gotten to the point where even Idia (yknow,, Master of all things ‘people’) can’t tell the difference, and the three of you spend hours more on call looking for ‘secret loot’ because your old man is a lonely little fibber </3 It’s still Lilia, so his pranks are never really gone, but he’ll straighten right out if you’ll say that he’s your favourite.. Even if it’s just as the villain in your story <3

[smosh-fessions]

this fandom has become unbearable. i mostly avoid it (blocking and muting people), but the occasional post comes on my tl that just annoys me. my rant honestly mostly applies to smoshtwt, but smoshblr is annoying too. i won’t even mention the reddit.

people pick fights for literally no reason, and act like they are above one another for everything. for one, the ship war discussion is so stupid to me because most of you are too old to be speaking about real people in this way. why does it matter to you who somebody else ships when you’re doing the same thing with a different ship??

i also understand the interest for the bonds the people in the cast have, but none of you know them! a lot of you put such a pedestal to the relationships you’re seeing on your phone screens. it is also not fair to assume “this person doesn’t like this person,” or assume “this person is in love with that person” or whatever. many of you feel way too comfortable talking about them in ways you know you wouldn’t say to their face, whether “positive” or negative. thirsting, criticism, speculation/assumption, it’s all annoying. and many of you shield them as jokes. too many of you wonder why a majority of the cast hardly touch their socials anymore outside of instagram. or wonder why damien blocked like half of you on twitter

and speaking of damien... lmfao. look it’s fine to dislike a person but many of you are irrational about it. he’s a human, just as every person in the cast are. it doesn’t matter that hes a grown man, he deserves respect the same way anybody else does. dude has gone through a lot in life, the least you all can do is just let him exist. because while his fans arguably can coddle him, but they’re no different from the rest of you. you’re literally all the same and don’t see it! because i know damn well if more people commonly treated angela or shayne the way a lot of you treat damien, you’d be just as upset as his fans tend to be. also, same thing for courtney! many of you are so weird about them on here recently too?? i cannot believe how heavy discussions have been regarding them, especially in relation to damien. too many of you have been blatantly disrespecting them recently. just as i said before, they are a human being first and foremost. you are allowed to think whatever about these people, but goodness i beg you all to keep it to yourselves. i can only imagine the absurd speculation-heavy discussions they all may accidentally stumble across at some point.

i don’t want to ramble too much but i honestly don’t know how it got this bad. people will argue with the “have you never been in a fandom before” over and over again whenever someone complains about this one. i can assure you, smosh’s fandom is simply just bad. at least compared to more similar groups like dropout, try guys, etc.. idk what happened here. like to be fair, this has always been a parasocial fandom, but it definitely got worse the last few years. i’ve been on tumblr and twitter for a long time, i can safely say i miss the lowkey dead fandom era. post-2023, a lot of you made it more of a hell than it’s ever been, but act like you’re not the problem, or simply don’t care idfk. i just know that if you had a problem with any of what i said, it probably applies to you.

tldr: you are SMOSH fans. you’re ALL gay and annoying! just accept that, stop being the worst about literally everything and everyone, and please be decent human beings.

X

[pyxilate]

I remember being 13 and not really understanding how parasocial relationships work. Around then, my favorite YouTuber was Thai McGrath (he’s a really good music artist go check him out still). It was… a pretty obsessive thing. I was in tears if I even missed one premier kind of obsessive. I covered a song by him (singing was horrible but yk what) and made cringey gacha-life reaction videos that I have now taken down. It was… let’s just say, bad. I even wrote a ‘song’ that I wanted him to sing- it was a whole thing. I also didn’t understand that much about internet safety either, so of course it was in a Google doc- I don’t want to go into all the details but it was complicated. And bad.

Looking back on it, if I could go back in time and slap 13-year-old-me in the face, I would. Not only did that probably make him extremely uncomfortable, I was acting incredibly entitled. Acting like it was just possible that it could happen because he was a semi-small creator. (I was also delusional. I still am, but I’m delusional with boundaries. Which is what matters) Thing is, he owed me nothing.

Artists owe us nothing. Becoming one made me realize that. And expecting them to- ignoring them when they do things like make a cry for help- about you- makes the problem worse. I realized that. I backed off, because I was the problem. I took a break. When I came back to it, he wasn’t my favorite music artist anymore and I wasn’t as obsessive, but it’s probably better that way.

Moral of the story: If things got bad enough that Sleep Token had to make Caramel, you should probably do a self-check to make sure you aren’t the person the song is about. And if you are? Take a break and fix that.

[kaiserposting]

whats your problem with kaisers arc all of a sudden. bet youre just mad he didnt score

TW Unhinged paragraphs I wrote while almost tearing up over Michael Kaiser Blue LOck

The match would've been ass even if he scored because of the set up anywyas (Who will get lucky)

Also all that aside my problem with Kaiser's arc is that as usual we're being presented a story where we as the audience are supposed to celebrate Isagi running a humiliation ritual on people with lives ten times worse than his and pain he couldn't ever comprehend, in this case particularly egregious and Isagi behaving in this annoying way and getting everything he wants without much pushback is touted to the audience as a positive development and as if his parasocial relationship with Noel Noa being #fake #shattered is somehow a tragedy when such grace would never be given to any of the other characters. In Kaiser's case I'd argue that it was to some degree deserved, but the way the whole plotline is set up is stupid, Isagi had way more impact and wins VS Kaiser even though it was presented to us like an underdog getting one up on the emperor type thing but Isagi barely spends any time being an underdog during the NEL (+ not to mention he already got privileges over Kiyora and Yukimiya because the fans wanted him there lol... which like whatever, he scored the last goal he deserved it, but do you see what I mean? You can't be an underdog but start off with privileges)

All of that is subjective of course, if you like reading that type of story so be it, but to me Isagi's total unquestionable domination over someone who was supposed to be a prodigious talent and who is older than him is stupid nonsense and Kaiser had all those mental breakdowns and flashbacks for practically nothing. Even disregarding all that, in the last chapter Kaiser realizes Ness wasn't the problem, which is good, but then comes to the conclusion that... the problem was that he had too much fun playing with Isagi? As if the narrative is trying to say to us that if he had committed himself to suffering and hatred, he would've won. I'm sorry but I don't enjoy seeing a character with a history like his come to the conclusion that actually pain and self harm Are The Answers. Then he glazes Isagi just for Isagi to insult him - fair enough for Isagi to insult him by the way, they've got bad blood, but Kaneshiro making Kaiser dickride Isagi in his head before that moment is ridiculous. It's just framed in such a way to make Kaiser look the most embarrassing/give him one last huge low before he is sent off. And Isagi will win whatever their next encounter is, we already know that, so this is just what it will be for him

And speaking of Isagi, Kaiser saying "With Yoichi my shitty past which I've always hated feels strangely meaningful" is litearlly stupid ass writing made just to glaze Isagi for no reason too. Sure you can like playing football with the guy who gaf, but trying to frame his outrageously abusive past as "meaningful" is bonkers to me especially since I've written A Sentence or Two in my life... Like what????? What possesses someone to frame it this way? And Kaneshiro made him do all that dickriding, carry Isagi (because isagi was NOT 1v1ing Rin let's be serious) so Isagi could score and then have Isagi act condescending to him. Since Kaiser is my favorite character, I obviously don't like seeing that conclusion for his character. That he will just always get used and be unhappy and empty inside

[elytrafemme]

hi it's nightmare_rivulets. the future of CS

hi all. first of all if you sent me the beautiful CS-related ask i will reply to it as soon as my day slows down, that didn't spark this post i just needed to type this before i got some shit done but i WILL answer that.

but i want to talk about CS and say that i have come to the decision that i am going to upload a final chapter or two which is an outline of what the piece was meant to be, where the plot was going to go. include as many excerpts as i can. so i can lay CS to rest without leaving it entirely unfinished.

this idea makes me miserable, i want to be transparent about that. i promised myself when i started CS at age 16 (a little younger, actually, but i uploaded it when i was 16 i think) that i was going to stick with it. and i had a year where i had very consistent biweekly updates! CS got me through so much in my personal life, and i met some of my best online friends through CS.

but, of course, there was that senior year hiatus that i never really recovered from. because i wrote CS in the aftermath of the first relationship i was ever in, which completely fucking ruined me. CS was written as i was experiencing psychosis, as i was stumbling from one traumatic sexual relationship into what would be another. CS came out of a person who had just been groomed, who was going to be manipulated for the next two years going forward. and i say all of this because i think it makes it excessively clear why i can't return to CS, considering the state of the DSMP creators.

there are other reasons. i am an adult now-- i mean, barely, i am nineteen. but CS was written by a 16 year old about 17 year olds, and that's not where i am anymore. so many of the themes of CS are still relevant to me-- i mean, as mentioned above, but also i am surrounded by people who have complex relationships with substances, for example, or with their families. cs!wilbur was based on my own brother and some of our issues, and that situation has developed over two years putting me in a... strange place. but i'm not in high school. i spent my senior year of high school, where cs!beeduo were dealing with shit and falling in queerplatonic love, trying to survive while my mind split alters and everything around me was falling apart. i don't even know how i survived. a lot of the people who i considered major parts of the CS community from day 1 have fallen out with me in some way. another massive part of the CS community i spent a year or two experiencing delusions about, and i am only now reconciling that what i believed wasn't real. sorry if you were a mutual of mine i ghosted. i'm trying to fix that.

i want CS to be a finished piece of work so badly, God do i want that. it meant EVERYTHING to me at age 16. it was the testament to my lived experience, it was my magnum opus, it was the best thing iwould ever create. but i can't create it anymore. and i despise how something so meaningful to me was totally fucking ruined, but i can only half fault the DSMP creators for that because everyone knew CS was stumbling towards a half complete end anyway.

i don't know when i will actually upload these final chapters. maybe in march, maybe in summer, maybe in between. but i can't continue acting like i will finish up a CS chapter at this rate. every ex-dsmp content creator, except fucking Jack Manifold and Niki so shout out to them (and Tommy and ConnorEatsPants i'll add in edit), makes me nauseous in some kind of way. some of them because they were genuine horrible people! and some, i don't know, the downfalls of parasocialism and the endless disappointment in XYZ areas. some of that will heal. some of that, obviously, will never heal. i can't stick around and wait for it.

i'm sorry for the long post. you all know i am verbose at this point. it makes me so sad that at age 16, ex-grooming victim who was about to go through so much worse, i was able to create something and was convinced i'd see it through. i don't think i am a coward but i do feel sorry for the ways i will never avenge my younger self. but i can't write a fic about cs!beeduo when i knew, back then, that i wanted their to be a sexual trauma plotline, which will never exist because half the fucking streamers were abusers. i can't write about cs!ranboo's psychosis when i was convinced my own mutuals were trying to kill me for about a year. i can't do any of this anymore. and that makes me so angry with myself. but it's just the truth.

i have to go get food with some friends. if people want i can elaborate but that's the bottom line. CS meant everything to me and i'm sorry to say it but, it's going to have a lackluster end. God knows i tried. God knows i fucking tried.

[moonlightspencie]

rewatched the update video, read some posts from both people who like and dislike the update, and just finished charlie’s (mo1stcr1tikal) video about watcher. here are my complete thoughts:

Video Execution

i appreciate that they seem to have consulted with a PR person, or at the very least really sat down and thought through their approach with the video.

they didn’t try to boo-hoo themselves.

they used a lot of positive “you language” for the fans (which i very much appreciate as a media and communication person myself)

they took accountability for their mistakes, and actually uttered the word “sorry”. low bar, i know, but many apology videos still somehow slip under the bar.

they very clearly put the focus on ryan and shane in the video. it sucks a bit that they probably felt they had to since much of that was probably due to the negative comments directed at steven, but it WAS a smart move. fans feel most betrayed by the two the majority connect with the most.

it. wasn’t. overproduced. (again, low bar, but it is what it is).

overall thoughts on execution? it was smart. they look uncomfortable, and whether that’s intentional or their true feelings, regardless of why they look so uncomfy, it makes it easier to watch. they don’t look pissed or smug. they look embarrassed. which, in an apology video, is a good thing. sorry to say

The Solution

i think they came up with the best alternative they could after royally fucking up with the majority of their fans.

the patreon solution… mixed feelings. i understand they don’t want to just go forward with one or the other: the patreon or the streamer. however, as ive seen some patrons say, it doesn’t make all that much sense to have both logistically. i think it’s only set up this way because they can’t go back entirely on watcher.tv now. good on them for giving a bit of a fix with the codes being sent to patrons.

i was still lost on how they weren’t “advertiser friendly”, and that’s where charlie’s video came in to affirm my suspicions. go watch his video for more information, but long story short: watcher is a GOLD MINE for advertisers. huge and loyal audience, engaging ads that make the viewer want to watch the ad, and an ever-growing channel.

on the back of the last point: how on earth were they struggling with money to begin with? it simply doesn’t make any sense. they had so many revenue streams & again, DO get sponsors and appear to be incredibly brand-friendly.

trust is still lost with most fans, and that will be hard as hell to regain. the ex-buzzfeed three-guys-on-a-couch model didn’t even work when the try guys were fucked over by their friend and brand trust was lost a little bit. and this loss of brand trust is fully on all three dudes on the couch this time

overall thoughts on the solution? it’s good for what they can do now that they obviously cannot just fully backtrack. that would arguably be a worse idea than the original idea for the streaming service itself. i think this would have worked much better and they would have retained integrity if they had done this from the beginning, and/or had a slow rollout instead of jumpscaring us like that. ghost files is supposed to spook us, not surprise paywalls.

Final Thoughts

a ton of trust was lost. the parasocial relationship that specifically shane and ryan fans had with them, that was the REASON for so much of the loyalty, is fractured, and for many it will never be the same as it was. i understand their fuck up when it came to the announcement was likely just them needing more self-awareness and a professional to guide them through it, but i still question how it got to that point where they felt like their fans would enjoy this to begin with. not to mention, again, how were they not making enough? why not try other options first?

i hope sincerely that watcher truly learns from this. that they remember their business isn’t about money or ambition (in a positive or negative way), but is built on the backs of their fans’ loyalty. without that fan loyalty, buzzfeed unsolved would have been the only thing we knew ryan and shane for. we wouldn’t have followed them to a new channel if we didn’t care about them and their work to certain degree.

it was a good apology video. genuinely. i’m glad they didn’t jump into it with a bandaid solution. i just wish they had the foresight to know their fans well enough to understand that there is NO way this would be well received by the majority. and there’s no going back on that now, obviously. what’s past is past. i hope moving forward that they gain a little self-awareness and that they gain some FAN-awareness. until/unless they start working on television and movies, they have to keep their fans happy. we are the consumer, not the employee, and it feels like they started somehow blurring those lines with the original video they posted. it felt like one of the corporate ‘training’ videos for my job when we start using a new system.

fans are important in online spaces, particularly. we provide free advertising for our favorite bloggers/youtubers/etc., and willingly give up money to support them through various streams (in watcher’s case: patreon, merch, live shows). you cannot exist as a creator online and think that you don’t need to keep your fans happy when it is your source of income. it’s simply how being a successful internet personality works, for better or worse.

good job to the watcher boys on how they went about the apology/fix. i hope things go better from here on out.

[lord-squiggletits]

Your Tarn posts make me think about him more

He's a victim but he has so many victims himself, but the person that he is, that cause those victims, was delibrately cultivated. Tarn of the DJD was intentional, and that worse somehow

I have to ask, what do you think it would look like if Tarn, somehow & for whatever reason, decided to take the road of healing, to put whatever pieces of himself back together

YEAH I THINK SO FUCKING MUCH ABOUT THAT, even from my first MTMTE read when I didn't care much about him as a blorbo, I thought it was crazily compelling how Tarn was at once an absolute terrifying monster but also the most pathetic, sad little bully boy in an oversized body at the same time akldjlfksd. Like, you look at Tarn and the horrible shit he did to Pharma, all the victims of the DJD, Skids, the alt. Lost Light, etc and he seems like a completely unstoppable force. Then you actually look behind the mask and Tarn's just so... incredibly short-sighted, blindly worships, really volatile and thoughtless, and ultimately gets his shit rocked by Megatron in what's basically a no-contest loss. It feels really bad like... how can it be that someone so pathetic was able to cause so much destruction before he was put down? In the ideal world, you want to believe that shitty, weak people are powerless, but it turns out that sometimes shitty, weak people can actually be in positions of power (in terms of hierarchy, physical might, politics, etc) and when they do they can hurt an incredibly disproportionate amount of people compared to their actual strength of character as a person. As an example, pre-insanity/mania Pharma was so obviously a better person than Tarn, but look how that ended up: this absolute prodigy of a doctor, next in line to be CMO, a normal good Autobot in all accounts. Gets completely wrecked and turned into a mentally ill, insane asshole that loses everything and everyone he ever valued, and Tarn literally never even thinks about him again. God.

As to how I'd handle Tarn healing arc...

The short answer: I actually want to write about Tarn taking a road of healing, heel-face turn arc in the Pen Pals Tarnma AU I've talked about occasionally on this blog/in asks! So... when I post that fic, literally just (gestures at the whole thing)

The long answer:

If canon-divergent, it'd be Dying of the Light but Tarn and co. stop fighting Megatron bc of how pathetic he is. The DJD basically merge forces with Deathsaurus' Decepticons, and they make a sort of neo-Decepticon movement fighting the Galactic Council/Black Rock Consortia. Tarn isn't really a better person morally speaking (yknow the hating organics and wanting conquest thing), but he'd definitely be put on a path where he divorces his sense of self from Megatron and focuses more on his group of comrades: he finds meaning from a collective rather than from worshiping an individual as a god, and Tarn experiences healing from that fact bc instead of a fucked up grooming/parasocial relationship with a distant, uncaring leader, he's actually having real, tangible bonds with people who are equal to him and love and respect him. So, probably still really fanatical to his ideals, but he's a fanatic who loves his comrades as much as he loves his cause.

In a nonspecified AU, let's say during the war with Decepticon Megatron, I think the only way Tarn could get better would be if Megatron got better and then took the time/care to make Tarn better along with him. Unfortunately, Tarn has been manipulated in such a way that Megatron is literally his entire axis of morality/purpose/etc, and I think he doesn't have enough agency and independence to start healing except unless Megatron says "shittiest of my sons, why don't you deradicalize and maybe you'll calm down." It'd basically take Megatron un-grooming Tarn first, and then for Tarn to get some kind of purpose/relationship outside of him for Tarn to regain the independence he had as Damus, which would then allow him to pull the rest of the way from Megatron and go his own way. (Incidentally, this is what happens in the Pen Pals AU)

In a scenario that I don't even know how it'd happen but I desperately want it to happen: Optimus "I can fix him" Prime and Tarn are forced to work together in some capacity which leads to a slowburn mending of their relationship. Not like Tarn becomes an Autobot, or goes back to being Damus, but like... idk, Optimus is the one to deradicalize Tarn and make him realize that Megatron manipulated the shit out of him. Somehow. I would really like these two to interact so badly, and for Tarn to also have a mentor/paternal-esque relationship with someone besides Megatron. (This also happens in Pen Pals AU ldskfjlsd I told you that fic was the true Tarn Redemption Story dlksfjlsdsf)

[akane-kurokawa]

“Does Oshi no Ko NEED the reincarnation aspect to work” is a sentiment I’ve seen a lot lately, especially on the subreddit (which I still check regularly despite what it’s devolved into) Personally, I think that’s the wrong question, you should be asking “WHY is the reincarnation aspect present.”

First, let’s talk about parasocial relationships. The idol industry is built upon them, more-so than any other industry. Idols are supposed to be the ideal -yet unattainable- partner to fantasize about, to the point where they’re forbidden from having those kinds of connections in real life without facing scrutiny.

Ai Hoshino is the “Ultimate” idol. She doesn’t have ANYONE she has those genuine connections with, even her fellow group members hold her at the same untouchable distance that her fans do. She became an idol in hopes of loving others, and recreated the motions so perfectly that her lie became all anyone wanted from her. To the point where her true humanity was rejected, like by Nino in 45510.

Enter our protagonists (Layer One)

Sarina Tendouji is a hospital bound fan of all of B Komachi, but especially Ai. She idolizes her for being a girl her own age with a pretty face and incredible singing and dancing skills. This especially resonates with Sarina who’s studied B Komachi’s choreography non stop, but was tragically not able to dance herself due to her condition.

Goro Amamiya is an OBGYN in a small town that became a diehard fan of Ai after Sarina’s passing, superimposing the two in his head as he described it. When he met Ai in real life and became her doctor during her pregnancy, he found her off camera personality charming and internalized her philosophy about lies.

Then of course, after his death they were reincarnated as her twin children. During that time they saw her in a much more human way, worrying about money and providing for her family, harboring insecurities, being the best mom that she could be despite her circumstances.

They saw the way she gets treated by the industry and public she came up in as well, her parts cut out of her first drama due to corporate politics, her being speculated on and called a whore for just talking to an old classmate, and especially how her death was received. By this point, their relationship with her is much closer than the parasocial place it began.

But has it?

Enter our protagonists (Layer Two)

Sarina Tendouji was a girl rejected by her mother as her condition got worse. She loved her mother deeply and wanted to be just like her when she got older.

In the last few years of life she never even saw her mom, that void filled with the presence of a doctor loitering in her room to slack off work, and the idol she watched. What she wanted more than anything though was for her mother to come see her again.

Goro Amamiya was a boy born from a woman who hid her pregnancy and died in childbirth. That death painted the entirety of his life going forward.

Even then he’s haunted by his feelings of helplessness when he loses the child patient he had befriended early into his residency. He’s become a passive person, following the whims of others because of his perceived helplessness.

Both of them take these complicated feelings into their next life, and it paints their relationships with Ai after her death.

Ruby wants to follow in her moms footsteps once again and be just like Ai, to the point of naming her idol group B Komachi. Ultimately, I think she mostly takes positively from her time as Ai’s daughter, and looks more to Ai’s life rather than her death.

Aqua on the other hand, witnessed his mother bleed out in front of him in almost a metaphorical recreation of his first mother’s death, and this has shaped him irreversibly. Except this time there’s an object for his hatred other than himself. This time, his mother was murdered. He could do more than follow in the motions of preventing it from happening to others. This time he could get revenge.

Now “Why is the reincarnation aspect present.”

Ai Hoshino was never understood by anyone, her parents, her idol group, even her trusted adults. But two people, born with traumas and biases that paint their perspectives, were both brought into this world with their goal to try.

Aqua more investigatipvely, tracking down loose ends from her past, holding onto people with the ability to profile her from videos and images. Whereas Ruby is on a more personal journey of understanding her, recreating the steps of her journey more directly and coming to her own conclusions about it.

This leads us to the 15 Year Lie, the potential climax of the series as a whole, and the event referenced from the prologue chapters. The movie that began as a documentary meant to tell the true unfiltered life of Ai Hoshino as she always wanted. It had even made some headway prior to her death, but it’s hard to say how much.

This movie finds itself as the roadmap of both twins journey in understanding. Aqua now has the resources and connections to speak to anyone from Ai’s past, her mother, her fellow idol members, and likely more. But by this point, Aqua also knows the name of the man his tunnel vision hatred is focused on. And hatred is seeping into this story down to the script itself

Ruby is also now in the position of very literally playing Ai, the arguably highest point on her journey to walk in her mother’s shoes. Compared to Aqua, I think she’s getting much closer to her goal.

Of course, it’s still too soon to say how that will go for her, I expect her journey of understanding will continue for the entirety of of the movie filming process. There’s still the entirety of Ai’s relationship with Hikaru and her children as well as her death to be covered and I’m sure Ruby will have plenty of challenges and breakthroughs with those too.

In conclusion, not only is the reincarnation aspect needed, I think it’s crucial to what the story is trying to say thematically. If they were just children who lost their mom young and tried to understand her it would be compelling, but thematically it wouldn’t carry nearly the same weight as fans pulled across the parasocial line with their own projected baggage.

Remember, being ‘reborn as an idols child’ is inherently a parasocial fantasy.

[baenyth]

First Half of Miraculous Season 2 Done. Here's my thoughts:

The Collector: A pretty good start! They made the teens smart while still being dumb teens!

Despair Bear: Chloe needs a therapist, arguably moreso than a redemption arc and especially a downward villainous spiral. Also Dangit Grandpa

Prime Queen: Wow, this was a lot more chill than expected. Even Cat Noir was left aghast at what Nadja was doing, Nadja seemed to be pressuring Ladybug and Cat Noir more for views than anything else, and I'm not entirely sure Akuma personalities can be trusted.

Befana: Fun fact: This was the episode that got me into Miraculous in the first place because of how shocking it was. And then I discovered even more. In hindsight from watching the other episodes, it was relatively darker, but mostly because it's Marinette's friends and family that are getting G-rated killed instead of random civilians like every other episode.

Riposte: Kagami is here! I don't see too much chemistry with her and Adrien yet, but she's cool and I like her and feel like I could be friends in real life. Also this feels like a relatively uncommon trope, but I wish "X is blatantly a woman but no one notices" was spedran through by someone with brains.

Robustus: Pretty good, all things considered. From what I've heard about Miraculous lore, creating sapient or at the very least semi-sapient AI isn't that uncommon for weirdness hotspots, and I'm putting Max in the list of characters I think should have figured out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identity. (There's four now!)

Gigantitan: It turns out my favorite parts of Miraculous are the slice-of-life bits instead of the superhero bits the show is about! We got to see more of Marinette's friends! Alix! Mylene! Julie! The Eeby Deeby herself! Also it was really sweet to see Adrien's bodyguard calm down just by looking at the kid. Adrien's true daddy.

Dark Owl: No wonder these two aren't allowed to know eachothers' identities, considering how much of a loose tongue Marinette has!

Glaciator: Alright, it's finally time to talk about the sins of Marinette and Cat Noir, considering the fan content I osmosed before watching the series was heavy salt stuff, and I wanna see how much it holds up. So far Cat Noir has acted as if he's already dating Ladybug previously, and in this episode he got mad at Ladybug for not showing up at a date when she herself said she might not come due to having other plans. Isn't he supposed to be used to not-showing-up disappointment as Adrien due to his dad? Is it different because he's Cat Noir? Is this a breaking point? No matter, he eventually calms down and is ultimately the less bad member of the relationship. Marinette, meanwhile, doesn't have as many misdemeanors to her name but they're a lot worse. She stole Adrien's phone to get rid of an embarrassing message and got away with it too, what the hell, and also owns the schedule. Although I don't believe she stalked Adrien and made it herself due to how busy she is as both Marinette and Ladybug, that's just weird and wrong. I'm reluctant to call her a stalker, but her actions are still wrong. Ultimately, this relationship is going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to not crash and burn. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. The ice cream episode. I think the ice cream guy can be wrong and he doesn't understand that.

Sapotis: Silly little fun episode, also it introduces the first new Miraculous holder! I'm honestly fine with it so far if it means more screentime for side characters. I honestly really like seeing Marinette's classmates. They're neat. Also I was this close to putting Alya on the list but she proves time and time again that she doesn't actually know Ladybug's identity.

Gorizilla: In this episode we are introduced to Adrien's deranged parasocial fanbase. I'm starting to understand some of his father's decisions at this point. This is what I was talking about with the schedule, by the way. These obsessive stalker creeps make Marinette look reasonable, and I wouldn't be surprised if the one guy who I'm pretty sure becomes Party Crasher discreetly stalked Adrien to get his schedule. Restraining orders need to be filed.

Captain Hardrock: One of the funniest episodes, up there with Dark Cupid. Also Luka is here! And he already has great chemistry with Marinette! And more Rosie and Julie content even if it's crumbs!

[dtupdates-archive]

♡—DREAM posted a thread on Twitter. Transcript under the cut

I’ve been harassed for almost a year, due to a false accusation right after my face reveal. this person publicly said they’d be “pressing charges” and “posting proof” but it could take “days” and then went silent for a year, and never did either while I waited and waited.

someone that less than a week before the accusation, was liking and replying to my tweets positively, deleted dms and called people doubting her “jealous” that I didn’t want them instead, admitted they considered lying about their age to try and dm me weeks before they turned 18.

this one false accusation turned into Dream talked to kids, there’s tons of accusations, Dream never denied it, Dream was exposed fiddling kids, and so much worse. All due to past parasocialness (that, yes, I can be to blame for)

I talked on stream about how I’m going to make a detailed video, with logs, screenshots, and evidence, and gave some bullet points, and it got completely clipped out of context and spread somehow as the lie that I “admitted everything”.

Then the moving of the goalposts started to “he may not have SEXTED anyone, BUT grooming is just messaging someone underage, and he admitted she dmd him!” and then digging into my sex life, or my relationship history (with only people older than me ??)

It’s such a shit show, and I get it. I’m the cringe Minecraft guy that was fat, that makes bad music, that’s from Florida and has said offensive things, that cheated, that’s stubborn and an asshole and racist and homophobic and doesn’t manage his rabid fans, manipulates, etc

but don’t let you thinking that I’m “bad either way” make you stomp all over real victims future stories, or devalue what “grooming” is to make sure I fit the definition. and I know I’m not convincing anyone on Twitter that’s made their mind up. Just feels right to share finally

[notthatalex]

I think the biggest difficulty with having guests on reddit stories compared to cast is that people have ranging parasocial relationships with cast and are ergo more charitable to them. Or even when they disagree, they don't mind as much. While they don't have that with guests and are much more likely to be genuinely mad.

To be fair for some people, it is actually the other way around where their parasocial relationships lead to them getting more hurt because they feel like they got betrayed by a friend or something.

And obviously, when guests are on, they always have the same opinion as Shayne and the other cast member. And fans are therefor also disagreeing with cast, but then the focus of discussion is mostly on the guest. And the focus the cast gets is in form of "disappointment".

So it is more a charitabilty issue for most I think. That people use the term "vibes" so much when talking about how they don't like guests is really emboldening that viewpoint for me. (I have a slight personal gripe with the term and people using it to express opinions tbh)

I really don't think cast has less often bad takes, but I do think people interpret that "going back and forth/ exploring different viewpoints" ping pong play they do on that show a lot way worse when it comes from guests. Or like just straight-up jokes.

This isn't a comment about if smosh should have guests in gen btw. I am kinda neutral about that. It's a comment on how peoples preemptive charitabilty influences their judgment on the takes.

I am kinda neutral/pos on the guest thing, like if it is someone I know or like I am excited and if I don't I really care. This is kinda a tangent but I also think people miss the mark when they talk about how the smosh audience doesn't care/know about tiktokers and should only have youtuber guests. The reddit stories audience definitely does care about tiktokers. It is their wide net show, like I watched the new episode with my sister today, who only watches reddit stories from smosh. She knew the guest, while she didn't know who Trevor was.

Anyway I wrote this because I go out of every reddit stories episodes disagreeing with some takes more or less, but I mostly see people voice disagreements when guests are on and this is my attempt at analyzing it. If anyone wants to chime in and disagree or add on I would welcome it. Still not fully formed opinion it. Malleable and squishy opinion one could say.

[alarrytale]

Marte, where do you think lies the line in the idol-fan relationship? To which extent does the parasocialism can exist to not be considered unhealthy? To me it seems like with Louis and louies it has stepped out of the healthy norm. His fandom has always been polarized, but the division created by the LTHQ hands has made it so much worse than it could be. I could even make it political and parallel it with some right wing regime in the way this fandom governs itself these days: the authority figure gives its allowance to single out a group of people who speak out against the accepted “truth” and attack it with no repercussions. I think even the fact that this came up to my mind, even if I’m just saying shit, is the signal they’re doing something deeply wrong and dangerous. You were right about the fact that they could end up with the blood on their hands. Next time if they’re unlucky to single out the wrong person who will not take this as easily… And the sad part is, antis say larries bring bullying and harassment upon themselves, which is an insane statement, it’s so harmful and gross, these people are so propagandized they actually brought the mass extinction sign to his concert and think this is totally acceptable. And what’s even more sad - Louis says nothing every time.

Isn’t it insane? Where’s the line? It feels like until they literally have a su*cide on their hands, they won’t back off. It’s of course a double edged sword in a normal situation, normally it’s a responsibility of an individual to make their fan experience pleasant, but unfortunately we’re not in a normal situation, when two sides are made to hang off of each Louis’ word to legitimize their own beliefs. When you manipulate a very young and impressionable audience, you have to know what you’re doing, and they unfortunately failed. I don’t see him trying to make it better really, “i love every single one of you” clearly doesn’t cut it.

That’s a lot of big words and I’m rambling omg, sorry😭 but I’m just tired of pretending everything is fine with what’s been happening for a very long time and we’re allowed to question reality.

Hi, anon!

You're asking all the right questions. The answer is that i don't know where the line is. It's like asking people in abusive relationship why they don't leave. It's very emotionally complicated.

I think us larries are very good at protecting each other, backing each other up, be there for each other and support each other. We have a very strong and tight knit community and we are pretty much unshakable at this point. You can’t change our minds. No matter how much gaslighting, namecalling, denials, threats and harrassment we recieve. At this point, if you can’t handle being a conspiracy theorist with all that comes with it, i think you either leave fandom or bend to Louis Tomlinson tm's will.

I think it was worse back in 2012, because people were truly shocked at Louis' behaviour. Fandom had younger fans, and a lot of larries were vulnerable young fans who were closeted, were in a lgbtqai+ hostile environments at home, and who looked up to Louis and Harry as queer role models. They were now for the first time recieving death threats for their beliefs and told Louis hated them. I was so enraging you wouldn't believe. Fans were hurt. The first cut is the deepest though and now death threats towards larries are normalised. Number 1 might hurt, but number 589? Nope, it's report, block and ignore.

It's all fucked up, and i have said so many times it's truly a miracle that Louis has got any fans at all. When we get hate we just wave our pride flags even higher and get even more annoying in their face. The last one standing in this fandom will be a larrie. Mark my words.

[computers-talking]

ﾉﾞ✧*。Why I Relate To Capochin✨🌈

Infodumping about my life, capochin, headcannons, and other autistic things! 

TW for mention of abuse, manipulation, power imbalances, pedophilia, and parasocial (?) Relationships

Capochin! Who doesn't love him other then people who don't love him- he's such a silly little guy!! Just a grumpy old man!! A grumpy old man who I, a mentally unwell teenager relate to on a deeply personal level- definitely a bit more then I'm comfortable with- and I know what your thinking, "But Felix! Seriously how relatable can he be-" SHUT UP. SHUT. SH.

.

.

.

Allow me to explain, and I guess spill my organs just a bit- just a WEE bit! So, given only two people on this forsaken website actually know about my personal life and was there to watch it happen I have a bit of explaining to do- so, where do I start... Hm, how's about middle school! Middle school, ah, how lovely- cutting out how much I was relentlessly bullied middle school was my first exposure to this kind of unhealthy relationship that I've unfortunately grown so accustomed to. Long story short I was forced into a relationship, got extremely emotionally attached only to be abandoned and have the things I love most stolen- then people spread rumors about me and blah blah blah I was bullied in middle school and people did not stop that's the short of it!

But then it kept happening.

Again-

And again-

And again.

Each relationship was progressively worse I, being the dumbass I am, only grew more and more dependant on these people who would hurt me, desprate for the approval of people who looked down at me with nothing but hate in their eyes. Starting to see a similarity? Anyways skip to freshman year! 

Highschool! How bad could it be?? Not worse then middle school that's for sure! And believe it or not- I think I'm that loser who peaks in highschool-BUT the reason I bring this up is because of my most recent experience with an abusive relationship I could not get out of.

Michael. 

At the time I was 14, Michael was 17- he guilt tripped me into dating him, used me for what he wanted and smothered me with 'love' if you could even call it that and at some point in this endless loop of hell he turned 18 while I was still 14- a lot more happened in that relationship but the important part is that this is when I hit an all time low and I didn't mention this but I have always been big on cannibalism metophors- and this is around when those cannibalism metophors stopped being uhhh, metophors let's say! 

Yeah things got real bad but I managed to crawl away mostly unharmed-

And I know because that was genuinely a lot for HORRIBLE shit to read I'll give everyone a bit of fluff in my life, I'm doin fine and I'm in a very happy polyam relationship !! I love my boyfriends very much!

Back to the horrible shit!

This kinda manic desperation got really bad after I got away from Michael, my brain immediately opting to viewing my current boyfriend, Oco as a savior of sorts- given hes known me since middle school, got me out of the abusive relationship with Michael and kinda is the only reason I haven't DIED yet- holding him up on this mental pedistal where no matter what he did he would always be perfect and amazing and I would do anything anything anything for him!! 

Yeah, that... That kinda fucked me up- I mean, go figure-

ALL THESE MANY MANY PARAGRAPHS OF TRAUMADUMPING TO SAY, DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN??? GOD this isn't even scratching the surface of the shit I've been through that contributes to why I relate to Capochin so much!! This is leaving out like ALLLLLL the cannibalism and self mutilation metophors I've found myself associated with, pretty much everything that happened that lead up to me holding just... SOME GUY on a mental pedistal for god knows how long- I could genuinely just go on and on and on about it!! But honestly I don't think anyone would really be interested in listening to me info dump about my life more then I already have- we're here for the CAPOCHIN!!! And honestly- I don't really know what to say- I mean I feel like this all kinda speaks for itself, y'know? I mean- fuck man, he just hits a bit too close to home for me sometimes- I love him tho, he's very important to me

If you actually read this far- Uhm, thank you!! You really didn't need to read all this shit- I know it's a lot to take in but I uh- yeah- if you read all this thank you it genuinely means a lot to me <3

[ladybugreviews]

The secret session listening party from Hell: Opus

Mark Anthony Green’s feature directorial debut Opus adds very little newness to the oversaturated market of cult-focused psychological thrillers, but it tells a tired story better than most. Anyone who has seen more than two of said thriller or horror films in the last seven-odd years will recognize hints of Midsommar, Get Out, or even The Menu in Opus, which stars Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich alongside Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, and Tatanka Means. I don’t mean to imply that Opus is better than the three aforementioned films—in fact, it is decidedly weaker—but it’s much better than some of the other cult-related social commentary psychological thrillers that come out every year like clockwork. 

Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich were fantastic as a plucky journalist and eccentric musician, respectively, but the supporting casts’ characters were underdeveloped in favor of allowing Edebiri’s and Malkovich’s performances to drive the narrative. They certainly did, but with such a strong supporting cast, it did the whole film a disservice. Still, Edebiri’s near-comical facial expressions and down-to-earth performance kept the familiar plot feeling fresh and for once, we get a final girl who actually seems to think with her head. Malkovich was, in a word, chilling. Somehow both magnetic and repulsive, he played the perfect torturing artist. Maybe the pop-star-to-cult-leader phenomenon is one we need to fear a little more in this age of parasocial relationships.

The overall plot and themes of the movie called to mind that one quote from The Dark Knight: Either you die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. 

As the story unfolds and we get a glimpse behind all of Malkovich’s character Alfred Moretti’s postulating and python-skin boots, we begin to understand how he has become the person he is—and how Edebiri’s Ariel Ecton could go down the very same path. While the dialogue is fine and, at times, even funny, all of Moretti’s discussion of the focus of Levelism—his cult—gets confused as the film tries to tell us everything, rather than show us.

Aside from Edebiri’s and Malkovich’s performances, the best parts of Opus are the cinematography and the original music, written by Nile Rodgers and The-Dream. Adding the music was a particularly strong choice, actually; without it to break up the clunky monologues, the film would have dragged on unforgivably. Aside from the original songs, however, the soundtrack was the same dissonant violin that plagues every single horror or thriller of the last decade or more. For god’s sake, there are other instruments you can use to build tension. 

The open-endedness of thriller endings can either work for or against a given film. This time, it worked. In the last ten or so minutes, that feeling of being watched that never quite leaves Ariel after she escapes Moretti’s estate comes together in an unsettling but satisfying way. In this rare case, I found myself wanting there to be more to the story—I did actually care enough to want to know what would happen next. 

As far as feature directorial debuts go, this could have been significantly worse but it fits into its niche nicely. Though it’s not as strong as other cult-centered thrillers or horror movies, it’s certainly not a waste of time either. Green could and should have taken more risks, especially because it felt like he got scared of standing apart from similar films and became just another voice in the crowd as a result, but Opus had great original music and fun performances from a fantastic cast. I look forward to seeing what Green—and, of course, the rest of the cast—will do next.

If you liked Opus, you might enjoy: Midsommar (2019), Get Out (2017), or The Menu (2022).

Ladybug rating: 3.5/5 stars.