#this is me saying: thank you for always being supportive with the op fandom !

[hyperfixationcritter]

#THANK YOU.#again the characters only hold value so much as they're useful to the white people around them#performing emotional physical and magical labour for them despite rarely getting the same themselves#it was especially egregious with mel this season and last bc we see her support jayce's raggedy ass CONSTANTLY#but he rarely if ever does the same for her#and the ONE time when it really would've counted this season even if they did break up in the end the show had him#try to beat her up and then talk shit to her face and she wasn't allowed to push back. gross gross gross.#but yay y'all got your white x spicy white yaoi so all is well with he world. fuck that tbqh.#as for ekko some of the writing was so bizarre with the 'what would you do without her' nonsense#like actually ekko was the boy saviour who started a resistance group of orphaned zaunite kids providing care#community and livelihood to those in need WITHOUT jinx/powder.#almost the entirety of ep7 was about ekko being there to further jinx's arc twice over.#all this to say jayviks now claiming they lurvee mel and have always lurved her bc they 'won' is grossly transparent to me#keep the same energy mfs#the weakness of the season was harmful to all the characters but it's doubly so with these two#bc of how they're positioned in the story and by fandom#and how the way ppl talk about them only lays bare the issues op pointed out#mel medarda#ekko#you both deserved a better show and more stories#hope we get to see you soon#arcane

EXACTLY, she's one of my favorite characters on the show and had the potential to have this kind of arc. And like, I like the secret magic stuff too but it was rushed (and I honestly preferred the theories of her being revived/blessed in the womb vs just being born with magic from a mystery magical parent). I definitely think dealing with racism in fandom made it harder to talk about Mel's actual flaws when everyone else was tryna make her evil incarnate for just existing while black and in the way of a white mlm ship (I know Jayce is latino coded but you can be white and latino like his voice actor and idk if the showrunners wanted him to be perceived as explicitly brown or not given the ways the west is about viewing lation as a race and the ways fandom treats him is a mix of both white when he's in a mlm ship and they wanna dunk on Mel and brown when they're mad at him, at least that's what i think)

(reblogging this again for all these good additions. I added my part at the end in the replies but felt like reblogging it too)

I don’t know how to say this exactly but like… fandom and show are kinda weird about Mel and Ekko and it is very much rooted in racism

[absolutebl]

Welcome to Tumblr BL Fandom - Here’s Your Primer

memes, insider trading & obsession meta post

The Death Stairs 

They haunt us. These same stairs constantly pop up in Thai BLs and we worry that someone is going to die on them (or fuck on them, or both).

BL origin = unknown, we only recently started tracking them (but the actual origin of the death stairs is 99 Home Studio117, RPC6+JM3 ซอย รามอินทรา 117 Min Buri, Bangkok 10510, Thailand. It appears to be a house rented out for filming. Honestly? They should AirBnB that level of fame. I’d rent it, buy a cactus and a chili plant, just for the photo op.)  

Rain Makes BL Boys Sick

For which the only solution is a sponge bath administered by another boy with a bowl of water and a damp white towel.

We don’t make the rules, the BL gods do. 

origin of the rain=fever = cultural

BL origin for the sponge bath = 2014′s Love Sick

The gayest bridge in Thailand

The Rama VII Bridge has appeared in so many Thai BLs - boys kiss on it and in front of it... A LOT. 

BL origin = SOTUS 2016  

Honor the Crumbs

Side dishes given very little screen time always end up being everyone’s favorites (especially in the pulps). Also falls under side dish syndrome. This is mostly a Thai BL thing, since they’re usually the BLs featuring more than one couple. (Taiwan is getting there, tho.)  

BL origin = @heretherebedork

The Engineering Department is Gay (also Pink Milk) 

The hot Thai boy in the engineering smock (red or blue) is either gay or a chaos bisexual. There are no exceptions. 

BL origin = SOTUS 2016 

Korea’s BL bubble 

A world where queer is simply accepted and a hostile society doesn’t exist. ​

Origin, probably Strongberry’s 2017-2018 shorts, but best known starters are 2020′s Mr Heart & Wish You

Namgoong award for best wingman 

Supportive straight(ish) besties! Appear throughout BL history, but really reached peak awesome with Namgoong, so a collection of us just started saying “thank you, Namgoong” whenever this archetype shows up. 

BL origin, Light on Me 

Korea’s BL formula 

(1 short Kpop idol + 1 tall actor / random separation in the last half of the final episode) x a small cast = KBL (usually 6-8 episodes totaling under 2 hrs)

BL origin, 2015′s The Lover 

Korean male beauty ideals here. 

Korea figured out boys can kiss 

To be fair Strongberry always knew this and Just Friends? gave it to us in 2005, it’s just they forgot for a while. A long while. 

origin = Korean 2022 BL

speaking of... 

Dead fish kisses

This tradition carried for years by Japan’s light BL, early Thai BL like Love Sick, & then Korea. It took Thailand’s 2016 BL (specifically elder gods KarnNut & MaxTul) to start breaking this curse. Could be argued that Ohm in 2016′s Make it Right also paved the way (while BoomPeak exemplify dead fish kissing). 

origin = early 2000s JBL when it was still known as Live Action Yaoi 

Taiwan = the kings of high heat 

Taiwan always serves up the most consistent and authentic chemistry, kisses, and higher heat. Thailand has it as well, but isn’t as consistent about it. 

BL origin = 2017 HIStory franchise and every Taiwanese BL since (although Eternal Summer probably started it in 2006) 

Taiwan’s marriage equality 

Taiwan was the first to feature sanctioned gay marriage in a BL, the first to depict queer engagements - and they regularly like to remind us that it’s legal there. As they should. 

BL origin = HIStory 2: Right or Wrong 2017 

Thailand’s food = love

Lovers cook, serve, feed, and/or eat together. Always. At least something along these lines in every Thai BL. 

origin, well just Thailand in general (and Asia to be fair), but probably SOTUS & Love Sick 

Vietnam’s domesticity

Vietnam always depicts at least some of their characters in a home environment, with family life, adopted kids, and more.

BL origin = Tein Bromance Extra

Cactus baby (and chili plant younger sibling) 

Hilariously a cactus plant was deployed as a courting gift, spy device, and blooming representation of sexual awakening in MaxTul vehicle Manner of Death. Tumblr adopted that cactus baby. 

BL origin = Manner of Death 2021

What China Did 

Massive wholesale censorship curtailed/abruptly cut short multiple shows in progress in 2016-2017. Also resulted in rewriting and reshooting of those in production, and more weird and invidious things. This also showed up as a purge (and likely persecution) of Chinese queer vloggers on YouTube, the imprisonment of several danmai authors, and eventually the censored bromances we now get today. 

BL origin victim = Addicted, Advance Bravely, etc...

Japan’s lanes 

Japan’s propensity to lean in favor of either

sweet, campy, and very low heat live action yaoi shot in a manga style with HEA, or 

dark, gritty high heat queer cinema and pinks shot in an atmospheric style with tragic endings 

BL origin, Boys Love 2006 & Takumi-kun 2007 

History of Japanese BL here and the weeds of Japanese BL here. 

#In Strongberry We Trust 

Small, queer, Korean production house Strongberry had been producing short form pro-queer KBL successfully for years, long before larger studios picked BL up. But when they transitioned to long form in 2022, we were a little scared they wouldn’t stick the landing. #InStrongberryWeTrust became our mantra.

BL origin = Choco Milk Shake 2022 

Faen Fatal(e) 

A side character, usually an ex-girlfriend but occasionally an ex-boyfriend, whose sole purpose is as a plot device to drive a wedge between the leads, or cause jealousy. 

BL origin = Love Sick

The Thai BL Pulps

Very low budget BL with terrible sound, crazy soapy plots, and earnest acting.

BL origin = Make It Right 2016 (term coined by @heretherebedork​ & self) 

The Mame effect 

AKA #oh mame must you? 

The mameverse features great characters, killer actor chemistry, and higher heat combined with terrible damaging tropes and non-sensical plot devices.

BL origin = TharnType (although technically started in Love By Chance) 

The 2 Moons Curse 

When a popular BL franchise struggles to survive over one season and keeps having to recast the leads. 

BL origin = 2Moons original 2017 

Dread Episode 11 

AKA Doom of Ep 11

Explained here. 

Golden Rules of BL 

Never trust: 

a Thai trailer, 

a Viki Category, 

a Vietnamese sub, 

an MDL description, 

a Taiwanese title, 

Japan, 

or a BL made before 2014.

Origin = me over the years 

BLoundary Test: has the seme ever respected a single boundary?

BLechdel Test. 2 ukes discuss something that is not their seme(s). Also uke indicates actual interest in sex in a relationship.

(source)

okay what did I forget? 

[lemotmo]

First time I've seen them be, deservedly and understandably, short with someone. The ask was vile but I love the answer so enjoy! You will have no trouble figuring out what the ask was.

A. Anon, I debated long and hard about answering your ask because, to be frank, it's rude as hell. But I decided to answer it because there are a couple of points I would like to make and you gave me an opening. I will be more polite to you than your ask was to me, but this is my third draft of this response and it's still not as polite as I strive to be to people, but it's clearly as polite as I can be on this one. Enjoy.

It's not possible to 'turn on Tommy'. He is a plot device. His character is whatever the plot needs him to be. I said from day one I liked the intended purpose of Tommy as far as present Buck is concerned. I get what the show is doing with him and I like it, right now, for Buck. I never pretended it was more than that. You are correct, my blog has lots of pro Eddie/Buddie posts. I've watched from the beginning. If you actually watch the show it is hard to not like him/them. You're also correct in that I view Buck/Eddie/Christopher as a family unit. That's the way they're written. We're supposed to see them that way, again watch the show for context. I love Eddie. He deserves better than the neverending Shannon go round. Ryan's recent interviews seem to imply he would also like to get off that particular ride. That doesn't make me or anyone else a Tommy traitor, because again, can't betray a plot device.

As for the Lou part of your ask, I have made no secret of my personal issues with him. I don't feel the need to reference it in every single answer I give, but they're easy to find on my blog. Screaming at me that we have no proof he's supported trump since 2016 is not the character win you seem to think it is. He was just as misogynistic, homophobic and racist then. So not a point in Lou's favor. I also have issues with the Cameo videos. It's gross to charge fans to talk to you. Did he have every right to capitalize on his fandom moment, sure, but I can still think it's icky. I can also acknowledge the nightmare it has caused for Oliver and Tim, and even more disgustingly so, Ryan. Most of us figured out it was the same 8 or 9 blogs purchasing the videos (no surprise who those blogs were) which I'm also sure Lou eventually figured out. He wasn't talking to a wide audience. The view count told you that. Which is why I stress that people have to stop pretending that Buck and Tommy are some wide spread loved couple. Reality doesn't support that. Shouting into a vacuum of like minded people is not the same thing as being an audience favorite and most of the people shouting know this. The videos served no purpose except financial. Which again, he had every right to do, but i have the right to be grossed out by it. I try very hard to be respectful of everyone's opinions. I am an adult. I don't need everyone to agree with my every thought. I expect the same basic level of politeness in my ask box. Your misunderstanding or deliberate ignorance of what is very clearly displayed on my blog is not my responsibility. I understand what I think the show is trying to do with the character of Tommy. I get it, and I don't hate it. I like the idea. Voicing that was never stating I'm anti Eddie or Buddie. And understanding and voicing where I think the show is going doesn't make me a Tommy traitor. Because once more, he's a plot device.

Louder for the people in back!

Oh wow. What a truth bomb. Slay! OP your ability to stay calm and collected when obviously answering a very rude and disrespectful ask is remarkable and commendable. I always strive to do the same on my blog, but even I sometimes lose my patience when it comes to the more 'rude' messages in my inbox.

What can I say about this? It's the truth. Nothing more, nothing less. Enough said.

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[starflungwaddledee]

do you have any tips for leaving compliments on other people's art ?? your tags are always so well phrased !

oooo oooooooooooooo uuhhhhhhhh hmmm!

firstly, thank you!! i'm rather glad to hear that! i try quite hard to leave meaningful comments so it's nice when folks notice or appreciate it!

outside of commenting on the work, i first consider the tone of what i'm saying and who i'm saying it to.

i always try to make sure that what i'm saying will be appreciated by the person! that's the point. for the most part i leave comments to bring joy to the op, and thank them for their hard work, for being here and sharing art that made me happy! if i'm speaking to a mutual or friend, there's gonna be inside jokes and probably an amount of casual yelling. possibly even a little friendly roast, if i know them well enough. if i'm speaking with someone i don't know as well i try to keep it a little more professional, but i keep in mind that this is a fandom so an amount of yelling and screaming is expected. i tend to think about what i would like from someone else.

also if i notice that a caption or a blogs about is not in english i double check. if english is not the first language of the artist i make sure to construct tags that are easily translated and i use only and exclusively positive phrases. saying things like "delete this!!!! /pos" or "eating my own hands" can be totally lost in translation. i also keep in mind the age of the OP. don't tag as though you're Looking Disrespectfully at the art of a minor, even if that's your favourite blorbo.

as for how to comment on art or storytelling itself, this is indeed a learned skill, and it can be helped by training your eye to understand different things in artwork. but it's easy to start practicing! this is intuitive to me now, but an easy way to begin is to pick out one or two things that really stand out to you on a piece. (examples could be line quality; is it smooth? neat? textured? full of emotion?, shading: is it crisp? atmospheric? realistically rendered?, or colour choice: is it vibrant? is it moody? is it perfectly on model?) and draw attention to them and how the artist successfully used them to make the piece work.

if the piece includes design-work, pick something of that which you like as well. (clothes, colour choices, abilities, parallels to other characters, totally new or unique concepts that you haven't seen before. if you see your favourite colour combos or notions, let them know, but if it's a stranger remember they made the design for themselves, and you just share (good) tastes!) if you really want to make an artist/designer/storyteller's day, try to find the Little Thing that they've snuck into their art or design that ties into the story or lore that they are telling. even guesses to this end tend to be appreciated!

generally useful things you can also comment on are how well an artist has utilised a medium for its strengths, especially if the medium is a little unusual. if someone @'d me in particular i make sure to acknowledge that too because they probably read me for something and i should acknowledge the effort!

another thing i also always, always encourage, is to try to periodically share and comment on the work of people who are either less experienced or who have less visibility than you. especially if you have more of a platform! if you want to keep your blog clean of too many reblogs for aesthetic or professional reasons you can even go through and remove them later, but sharing the work of smaller accounts- even temporarily- makes such a huge difference! and encouraging + supporting younger or beginner artists is something we should be endeavouring to do as much as possible!

at the end of the day, i always just try to be very earnest in my tags.

there is generally no reason to withhold any praises i can think of, because it's usually nice to have your work perceived and appreciated! i personally loooovvve long rambling tags, screaming tags, stuff like "AAHH NOOOOOOO (THE BLORBO)" and so on. i try to leave the kind of thoughtful comments that i like (and am lucky enough) to receive, and i try to share artwork from a wide variety of people!

[sflow-er]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you so much for the tag, @silvagrey!💜

How many works do you have on Ao3?

Eight.

What's your total Ao3 word count?

355,461 (that's a bit deceptive; one of my fics is 239k).

What fandoms do you write for?

Young Royals. I did write for other fandoms all through my teens, but those fics haven't been online for a long time now.

Top five fics by kudos:

Other people's secrets (1,215) Matters of adjustment (190) The real deal (180) Like you better (152) Last chance (126)

Do you respond to comments?

I respond to every comment on new fics and WIPs. Having discussions in the comments section is the best thing about sharing a story, and I love my little community of regular commenters!

However, I am currently learning not to beat myself up for not getting round to answering every backlogged comment on OPS. I still try my best, but I had to change my previous "always respond" policy when @willedeservesbetter left very long thought-provoking comments on the first 20+ chapters and I simply couldn't keep up... 😅 I'm trying to trust that people know life gets in the way sometimes.

That being said, I do reply to all comments where the reader has shared their personal thoughts on the ace rep! It may take me a while to get to them, but they never fall off my to-do list.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Årnäs, February 2016. I don't necessarily think the ending is "angsty", but it's a very bleak fic with no happy ending.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It's impossible to choose between all my Walty fics. Does the emotional payoff from all the angst make OPS the happiest ending? Or is it one of the fics that are sweet from start to finish?

Whichever one it is, I would like to think none of them are too sugary sweet. They are very happy on the romance front because I want them to be a comforting read, but there is usually at least something left for the characters to figure out on their own after the story with the insight/support/lessons they have gained.

Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully no. There is one rudely worded public bookmark on OPS, but it doesn't qualify as hate. Also, I once got a comment calling a plot point "ridiculous :D", but the person didn't mean any harm.

Do you write smut?

I did write a couple of scenes in my teens for one fic, just emulating what I had read. The feedback was good.

I think I've mentioned this on here before, but I actually tried to write some as an exercise last year! From a "technical" standpoint, it turned out okay, but from an emotional standpoint, it just made me cringe and roll my eyes a lot. I don't know if it's a grey thing or a me thing, but I just can't buy into it at all. And I'm not interested in writing allo PWP, so unless I decide to write an explicit ace sex scene one day, the answer is no. I don't write smut.

Craziest crossover:

I'm not really a crossover person.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Well, I did enlist my "live-in expert" as a consultant on ÅFeb16 (to help me get child August's POV right and sign off on Carl Johan's characterisation and all the bad stuff bubbling under). I really enjoyed the collaboration - but I don't think actually co-writing a text with anyone would be a good fit for my process. I wouldn't even want a regular beta reader because it would only stress me out.

All-time favourite ship?

To write? I don't have an all-time favourite, but since I started up again, I would obviously have to say ace Henry/allo Walter.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I've got two WIPs at the moment. One is an unfinished and unpublished S3-compliant Walty fic, and the other is The real deal. At present, I'm feeling a resurgence of motivation for TRD, so the other fic is shelved for now. I do plan to finish it, though!

What are your writing strengths?

My planning and research game is pretty strong, as are my grammar and language skills. I guess the overall quality of my writing is decent when I'm not too stressed or low on creative energy. Many readers seem to find my writing fairly engaging, and they have said nice things about the dialogue, my characterisations, and the relationships between the characters.

Oh, and I think I'm pretty good at writing kissing scenes.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Perfectionism, self-criticism, "compulsive editing syndrome." When I'm unhappy with a passage, I tend to get stuck in a rewriting loop until I either get it right or spiral into writer's block and severe self-doubt. I also have a tendency to get swept away to the point where I neglect my wellbeing and burn myself out, which affects both my update schedule and the quality of my writing.

If you want more tangible weaknesses, I'm too wordy, my teenagers are unrealistically mature, and I occasionally overuse exposition.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

This is only my personal opinion and others are welcome to disagree! I'm not judging or criticising anyone in any fandom for using dialogue in another language in their own stories!

As a translator, my day job is all about conveying the same message in another language, and I can't just turn that logic off for writing. If the characters all speak one language throughout the text, it doesn't make sense to me personally to render some bits of dialogue in that language and others in English (unless those bits are truly untranslatable).

Not to mention that languages work differently, from word choice and grammar rules to the underlying communicative conventions and even thought patterns. Many people feel that using some sentences in the language that is actually being spoken adds authenticity, and that's a valid opinion! But to me personally, it's the other way around. I feel that the dialogue can only be consistently fluent in one language at a time, and if I'm writing the story in English, my dialogue will be an English rendering of what the characters would be saying in their own language. Similar to a translated book, only without a source text.

Now, if someone in the story is actually speaking another language, that's another matter! Dialogue in that language could be used very effectively in different situations, as in @silvagrey's example of Linda switching to Spanish to talk to Simon and Sara.

Again, this is just my personal opinion that I apply to my own writing! It is not the only valid opinion!

First fandom you wrote in?

If writing in my English notebook in lower secondary school counts, it was Final Fantasy X. The first fic I ever posted online was in an obscure anime/manga fandom in high school (and yes, I did use Japanese greetings and such back then).

Favourite fic you've written?

Other people's secrets. It's one of the best stories I've written, the one and only reason I'm still writing now, and one of the most meaningful things I've done for myself and my own ace identity (and apparently for some others too, which absolutely blows my mind). Furthermore, it was my first fic in over a decade and the biggest creative project I'd ever undertaken, so even just finishing it in a way I could be proud of was a huge accomplishment.

.

Thanks again for the tag, I had a great time answering these! 💜

No pressure tags: I honestly don't think I know any writers whom I haven't seen tagged yet (not ones who usually blog about their writing anyway)! So I'm just going to say if anyone reads this far and wants to play along, please tag me in your post. Or if you want to be tagged first, just let me know!

[stargirlfics]

I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately about being a black writer and the choice I made a few years ago to start writing for other black girls like myself, purposefully stating that my fics are written with a black reader or black OC or black latina reader because I had never seen that before in fanfic and wanted to make a space for us, and for myself too where that was possible.

I realized I could start writing the kinds of stories where someone with brown skin, dark skin and black features with hair like mine or my friend’s could be the main character, could be in love, and taken care and allowed to be sensitive and emotional and angry and at the center of the story for once!

At least to me, from where I was when I started posting my writing on here, I think it was just myself and a handful of other black writers that were really the first to start writing specifically for black readers, for a non white audience, because up until that point any character fic you searched for was mostly likely going to be white coded or have a white OC. I don’t think I ever really give myself much credit for it but I’m trying to get better at that so I’m going to take the space to say I’m really proud to be one of the first to do that in the fandoms I was in at that time.

Unfortunately a lot of those writers I was inspired by and was writing alongside have left or stopped writing or moved their writing elsewhere because as much as there was positive responses and people finding representation, there was also a lot of racism and harassment and just awful treatment thrown our way too.

Lately I’ve really stopped to think about how much harassment I myself experienced, how many times I had to turn my asks off from racist anons and hate I was getting, and how there was a point in time where it was frequent to see black writers or other writers of color on here dealing with racist comments.

So much of that was not okay at all, especially when I think about how nobody was really sticking up for us besides each other, it was hardly a peep from other white writers and I don’t think it was as called out as it should have been at the time which is why what my dear friend @obiknights says about that in their response here is what made me write this post because it was said so plainly and correctly! (That entire post including OP’s words is spot on and important to talk about btw so I encourage everyone to read it!!)

The writing spaces in fandom and just in general are not catered to anyone outside the white/cis box and I’m thankful it’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with any harassment but I still see it happen and I still see how often we are ignored or given less recognition. I know that my writing receives less interaction and that less people give reading it a chance because it doesn’t cater to them as a white person and sometimes that still really frustrates me and makes me angry.

All this to say I think people, myself included need to be reminded that there’s still a lot of work to do and there’s always ways to support black writers, black queer writers and artists, human beings, on here who put so much of our love and time and energy into creating amazing stuff and we deserve to take up space too.

I’ll never stop writing about people who look like me, I love it too much, I love how rich our creativity is and frankly, out of pure spite for being told so many times my writing wasn’t realistic for having a black woman as the protagonist, I’m going to keep writing these stories forever! <3

[shrimplymoray]

I saw your writing requests and can I request Vil x Idia?

I always have to push my rarepair lmao

No rarepair is safe from us >:))

I love rarepairs, they've always been my faves on fandoms cof cof Floy'Nya cof cof

Ya didn't really gave me a prompt to work for, so hope you don't mind some general headcanons of them! If you ever want more, or something specific of them, you can request it away!

Cw:

Vil Schoenheit x Idia Shroud

No one at first believed or understood just HOW those two got together.

I mean, THE Vil Schoenheit, a famous model and actor, with a huge fan base and with products stamped by his face dating Idia? The nerd otaku dude who doesn't leave his room, like, ever?

Some were even concerned if Vil was under some form of course or potion effect, which he responded by an offended gasp.

"Do you think so lowly of me that I would ever fall for a curse like that? Dear Seven, you really underestimate me and Idia, don't you?"

The way they got together is... A rather uncommon one. Idia found Vil doing an advertisement for a game he really liked, and he got a tiny celebrity crush.

Ortho insisted Idia shoot his shot, because the chances of a parasocial relationship becoming unhealthy to someone are higher when there are no sort of communication between parties.

Idia went through the toughest boss fight in his life, which was pressing the send button. That felt like such a normie problem, he almost gave up... Until Ortho pressed for him. Great. This action will affect the main game forever.

Vil was... Low key endeared by the message. It was bold and talked in a lingo he isn't used to seeing. He felt generous enough to give some time to this gloomy samurai person.

They didn't even realized they were so close together until Ortho went thanking Vil for making his big brother so happy.

Cue to Idia's door being kicked open and Idia cowering in his chair almost crying in fear as Vil scolded him about not going to talk to him directly.

They became an odd pair after that. Vil makes sure Idia gets his needs taken, including touching some grass (much to his dismay).

And Idia teaches Vil about technology methods to make his career better. (He doesn't mention about the Vil x reader fanfic tab on his tablet though)

Vil found it obvious how Idia was head over heels for him, but he felt oddly calm about this. It didn't feel like other people crushing on him, where he needed to step on eggshells to maintain this pristine image.

Idia seemed to find him "having max charisma and appearance stats" even when he was a total mess, in his eyes.

It was a new thing for him, letting himself show his "uglier" side to someone, and not being the perfect Vil Schoenheit. And Idia seemed to not care in the slightest, although he did get flustered a lot whenever Vil shared a picture with his hair down. Vil learned from Idia's ling that that was "simp behaviour".

Idia... He never had so much attention from someone so different in his life. And for once, it didn't scare him. Actually, when Vil complimented him for showing up to class, he felt oddly proud and confident.

Ofc Vil was the one to confess first. I mean, Idia was going through the 19th mental breakdown over how to confess at that point, and Ortho was NOT a reliable source of advice on the matter.

Ortho is their biggest supporter, and says that Vil needs to take good care of his big brother, since he is very fragile and also very scared.

Rook was actually very supportive of Vil's choice. He is the biggest Vil fan, but he puts his dear Roi du poison's happiness over his. And to be fair... Their dynamic is enticing. It's unique. A beautiful form of art on itself!

Others were very much confused but grew used to it.

An odd pair, sure, but who said love couldn't be odd?

Their favorite pastime together is casual dates at Idia's room. Where Idia geeks about how this super rare character he summoned had such OP skills that his team two shot the boss, all awhile Vil paints his nails so they have matching colours.

Don't ask Idia why he is showing up to class so much, or he will run away and hide in his room. He is trying! He even wore his uniform 2 times this week!!

They are so silly, I think I got carried away lol. Hope you enjoy this!!

Have a great day/night!

[auxiliarydetective]

End-of-Year Appreciation Post

Let's see if I can get this done before midnight - I have 36 minutes! But I really wanted to get this posted, so... time for a speedrun! This post won't nearly be able to say everything I wanna say, so, first and foremost: I love and appreciate all of my mutuals and people I've gotten to talk to this year, so thanks for coming to my corner of the internet and gifting me a little (or a lot - because lord knows I don't shut up if someone mentions one of my favourite fandoms) of your time!

With that being said, time for some special thanks!

@wheresmybloodynauglamir The encyclopedia of Star Trek and one of my closest friends on this hellsite. Thanks so much for literally everything you've done for me this year and all the lovely conversations. Let's have a lot more of those next year! Live long and prosper <3

@littlemervie Thank you for indulging my very nichest of niche interests like The Little Prince and for always sending me a kind message when I least expected it.

@fluffle-system My favourite bnuy in the whole world and a fellow FNAF enjoyer. I hope I always get to be the auxiliary to your detective (yes, this is actually sort of an accurate aitiology of how my url came to be - if you know you know). Let's solve more mysteries and riddles together.

@supermarine-silvally You may have only very recently stumbled into my corner of the internet but I adore every conversation we've had and I hope that many more are to come. If I had to make a choice to pass on my OCs to anyone, the great Donna Aurelia would be yours, and that's a great honor, so I hope you know how much I appreciate our conversations!

@carriagelamp We didn't talk too much this year and that's frankly a crime, but I still stare lovingly at every piece of art you've created for me, with me, or simply for the fandoms I'm in - and the ones for fandoms I don't know I stare at from afar. Just letting you know that I smile everytime I see you on my dash :)

@faerieroyal Dolly my beloved! I hereby sincerely apologize for all the times I've hopped into our Discord chat to ramble about my OCs or whine about my hour-long adventures of looking for faceclaims and/or names, but I'm not planning on stopping anytime soon. The amount of positivity and support you bring into my life is immesurable and I absolutely adore you for supporting each of my OCs, even if you don't know their fandom, and how you let me introduce you to my newest hyperfixations when the brainrot strikes. - To many more rambling sessions!

@come-along-pond who allowed me to participate in the fyeahonepieceocs blog and gave me a platform to launch my own little project of a OP resources blog from. - Through anon hate and plot bunnies, you've helped me and supported me through so much and I'm really, really thankful for that!

@oneirataxia-girl @endless-oc-creations and everyone else in the Discord Server, thank you so much for suffering through my countless pings and appearing when I need you most to offer your advice and help. You've saved many of my OCs in the past and I'm certain you'll keep doing so in the future.

@starcrossedjedis @bravelittleflower and @ninjasawakenedmystar aka the angels who made Cora's creation possible - and by extention then also that of Lily and La Donna! Thanks so much, my fellow One Piece girlies!

@thehedgehogat221b who has been keeping me tethered to the A-Team fandom, making sure that I never forget how happy it makes me, and who always has time to spare to hear me ramble about Kit Kelley and her conman boyfriend

@daughterofhecata @bistdueinbaum and the entire Die Drei ??? fandom. You brought me onto Tumblr and though I may not be as active in the fandom anymore, Tumblr still considers my blog a Die Drei ??? blog and I don't plan on forgetting my roots anytime soon, so I promise you more detective content in the year 2024 - featuring my beloved Jelena, of course! My token adopted side character... Maybe I'll also hop into the Tatort fandom, who knows? Also, can we make Rosenheim Cops a fandom? I feel kinda lonely and silly over here lol

@claramurphyqueenoffandoms the VoicePlay supporter. Man, was I happy to find someone who loves these dorks as much as I do. We haven't talked much, but thanks so much for enabling the hyperfixation that triggered my character development into a happier person and letting me relive those memories.

@cody-helix02 @thoughpoppiesblow @footprintsinthesxnd @kafka-ohdear and the entire Band of Brothers fandom. You've been so nice to me from day one when I first stumbled into the fandom and you still are incredibly lovely people! I'd like to give something back, so, if you ever need any research done for your fic and you can't find anything, let me know and I'll traverse my resources and my university's library to see what I can find <3 Also, I shall present to you more Anita content in the future! There's one fic featuring Luz and one featuring Bull curently in my projects list!

@maxwellshimbo @asaturnerofficial and all the other lurkers and people I constantly find in my notes - you always brighten my day. I'll have had an awful no good time but then I see you and I go: "Ah yes, my friends are still here" and I feel so much better!

Thanks to much to everyone on and off the list, and have a very lovely new year!

[badaziraphaletakes]

I don't understand why you and your followers can't write "I read a take that said this" instead of posting the actual screenshot, which triggers a witch hunt for the OP to send hate for that specific shot you posted. If you post the takes with the handles attached, hate will be sent even more easily to the OP. If you read the OP's name and then choose at your discretion what to post... how do you manage it? Do you decide how many times the same person can be the target? What are the criteria?

I read under another post that people are happy to be blocked by so called Aziraphale haters. But, if someone wants to be blocked and never see their takes again, why do they specifically go after the “haters” to send screenshots to you and hate to the OP? Why don't you block them and instead wait for them to block you? I ask this with sincere curiosity. I assume that you are in good faith and don't want the fandom to be reduced to a small group of people. I don't write meta or analysis, so I'm not worried about being the target of anything. But a user I’ve been followed since season 2 who posted a lot of interesting metas (a bunch of them supporting Aziraphale and talking about his trauma) deactivated their blog for receiving a lot of hate after simply saying that maybe (not even definitely) Aziraphale screwed up in the end. It seems to me that the tones are a bit overheated. And posting the screenshots, even if you are in good faith, helps to keep the discourse going, in my opinion. I don't know, you have to do what you think is best, of course.

I don't understand why you and your followers can't write "I read a take that said this" instead of posting the actual screenshot

I have written about this in previous posts. LSS people are too scared to reply to the original takes, and it is reassuring to people who felt hurt by the takes to see the specific takes that are triggering to them get called out. I get a message to that effect, thanking me, at least once a day.

If you post the takes with the handles attached, hate will be sent even more easily to the OP.

We have never done that, we have never considered doing that, we never suggested doing that, and we are never going to do that. They will ALWAYS be anonymous.

If you read the OP's name and then choose at your discretion what to post... how do you manage it? Do you decide how many times the same person can be the target? What are the criteria?

About 80% of the takes that are submitted to us are submitted with the handles cropped out. We're instituting a policy for at least awhile of having the handles included when they are submitted to us so we can avoid it sharing too many posts by any one person (still a super weird coincidence that that ever happened - though I think it's relevant to point out here that by far the most obvious explanation for how that happened is that, since that person apparently has a ton of followers - so the reason so many people submit their takes to us is BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE SEE THEM! - Occam's Razor). But we will always crop out the handles before posting. I (Mod X) have even cropped out non-default background colors to help with that. We take this seriously.

When the names are included I make a point of not posting too many by one person. I actually have thrown out a ton of that person's takes when people have submitted them to us with the handle attached, because I wanted to keep things in balance. And I have SIGNIFICANTLY toned down the commentary attached to many of the bad takes people have submitted to me.

I read under another post that people are happy to be blocked by so called Aziraphale haters. But, if someone wants to be blocked and never see their takes again, why do they specifically go after the “haters” to send screenshots to you and hate to the OP? Why don't you block them and instead wait for them to block you?

This is exactly how it unfolded, as it happens. The person who, it transpires, we posted a lot of takes from (but NOT the majority of the takes we've posted - it turns out that, as far as we can tell, we posted more from them than any other one individual, but we are certain that the majority of the takes we posted were still from other people) blocked the blog about ten minutes after it was created - because they said "depression doesn't exist" and we replied with a link to an article on MayoClinic saying that depression *does* exist (it's another term for Major Depressive Disorder. But I digress). Seriously, THAT was what they blocked us for. They didn't even reply.

And we have NEVER encouraged people to harass OP's. Omitting handles was supposed to prevent that. It should have prevented that.

[blog-of-hubris]

I really liked your analysis on sakurajima I thought it was really good I just wanted to ask you something these are some criticisms I’ve heard on the arc and I would like to know what you make of them these ones are a little different though

What do you make of these objections

Hello Joker, thanks for asking me a question. I usually hate commenting on negative feedback that I disagree with or better yet lack the ability to understand. However, I will give you a thorough answer for your time.

There are a few points I disagree with. I will say, I think OP has a skewed perspective on what Maki represents, and this opinion seems to be lost in the route of Maki being Toji's second coming. I think a common mistake with the fandom right now is seeing the connection to Maki and Toji to be focused on their similarities when really it is their differences (i'll mention this more later).

They mention the Zenin Massacre as a moment of tragedy and loss for Maki and that's only in the aspect of losing Mai. Killing the clan was her beloved sister's final request. Also, Maki is much more separated from everyone else since this happened. She is extremely straightforward (even more than she was before) which I see as an aspect of her experience killing the clan. I think OP is underestimating how much weight came off Maki's shoulder with the clan gone. Also, the weapon that she has is a memento to Mai and connected directly to her soul. I don't think Maki feels like Mai is entirely gone due to having the blade, and also her moment in the culling game was a reflection of that. I think a major focus of her moment was to show that she was still holding onto what happened psychologically.

Maki was the character that hide the aspect of wanting to change the Zenin Clan for Mai's sake, so it surprises me that OP is expecting some super heartbroken traits to be shown by Maki. She's like Toji in the way that she is a brute and would want to handle things physically than psychologically. The big difference with Maki is that she had Mai and only Mai. She felt the need to change the clan for Mai’s sake, while Toji saw escaping the clan and renouncing their existence was the best way to disconnect from them. Losing Megumi's mom sent him down on a spiral, but like I said before — the big thing about Maki and Toji's character is their differences. Yes, maki is the second coming of Toji with the physicality but remember she had a whole twin who held back her potential. She had the support of Gojo to fall back on, and her personality is kind-hearted at its core. I just dislike the idea that Maki's character revolves around Toji so much, it just isn't the case to me. Nobody said she was the return of the Sorcerer Killer, people in the fandom just assumed that.

I just thing this OP has a fundamental misunderstanding of Maki's role in the story. I think they also misunderstand the level of depth behind Mai giving up her life for Maki to achieve the passion she always had. Mai made the conscious decision to give up her life to create the ultimate weapon she could for her sister, ultimately giving her the perfect tool to seek the revenge they both wanted. Yes, the situation is a tragedy, but this is a world of cursed energy. Mai's "Curse" unto Maki was to kill the clan and then find happiness in life thereafter. At the end of the day, Mai the type of passion and drive that Maki had, she did not want to deal with curses or be a sorcerer. She was fine being a servant/stereotypical woman for the clan, but that wasn't what Maki wanted. Yes, Maki may now (more likely than not) see her past selfishness as a mistake, but this adheres to the same theme that has been a core value for JJK since Vol 0: “Love is a Curse”; while also representing Sukuna's perspective on weakness showing through love as well. Maki now is not tied down to Mai, and Mai is not tied down to the confines of the Jujutsu world.

At the end of the day, what both of the twins wanted was to be together forever, but their approach did not align. With Mai's soul being in the blade, it gives her a sense of peace while also being by Maki's side. The moment between the sisters was a moment for Maki to truly recognize the sword as Mai's soul and not just a tool she left with her. I struggle to understand how this isn't seen as a moment of light in the darkness that has followed. Maki has something that literally connects her to her sister's soul, and due to them being twins, who knows how deeply the connection with the soul splitting sword can be for Maki.

I also think that OP confuses Noritoshi Kamo's “screen time for distress” with us just getting more insight on who he is as a character. We see Kamo think about his circumstances and reflect on his life through flashbacks. This isn't Gege taking away from Maki's character but showing us that Kamo is a character of introspection. We knew that from Goodwill arc, but in CG we just get a deeper vision to understand his motives + see how he processes his existence as a person. We have gotten all of this from Maki through Perfect Preparation. Maki isn't a thinker, she moves through action. That's why her over thinking against Noaya was a hindrance to her, and she needed the sumo spars to get her mind back on track. In perfect preparation, we get Maki's past via other people bringing it up because Maki just pushes forward, and only through others does her past come to light. This has been happening since we got introduced to Maki in 0, and in the main series we get a glimpse of Maki's past through Mai's eyes only. We only get a glimpse of Maki's POV of the past, but it was a quick flash of her thinking about Mai right before the massacre starts. This is because she isn't one to look back but to look forward and Gege has stayed consistent to that.

My last point will be that I abhor the idea that a character has to display some overexaggerated or dramatic traits to show they have experienced trauma. I find people who have this view point to ignore the fact that trauma is displayed very differently with each person, and common symptoms are not the end all be all. There are many people who get through trauma by moving forward and letting time be what helps heal as they process what they have been through. For JJK specifically, it is said constantly that being a jujutsu sorcerer is hell. I think Gege has stayed so consistent to this, to the point audience members get confused when the cast members actually understand this, lol. The cast members aren't unaffected by loss, they process it differently. Not everyone needs to have a mental breakdown like Geto.. And even for Geto his situation was a collision of circumstances leading up to a change in his thought process. Even then, Geto's choices were to change the fact that sorcerers were so used to loss. He wanted to end that cycle because he felt he was strong enough to. He felt it was his role in life to pursue this in order to be happy, while Maki's “happiness” lied in destroying what stripped her of her truest form of happiness.

Sorry for the long response, if you have any more questions about what I said please feel free to ask!

[tonydaddingham]

https://thesherrinfordfacility.tumblr.com/post/727753998120140800

I was generally asking/ranting. Your ramble made perfect sense and I do agree with pretty much all of it. I have more I must rant about though and I hope you don't mind me throwing this all in your inbox. It's not aimed at you specifically, don't worry.

Why did this fandom decide Neil suddenly thinks Aziraphale and Crowley are not in love just because he said two scenes were not sexual? The oxribs could be taken that way if you want, but it wasn't written to be. The kiss had nothing at all to do with sex and everything to do with a desperate being trying to make the person he loves understand. Neil saying neither of those situations were sexual does not mean Crowley and Aziraphale are not in love. He's said the opposite, along with both Michael and David, far too many times for years now for anyone to believe that. And yet here we are.

Just a few weeks ago we were praising the kiss as smashing the queerbaiting allegations and now half the fandom is right back to saying he's never really thought they were a romance. Insisting that because he thought the idea was odd several years ago it must mean he's lying about it now. That he and Terry didn't plan it this way since at least 2006. Or, even worse, that he thinks gay sex is gross and would never put anything like that in without being manipulated into it.

Because he said sometimes an oxrib is just an oxrib and a desperate attempt at communication wasn't at all sexual.

It's been giving off very strong feelings of "this queer romance doesn't count unless they have sex" goalpost shifting. We've already had more than enough proof that Aziracrow are completely in love, but unless they have sex then Neil's just a queerbaiting liar? Do people not realize how alienating that is to read as an ace fan, even one who wouldn't mind a fun sex scene?

It's also spitting in the face of a man who's been an ardent ally for longer than most of this fandom's been alive.

This rant is about people telling me I'm wrong for supporting this beautiful queer love story because two male-presenting characters aren't having sex and so it doesn't actually count as a queer romance. This is about people telling me I'm wrong for supporting the man who gave us this incredible story because he said two scenes aren't sexual in nature and so he is nothing but a manipulative liar. This rant isn't about defending Neil. He doesn't need me or anyone else to do that.

(for anyone that wants it, a direct link to the previous ask anon has copied above)

hi again anon!!!✨ personal thanks from me - im always humbled (and never have any objection to) when someone feels they can come to my askbox with these kind of commentaries, it really does make me so happy that they feel they can!

i just do occasionally worry if sometimes what im reading as an upset/angry tone (not saying yours was, it was just how i read it!) is a direct result of something ive said/done. so again, thanks for calming my anxiety surrounding that, and popping back to clarify!!!

now idk, by nature of this being a rant, if you wanted to get any answers from me or my opinion, but you're on my boat and im the captain, so it's a bit tough-titties im afraid💕 and once again, will probably repeat a few things you've put more succinctly than i have, but fuck it.

honestly? i cant even begin to give you a basic answer, anon, because i just... don't get it. i think from the tweet exchange that (kinda?) blew up, people took neil saying, "Why did you see it as sexual?" a little bit out of context. to my mind, the op of that tweet literally referenced "The very end of season 2", and that's what neil was responding to (and later confirmed in an ask); the kiss was never intended as sexual, exactly as you've said.

i think possibly some have read it as him being shitty about the concept of sex and specifically in reference to aziraphale and crowley, cross-referenced this with other things he has said (again, more than likely never meant in the context they're being interpreted), and arrived at the above conclusion. it's strange to me, because he has categorically stated that their relationship is intended by him as the co-author as a romantic one. at the very least.

now, he (and sir terry) may not have personally intended them to be romantic at the beginning. but a) neil has been very representative of queer culture and identifications in his other work; the queer element in GO is not exactly strange to be coming from him (ie it's not a bolt out of the blue, and therefore would be potentially performative or queerbaity). and b) as i said in the previous ask, there is a lot of queer representation in GO, of all different types, including gay/lesbian rep. it's not just aziraphale and crowley that are queer in the story, and therefore easily deniable - that's literally not the case. so i do not understand, on this basis, where people can draw the inference that he is homophobic. i just can't - that's a pretty hefty con to have played for so long and so diligently.

i think, from what ive seen, that one of the things that people take issue with is neil's assertion that as supernatural beings, any label as to their sexuality or gender (and how one informs the other) is not applicable to them. i think this has been seen as dismissive of aziraphale and crowley being gay and/or potentially having a sexual relationship. in my opinion, this assertion is narratively clever. first of all - no, they are not human, so on a very base level, sexuality and gender as constructs do not apply to them. they are originally gender/sexless. but this i think only serves to show that aziraphale and crowley are multiple things, and none of those things, all at once. they can be anything you want or interpret them to be, until expressly told otherwise in canon.

on screen, their faces and physiques and chosen presentation however, to my mind, present as human males. but, being crass, we do not know what genitalia or body parts they may or may not have at any given time. they have never described their sexualities (although, in aziraphale's case, assumptions have been made by others). so if you want to interpret them as cis, or intersex, or trans, or non-binary (including non-binary, genderfluid, agender, or bigender), arguably all of those are correct! the only confirmations we have had, iirc, are that, between them, they have used "he/him" pronouns, used the title "Mr", crowley has confirmed he is not a 'lad', and he has previously presented as female. no, human constructs do not technically apply to them, but that leaves their gender and sexuality open to interpretation. i personally hc aziraphale as a cisgender, gay male, and crowley as a non-binary, but usually male-presenting, bisexual person. others may agree, others may not. that the beauty of it!

narratively, these are two supernatural creatures that are, however, going more and more native - they have assimilated to and absorbed a lot of how humans present themselves and interact with each other, on multiple levels. as supernatural beings, they are practically alpha centauri itself (genderless, non-human things that are in a constant orbit and relationship with each other - and then throw in the fact that they love each other deeply). as supernatural-beings-that-have-been-on-earth-for-millennia, however, they are arguably becoming more like what i mentioned above - human. this to me, personally, means that they may identify as male and nb respectively, and may identify as gay and bisexual respectively, and (again, imo) i think would - at this stage - be open-minded to the act of sex. but as i said, once again, in my previous ask - it's perfectly valid if others do not interpret their journey this way.

This rant is about people telling me I'm wrong for supporting this beautiful queer love story because two male-presenting characters aren't having sex and so it doesn't actually count as a queer romance. This is about people telling me I'm wrong for supporting the man who gave us this incredible story because he said two scenes aren't sexual in nature and so he is nothing but a manipulative liar. This rant isn't about defending Neil. He doesn't need me or anyone else to do that.

about the above specifically? im really sorry that you're being faced with this, anon. that is grossly and completely unfair. i don't think you necessarily need me to tell you this, but in case you do - imo, you are completely reasonable and justified for reading them as a queer romantic couple that, canonically, have not had sex (and that this has no bearing on their love story). romance and sex are not the same thing, one can and does exist without the other, and the concept of that separation is not deserving of being pathologised. whilst neil certainly doesn't need anyone to defend him, i think it is always still nice to support the author that has written a story this beautiful, symbolic, and illustrative - and imo, not deliberately misunderstand what he has or hasn't said✨

[laf-outloud]

I was at RICC, and it was amazing! There was so much love for Jared, Gen, and all the Walker cast. Something that someone told me there, and I have absolutely no idea if it is true or not, is that Jared was looking to get out of his CE contract and he was testing the waters at RICC. I don’t know why that would be, but salt accordingly. Also, one of my observations was that Jared was positively exhausted - which is completely understandable, given that he had only just gotten over his third bout of COVID - and in fact, I asked him how he was doing, and in the past he’d always said “great,” or something similar - but this time he said, “I’m exhausted.” And he was surrounded - almost smothered - by his “entourage” (Clif, Michelle, Gen, and Charlie, plus Keegan was sitting with him in the photo op booth, where he also had two other people as well - and those booths were tiny). I say that not as a criticism, but I got the sense that they were there not only for business, but also for support, like they were keeping a very close eye on him to make sure he was doing all right. I’m glad they were if that’s the case because he did not have a break - he had fans continuously unless on a scheduled break. And to be “on” for that entire time is exhausting for anyone. But he was absolutely the star attraction there. No one else had the fan traffic he had. It was nice for the fans, though, because no one was rushed or treated like a herd of cattle. Anyway, those were my own personal observations.

Thank you for sharing, anon! I wish I could have gone, it sounds absolutely fabulous, but yes, I also would have wanted Jared to get the rest he so obviously needed, but I'm glad he had support!

And if he was testing the waters, it's too bad it was only that one convention after a period of being sick then going for three days straight. As I've said, other guests at multi-fandom conventions often shorten their time and their sales because it is exhausting. Perhaps if he had done that, that type of convention may have been more appealing. (And if that were also the case, maybe Jared pushed for some of the changes that we're seeing now at Creation, like a la carte autos, additional M&G, different photo op options, etc.)

"And to be “on” for that entire time is exhausting for anyone." - On a personal note, this statement is so true! I used be a trainer for incoming employees and would be wiped by the end of the day/week because of that constant need to be positive and present. I can definitely relate! LOL!

[kulay-ng-banaag]

Yes! Thank you for the response to op on racebending! As a hetalia lore enthusiast, it always bothers me when people forget about the golde rule: nations (as in the species) are not their governments. It has literally been described multiple times in the series that even though a nation’s boss made them do something absolutely horrible, it does not mean that they wanted to or that they agreed with it. And im not denying that the nations have comitted warcrimes, it just bugs me when they treat them as if it was the nation’s idea and that they were in full control.

Like, I’m american, and i think its kind of messed up to say that indigenous americans are denying american colonialism by race bending him? Like op is only looking at white american history. Maybe just consider… and hear me out… there are multiple perspectives of american history from different races and ethnicities? 🤯 (crazy, right?)

Sorry if i got a bit intense here, i know op had good intentions and made lots of great points, but i feel like they could have done better.

Anyway, to sum it up, i agree with your points

I'm not a fan either of the perspective that nations = governments and nothing more. If that was truly the case, then I can't believe being Filipino means I support Marcos/Duterte because they nabbed the voting majority to legitimately be granted positions of power.

I know it's the habit of racist whites to scrutinize a BIPOC's political compass or smth just from glancing at their physical features. It doesn't change that I do not want to normalize that ever. Neither, therefore, do I wanna project that on these bastard dirt children of ours.

Going back, if "racebending can be propaganda" was step 1 to OP building their argument, I'd dare say they missed out on giving step 2. 😔 I'm morbidly amused that all this discourse is centered on Hetalia, when the Countryhumans fandom literally fits the bill on making propaganda, intentional or not.

[rttnpnkpmpkn]

good day/evening OP! got a question if you don’t mind! how long have you been drawing art? and what keeps you motivated to draw? do you also do commissions? and do you ever feel tired or exhausted staying in one fandom?

thanks for answering! take your time and you don’t have to answer these if you’re not comfortable ☺️

((btw anon here is in early 20’s just to be clear ^^))

Good evening/day, Anon! And thanks for clarifying your age, as it really does mean a lot 🙏💖

No problem at all to answer these! For drawing, traditionally, it’s ever since I got my hands on my first set of crayons as a babby.

1) If it’s digitally, I started doing more of that when I bought my first surface pro tablet with the remaining art scholarship money at 18-19 years old back in 2015, I believe! Medibang was a game changer because I felt it was a good starter drawing software when I couldn’t afford Paint Tool Sai at the time (I eventually bought a license for Clip Studio instead because of a friend’s recommendation lol).

2) What motivates me to draw? I have many reasons. First one to spite a kindergarten classmate who said my drawing of a Pokémon wasn’t good xD (don’t remember which). Second, to tell stories because I couldn’t write a cohesive plotline. Third, it’s the cheapest entertainment I got lol.

I remember I tried to adapt excepts from the novels I read into comic form and they were pretty fun. Especially when I was inspired by the 39 Clues fanart in the wiki page at the time.

I think if people online made them look fun, it makes me wanna join in too, and that makes me forget that my skills suck~ Which is very important in having the motivation to draw. When focusing on quality, or perfectionism , I tend to be very harsh towards myself, which what leads to my occasional art blocks.

3) Ay I do commissions, but currently closed atm! I still have two more to go and thus, I promise myself not to reopen until I get them done!

You can find the list in my Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/rttnpnkpmpkn/commissions

I may have to increase the prices a bit to account for inflation, which is disappointing but every penny counts in this trying times sorry! qwq

4) It depends! While I can enjoy a content for as long as I can before I move on to the next, the main deciding factor is whether to be involved in a community.

Every fandom I came across as a lurker always seem to follow a pattern, so I’m very reserved in joining new communities socially.

I came for the experience, so I gotta make the most out of it before I do leave to find my next hyper fixation. I’m drawing until I can find my “finale” if that makes sense ^^;

Peeps can come and go in a fandom, but inspo strikes when no one asks!

For the particular fandom I’m in, It’s definitely a mixed bag, but I’ll focus on the positives!

I have many things to be grateful for as they’re the ones who got me out of an art rut for the past year and so. I learn so many new skills and life lessons from them, where I couldn’t imagine it being any different if I didn’t meet them otherwise. I met the nicest peeps who made me forget I’m not too fond of group chats, and were very nice and supportive in their own way!

I’m returning the favor for the inspo they brought me as it’s the least I can do ^^

Also, I never truly leave a fandom, I just wander around as a lurker until I find a reason to come back again. I don’t really make an account dedicated to a specific fandom, because they don’t usually last long, so I tend to sample from other places to make the candle last longer. It wasn’t obvious mostly because I was more of a lurker then and an OC artist xD

I began drawing lots of fanarts mainly because peeps made drawing pr0n for a stickman fun 🤣

Hope that answers your question, and thank you for your time! 🙇💖

[linklethehistorian]

💖🎉 Okay, I want to give a real answer as well cause you deserve all the praise in the world.💖It goes without saying that I appreciate you as a person and love your amazing personality. I treasure you more than anything, and love everything you make. You put so much passion, love, dedication, and time into everything I've seen you make and it's something I've always admired about you. You genuinely love and care about BSD and every other fandom you are in more than anyone else I've seen.

Ask continued below the cut, with images and an image ID transcript, followed by a response.

[Image ID: 3 additional asks submitted by OP, truedge, that read the following:

You're an amazing artist and a brilliant writer. You’ve always put so much detail into everything you write, leaving nothing unsaid. You make it so easy to imagine exactly what is happening in your fics and articles. I can just close my eyes and I'm there. Your art is always a joy to look at every time you show it to me and I treasure the drawings you have made for me in the past. It's amazing how fast you can draw things and still have them come out really good.

I check your blog everyday to see if you've got any new posts to share with us and always get excited to see something new. I'm so proud of what you have and are continuing to accomplish and I couldn't be happier for you. I'm sure in the future you'll have many times as many followers as you do now and you deserve every- one one of them. It truly is rare to find someone with your level of passion, and I love and appreciate it so much ❤️ Thank you for everything you do here, for helping more people know just how badly Bones screwed Arthur, for getting me into BSD, for all the amazing posts and most importantly for being such a loving and caring person who means the world to me. I wish you the best, sweetheart, and hope this blog will only continue to grow so more people can appreciate all your hard work ❤️

Okay, so this is an exceedingly late response lmao (as many other asks I will answer here will be, as I finally attempt to empty out my inbox), but seriously, thank you for these asks. 

I’ve been letting these sit in my inbox for a very long time for a couple of reasons, but the major one being largely that I didn’t want to half-ass my reply to it by trying to rush it out quickly. As with all of the asks of this nature, I wanted to make my time with it and show my appreciation back to the person who would send such a lovely and thoughtful message, and given how much longer this one was compared to the average, I thought it deserved equally as great of a reaction.

So…thank you so incredibly much for your words. I’ve read them many times now, over the months that this has been sitting in my inbox, and they still make me smile every time.

As I’m sure you know and thus probably goes without saying, your constant support, in particular, has always been a major joy in my life, and a great source of inspiration that has often served to help keep me going, even when I doubted myself and my ability to reach others with my content heavily. I can very safely say that without you and a very select few other people in my life up until this point, I probably would not have been able to make it as far as I have.

When my now ex-fiancé was making my life particularly difficult or stressful, you would always be there to pick me up when I was down and remind me of how much better I deserved than to deal with all of his gaslighting, neglect, and manipulative bullshit. You made me believe in myself as a person and, in doing so, slowly rebuilt the broken, self-depreciating and skeptical individual that I had become into someone who could actually feel like I had worth and value all my own.

Like you say, you’ve always read all of my posts and watched out for my new content eagerly like it really meant something to you on a personal level, and wasn’t just a thing you were doing to appease me or make me feel better about myself. Maybe it’s just because of my past with my ex where I practically had to beg him and shove things in his face to get him to even have any interest in any aspect of my daily life and even then got clearly disinterested responses, but I’ve never really liked it that much when someone participates in pity-engagement with my works; like, don’t get me wrong — I appreciate all the love and support that people give me equally, but there’s just something that feels so hollow about a person doing surface-level engagement and making empty compliments and comment over something they don’t even really like or care about on any level just to make someone feel like they care and are interested in their daily lives and interests. Even if there are good intentions behind it, it still just feels so performative and fake… That’s why I appreciate you and your engagement with my works so much; I can feel how invested you’ve become in me and the things I write and draw and say, whenever you respond to something, and it makes me so happy. You may not be the only person in my life to do this, but you are one of my very biggest and most passionate supporters and I don’t know what I’d do without that.

Realistically, I don’t know what the future has in store for me at the moment in regards to all of this — if my blog will shrink or grow over time, if I’ll become more or less popular and respected within the BSD fandom, or what all I’ll accomplish within the coming year; right now, in the current state of mind that I’m in, it can be hard to even see past this very moment or have a particularly bright outlook about anything, but what I do know and have faith in is that there is going to be this coming year and that whatever it brings, I’ll be doing my best at every moment to be here and to hold the people I care for as close and as tightly as I humanly can.

I know that I am incredibly lucky to know and have someone who is so kind, so gentle, and so sweet as you, who supports me and leaves me such lovely things and messages, who shares in so many of my passions and who always tries his very best to be a source of goodness in my life. 

There are many more things I could potentially say, but I don’t want this to drag on for 500,000 more words and become the longest post on my blog, so for now let me just say, thank you.

You mean the world to me.

—

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[angstandhappiness]

DUDE

@perfectharmonyloveschaos #kratos being afraid that he will influence his son to be like him: is a distant and somewhat neglectful father#his son: is so much like him only a smaller ball of rage that neither realise he also inherited from his mom#i love this so much#i wish there was an option to have blood in the game rather than it always vanishing#it would be so cool#gross#but cool

@butlerkitty this scene made me feel So Much... poor atreus. little boy :(

@the-awakened-insomnis This scene wasn't bloody enough in game. I like this drawing really scary. Also Atreus fuckin eyes💀

@aussiepineapple1st Just about It was exactly like that

@lovecraft-enjoyer kratos' eyes went through the 7 stages of grief

@tamanbunga123 Which scene is this

@dmzira @tamanbunga123 when Kratos is in the light of Alfheim, for him its a few minutes but in reality it was much much longer and Atreus had been fighting the elves by himself until he pulled his father out of the light. Kratos was mad (I dont remember why but I think he was pulled out just as he started hearing Faye) and Atreus snaps back that Kratos abandoned him again and scream asks why he doesn't care. The wording and realization of how long he had been 'gone' seems to shook him a lot

@the-support-character You draw Atreus so Skrunkly it makes me happy

@cutietears This scene is my abandonment issues/trauma fr :(

@dessertwaffle The way you drew this is just so Right. Thank you so much. I’m alive. Love you. You’re doing amazing.

@threi @dessertwaffle thank youuuuuu 😭

@renatogpadilla The EXACT moment Kratos knew how much he fucked up.

@starcourts #.jpeg#this shit fucking hurt !!!!#thinking abt the interview w sunny where he says he cringed at his performance in the og game bc he feels like he could do better but then#there were scenes like this that were so ….

@lacm-ac Ah kids...#just kids being kids haha

@fruitstealer #this was messed up i agree atreus

@anathash #gods same same#it was traumatic though 🫠

@forgedobsidian #oh that child is TRAUMATIZED traumatized

@just-in-the-nickleback-of-time #drawing Atreus as a little Creature TM is correct

@blackrabbit-megapig #Atreus yelling at his father about how much he wants Kratos to love him#while they’re surrounded by the piles of bodies of dead elves Atreus killed#will never not be funny to me

@peiskos-and-apricity #I become absolutely feral every time i see this scene somewhere#just absolutly tearing things apart while I scream#that child just murdered thousands of dark elves and was more concerned about his dad not coming back#like BRO#how are you not FUCKING DEAD#absolutely insane#i love him#also love how perfectly you captured his 'tiny pathetic wet cat of a child' and 'literally covered in the blood of his enemies'

@candlesofthebog #So Atreus? Still giddy to wield the axe?

@livingbythecreed #sunny's voice acting in this is just wow... broke my heart

@mayormimii #even covered in blood he’s the 🥺 emoji#okay but jokes aside that line stuck with me and i’m glad someone else seems to be thinking about it too#angsty 2018 atreus….my beloved

@botopsy #and then kratos just like NOT TELLING HIM WHAT HAPPENED#bc he's just Like That#u love to see the character flaws as they grow

@fandom-blackhole #just played through this part#and i mean atreus was a little scary during that scene ngl#but also like i just wanted to give him a hug bc fuck he went through it

@theholytoaster #god i love this#its so true#kratos get your stoic ass and get EMOTION OUT

@gaysparkler #GOD WHEN HE PULLS YOU OUT OF THE LIGHT AND YOU SEE ALL THE BODIES AROUND#AND THEN KRATOS TRIES TO CONNECT WITH HIM BUT ATREUS PUSHES AWAY ANY ATTEMPT HE MAKES#baby boy. baby.#kratos is trying so hard#HE CARES!!! HE DOES CARE!!!!!!!! HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHOW IT#i need to replay ghjkdshgjshgjk#op your baby atreus is truly one of the best depictions of him i've seen

@k4ik4yk04 #// HIS STUPID GOOFY EYES GO GET HIS ASS . BOY !!!! this is so good

@ixorahh #top ten crazy moments tbh#tiny atreus literally bodying every enemy BY HIMSELF in order to protect his dad

@majjiktricks #ohh hes a fucked up little guy!

@changelinghearts #i forgot how bloodthirsty atreus was in gow 2018#my man was a little menace

@chorkless #nah atreus was valid for that#this fucks byw i love this

@bird-wells2144 #i think about this scene so often#something something metaphor something something

@ronsenboobi #the Horrors!!!

@aggressivekeyboard #wish the scene had been as fucked up as this#give that boy the Horrors#but this slaps

@acute-octogon #ooof pain#hug him and build a lyre with him please

@din-skywalker #this is why you need to hug your son more#and he does in r :)

@the-poorgroomsbride #love this scene#boy really let it all out#loved this whole chapter tbh#except the dark elf king guy he kicked my ass royally the first time#took me like two hours to beat him#and I was REFUSING to lower the difficulty#I was at the balanced level#do you have something to say boy#I SAID THE ONLY TIME YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME IS WHEN YOU WANT SOMETHING#god tier

@sapphcon-ic #fucking sick#wanna see a flashback of atreus defending himself against dark elves so bad

favorite scene