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

[moonsdancer]

#like do guys do know that ‘yay this character is perfect in every single way and the only ones with braincells<3’ is not#the progressive statement you think it is#a step up from the insane misogynoir during s1 era but still not great#it’s how nobody really focuses on mel or ekko’s characters on their own and water them down to being ‘perfect#never did anything wrong ever’. which they are but like… how to say this…#i feel arcane didn’t allow them to be fully fleshed characters#and gets some mvp scenes but that’s not a compensation for actually giving them proper attention and fully fleshing them out#i might be the minority but mel is a step up from ekko since she had more of an arc but again they barely fleshed it out before making her#op enough to defeat leblanc (was it leblanc?) in her own domain#like that is literally insulting to mel it’s a cop out and just reducing her to a cool moment#in compensation for not giving enough attention to her black rose arc#it wasn’t cathartic because there was no build up to those moments

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? 

[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!

[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! 🙇💖

[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

[dicennio]

revolutionary army’s chief of staff » sabo

for @sableu​ ✨

[simnostalgia]

How are you going to call people unbearable when you dont even have a personal identity outside of your spoonfed capitalist kids toys

I hate to tell you this but easy to digest media isn't the thing keeping current power structures in place.

I obviously agree with a lot of anti-capitalist talking points, I use this blog as a stage for my political opinions enough but the thing that I always find the most interesting, and the most disheartening, about internet revolutionary types is the way they tend to talk to and treat the people they're trying to stand up for.

It's not that I don't sympathize, I'm sure that whatever life events caused you (and so many others) to fall so deep into radicalization was awful. The problem is that whatever good you want to do is never going to happen because you push far too hard and don't actually know how to be persuasive.

Get past being mad at me for a minute and think about it strategically, did you *really* think that writing five paragraph essay on how everyone who still likes Steven universe or whatever is a mental child and only people who think like OP are the real intellectuals?

Like what audience on the internet's premiere blorbo social network did you think that was going to play well to?

Like, say that I am just some soft-headed easily distracted child even though I *did* go to one of those "good universities" that OP was talking about... Even if that is the case, it doesn't change the fact that the audience isn't the problem, it's the message. And even if you did think that, keep it to yourself? You don't walk into a room of people and say "Hey! You're all stupid and here's what you should believe" unless you have zero people skills.

Which, I mean... well.

If you have something important to say, you don't complain that everyone other than you is a moron or else you're just posting to jerk yourself off about how smart you are. There's a reason why people with your mindset keep getting pipelined between alt-right ideology and hard leftist rhetoric with a focus on anti-capitalism. It's because you're easy to manipulate with flattery. As if disenfranchised, self-loathing men who think they're smarter than everyone else and have a deep love for literature that they don't actually grasp aren't a dime-a-dozen on every college campus in America.

It's the same reason that people get so mad about staunch Atheists. You're not actually interested in helping people achieve some goal or better themselves, you're just jerking yourselves off about how smart you are while packaging it as political activism to make yourself seem less unlikable.

Not to... you know, do your *supposed* job for you by making this point but fandom spaces are generally FULL of internet savvy people and wouldn't it behoove you to attempt to... Gosh, I dunno, attempt to harness that power by becoming active in those fandom spaces to try and spread your political ideology? The same way that the alt-right did pre-2016? Become an active member of a community and then use that platform to support a cause? I mean an entire audience of people who are already probably disenchanted with the system right at your finger tips.

I suspect that maybe you're just too busy pretending to be interested political activism, like so many allegedly leftist men, to jerk yourself off about what a deep thinker you are and how everyone else is stupid.

You'd think that a REAL political activist who cared about changing the system would care about not alienating an entire group of people but what do I know, I don't have an identity outside of The Sims, lipgloss, and boybands, right?

So if you're done being the world's least effective communist revolutionary by being as unlikable as humanly possible, I'd like to go back to playing with my adult barbies or whatever now, thanks.

[onlyhereforghost]

So a little something from me…

I grew up an only child, with a mother and a step father. I was, at times, babied, and at other times, pushed to be an adult before I needed to be. My mother was not an affectionate woman, my step father made it clear he didn’t care much for me, despite him being in my life since I was around three or four years old.

My familial love came from my grandparents whom I adored.

Both my parents put career before me. My mother worked full time, roughly 60-70 hours a week. My step father spent six months of the year working abroad. I ended up living with my grandparents as a result.

When I was 12, my mother was seriously injured at work, which meant she could no longer go to work, and I ended up moving back into my parents home. That same year my grandfather died. I lost my best friend and biggest supporter when he passed. My extended family also fractured, my mother fell out with her sister, and they never spoke again after this falling out.

I spent the rest of my mother’s life seeking approval from both her and my step father, basically begging for crumbs of affection. I had a child at 24. I wanted somebody to love me. My parents tried to take my child from me. I’m glad to say my kid and I have an incredible relationship and that even tho he’s now 21 he is still at home with me. (He drives me up the wall sometimes but I love him unconditionally, and I tell him I love him everyday)

My mother died six years ago. All I have left is the step father who hated me. We have a strained relationship at best. I still seek his approval even in my 40’s, and he still treats me like I’m stupid.

So… Ghost.

This band entered my life during a time when my depression was BAD. And suddenly, things seemed a little less dark. My son also loved them. I discovered them through him. “You like rock music mum, try this band Ghost…” “I dunno kid, your musical taste is questionable at best…” He wasn’t wrong, I immediately fell in love with the music. Prequelle had me in a choke hold even tho by this point Impera had been out a couple of months.

Then I discovered THE LORE. Oh boy, hello rabbit hole, my name is Alice, let’s go explore! (My name isn’t Alice. It just worked for this narrative).

Copia. My beloved Copia. I see so much of myself in his story. His desperation to be loved. His eagerness for approval. His lack of familial bonds. His hyper-fixations. The happy silly mask he wears for others when inside he feels like crying.

I learned about Tobias and his story too. How he lost a family member he adored at a young impressionable age. How he had family who disapproved (his father and step mother) and how he constantly pushed himself to create something that would bring people happiness.

This band mean everything to me. They are my happy place. They’ve brought people into my life who I love and adore and would fight tooth and nail for. (Looking at you @callmemamaemeritus )

In the end, when Tobias said Ghost fans seem to be lonely, in my case he was right. I think a lot of Ghost fans are a little broken, a little battle scarred, we’ve been through some shit in our lives. But then we found Ghost. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a fan since Opus or found them on TikTok, this is a solid fandom (90% of the time, there’s always people who try and ruin it, I ignore those people). This fandom is sweet, and loving, and kind, and all kinds of talented - look at the art! Look at the fanfic! The cosplay! SO. MUCH. TALENT.

All this to say, thank you OP for your observations about the movie. Thank you Ghost for existing.

Thank you Tobias for giving me a family. For giving me the love and respect and affection I spent my whole life chasing.

Thankyou Copia. You will always be MY Papa.

(And if you read this whole rant of mine you’re a real one and deserve a cookie. So go get one. 🍪)

RHRN spoilery talk

(about grief and mental health and the ending, the way I see the movie and why I love it so much)

I am feeling so many things about the fact that Copia was so unwell and anxious during the movie, trying to push away the reality of the end of his time as Papa as well as the visible signs of illness in Sister, that he dissociated the moment he stepped off stage, that he saw her sitting in a regular chair instead of the wheelchair, blended out the doctors and IV bags to see her how he wanted to see her, this strong powerful woman who has been by his side, pushing him, and who he only recently learned was his actual mother. It is so very easy to get lost in your anxiety about the future, in the anticipatory grief of what you'll lose, struggling to stay mindful and here where you have actual power over your life.

And looking back at the chapters this is what he has been doing, clinging to his little comforts (think of the whipped cream moment in the movie vs. the video games, the tricycle rides, the movie scene re-enactments), pushing away unwanted thoughts (not doing his taxes, the fact that neither his father nor his mother openly admitted to the parentage despite all signs being there, letting him float in uncertainty), playing it off like he's cool about everything while feeling dread and anxiety on the inside the closer he comes to the end of his era and presumed death (think of the coffin scene, the intro to the movie).

This man had no family so he picks role models that are close to him and suddenly when he learns that they were family all along he loses them, learns that he has been lied to most of his life and worked hard for others, to fill their shoes (first his father, now his mother). Despite Nihil treating him awfully he continuous to try and reach for approval for his achievements which he does not even get by the end as he's promoted ("I hope this new guy doesn't disappoint like you did"). He will never get emotional fulfilment from his father despite having small bonding moments, something that is fucking hard to accept and that he brushes off by throwing silly insults at him because it hurts. Because yeah, this is the type of pain that makes you feel like a child searching for breadcrumbs of affection from parents who do not know how to meet your emotional needs.

I feel just incredibly seen by all of this, the grief, dealing with sick relatives, emotional neglect, absent fathers you try to get love from but never will, lack of familial support, depression, trying to hold on to what comforts you in the darker moments, struggling to stay present in the face of anxiety and the world at large. I know this plot means little to some people, that you'd wished for more drama or something different altogether, but I feel like if you paid attention to the chapters then this is only the natural progression, the natural conclusion of his arc. It is very raw if you look past the comedic relief, and it is very well done in a way that keeps the campy, silly vibes of the chapters while still approaching these subjects in a very tangible, relatable way. It just makes me love the band even more.