#this season was so yuri. explodes

[misiahasahardname]

i love so much about this season oh my god. ripaxel, mkulia, the nichelle and julia mini conflict thing, nichelle and julia in general actually, MACARTHUR CAMEO……… GRAHHHHHH

this season has had its ups and downs but overall??? AMAZING.

I LOVE YOU TOTAL DRAMA REBOOT SEASON TWO!!!!!!!

[maybe-boys-do-love]

It's wild that the whole global trend of gay-focused happy ending romance shows and movies has only been going on for *looks at calendar* a measly ten years!

Just ten years ago. 2014. That's when you get the discovery of a market for queer romance series and films with happy endings. That year the OG Love Sick in Thailand came out. Brazil puts out The Way He Looks, which deserves so much more credit than it receives for influencing the aeshtetics of the genre. Looking premieres on HBO, and although it had low ratings, it's an important touchstone. And, despite Nickelodeon’s censorship and shifting the program from tv to its website, the Legend of Korra confirms Korrasami in its season finale.

The next year, in 2015, we get Love Sick season 2, and China, pre-censorship laws has a few options: Happy Together (not the Wong Kar Wai one lol), Mr. X and I, and Falling In Love with a Rival. Canada, premieres Schitt's Creek. In the US, Steven Universe reveals Garnet as a romantic fusion between two female characters, and will proceed to just be so sapphic. Norwegian web series Skam premieres and sets up a gay protagonist for its third season, which will drop in 2016 and entirely change the global media landscape.

Then, 2016! This is the MOMENT. That aforementioned Skam season happens. Japan puts out the film version of Ossan's Love and anime series Yuri!!! on Ice. China has the impactful Addicted Heroine, which directly leads to increased censorship. The US has Moonlight come out and take home the Oscar. In Thailand, GMMTV enters the BL game and Thai BL explodes: Puppy Honey, SOTUS, Water Boyy, Make It Right, plus, the Thai Gay OK Bangkok, which, like its influence, Looking, is more in the queer tradition but introduces two dramatically important directors to the Thai BL industry, Aof and Jojo.

By 2017, Taiwan enters the game with its History series. Korea’s BL industry actually kicks off with Method and Long Time No See. Thailand’s got too many BLs to mention. Call Me By Your Name, though not a happy ending, makes a big splash that will send ripples through the whole genre, and God's Own Country offers a gruff counter-argument to problematic age differences and twink obsessions. This is also the year of Netflix reboot of One Day At a Time bringing some wlw to the screen, and the Disney Channel has a main character come out as ‘gay’ on Andi Mack ( I’m am ready to throw fists with anyone who thinks the Disney Channel aesthetic isn’t a part of current queer culture). And I'd be remiss not to mention the influential cult-following of chaotic web-series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo: "Sometimes things that are expensive...are worse."

All this happened, and we hadn’t even gotten to Love, Simon, Elite, or ITSAY, yet.

Prior to all this there are some major precursors some of which signaled and primed a receptive market, others influenced the people who'd go on to create the QLs. Japan has a sputtering start in the 2010s with a few BL films (Takumi-Kun, Boys Love, and Jujoun Pure Heart). Most significantly in the American context, you have Glee, and its ending really makes way for the new era that can center gay young people in a world where queerness, due to easy access to digital information, is less novel to the characters. And the QL book and graphic novel landscape was way ahead of the television and film industries, directly creating many of the stories that the latter industries used.

There's plenty of the traditional queer media content (tragic melodramas and independent camp comedies) going on prior to and alongside QL, and there are some outlying queer romance films with happy endings that precede the era but feel very much akin to QL genre tropes and goals, many with a focus on postcolonial and multicultural perspectives (Saving Face, The Wedding Banquet, Big Eden, Maurice, My Beautiful Launderette, and Weekend). I don't mean to suggest that everything I’ve listed ought to be categorized as QL.

Rather, I want to point out how all of these new-era queer romance works are in a big queer global conversation together, in the creation of a new contemporary genre, a genre that has more capacity and thematic interest to include digital technology and normalize cross-cultural relationships than other genres (there's a reason fansubs and web platforms are so easily accepted and integrated to the proliferation of these series).

You're not too late to be part of the conversation. Imagine being alive in the 1960s and 70s and participating in the blossoming of the sci-fi genre. That flowering is where gay romance sits now. Join the party.

[kanguin]

Apropos of nothing, here's my top 15 anime and whether the story would be improved if you made the main character a trans girl:

1. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - You can't transition Rimuru in a way that matters, but honestly if Rimuru did start to ID as a woman over time, that would be cool. Unlikely though considering his human form is the body of Shizu, so a fully fem form would feel pervy to Rimuru.

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Well it'd certainly make the title funny if you made Edward into Edwina. And it'd make Ed/Winry into yuri. But honestly it'd change very little imho. Though it would be interesting to explore transition in a world where alchemy exists, but just in a different story. Might make for a fascinating post-canon fanfic?

3. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Oh god would it. The story is already focused on exploring identity and already has dysphoria when a god he talks to forces him into his pre-reincarnation body on the astral plane. Making Rudy into a polyamorous trans lesbian would literally be peak and elevate the story so much.

4. Kaguya-sama: Love is War - You know what? Yeah. I can vibe with making Miyuki Shirogane trans. It would add another layer of intrigue to the story AND make it gay. It could even be funny if Kaguya or Chica found out before Shirogane did. Wait. No. It would be hilarious if YU ISHIGAMI found out first, and just, assumed Miyuki was closeted, and not just, clueless. Yes this could add so much entertainment value.

5. Dungeon Meshi - Lord almighty get this autistic furry a choker and some estrogen, stat. I make it no secret how I feel about the Trans Touden Sisters interpretation.

6. Dandadan - Make Okarun and Jiji trans girls and make the main cast a messy polycule and sign me the FUCK up please! It would be so funny and so much fun. I NEED this version of Dandadan. It'd be even funnier considering how much is focused around Ken's junk and him being partially possessed by an old lady.

7. Overlord - NGL I'm not even sure anything would change if you made Momonga into a trans woman. She'd act the exact same, and so would everyone else. Interesting for sure, but fruitless, ultimately.

8. My Dressup Darling - Crack? Crack cocaine? Do you realize how amazing it would be to make this into a story about a gyaru girl pulling a closeted trans girl excitably out of the closet?! This would make this so much cuter than it already is, I think I'd EXPLODE.

9. How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom - It wouldn't change much narratively, but the world could always use more stories with polyamorous trans lesbians as the protagonist.

10. The Faraway Paladin - Wouldn't change much honestly, but it would be cool. Tbh Season 2 Will looks like a stealth/closeted trans girly already.

11. Mob Psycho 100 - Again wouldn't change much but would be fun. Put Mob on estrogen and watch her transform from anxiety autism failboy to anxiety autism failgirl. And then still be the kindest person in any room.

... Okay though, on second thought, getting to see her go ???% on a transphobe would be cool as shit.

12. One Punch Man - another no change case. One Punch Woman. She has boobs now. She probably transitioned in like a day somehow.

13. My Hero Academia - I think putting Midoriya on estrogen would fix the show actually. Maybe also put the writer on estrogen just to be sure. (joke)

14. Kill la Kill - Making Ryuko Matoi a trans girl would actually be really cool, especially with her challenging establishment, with the themes of clothes being a restrictive aspect of society, and with her gay romance with Mako. I've seen so many trans girls on Tumblr with Ryuko's exact shameless, confident personality, I just know it'd be epic.

15. Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious - It would change little about how Seiya acts, but realizing she's trans would definitely give Ristarte's bisexual ass a nosebleed. Though Seiya would probably be ultra mega hyper closeted behind numerous mystic barriers, so that'd be fun to explore.

[blanket-of-moss]

Thoughts on toxic yuri Lilanette?

Lilanette...[explodes]

Honestly one of my favourite ships ever, as well as one of the first miraculous ships I ever got fully into. Like, 'girl who lies to protect others' x 'girl who lies for her own benefit'?? Yes, please! They're kinda like different sides to the same coin in my head, and I just love that for them, the writers were too afraid to make them kiss, so they made them hate each other instead :((

Also, if I had a nickel for the number of times Lila has pinned Marinette against the wall whilst monologuing about how much she 'hates' her, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice.

In conclusion: They're very close to my heart, and I cannot wait to see more of their homoerotic tension in season 6

[visucene]

woke up to find out they finally cancelled the yuri on ice movie.

HOW do you even fumble an award winning series that exploded in popularity this badly??? i‘m serious. i need to know what went on behind the scenes like?? it was such a good original concept. i barely watch anime and yet i‘m still obsessed with yoi.

i‘ve been waiting for that movie for 6 years…. and i guess we‘ll never get a second season either. and this makes yuri not winning gold all the more bitter honestly.

at least the fandom is still somewhat ((barely)) alive so i don’t have to scream into the void complaining about this :,)

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Yuri for the ask meme?

my wretched purple carrot <3 smiles so peacefully.......

Why I like them/why I don’t: i was doomed from the minute he walked on screen and started making his smug little faces lookin like a damn Dana OC and sounding like what if Taako from TAZ wanted to hurt you so bad. i was cooked. he's so danabait it's unreal. He's just such an awful manipulative theatrical little freaklet with a nasty deck full of ugly ass sticky plants (slash pos 💚) but if i think too long about him my tummy starts hurting real real bad. I said it when I talked about sora but Character Raised to Be a Weapon always makes me explode and just like. Dwelling on Yuri's Upbringing Was Potentially Like inflicts ten thousand agonies upon me. there is a gaping maw of loneliness back there. im putting him in a jar and shaking it really hard. i love him. im not making it out alive from his duel links event

What I like about their appearance: i LOVE how expressive he is!!! it's integral to me that all 4 yuboys have a dash of the 'sometimes very silly and expressive' gene in there and i love that yuri's no exception. he's so cute sometimes. so sue me.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: p much same in both, huh? Joeri is a bonkers ass name I have to respect it but im a Yuri truther through and through. characters who are eastern european in my brain

OTP: SIGHS THROUGH MY TEETH. AGAIN. not beating the yaoi warrior allegations but denyuri bit me so bad. yuri is my problematic aro representation and thinking too much about the intricacies of whatever 'bond' he has with this loser who's in love with him makes a bomb strapped to me go off. postcanon denyuri feels like eating glass i will continue to chew on it <3

NOTP: i already talked about not being too big on yuri/yugo romantically but also. my god. im so sorry but yuri/celina is just such absolute comphet cardboard to me. it shouldnt boggle my brain that it's as popular as it is but i feel like a fucking space alien looking at it. these characters have interesting potential in their dynamic but be so fr with me celina is not dating a boy.

OT3: dont really have one for him. platonically i love the yuboys as family though ;__;

Favourite card they use: i do like starving venom in all its nasty wing mouthed glory but i think the card that he uses that makes me most insane is that goddamn predaplant tuner, Banksiogre. the fucked up pinecone with yugo's eyes. YEAH I'LL BE NORMAL ABOUT THAT SURE!!!!

Favourite moment they were in: god so many little moments especially in season 3, his crazy ass dub AND sub voice acting when he beats alexis, the moments right before he absorbs yugo. "i dont recall asking for forgiveness 🙄" but i gotta go with my heart. episode 135 smashed me into the fucking pavement with this kid's insane expressions. LA CUCARACHA

Least favourite moment: literally what the fuck was that in the last episode where he smiles at celina's Ghost in Zuzu. THEY HAVE BARELY INTERACTED ALL SERIES. BE SO FOR REAL WITH MEEEEEE

Something I associate with them: cockroach emoji 🪳. poison type pokemon. carnivorous plants. the humble asiatic wild ass. Fervent For the Hunger by Adeem the Artist. peace and love

[cornfields-td-nonsense]

leshawnaaaa leshawna for the character asks

leshawna!! yessss

sexuality hc: she is the queen of lesbians. "but harold-" is a girl, next question

gender hc: Iiiii have not thought super hard abt her gender! she probably experiments with pronouns a bit in her early 20s

OTP: hmm. Lesharold but specifically with transfem Harold

NOTP: not really a hater of it but I've never been the biggest Lesheather shipper. I get it, rivals, toxic yuri etc etc but I don't see the vision I'm sorry

BROTP: HER AND GWEN THEY'RE SUCH A DUO

General opinion: She's awesome but also I need to study her under a microscope. She's mean she's kind she doesn't like Harold she adores him she shit talks her whole team she improvises a whole cheerleader routine for them BY HERSELF-

She was such an iconic character and strong player in the first season and then was never relevant again. Characters like Courtney for example had their arcs take a nosedive off a cliff and explode in flames but Leshawna kind of just quietly fizzled out. She was one of the first on the Team Victory chopping block, and she got a cool af song out of it on Aftermath but like. that's where her arc ended and she wasn't graced with so much as a ROTI cameo, let alone competing on All-Stars despite very much being an all-star. She just fell off into obscurity.

Leshawna isn't a character I'm actively thinking about as much as others, but whenever I am, it's like "wow, if the writers actually cared about giving its characters cohesive amd satisfying arcs, you could have been so fascinating".

[amitieos]

toa anniversary munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: Nic

Pronouns: they/them

Birthday (no year): 14th July

Where are you from? What is your time zone? UK, GMT (or BST but don't get me started on daylight savings I'll explode)

How long is your roleplay experience? Does playing A Bug's Life on the playground when I was 5 count? If not, I started with rping HP characters with my friends when I was like 11-12 over MSN after school and whilst there have been breaks it's something I've always found myself coming back to.

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? As above, I made a couple of friends on (unrelated) forums and we all just thought it'd be fun.

How were you introduced to TOA? I thought I missed rp and looked for an FE based rp.

Do you have any pets? Yes, all hail Catcat the Great.

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) Summer. I hate the heat and humiditiy but once there's no daylight the seasonal affective disorder bass boosts my chronic mental health issues and it's just a bad time really.

What is your IRL occupation? I've gone back to uni to study Law :)

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? I love reading, I'm fascinated by linguistics and astrophysics, enjoy DnD and playing video games in my spare time. I'm a particular sucker for the Sims franchise.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Recently I've been playing BG3, Stardew Valley, The Sims & Fields of Mistria but I'm a big fan of the Persona series and really, really excited about Dragon Age The Veilguard

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I don't really play Pokemon much anymore but I'll just say Sylveon I guess

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! I met the fourth Doctor when I was 11 and he complemented my vocabulary lmao. I once got published in a poetry anthology with a poem about Shadow the Hedgehog and my parents we so proud of me.

How did you get into Fire Emblem? I think I saw a review on TV

What Fire Emblem games have you played? I've attempted to play every game except 1/2/3/5/11, although I've really wanted to play Thracia I just *need* some QoL updates and controls. I haven't finished every single one because of lost/deleted saves and stuff but I've watched playthroughs and read up on scripts on everything I haven't actually played myself.

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: My first was Fates but Jugdral, Magvel and 3 Houses are my favourite

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Elincia, Mercedes, Franz, Myrrh and ughhhh I can't choose between Chole/Yunaka/Sylvain so I'm cheating

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! I saw Ryoma in all that red armour and it grabbed my attention.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Miss Mercedes if you're free Thursday night

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Chrom, originally be accident but now on purpose :D - Fates: My first was Takumi and I didn't know what an S support was and was very confused. Nowadays usually Kaze or Laslow if playing F!Corrin and Orochi, Nyx or Charlotte if playing M!Corrin. Niles for either. - Three Houses: Mercedes. She's still my go to ofc but I'm also fond of Dorothea, Dimitri and Sylvain. If I'm playing M!Byleth Yuri or Ingrid - Engage: Yunaka was my first and now it's either Yunaka, Diamant or Chloe. Or Mauvier maybe hahfsdgfsd

Favorite Fire Emblem class? I love Pegasus Knights!!!!!!!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Probably a reluctant recruit who accidentally gets involved. Weirdly magic based armoured character.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) Either unaffiliated civilian or Blue Lions probably

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? Boons: Lance, Reason, Heavy Armour Banes: Bow, Faith Budding Talent: idk Axes or Flying?

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) No idea! Probably Elusia or Firene. The Solm heat would literally kill me.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) TOA ;) (like Noah)

Current TOA muses: Elincia & Mercedes

Past TOA muses? A lot but most memorable to me are Sylvain and Julia, though I'm so excited to see Sylvain in good hands <3

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Elincia and I still have her.

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? White magic girlies though I'm trying to change things up.

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? Hm, I wish I felt I could write more of the male characters I enjoy effectively. In most other fandoms I've written in most of my muses have been men but it's just not so in FE. I'd also love to write a villain okay I once genuinely considered Hilda FE4 lmao

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) I like writing dialogue and characters bonding but I'm starting to like more action oriented scenes too.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? For Mercedes in particular I get excited to write her steel and strength, especially when it's combined with her gentleness rather than opposed to it.

Favorite TOA-related memories? Every thread I've writen with Elincia and Rua's Byleth <3

Present or past tense? I tend to default to present in TOA but usually past tense. I'm flexible though and will try and match my partner.

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I actually find small text easier to focus in on and read (I can find normal a bit too cluttered and it can send my eyes wandering lmao) but I'm perfectly happy to use normal text, it just takes me a bit longer to comb through.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 I can't see a shake up happening soon but... Zephia or Chloe are probably forerunners. I've thought about Palla and Astrid too but I'm not sure if I can see the longevity. Also Neimi, Myrrh and Rodrigue have sparked.... ideas. For muses I've written before, Julia is the most likely but I think she's having a nice break right now :)

[totaldrama-showdowns]

Submissions for the Non-Human Showdown! Including ones that are invalid!

Fang (x2)

“🦈🦈🦈”

“He's Fang ❤”

Cody Jr (x2)

“Cody Jr! No! Not Aunty Heather!”

Mr Coconut (x2)

“The og. Should have won every season /serious”

vince the alligator (x2)

“SWEEEEP”

“The lore… so immaculate”

the don box (x2)

“bzzz i have a stupid fucking clue for you. ah fuck the interns put me in a lame outfit again”

“what id don on about he's slaying in that shirt”

wt pineapple (x2)

“ALEPINEAPPLE FOREVER!!!”

“👅🐍🐍🐍🐍”

Irene the fish (x2)

“shes so beautiful i’d kiss her too”

“The final remaining member of Team Victory after DJs elimination, Irene went on to win the million and the hearts of many.”

the chrarry baby (x2)

“Goo goo gaa gaa”

“ive got my eye on u chris mclean”

Princess Beth Doll

“I WANT TO BUY ONE SO BAD IRL!!!!! Also, this too is yuri”

Old Jester from reboot S2ep9

“I love when Damien hugged him! That's scene is soooo cute. Also I love fluffy animal!”

Bobo :)

“SEASON 2 SPOILERS Bobo is the name of the bear that had the Raj mask in season 2 episode 12 :) idk I just think he’s silly”

DJ’s bunny

the Chris-shaped cake that Julia's group made

“I wanna eat that thang”

Dramarama Cody

“He's an alien”

Theodore (MK's stuffed unicorn)

(the arts and crafts) Shed (from season 1)

“shed sweep”

that evil little seal from wt

“sooo little and evil. who can hate him”

caleb rock

“possibly the best version of him out there”

the skull duncan carved for courtney

“you cant deny how iconic it was”

eva’s mp3 player

“the most important character in td history”

heather’s various hairstyles

“possibly the most diverse and versatile entity in td historu”

pahkitew island

“The best one”

Myself

“:^)”

ryan seacrests car

“very fast”

chef's car (total dramarama and gen 4)

“MY CAR!!!!!”

alien clone cody

“AAAAAAA*explodes into green goo*”

chris's wig

“wiggin”

heather's wig

“wiggin”

total drama yum yuk happy go time candy fish tails

“You ate it!”

trents five finger shirt

“5”

princess courtney CD

“all the greatest hits!”

owens butt

“fart”

anne maria’s hair style

“Ey im walkin here”

bridgettes surfboard

“BONK”

the fake antlers from the paintball ep

“Duncney”

manitobas fedora

“served!”

beary <3

“it’s LITERALLY beary”

ripper’s world record breaking fart

“he did it”

the portrait of cody as blue boy in wt

“funny looking”

sierra’s pizza box-cum-laptop*

“she uses the internet AND eats witj it. shes a genius”

*Mod Note: this refers to cum meaning: combined with; also used as (used to describe things with a dual nature or function).

waynes accent

“Eh we play hockey eh”

mal ventriloquist doll

“aaah im evil mal doll”

alejandro puppet

“we do a little trolling”

Chef 2.0

“He made him from a cashew”

Mt. Kīlauea

“She has the mercy to have her lava not hot enough to kill Alejandro, Ezekiel, and that random intern like... Everyone say "thank you" or somethin idk. Do you think she feels bad that Alejandro ended up in a robot suit because”

Immunity idol s4-5

“They ruined it's design in the reboot boooooooo”

MK's infernape

“Listen, she's a gamer and she's based. She would totally pick chimchar in bdsp. She probably hates people who tells her to "play platinum" because that was a game made for old people.

Try and exclude this submission, I dare you. There's nothing that says I can't submit theoretical non-humans. There's a non-zero chance that MK has an Infernape and I know it's been raised to have some awesome sneaky move. If you exclude this, I bet you'd allow "Mike's Torterra" because only a grass type fan would be a fire type and MK hater!!

Julia would keep her piplup unevolved and beat her console into tiny bits when she gets to Cynthia btw”

the drone of shame

“[picks up victim and flies away] wheeee”

that giant bowl of rice they fall into in japan

“mm giant bowl of rice”

noah’s dog

“his epic dog”

celine dion cardboard cutout

“love fucking wins #duncney”

the face huggers from Area 51

“rip tyler”

ezekiel MISSING milk carton

“Sad! He died.”

the eagle chris shot and killed

“someone arrest this man. again”

the confessional

“it’s always there for you”

geoff’s splinter

“OW”

the bread from codys pants

“man i need to rewatch island. i fucking love the pants bread”

That ice cream snowman from SMS

“LISTEN. JUST BECAUSE HE IS FROM THE EPISODE THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN NOT GIVE HIM HIS RESPECT”

bear

“the one from raptear specifically. let's go lesbians”

that pizza chase threw the challenge for

“clearly he should be with it rather than emma. chemma? chipper? chazee? nope never fucking heard of them”

Momma's Spice

“*sprinkles it on op's head* mmmm tasty”

The Gilded Chris award

WT barf bags

“give a real f to those guys. never appeared after episode 7.”

the toxic marshmallow of loserdom

“killer of staci's hair”

The lavatory confessional

“bitch is iconic. 6/8 is a passing mark!!!”

Courtney's PDA

“why wouldnt they call it a phone idk but its so camp”

The Cassowaries

“Male cassowaries are responsible for raising the young. We love an involved father.”

Fire-breathing winged mountain goats

“You could make an Undertale reference with this (also they're really cool)”

Giant Beetle

“Dott shippers will like this one”

Mutated Maggots

“They're pretty cute!”

Six-Legged Rats

“ADORABLE EEEEEEEP!!!!”

scott bird

“what a beautiful bird”

Chef's car

“It may play a role in mkulia canon”

Gethin

that rainbow porridge in episode 8 of the reboot

“aw hell naw chris cookin up the gay porridge”

The cassowary that fell in love with Zee

“We love an iconic single mother looking for love”

The rat in the cargo hold that appears on screen for 0.5 seconds during Ezekiel's solo in "Come Fly With Us"

“That rat really carried the whole song. Iconic. Astounding. Never before seen talent. Lady Gaga is shaking in her Demonias.”

The Erymanthian Boar

“It wrecked Duncan's shit in Greece.”

The dock of shame

“So many teens walked on her, i think she deserves some recognizion”

gwen's blender necklace

Zoey's hamster (Miss Puffycheeks)

“It's cute and can punch a cat, need I say more?”

[thedragonofbadasstemple]

Got tagged by @klutenpetter to share 9 new movies, games, and tv shows I got into in 2024! Not all of these debuted last year but last year was when I started to watch/get into them so I'm putting them in!

I was away on holiday so just now getting the chance to share. I had to really think about it to get 9 choices since I didn't really pick up many new animes last year, much ones I enjoyed immensely, and I'm too busy to play video games, but overall I enjoyed some real bangers in 2024! Put everything in approximate order to when I started them...

Witch and The Beast. LOVED IT!! The anime and the portion of the manga it covers is great, the following arc is even better. Everything covered in the anime felt like an extended prologue to the actual plot. I read the Manga from start to finish after I finished the anime since I enjoyed the art. I hope the manga comes back from hiatus soon.

Slam Dunk. I watched this with my partner and we greatly enjoyed it. Hanamichi's voice actor is incredible. We did not enjoy The Final Slam Dunk very much, it was a huge let down. I really want to read the manga so I can enjoy the intended plot from start to finish, but even if half the 90s anime is filler I still really enjoyed it a lot!

Dungeon Meshi. Also watched this one with my partner! Its very inspiring, both creatively as well as in making me feel motivated. I haven't bought any merch for this series, I'm telling myself Senshi and Laios would want me to spend money on cookware and food instead lol. I would like to purchase the manga and read it in Spanish some day. We can't wait for season 2!

BANGx9 BRAVERN!!!!. FUCKING LOVED THIS. Easily in my top 10 anime of all time. PLEASE WATCH BRAVERN IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!!! My sales pitch is its Yuri on Ice but Mecha AU. There is even a yurio equivalent. Its very funny and very gay. I got one of the t-shirts Smith wears as well, he's such himbo goals.

The Fall Guy. I watched this in the theaters with my mom! We went just to have something to do with low expectations and no idea what the plot was and we both enjoyed it. I bought it on blu ray as soon as it released! I really enjoyed this film, it is filled with love for the art of filmmaking and you can tell everyone is having a great time. I'm sad its a bit of a box office bomb, it deserved better.

House MD. I picked this up to have some background noise to help me accomplish tasks since I have ADD. Kluten, who tagged me, likes it, and I like having new things to talk with him about. I haven't finished it yet, I'm on season 6, but I do really love it so far. I also blame the Rasputin AMV for making me interested too, and all the memes in general. The House MD fandom propaganda really putting in the work!

Saw. Yes, I really didn't see the original Saw until 2024. I've wanted to watch it for years, ever since I saw an (incomplete) retrospective of the series and just didn't get around to it. I thought the series was just torture porn before said retrospective, but the original film is actually quite different from how the series ended up. I watched Saw 2 right after the first and it didn't charm me as much. I do not plan to watch further entries. The original is enough for me! <3

Mouthwashing. I didn't play this one directly, I watched ManlyBadassHero's play through. I actually had to watch it twice as the first time didn't really catch me, but it exploded in popularity and I watched it again and that's when I really fell in love. Swansea/Daisuke is Calladashi but a different font for me. Somethings never change I guess LOL.

Nosferatu. Watched this in theaters in Spain with my partner. It was the first movie date we had and we both really enjoyed the film. We're both freaks and related to Ellen a lot. I really enjoyed this adaptation of Dracula and its made me want to read the book again! I really loved that Orlock had a book accurate [REDACTED], I'm still very delighted just thinking about it! I can't wait to watch it again, I'm picking it up on blu-ray when it releases!

For this I will tag @solanum-iycopersicum, @wanderingpierrot, @tardigradetv, @dagaaz, aaaaaand @themetro5000.

[paperandhis-paper]

Arc-V Day 6 and 7

I'm a bit behind. Please @arcvmonth, spare me. Don't turn me into a card.

Anyway, for Understudy Spotlight I wanna briefly talk about Roger. I say briefly, because I'll save most of my thoughts for the Villains Prompt. For now, I gotta say, he's my vote for most underrated Yugioh bad guy. I LOVE villains who think they're hot shit, but turn out to be nothing but smug snakes. Plus, his voice actor NAILS his breakdowns. I was surprised to see so many people disliked him (probably Shōnen fans who can't accept a villain that isn't super-duper powerful). Finally, I love me some Disney Villain Deaths.

Anyway, Day 7: Of Amores, Per the Prophecy

Oh boy, does Arc-V have some banger ships. Some of my faves:

Fruitshipping:

Main-guy with Main-girl ships in most Shōnen anime tend to hit with the force of a wet fart, with Yugioh being no different. This is because they fall under the trap of making the girl be the only one who constantly thinks of protagonist-kun, whereas the MC is usually only thinking about fighting, eating, and their male rival who they're totally-not-gay-with.

Therefore, it's wild that these two idiots enamored the Arc-V so much as they, and it was via the use of a very simple trick: have both parties be clearly interested in one another. Seriously, Arc-V turns into an epic, interdimensional romantic drama from Season 2, and it's so strange for a franchise like Yugioh (even if it already happened in GX). Yuya spends as much time thinking about Yuzu as she does about him, and that's so refreshing.

One thing I love about this ship is how much they emphasize that the distance between them doesn't diminish their bond. In fact, it's the opposite, when they're separated that their feelings are most in display. Yuzu's duel with Chojiro is one such example: despite not being allowed near one another, Yuzu still had her feelings reach him.

Them being enemies in their past lives but lovers in this one also adds an extra element of brainrot for me.

Appleshipping and Fallenangelshipping:

I wanna re-emphasize this: we NEED more F/M ships where the guy is completely, stupidly in love with the girl. This applies more to appleshipping admittedly; seeing Yugo explode with joy from seeing Rin will never stop melting my heart. Male characters in anime are often shy of showing physical affection toward their love interests, but not Banana-boy. Plus, imagining how they grew up in poverty is interesting.

Serenadeshipping:

OMG THIS SHIP IS SO GOOD. LIKE I KNOW I HAVE MASSIVE YURI BIAS BECAUSE LOVE LIVE FAN BUT STILL. Ok so you obviously got badass and serious Serena with ray-of-sunshine Yuzu, so the dynamic is fun from the get-go. But we also have the fact that Yuzu became one of, if not the, first friends Serena's ever had. Plus there's the "changing clothes" scene and I'm sure you could do some gay awakening shit.

Also Yuzu is so happy upon seeing Serena late in the series. Just look at her!

And then when Serena betrays them she's so sad. DAMN IT ARC-V, THIS IS FROM THE FREAKING CAPTAIN SOLO EPISODE, WHY IS MY HEART IN PIECES?!

(Extra angst when you consider this is the last time they spoke before getting thrown into Arc-V)

Finally, I imagine she'd be happy to forever be with Yuzu at the end of the series

Lustershipping:

similar dynamic as Serenade, but with a rival-to-lovers tint. It's just cute, mmkay? Aesthetically, this is one of my favorites, Masumi's design is great

Genesishipping:

Sometimes, ships are more interesting for what they don't tell you than for what they do. The showrunners left the nature of Zarc and Ray's relationship ambiguous, which means there's a lot of possible avenues to take it. Enemies to Lovers? Sure, go ahead. Enemies that become lovers because of their new incarnations' unique souls? Works too.

Plus Zarcray fans make some Fire content.

Honorable Mentions: Guiltshipping, Candyshipping, Emblemshipping, Braceletshipping,

[rebeccadumaurier]

2023 Books in Review

a tiered ranking of all the books i read in 2023! originally i was going to write up my commentary on each one but then i was like hahaha.....no, so below the cut is just a list of the titles/authors in each tier instead.

changed my brain chemistry

The Idiot, Elif Batuman

Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang

The Borrowed, Chan Ho-kei (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

My Cousin Rachel, Daphne du Maurier

Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang (trans. Ken Liu)

The Membranes, Chi Ta-wei (trans. Ari Larissa Heinrich)

Under the Pendulum Sun, Jeannette Ng

Severance, Ling Ma

He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan

Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Network Effect, Martha Wells

top-tier stuff

Our Share of Night, Mariana Enriquez (trans. Megan McDowell)

Brainwyrms, Alison Rumfitt

The Door, Magda Szabo (trans. Len Rix)

The Lover, Marguerite Duras (trans. Barbara Bray)

Fun Home, Alison Bechdel

Strange Beasts of China, Yan Ge (trans. Jeremy Tiang)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, Kim Fu

Tell Me I’m Worthless, Alison Rumfitt

Bliss Montage, Ling Ma

How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo

Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer

The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin

My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante

The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri

good, well-written

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu

Life Ceremony, Sayaka Murata (trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori)

Yellowface, R. F. Kuang

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

Assassin of Reality, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (trans. Julia Meitov Hersey)

Witch King, Martha Wells

Tokyo Ueno Station, Miri Yu (trans. Morgan Giles)

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler

Peaces, Helen Oyeyemi

Gingerbread, Helen Oyeyemi

Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir

The Pachinko Parlor, Elisa Shua Dusapin (trans. Aneesa Abbas Higgins)

All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Fugitive Telemetry, and System Collapse (Murderbot #1-4, #6-7), Martha Wells

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee

The Dry Heart, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Frances Frenaye)

Gods of Want, K-Ming Chang

Paradais, Fernanda Melchor (trans. Sophie Hughes)

The Mushroom at the End of the World, Anna Tsing

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency, Chen Chen

The Hurting Kind, Ada Limon

Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie

An Unauthorised Fan Treatise, Lauren James

Upstream, Mary Oliver

The Art of Death, Edwidge Danticat

Meander, Spiral, Explode, Jane Alison

alphabet, Inger Christensen (trans. Susanna Nied)

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

flawed, but enjoyable

The Wicker King, K. Ancrum

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters

Flux, Jinwoo Chong

Bang Bang Bodhisattva, Aubrey Wood

The Murder of Mr. Wickham, Claudia Gray

Natural Beauty, Ling Ling Huang

The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson

Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Likeness, Tana French

The Cabinet, Un-su Kim (trans. Sean Lin Halbert)

The Kingdom of Surfaces, Sally Wen Mao

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, Franny Choi

good, well-written, but not my cup of tea

The Good House, Tananarive Due

The Transmigration of Bodies, Yuri Herrera (trans. Lisa Dillman)

Roadside Picnic, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky (trans. Olena Bormashenko)

The School for Good Mothers, Jessamine Chan

At Night All Blood Is Black, David Diop (trans. Anna Moschovakis)

Family Lexicon, Natalia Ginzburg (trans. Jenny McPhee)

The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo

The Kingdom of This World, Alejo Carpentier (trans. Harriet de Onís)

Against Silence, Frank Bidart

flawed, less enjoyable

Tenth of December, George Saunders

Counterweight, Djuna (trans. Anton Hur)

Authority, Jeff VanderMeer

Comfort Me with Apples, Catherynne M. Valente

Babel, R. F. Kuang

The Genesis of Misery, Neon Yang

Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid

not ranking

These are nonfiction and they aren’t literature-related, so it just felt weird trying to rank them.

Visual Thinking, Temple Grandin

On Web Typography, Jason Santa Maria

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (trans. Cathy Hirano)

[mariska]

hi queer friends in my phone i hope u have all been having an ok month so far 💖 im sorry i havent been online very much lately, its like 80% just me being forgetful except to hop on my phone app for like ten mins to browse my dash and reblog something and get distracted by another non phone related activity LOL. my bestie Eli is here still until the rest of the month and we finished our rewatch (their first watch, my like......who even knows the specific numbered rewatch) of Avatar The Last Airbender a couple days ago and that was very fun and exciting, it was wild getting to those last few episodes in the final season and just totally getting brought back to being a kid in my head when the show was actively airing on tv and i was sitting in my bedroom exploding from sheer special interest excitement watching the story wrap up on the super small box tv i used to have like 15+ years ago 😭🫡 we haven't started watching Legend Of Korra yet since we just finished ATLA and need to like. take a lil Avatar media break before jumping into another entire finished series fhdhdhsfsshhgd but excited for whenever we start that too!! Eli showed me a fav movie of theirs the other night called Thoroughbreds and i REALLY liked it, fellow toxic yuri enjoyers i truly cannot recommend that one enough those girls have Problems In Abundance and i love that for them and also me.

OH OH OH ALSO on my birthday after we got home from out of house activities we watched that Nic Cage movie 'Dream Scenario' that i've wanted to see so bad since the first trailer for it dropped online a while back, and i am truly not just being dramatic when i say i think that is my favorite movie i've seen this year and it will be Difficult for another movie to win over that 2024 Fav Spot in my mind, it was exactly what i wanted it to be and MUCH MORE LMAOO IT WAS SO GODDAMN FUNNY. very specifically Me And Eli's Kinda Stupid Sense Of Humor throughout the whole run time we were fuckin losing it at every other scene. that was a wonderful lil birthday treat.

also the antique mall we were gonna go to ended up being closed on the day of my birthday so we went to a big mall off-Cape that i like instead and have been to a few other times for past birthdays cus they actually have a bunch of different types of stores with stuff i actually enjoy unlike the more local mall we have here that is 100% dying a slow agonizing Mall Death lmao. went to Build-A-Bear and they had that one bear style in stock that literally just looks like a femme lesbian with the lesbian flag colors and perfect lil eyeliner so i made a Chappell Roan inspired pop star outfit wearing lesbian colored bear (saw someone else online do that a lil while back with the same style i chose so i couldn't resist doing it myself when i saw it was at the store hfsfgsvsgshshdg) and the ppl working there that day were all super chill and friendly and most likely around me and Eli's age or maybe a few yrs younger than us, the person who helped me make my bear specifically was really friendly and fun to talk with cus while we were in there it was pretty much just us and the employees for the majority of the time, he like immediately picked up on me being A Very Obvious Femme Lesbian on account of The Femme Lesbian Bear and also The Very Over The Top Femme Alt Outfit I Was Wearing and we chatted abt being gay and trans while he was stuffing the bear it was such a genuinely sweet and wonderful interaction, he was also autistic and we got to briefly bond over Build-A-Bear being mutual life long autistic special interests of ours and he seemed rly happy to hear that i was turning 27 that day and was still actively wanting to spend birthdays making custom stuffed animals there it was just really great all around 😭💕 also before the mall closed later on we did a quick stop at the FYE store that was there (i always get very excited when i see a still active FYE store anywhere cus it was a childhood fav place of mine to shop but our local mall closed ours when i was a teenager lol) and there was a small stand set up with some ATLA merch and i got a fully functional Momo backpack/crossbody style bag that i am so incredibly psyched about having fjdgedfdhsshfg it is very cute. and anyone who knows me knows i love adding a silly lil functional novelty bag to my collection of silly lil novelty bags. so it will be getting much use from me out in the world

anyways!!! thats pretty much what i've been up to, just figured i would hop on and write a mariska life update so everyone here knows i didnt just like. drop off the face of the earth lol

[kitkatt0430]

A, C, and K?

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Well, Cisco/Hartley and Cisco/Harry are always ships kinda buzzing in the back of my mind for the Flash. But I'm also currently still twirling Reverb/HR around in my head because they turned out really cute. Haven't written any Caitlin/Iris recently so I'm kinda itchy to write more for them too. Or to go through the tags to just read some Snowest ship. Dunno which yet.

Also just always Iris and Barry be it platonic, queerplatonic, or romantic. They're always important to each other.

Thanks to the DW specials, Donna ~ The Doctor QPR is now forefront of my mind. Still want Donna to randomly show up in new seasons of the show and just always know who the Doctor is. Threaten to share embarrassing stories about the Time Lord with the new Companion. But also just... Shaun Temple spending time with the Doctor is something I really want. The two of them being cozy domestic and supporting Donna about something. The Doctor falling asleep on Shaun's shoulder, waking up enough to almost get up and then snuggle back down because comfy. Sylvia banning 14 from the kitchen until he gets baking lessons because he keeps mixing up common Earth ingredients with not-Earth Ingredients and maybe exploded something with flour once or twice. Rose sneaking out to Mars with her Uncle.

(Donna reconnecting with Martha and getting to know Mickey properly. Mickey absolutely making fun of the Doctor for creating split-off versions of himself twice. He's like a plant you can take cuttings from. Mickey and Shaun bonding over having amazing, wonderful, brave wives.)

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Yuri/Estelle from Tales of Vesperia. I just see their relationship as being too sibling-ish to ship them. I love their platonic ship, though. They're besties for life, want to spend forever together in as non-romantic a way as possible.

Though these days I mostly just see Yuri as being gay, so I don't really vibe with Judy/Yuri either. And I see Estelle as being a lesbian, so Estelle/Flynn also makes me go O_o because I do forget other people don't headcanon them this way.

(The game is sooooo good, everyone should go play it.)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

It's kinda a tie between Eleanor and Michael from The Good Place. The way they grow over time together and how much their friendship changes each other... that show was just so tightly and well written and so incredibly acted that I don't know that I'll ever get over how good it was. This was a show that maintained it's velocity consistently over the course of it's seasons. Told exactly the story it wanted to tell. And did not try to push for more than there was nor get cut off prematurely and have to rush to finish.

But Eleanor and Michael in particular just stand out to me the most in their growth over the seasons. Eleanor learning to love herself and stand up for herself and others. Micheal learning that there's more to humanity than the bad parts and more to him than the Bad Place. And so much of that growth is instigated and nurtured by each other.

(That said, Tales of Vesperia has most excellent character arcs too, everyone should play that game...)

[unlimitedhorsepower]

thinking abt this bc i was avoiding this watchparty consciously but i had mental fortitude to read it properly now and im like lol lmfao

first of all good ig but its not even just the ending its just the entire situation you dumb cunts omfg. why put yuri through all that for a scene that could be undone in the case you got funding for a 3rd season. i am psychically exploding you for real

i agree that it kinda really felt like tnb! if only the rest of it felt like tnb too HAHA!!!! that would be so fucked up now wouldnt it.... imagine

[georgipopovich-voiceblog]

I’m always so conflicted when it comes to talking about Ice Adolescence. On one hand, the promise of a movie for a popular show, one that changed sports anime for upcoming years, should be getting so much attention. Yuri on Ice became popular seemingly overnight, with attention to both 2d/3d animation in each episode SO seamless that most people didn’t realize it was a combination. The queerbaiting accusations quickly got smothered when they KISSED, and GOT ENGAGED. That’s huge for Japanese media! There were YOI museums, pop up cafes, anime panels, a concert, they’ve been mentioned in podcasts, fanart is littered all over the internet for them! 

Surely, when Kubo saw how much it exploded, it should have become a priority. Right? 

“See you next level”. Was that an actual promise? Or was it an open question mark to whether or not there would be a continuation of their story? If anything, it was a huge gamble on Kubo’s part to even include a hint that there might be more to a gay story in a place where queer media is hard to release. The movie feels like the same kind of gamble. There’s a trailer, and hints of what it’s supposed to be about, but doesn’t it all feel made up on the spot? 

Is this another roll of dice? Did this get promised without any approval? 

As fans, we are not entitled to the thousands of man hours that will no doubt go into a potential movie. However, as members of the LGBTQA+ community, the ache for more is there. We felt representation. The promise should not have been made for more if there was a possibility it wouldn’t happen. The love for YOI still exists, but the popularity that came with it has died down, enough so that it’s become a distant memory. 

Now, the fans are angry. We were given a huge and beautiful show with gorgeous animation, a thrilling love story, and a vast diverse cast of characters, and once the seasons finished, small bites of what could happen in the future. And now it’s gone.

There’s no pending movie. Their website no longer mentions any work on the movie. There’s been snippets of drawings, and some animations, but it’s as though Kubo’s (arguably) greatest impact on anime ceased to exist. While rightfully upset, fans also seem to yell from all corners of the internet that they are owed Ice Adolescence. But are we?

What if Kubo can’t work on it? Sure, releasing a queer media piece is already risky, but making a continuation? Is it even possible?

I believe the fandom itself has a right to be upset, but we are not entitled. Making a roar about it will not make animators work faster, if it is truly in the works.