#truly shows the character and the man are two separate entities which. love that shit

[the-kipsabian]

me looking at this new photo of kip and trying to think how is this the same man who dmed me yesterday

[cherry-valentine]

Fall 2020 Anime Season:

Golden Kamuy Season 3 is, so far, just as good as the first two seasons. For anyone unfamiliar with the show, it follows a former soldier called “Immortal Sugimoto” (nicknamed so for his tendency to survive a lot of shit that would kill most people) and a young Ainu (the Japanese equivalent of Native Americans) girl as they search Northern Japan (and even parts of Russia) for hidden Ainu gold. The story is pretty wild, with threats coming from the wildlife and the harsh, snowy conditions as often as from mercenaries, assassins, and various other human dangers. The cast has expanded enough that we have several separate groups of cool, well-written characters roaming about (and they’ve shuffled a bit from season two, making their interactions very interesting). Sugimoto remains one of my favorite anime protagonists. He’s one of the more brutal, violent main characters I’ve seen, but, strangely, also one of the nicest. He’s kind to innocents (both people and animals) but will slaughter his enemies without hesitation. He’s also pretty funny. Then again, almost every character is subject to the show’s weird but endearing humor. It’s very hard to dislike any character, even the ones who are quite cruel. The show is also notable for having a lot of homoerotic subtext. The beefy, handsome men sure do love taking their clothes off and wrestling. Like, taking it ALL off. Multiple times per season. Yeah. Watch this show, everybody.

Ikebukuro West Gate Park is a new show this season that I was initially interested in because it reminded me of Durarara!! in that it’s set in Ikebukuro and features color gangs. That’s where the similarities end, however. Whereas Durarara!! had tons of supernatural elements and just plain craziness, IWGP is more realistic by comparison. The show follows Makoto, a seemingly normal guy who seems to function in a sort of “odd jobs” type of role for a color gang called the G Boys. While they’re a gang, they don’t seem like criminals or thugs, or even delinquents. They really feel more like a club, held together by their respect for the leader referred to as King. So far the series seems to be episodic in nature, with most stand-alone episodes focusing on some sort of social issue, from drug addiction to immigration. It’s interesting to see these issues presented in such a sympathetic light, viewed through the lens of Tokyo’s youth. The art is nice, with varied character designs and animation that’s just good enough that you don’t notice the problems very often. The music is a highlight, with my favorite opening theme of the season and one of the better ending themes.

Magatsu Wahrheit is a show I was very iffy on at first. It has a lot of things working against it. It’s based on a video game I’ve never heard of, the opening theme is one of the cheapest, most unimpressive things I’ve ever seen (note: it does improve a few episodes in!), and the series overall has a low budget feel (though nowhere near as bad as Gibiate from last season). But the story is actually very interesting and very well written. The basic premise is that Young Man A (I’m not remembering these weird names, sorry) works as a delivery truck driver in your usual “modern fantasy” setting (kingdoms and monsters and other medieval fantasy trappings alongside trucks and cars and advanced science laboratories). When he’s loading up his deliveries, Young Man B, a fresh recruit in the kingdom’s military and general goody-two-shoes, randomly offers to help Young Man A load his truck. Young Man B spots some boxes off to the side and, assuming they were part of the load, puts them into the truck while Young Man A is talking to his boss. These boxes turn out to be illegal weapons being smuggled by a group of... freedom fighters? I guess? This, in turn, drags Young Man A into a shit storm of trouble when the illegal weapons are discovered in his truck. It also leads directly to tragedy for Young Man B as well, setting them both on wildly different but similarly dangerous paths. The whole idea that a simple act of kindness for a stranger sets off such a terrible series of events is pretty engaging. As it stands in the show right now, Young Man A is the more compelling character. He’s just a truck driver. He’s a coward who runs from danger and wants no part of any of this. But at the same time, he can be surprisingly brave at times (usually when a child is in danger). In a twist on the usual trope, these spurts of bravery are rarely rewarded. At least twice, his decision to act has led to heartbreaking tragedy. So far Young Man B is your typical “idealistic youth realizing the military isn’t comprised entirely of nice people” type of character. As such, he’s just not as interesting. He hasn’t had as much screen time though, so hopefully he’ll grow as a character. I guess it says a lot that I’ve written so much about the show, and almost all of it is about the plot. But the plot is really the only remarkable thing about it. In this case, that’s enough.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is, well, a bit of a trainwreck. And I’m not necessarily talking about the quality of the show. Let me explain: The show was marketed as a remake of the 2006 anime, which was one of my all-time favorite series. I was pretty excited about it. Lots of new fans who had never watched the original started this one. The first episode was okay. I wasn’t crazy about how shiny everything looked (I realize the original’s visuals are a bit dated now but at least they were unique, this new one looks like pretty much every harem anime from the past five years) but the story seemed to be doing good and I looooooved the use of the original opening theme song as the closer. Then episode two dropped, and the fandom basically exploded. The first few minutes of episode two reveal that this is not a remake, but a sequel! Shock! At first, I was impressed by this little bit of manipulation. It felt exciting to realize the truth. But then it dawned on me (and the rest of the fandom) that new viewers who came to watch this were screwed over. Those first few minutes of episode two spoil some very important things from the original series (we’re talking major spoilers here), and it’s going to ruin a lot of plot points for those who never watched the original and now want to go back and watch it first. So here’s a PSA: If you’re new to Higurashi and want to try this new series, DON’T unless you’re okay with watching a sequel that spoils the original.

Okay, so now let’s talk about this new series/sequel. First, the good points: The ending theme is GORGEOUS. Just... go watch it. Soak it up. The opening isn’t bad but I can’t help comparing it to the far superior original opening. Aside from the overly shiny and generic character designs, the rest of the visuals are pretty great. The scenery in particular is very nice. In terms of story, I like the idea of beginning each new “arc” by staying close to the original story, then throwing in some pretty wild deviations that make them end in completely different ways because a character that lived through the original is trying to make subtle changes (that so far have ended up turning out very badly). When it comes to the bad points, one in particular sticks out: It’s not scary! The original had some truly unsettling moments, and so far this one hasn’t even been creepy. It’s had some moments that obviously tried to be scary but have failed miserably. For example, the early scenes with Rena in the original were actually terrifying. But I felt none of the intensity or creepiness in this sequel. Still, it’s nice to see these characters again and to see how this story deviates as someone tries desperately to change the outcomes.

Haikyuu!! has another new season and... I don’t really know what to say about it. I’ve talked about this show several times now. Looks like this season is going to focus primarily on one long match, a concept I’m not crazy about. They also made the baffling decision to cut in with a full episode about a rival team’s match right in the middle of showing the match with the main team. I mean I love seeing more of the rival teams but it felt disjointed to do it this way. Still yet, it’s a fun and energetic show full of great characters and easily understood volley ball matches.

Jujutsu Kaisen is probably the most hyped up new show this season, and I would say it definitely deserves that hype. It’s a pretty familiar shounen fighting anime setup: A teenage boy acquires special powers and joins a school to train so that he can use those powers for good. However, following that formula does little to negate just how fun and well-done this series is. A lot of people have compared it to Naruto (the protagonist is a vessel for a powerful entity, he joins a trio of characters with a more serious and moody black-haired boy and a chick, and they have a badass teacher with silver hair who keeps his face partially covered). So sure, it’s like Naruto... except it’s much better than Naruto in every conceivable way. The animation and fight choreography are consistently fantastic. The main character is not the least bit annoying. The only chick in the group (there are more cool ladies in the story, just not in this group!) is a badass in her own right and her story and motivations have absolutely nothing to do with romantic interest in any of the guys. Even the teacher character is incredibly fun. The music is great, with my favorite ending theme of the season. You know it’s an excellent ending theme when people start making different versions of it using characters from other shows. It’s so, well, fun. A word I keep using here, because that’s the first word that comes to mind when I’m watching this series.

Talentless Nana is one of those shows that’s going to be difficult for me to talk about without spoiling a very cool surprise. This surprise comes at the end of episode one (basically, the show makes you think it’s about something, but turns out it’s about something completely different). So if you want to really enjoy that surprise, stop reading this and go watch episode one before coming back. If you’ve already watched it or don’t mind having the surprise spoiled, here we go: The first episode sets up the series to be a cheap Boku no Hero Academia knock-off. We have a school of “talented” (super powered) kids training to use their powers to save humanity from (so far) unseen monsters referred to as “the enemies of humanity”. We are told one boy has no “talent” or special power and he’s ridiculed for this. There’s a new transfer student named Nana, a super sweet and cheerful girl with pink hair who has the ability to read minds. There’s also another transfer student, a sullen and quiet boy named Kyouya who hasn’t disclosed what his “talent” is. With that setup, I think a lot of people were ready to dismiss it as “BNHA, but not as good”. But then, a few minutes before the first episode ends, we’re hit with the twist that reveals what this show is really about: Nana is the one with no “talent”. She lied about being able to read minds (the boy we thought had no talent did actually have one). She’s a totally normal human being, and she has been sent to infiltrate the school and kill off the students, the true “enemies of humanity” (called so because their powers make them incredibly dangerous). Thus, the show is about a normal human girl using only her wits and skill in manipulation to kill off super-powered individuals. Watching her work is an absolute delight. She is ruthless and incredibly intelligent, but she does have one major problem: the other transfer student Kyouya, who is at least as smart as she is and is suspicious of her right off the bat. But since he’s not sure she’s up to no good, he can’t really act on his suspicions. Nana in turn knows he suspects her, so she has to be careful around him. As a result, the two become “friends”, constantly watching and outmaneuvering each other. In this way, the series reminds me of the early, best parts of Death Note, with the mental sparring between Light and L. But the most fun you’ll have with this show is watching Nana come up with ways to deal with each new “talent” she comes across, from the ability to time travel to necromancy, all while having no special power of her own. The art is nice, a bit generic, nothing too fancy. The music is great, with one of the better opening themes this season.

Moriarty the Patriot focuses on the classic Sherlock antagonist Professor Moriarty. Let me get this out of the way first: I know next to nothing about Sherlock. I haven’t even watched any of the various tv shows about him. What I know of the character basically comes from mentions of him in Detective Conan. So I’m coming into this series with no preconceived notions about these characters and no other versions to compare them to. Anyway, Moriarty as a series is about class warfare. Moriarty as a character pretty much embodies the phrase “eat the rich”. If you’re familiar with the phrase and understand its meaning, you’ll probably like this show. Moriarty works as a professor, but his side job is as a “Crime Consultant”. He helps the poor lower classes get revenge on the cruel nobles and elites who have wronged them. This revenge most often involves murder. There’s something refreshing about how unapologetic it is. In most anime, the hero tries to find other ways to punish evil than by actually killing them, or there’s some lesson involved about how revenge isn’t the answer or how killing someone who wronged you makes you as bad as them. In this series, there’s absolutely none of that. People get their revenge and, so far as I’ve watched, seem to be living much happier lives afterwards. In this way the show totally avoids being preachy. The art is gorgeous, with classy character designs and lovely backgrounds. There’s a certain lushness to it. The music is very nice as well (particularly that poppy ending theme). The only downside is that this has probably ruined me for watching other versions of these characters now. I mean, once you see them as sexy anime pretty boys, it’s hard to see them as anything else.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons:

Black Clover

Best of Season:

Best New Show: Jujutsu Kaisen

Best Opening Theme: Ikebukuro West Gate Park

Best Ending Theme: Jujutsu Kaisen

Best New Male Character: Moriarty (Moriarty the Patriot)

Best New Female Character: Nana (Talentless Nana)

[cyanpeacock]

considering My Functionality again? 

i can’t, uh, explain how i actually work any other way than... well, i’m... there is... we’re (pronouns???!) a system, but a reasonably well hidden one, one that can function and broadly pass as One Person? 

as in, i don’t require a diagnosis of DID to navigate the world, so i’m not talking about DID itself here. but yeah, it’s not infrequent that my body is walking somewhere having a whole conversation, that i’m not consciously creating every part of. 

used to feel like the whole, Voices In My Head, Uncontrollable Speech And Actions thing made me, you know... Dangerous, Insane, the whole stereotypical shebang. and, yeah, ngl, i was more than unpleasant to be around for a while, before i done went and learned Emotional Regulation Skills, and stuff like that. appreciative that those are increasingly accessible to whatever the hell the rest of my brain is doing. still work to do, but that’s okay, there always is.

so now i’m like... damn, who is it hurting? this way of understanding the functioning of my brain has been very helpful to me, actually. it’s interesting, now i’m increasingly comfortable with the undeniable (in terms of Human Averages) weirdness of it.

there are just, entities in here that i don’t consciously control? some are even friends! they just... Speak And Act Through This Body. i didn’t consciously make them. they just sort of, show up, and grow and change with time, go dormant, wake up again, sometimes respond to being prodded. 

the characters i consciously make? turn out weird, and flat. they’re just Designs, pretty pictures, shells really. the people that just Show Up? i’m like, oh, man, if i think hard enough i see sort of how you got unconsciously made, but... i didn’t choose to do that. it just fucking, Happened. ok. alright. 

it’s... perhaps frightening, to some people, who happen to see my body apparently Crazy(tm) in the street, or gesticulating wildly to thin air through my apartment window? but then, that’s societal prejudice against obvious neurodivergence and/or mental illness talking, and i know i’m not going to physically harm them, my body is just... Doing That Thing Again. they might be frightened, but they’re gonna walk past physically unharmed, and emotionally uninjured except for a bit of a scare, which, many things can scare you. 

i don’t mean to frighten anyone! but i’m aware it’s gonna happen regardless, even if the only cause was my appearance and not my Odd Behaviour - e.g., some people are going to experience fear of my body alone, even Acting Normally(tm), because i’m a white man in a tracksuit, who is inevitably going to cross paths with women and folks of colour when i take walks at night. 

i don’t know, part of me wonders, should i even be using the word system if i’m not, like, Professionally Diagnosed With DID? i’m aware lots of systems hide, i’m aware of iatrogenic systems with no evident history of trauma, i’m aware that some people contest the existence of DID at all and place it as a phenomenon created by psychiatry, i’m aware that some people with DID contest the existence of iatrogenic systems... it’s all very complicated.

if you ask this (iteration of?) me, self-determination is just as important as any external determination. people only self-determine, self-identify, self-label, self-categorize, because it helps them in some way. maybe not always a “healthy” kind of helping! but there are many stages of unhealth on the way to health, and health is extremely variable in presentation, so, who am i to speak against anyone’s identity and feelings of health, including my own? 

oh, boy, yeah, it’s confusing. 

my hypothesis (a bad one, because it’s untestable) is that this brain/body was already predisposed to strong emotions, “vivid imagination,” and a propensity for gathering information and making connections. it then went through a duration of traumatic experiences, and had to Really Use those functions in order to make sense of the experiences in order to survive (and ideally, Live). these factors in combination result in a brain that unconsciously went about creating compartments and structures that would eventually help the entire bodily unit understand some things about itself and Other People(tm)?

for the purposes of this post, one of those things being, of course there can be multiple, long-standing, truly discrete Selves within one body. and, of course there can be One Self in a body. and of course, there are many states in between.

uh, back to the concept of an engine, that’s useful for this thought exercise again, very imperfect, but useful to me.

so, lots of people are going to understand an engine as An Engine. it’s one functional unit. they don’t even know the names of the parts inside it, it’s just, An Engine.

me? baffled by engines. there are so many parts, and i’m always like, well, how does that bit work? isn’t that a separate machine? aren’t these loads of separate machines, with separate functions, that exist and perform independently, but also together? not exactly missing the point of the engine, but tending to look on a smaller scale...? so, yes, like, i understand, you put them together and it’s An Engine, it drives the car. but... that’s (also) a system. every engine can be regarded as a system. 

so, by my logic, what really matters is... well, whose engine is it, and how/on what level do they best understand it, how can you get it to drive the car as smoothly as possible? meaning, every brain is an engine (one Unit), or a system (many Parts). it depends how hard you look at it, and what helps you or the other person understand how best to make it function in harmony with the body it’s sat in. 

i mean... well. shy and tentative as ever, but i can talk about some of the other people in here. but it’s my blog. it has to stay that way. but i’m coming to realize i kind of need these guys for Happy Independent Functioning, even if i can’t talk about them everywhere.

mark has been around for YEARS. it has not always been a good relationship. he is a troublesome bastard. he says shit that absolutely embarrasses the hell out of me. he is RUDE. freaky bastard. he’s kind of a capitalist. Fake Posh (he is insecure about his scumminess). i hate him but i live with him and he’s not awful, even he thinks jeff bezos is a hoarding twat. and yeah, he doesn’t yell abuse at me any more, and i don’t yell back, because i Did That and Went Out There and Got Emotional Skills Up In The Brain. he was slower to pick them up than me, but it’s pretty good now. 

amy has also been around for years! less years than mark, but yeah, years now. amy is very bright, she doesn’t really give a shit about School the way i do, she just likes fun things like sunshine and flower crowns and (the idea of) being a Party Girl. she’s never even been a douche to me like That Other Bastard, Mark Fuckdick Mcgee. i hate him, lovingly, hatefully, etc etc. oh bastard fuck, fine, i’m in love with him now, gayly, and it’s embarrassing. disgusting man.

BUT YEAH back to amy. i’m aware i’ve found that in practice, parties like That are bodily sensory overload. so, yes, the nightclub Exists In The Mind. but yh... when amy showed up, she was Miles better than me at like, emotional support, comforting stuff? took me to an ATM i was like, beyond terrified of going to, lmao. i... suppose she trusted and integrated some experiences of positive, healthy interaction that i was still Super Suspicious of at that point?

like... yeah. in practice, shit, i run this operation, i’m realizing i’m kind of a control freak about understanding my brain/body, communicating things about it (and in general) effectively, and Getting It To Work BETTER (i.e. happier, more independently). it requires lots of thinking and lots of feeling and lots of practice, particularly in the art of When To Just Let Shit Go, which... well. these two help me with that, when i’m not able to help myself, usually because i got myself stuck in a thought loop.

there are others! dormant, or predominantly living in the world(s) within. also... well, it’s like, Younger Mes, that still exist, that can be triggered out in dire circumstances, but it’s best to let them rest. 

yes. well. i think very hard. maybe too hard, in some opinions, but exactly as hard as i need to think to reach a place of improved understanding and contentment. 

neurodivergence Wack.

[shiobookmark]

Voltron Ending

So I binged the series and OH BOY

Point the First: Shiro

So when the whole Shiro thing came up I wasn’t too angry. It was a really shitty thing to do but if they hadn’t made all this marketing surrounding the fact Shiro had a boyfriend I wouldn’t have cared much. It’s just that they have one scene together where they’re sitting apart, Shiro on a couch and Adam at the table drinking tea. He asks Shiro whether he matters to him at all because he keeps flying off on dangerous missions and if he takes this next mission (which ends up being the one that has him captured and kickstarts the series) he won’t be there to welcome him home. That’s it. Honestly the scene didn’t so much say relationship as ‘annoyed friend.’ Like if you squint, or tweak it just a little, Adam could have been anyone to Shiro. A brother, a friend, a cousin.  We don’t know what their relationship was like, why they loved each other or how long they’d been together. We don’t know what they did for fun. All we know is that Adam is called Adam, he’s a fighter pilot and Shiro was sad when he blew up while he was away. It doesn’t count as representation. We got shit like this in the 80s. Go look up Matt Baume’s discussions on different sitcoms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHBtW2-c8A The Golden Girls did queer representation a heck of a lot better. And it was in 1986. That’s pathetic Voltron.

But whatever. I could have forgiven it if they didn’t then draw attention to it with all the marketing. That’s just shitty. I can still let it slide, even then. Hey, maybe they make up for it in season 8? 13 episodes is plenty of time to introduce a side character that Shiro bonds with, even if it doesn’t develop into a full blown relationship just a hint would be- Oh. 

That’s it. That’s what we get. A slide at the end. ‘He married a guy and left the battlefield.’ *Sighs into infinity* Okay let’s break this bullshit down: 1. I could write about a five page comic giving Shiro a boyfriend that could have easily slotted into season 8. There was at least two episodes of downtime. Why couldn’t they have dedicated one to Shiro’s new beau?

Seriously cut out the episode which is just found footage by some random fighter pilot we know almost nothing about and develop this guy. 2. Shiro got married and left the battlefield. Uh. No.  You mean to tell me Shiro is the only character who doesn’t find a meaningful new cause to champion? He’s not that old for fucks sakes! He’s what, 27? At the oldest?? Everyone else finds something they love to carry on with. Pidge builds new defensive tech, Hunk cooks food to bring diplomats together, Lance stays with his family on earth to live a quiet life according to Allura’s principles, Keith both rebuilds a peaceful Galran empire and provides relief aid- For a moment, imagine Shiro is a woman. Everything else about him is the same, but he’s a woman. Imagine how backwards and shitty it would be for ‘her’ to then find some random man no one has heard of and abandon her career just to be a wife? Like, just a wife. Not a housewife. Not raising a family. Not being a teacher. Nothing. Because being a wife or homemaker is a worthwhile cause, I just don’t buy that it’s Shiro in particular unless you show me that! Show me the kids he has! The family he builds! What he does in his spare time! How does his arc end?  Heck, Shiro should’ve been a professor at the academy. Or exploring the furthest reaches of the universe on a diplomatic mission to unite people. Or something. Boiling it down to ‘he gay’ is insulting. Your life doesn’t end when you find a spouse. Okay now that Shiro is out of the way, let’s talk about Allura. Point the Second: Allura I’m against the ending they chose for her and not just because I blubbered like a child. Allura is an empath, a strong leader, she feels the pain of others deeply and it makes complete sense for her to choose to sacrifice herself to save all of existence.  But here’s the thing: Being self-sacrificial was her biggest flaw. She never stopped blaming herself for things that were beyond her control. Truly ridiculous things. She blamed herself for so much, she blamed herself for all suffering ever.  I actually really liked when she took that dark entity into herself because I could see how that self-sacrificing nature could become twisted. She’d be willing to sacrifice herself to great evil in order to save everyone. I was expecting that they would defeat Honerva, only to have Allura become the new threat as she tries to remake existence to wipe out all war and pain and suffering. Then the team needs to remind her that pain and sorrow are what lead to growth and rebirth. Allura needed to learn how to distance herself from the pain of others so that she wasn’t crippled by it, instead she succumbed to it. Imagine for a moment if they stopped Honerva in say, episode 10. Allura is then drawn by the power of the entity into taking Honerva’s place, punching through the fabric of reality specifically to get to the core so that she can remake existence according to her wishes. The team has to bust through without Voltron. Get to their friend who is at the centre of the universe and can feel everything - all the pain and sorrow is overwhelming.  But gradually they teach her to tune into the good things, the happiness and laughter and see how all these things are connected. True happiness is only precious because it’s fleeting, because it isn’t something you have automatically. Pain can be valuable. Pain is part of life. I think Lance would be uniquely suited to that scene. Because he values family and he’s had to be separated from them for so long. Allura misses her family so badly she wants to bring them back, but Lance helps her recognise that they can build a new family together. Hell, have him propose. Not in a ‘will you marry me’ way but a ‘please, live your life with me’ way. Think Fullmetal Alchemists ‘I’ll give you my life if you give me yours.’ Keith could help too, remind her that he was in pain from his Galra heritage but with her acceptance he reached new growth. ‘I wouldn’t have the bond I have with my mum now if it weren’t for you.’ Then perhaps they end up having to sacrifice the Lions. Return them into the flow of existence. So their physical forms are gone but their consciousness and all their knowledge still exists to be passed on somehow in the future. It doubles as a safeguard against future powers using Voltron for evil, as Zarkon did. That would have been a better ending in my eyes. Give Allura that space to grow and lead her people. She’s never had a people to lead. Instead of her becoming a martyr, who will eventually fade into a mere ideal of purity and goodness, let her be a full human being who grows and changes and helps other people to change. (It’s also always a woman sacrificing herself and c’mon) Okay. Accepted. That’s my canon now. I can let it go.

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

Why does no one talk about how luke lost siblings pre war? Like like is what 14 when he comes to camp, hes 19 when percy does. Meaning, because he wasnt the cousler when he got to camp one or more of his soblings had to die in the five years he lived at camp. In the five years he lived at camp his brothers and sisters would go home and not come back? How many bodless shrouds did luke have burn???

oh i think

but on this blog, we stan luke castellan

i stanned luke before it was cool, before the word “stan” even existed

i was stanning luke the moment i finished tlt

but, uh, anyway,,,

in a more…coherent way, i think it’s bc a lot of ppl don’t like luke. like at all. and a lot of it stems from two things,,,

1: many ppl, i think, don’t separate kronos from luke and luke from kronos. OR, they don’t fully grasp just how manipulative kronos was, and how far someone can go when they are being manipulated. OR, they could not do both of those things and still hate luke, and that’s fine and fair. they’re entitled to their opinion

2: the whole “did you love me” scene, when luke was dying

and i know this isn’t what you’re asking for–in fact your question at the beginning of your ask is probably more rhetorical than anything–but like i said, i stan luke castellan, and i have a lot of feelings abt this topic. so i’m going to break down my points, and then talk abt his life at chb before percy showed up, regarding the deaths of his siblings

which is my usual at this point so, ya know,,,

what are you gonna do

as usual, hcs under the cut

one

1a: sometimes i get the feeling that some think luke and kronos were basically one in the same? and that luke is completely and wholly responsible for his actions throughout the series. which is wrong. he’s not, he was being severely manipulated by a titan; misled, misguided, and used. kronos was taking something that already existed in luke and twisting it to his own gains. additionally, after kronos possess him, he’s no longer in control of his actions. he’s trapped in his own body, while kronos pulls the strings, quite literally.

1b: i also get the feeling that sometimes ppl don’t quite understand how manipulation and gaslighting can effect your ability to think for yourself, to think clearly abt a lot of things at all. or, swinging in the other direction, perhaps think too much abt everything. for this post, it’s the former. manipulation is subtle and insidious, you start to do and say things you wouldn’t normally think you’d do or say for fear of punishment, whether it be physical, emotional, and/or psychological from the other. manipulation like that is abuse, and luke was being abused by kronos. so he is not completely and wholly responsible for his actions throughout the series

1c: finally, ppl may very well recognize these two things–that luke and kronos were two separate entities, and that manipulation can be a terribly powerful and destructive tool used against ppl–and still decide to hate him. and ya know, that’s fine. we’re all entitled to how we feel abt fictonal characters. at the end of the day, agree to disagree

two

a lot of ppl hate him also bc of the question he asked annabeth in tlo, a dying man’s inquiry

and a lot of ppl interpreted it as romantic. and therefore, rightfully so, saw that as disgusting, considering luke is considerably older (6 to 7 yrs, at least).

not only that, but luke oftentimes used annabeth’s crush on him against her (whether he knew annabeth’s love was romantic or familial at that time, who’s to say; i mean i say that he didn’t realize annabeth had a crush on him for a very long time, he probably mostly saw it as familial, bc he is considerably older)–i think the biggest example of that would be when he got annabeth to hold the sky for him bc he knew if she saw him in pain, she would help him, no question, bc she loved him. that i can’t really argue against. i will say he was still being deeply manipulated by kronos, but it’s still a p despicable thing to do just in general

the infamous question he asks annabeth, i see as way more complicated. i think since we’re in percy’s head, it’s meant to seem romantic, considering percy could tell immediately annabeth had a crush on luke at the beginning of tlt, and percy, himself, had completely fallen, head-over-heels in love with annabeth at that point in time.

i see the question as familial, as well as romantic love, but not in the way you think. i felt it was him almost checking to see the depth of annabeth’s romantic love she felt for him–was it just a crush, or has she deeply and truly fallen in love with me? i think he knew she’d fallen in love with percy (even if it took him a while to figure out she had a crush on him). his question was more a check, rather than a, “oh i’m going to ask this girl who is 7 yrs younger than me if she loves me romantically.” but also one of familial love. her answer is implied to be strictly romantic, but luke knows that annabeth’s always loved him, and he’s checking to see if not romantic, than still as family. i.e., “but, no, i didn’t love you in that way”

bonus! three

and look, before you get all indignant and ready to pull receipts, i’m not a luke apologist

i recognize that him being manipulated, and not fully in control of his actions, does not excuse the fact that he still committed them. i am fully aware that he was not a good person, and that he did terrible things

but i also recognize that for one, he wasn’t entirely in control or himself bc of the manipulating kronos was doing to him (which does count for something in the grand scheme of things, even if it does not excuse his actions), and two he had a point abt the gods. the gods are fucking awful. they ain’t shit, and they care little abt their own fucking children.

[aside] hey so cool concept: if you don’t want to put in the effort to do the bare minimum for you children…DON’T HAVE CHILDREN. wild i know. and for gods??? the bare minimum would be like claiming them, and making sure their cabins are the least bit comfortable to live in, which they could do, literally with a snap of their fingers, which would take less than a second. the bar is on the fucking ground. if you’re gonna try and give me the Ancient Laws shit, first of all it was clearly shown throughout the pjo and hoo series, the gods often help demigods, even if they aren’t “““““supposed to interfere””””” so that’s a weak argument. second of all, for bigger things, like getting them to camp or smth, well why not find adults who maybe can take care of them??? maybe it’s a bit idealist sure, but adults should fucking know better. not to mention, the fact that i wish older ppl would care and take care of younger ppl is me being ideal speaks for itself. i recognize not every single person can be the perfect parent, but we can sure as hell try to get close

luke did those things bc he thought he was helping demigods–he started doing it for them and it spun wildly out of control bc kronos is a titan, he’s ruthless, and wanted to kill the gods for his own gain. he didn’t care abt luke, but he’d gladly use luke to achieve his goal. by the time luke realized that, it was already too late. but anyway, /tangent

i can completely understand luke’s motivations, while also understanding that his methods were not the way to go abt change. and that’s another thing abt it, is that i feel like many in the fandom take a very black-and-white perspective on his character, when it’s much more complicated than that

there’s a post going around, talking abt how antagonists and villains should be relatable, bc it reminds us not to go there. and i think a lot of ppl should really take that to heart. i can like a character, but not the person. i don’t idealize luke is any sense of the word. i am aware of all his flaws.

now, first i would like to point out that the rules of becoming head counselor don’t have to involve death. i’m sure with demigods, they often do, but there are two other options: 1) two competing head counselors have a chat and agree on who should be head counselor or 2) they battle each other, and whoever is victorious becomes head counselor

it’s a safe bet that that probably happened quite a lot in the hermes cabin, considering how many demigods resided in there before the second titan war (tho i imagine chiron at least tried (???) to make sure legit only children of hermes become head counselors, bc it is...well...the hermes cabin).

but, as i said before, they are demigods, and so it’s another safe bet that their head counselors were often lost to death

it’s hard to say just how many of luke’s siblings were lost to death, but let’s look at the timeline here real quick. in tlt, luke says that he screwed everything up for everyone else, bc after his quest went so awry, chiron stopped letting kids out of camp to go on quests...which thinking abt it now, almost doesn’t make sense.

i mean, the fact that luke failed so miserably and came back horribly scarred was the catalyst the made chiron stop letting ppl out, but demigods literally dying on quests didn’t???? uuuuuummmmmm?????????

and we can extrapolate from the spoils in the attic of the big house that a lot of campers did die on their quests

i mean, maybe it was also bc chiron had a feeling the great prophecy was getting nearer and nearer to being fulfilled, and he decided after luke failed his quest--a close call like that--he didn’t want to risk any other demigods’ lives anymore until the prophecy began, bc war takes a lot of lives, but still, that’s p fucked up logic

/tangent

anyway, so i think luke was at camp for abt 3 yrs before he finally got a quest of his own. so luke had three yrs at camp to lose siblings to death.

i mean, going by how much luke fought to get his own quest, hermes’ children probably didn’t get a lot of issued quests (more evidence abt how others see hermes as a god, despite him still being a major god).

but, for argument’s sake, let’s say that before the great prophecy became too real for chiron to let out kids on other quests, abt 5-10 quests were issued for each full yr, depending on how long the quest itself would take (tho we’ve seen that a lot of things can be accomplished in v little time, so that’s why my estimation has a lot of variation)

[aside] these numbers are completely and utterly arbitrary, i’m totes making this up as i go

and for more argument’s sake, let’s say that the hermes cabin were issued at least half of those, since they have so many kids--maybe even some of the undertermined kids were issued a quest and as a reward would get to know who their godly parent is (wow, that’s just so shitty, where did my mind come up with that)

and i imagine, even tho they were undetermined, luke felt like they were siblings all the same bc everyone, even children of hermes, were miserable in that cabin. it was jam-packed, crammed, with no breathing space. and some of them in there had completely given up that they’d ever find out who their godly parent was bc their godly parent didn’t care abt them at all

luke hated seeing that. so when a quest was issued to anyone in his cabin, and they didn’t come back, that probably took a serious toll on his mental health. not to mention only did to feed his anger and hatred toward the gods. esp if he thought that the kid was only doing it to find out who their godly parent was

bc they get at least half of the quests during the yr, across 3 yrs, luke probably lost from 5-15 of his siblings, and those he considered siblings.

i have a hc that he cares quite a lot abt his half-siblings. for as much as he hates his father, his siblings didn’t do anything to be ignored like he is, and as luke grows older, he probably takes on kinda father-figure. like if hermes isn’t gonna step up, then luke will he just kinda went abt it the wrong way, with the whole kronos thing...

i imagine, also, that he sometimes lost his siblings when they would sneak out of camp. i mean, from what little glimpse into luke’s life we got before he started trying to take over the world, he made it sound like the hermes kids often snuck out of camp to get things from new york proper like junk food. and it’s more dangerous for them outside the borders, so it’s safe to say that if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and met a monster they were unprepared to face, they most likely died.

that only increases the number of siblings he lost over those 5 yrs before precy got to camp.

i think tho, those that went on quests and died would have more impact, bc it’s obvious his siblings dying after sneaking out didn’t dissuade him from still sneaking out. but luke was probably more careful abt it

actually, jk, it probably affected him A Lot. and hc that that’s part of the reason he trained so hard with a sword--he probably told his siblings that he’d be the only one going out of camp for any bargaining chips, didn’t matter if he was directly involved or not. and bc he was so good with a sword, he’d be better equipped to handle tougher monsters.

with every lost sibling, i imagine luke throws himself into sword-fighting and masking his grief and pain with anger and hatred even more--it grows exponentially, and never hits a ceiling. he probably blames the gods to bury the fact that he actually blames himself. bc if he accepts that he blames himself that means he also wasn’t strong enough to protect his siblings

it’s easier to blame the gods and train so that maybe one day he’ll be strong enough to protect his siblings. that’s another motivation behind why he decides to join kronos and lead his army until kronos can reform/find a host. kronos promises to make him strong enough to protect not just his siblings, but all demigods who have been thrown to the wayside by the gods--no more useless quests that needlessly take their lives, just to get their godly parents to “““““approve””””” of them

i’m sure he gets tired of feeling powerless, and sometimes the grief is so overwhelming he hides in the forest and lets himself feel for once, but not willing to let anyone else see him break. then he somehow puts himself back together, more determined than ever to become powerful enough to make it stop. at the very least, make it stop happening so frequently.

hmmm, not sure if this is what you asked for, but this is where my brain went. not quite happy with it, i feel like i keep saying the same thing abt luke over and over again but in varying ways, but i did add some new hcs

if you wanna send in another ask with some of yours ideas, i think my brain would be able to use that as a springboard and come up with more specific hcs

as always, thanks for sending this in!!! i know i say this with every ask, but i really do enjoy thinking/discussing these things ^_^ it’s always fun to interact with the fandom for me

FEED ME SEYMOUR

[comic-movieheroesranked]

Cinematic Comic Characters Ranked! (Year 2007) Final Part

Seven movies were released during 2007 that make it on our list! Marvel’s debut of Ghost Rider started us off, followed by the incredible action film, 300! Up next was TMNT, the list’s first animated movie as well as the return of Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Alien vs Predator: Requiem! Also debuting is the horror film 30 Days of Night. Here’s the Top 20!

*SPOILER ALERT FOR ALL HIGHLIGHTED MOVIES ABOVE*

20. Casey (TMNT)

"Uh, did you forget that all I have is a baseball hat?"

It makes sense that Casey was featured a lot in the movie because out of everyone, Raphael is closest to him, whether the turtle wants to admit it or not. It's Casey who understands Raphael's new alter ego and its Casey who Raphael comes to when he needs help. He's also at a crossroads himself, not knowing if and when he should mature up with his on-going relationship with April. In the end I don't think he needs to change at all, seeing as April is happy with just who he is, except for maybe when they're both in a vehicle.

19. Captain (300)

"No prisoners!"

It's odd we never find out what Captain's actual name is, seeing as he's King Leonidas' right hand man and is one of the best Spartan soldiers there is. He helps command the Spartans with ease and authority and is very much in control of himself until his son, Astinos, is killed on the battlefield. After his loss he fights more reckless with nothing to lose. During the final confrontation, he manages to kill several men as he's butchered by several others.

18. Caretaker/Carter Slade (Ghost Rider)

"I've got one last ride in me."

The original Ghost Rider who stopped Mephisto from collecting the contract of San Venganza. He waits over one hundred and fifty years for the next Ghost Rider to show up and finish what he's started. We don't know this in the beginning, he just comes off as a Caretaker who finds Johnny after his night of fighting demons, but it's just kinda obvious with all the stuff he knows about Venganza and about being a Ghost Rider. I personally thought he wasted his last ride, since nothing really came out of it, but aesthetically it was cool seeing a western version of Ghost Rider riding with the current one.

17. Leonardo (TMNT)

"Attack as one!"

Leo is the oldest turtle and therefore the leader of the team. After Shredder is defeated, Leo goes on his own self discovery, momentarily forgetting about his brothers, which really puts a wedge between him and Raphael. The two clash the entire movie, both not understanding the other's complete opposite personality. In the end, after Leo is rescued, he learns that even though he is the leader, he couldn't accomplish nearly as much without his brothers beside him.

16. Predator (Alien vs Predator: Requiem)

*Predator clicking*

After a predator ship crashes on Earth, this Predator heads down there to destroy all evidence of their existence (which makes no sense as to why it leaves a skinned human hanging on a tree for the world to see) and only realizes things are much worse when it encounters the alien-predator hybrid. He goes solo in trying to take down every single alien creature and mostly succeeds despite the humans occasionally getting in the way. In the final battle between the Predator and the Hybrid, the two end up killing each other before a military nuke destroys everything.

15. Beau Brower (30 Days of Night)

"Nothing I can't handle my own fucking self!"

Beau is a fighter and had been dying to take on the vampires as soon as they started killing everyone in town. Stella and Eben convinced him that the group needed him instead, which is true because he saves them a few times before sacrificing himself so Eben can escape. He ends up taking down more vampires than everyone else in a blaze of suicidal glory. He doesn't end up dying in the flames, Marlow still kills him but I'm glad they didn't eat him.

14. Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century."

I will always loathe when movies do these awkward dance scenes to show off a character's power/new look (I'm also looking at you, Spider-Man 3 and Catwoman). Besides that, Mr. Fantastic wasn't as boring as he was in the last film. Like Sue, I struggled to understand why he felt the need to hide things from her, unlike her, I would've really put his durability to the test. They reconcile and Richard goes back to leading the team as they try to stop Galactus from ending the world and, along the way, stop Dr. Doom because he's just a piece of shit. Richard also debuts the Fantasticar, their own private jet so the team doesn't have to fly coach any longer.

13. Roxanne Simpson (Ghost Rider)

"You don't know me, but I love him."

After Mephisto made it clear no one close to Johnny would ever be safe, he ditches Roxie and leaves town without any explanation. She doesn't take offense though, which I love! She knows his dad just dad and that they were just teenagers so she builds herself a career instead and meets up with him again once she's ready. Her patience does have limits though and I'd be questioning my looks/personality too if someone who said they cared about me kept ditching me at all the dates. When she finds out he's Ghost Rider she's full on supportive, even after she gets kidnapped by the devil's son. After everything's over, she's not even surprised that her and Johnny must go their own separate ways, because she now understands the curse he has to live with.

12. Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Spider-Man 3)

"It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right."

I don't know what the hell was going on with Peter in this movie. At the start, he's gotten cocky as fuck. He won't let Mary Jane get a word in without talking about himself saving the day. And HOW did he not see anything wrong with Gwen Stacy giving him a big ol' kiss on the mouth...in the same way him and Mary Jane shared their first kiss...WITH MARY JANE WATCHING!? I would've killed him. Then he gets infected with the symbiote and begins some of the most cringe-worthy scenes I've scene from the movies on this list. The jazz bar scene? The bangs??? I get trying to show that sometimes heroes can be evil too, it's just that, for me, I didn't feel that Spider-Man truly redeemed himself after getting rid of the symbiote. Yeah he saved the day, but Sandman and New Goblin got more redemption than he did by the end of it.

11. Mary Jane Watson (Spider-Man 3)

"Everyone needs help sometimes, Peter. Even Spider-Man."

Yes, Mary Jane is ranked higher than Spider-Man. Why? Because the girl fucking deserves it after what that boy put her through. She finally gets on broadway but can't hold a tune so she gets replaced and Peter can't even tell she's upset. Then she has to deal with him kissing Gwen Stacy and still manages to be there for him when the truth about Uncle Ben's death is revealed. She also has to deal with being a pawn in a plot made by people who want to kill Peter. First it's New Goblin, although that quickly doesn't last, and then it's Venom and Sandman. This girl handled everything thrown at her in way that I felt was lacking from Spider-Man, but maybe that's because he was hardly on the receiving end. I'm glad the ending doesn't spell out if she's getting back with him, it only shows that she cares about him enough to give him a dance and maybe a chat afterwards.

10. Raphael (TMNT)

"Man, I love being a turtle!"

Bitter with Leo leaving the team, Raphael continues his life of fighting crime as a new vigilante, but that all changes once Leo returns. Once again Raphael is being told what to do, by someone who he thinks abandoned them so he rebels and two continue to butt heads. They face off in a match of egos and Raphael's temper gets the better of him as he takes things too far which ends in Leo getting kidnapped by the Immortal Generals. He quickly learns from his mistakes and understands that family comes first, rescuing Leo and staying by his side as he leads their team.

9. Kelly (Alien vs Predator: Requiem)

"I'll live."

Coming home from the military, Kelly enters a whole new war between the aliens and the predators. She ends up leading a group of survivors, including her daughter, to safety. She really is the sole reason they all end up surviving. She has the most kill count out of all the humans when it came to fighting the aliens, she was able to drive both the military tank and the helicopter that got them out of harm's way, AND she was the one that realized the military was lying about sending an evacuation plane, saving a handful of survivors from getting nuked.

8. Marlow (30 Days of Night)

"There is no escape. No hope. Only hunger and pain."

Marlow was terrifying. The way he talked, the way he stalked, the way he taunted his victims right before he killed them in the most painful ways he could think of. He was the leader of the vampires and had just discovered the jackpot in the town of Barrow, a town that experienced 30 days without the sun. I will say I was disappointed in the final fight with Eben. He just seemed so powerful but ended up dying by a punch through the face? Like he really walked right into that? I would've preferred them fighting to the death as the sun came up but I get wanting to have closure between Eben and Stella.

7. Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"There's always a choice."

Not only does Sue have to deal with a wedding, she also has to deal with a groom who, for reasons that make no sense, likes to hide things from her. On top of this, a cosmic entity has arrived on Earth in hopes to destroy it. When fighting the Silver Surfer ends up being useless, Sue tries to talk some sense into him and successfully manages to get him to the team stop Dr. Doom and save the world. During the battle she ends up dying at the hands of Dr. Doom, rocking everyone's world until Silver Surfer brings her back to life so she can finally marry Richard in the end.

6. Queen Gorgo (300)

"Come back with your shield, or on it."

While Leonidas fights the Persians, Queen Gorgo has to fight her own battle back at Sparta. She has to convince the councilmen to send their army to help Leonidas as well as watch out for the traitor that is Theron. It almost looks like Theron gets the better of her when he gets her arrested for adultery, but Gorgo is not someone to back down. She kills two birds with one sword, she kills Theron and ends up revealing his alliance with the Persians, which then gets the council to rally behind her. She proves she is in every way Leonidas's equal and now has the country of Sparta to run after he dies.

5. Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider)

"Let's ride."

First, I just wanna say that there would be no complaints coming from me if the guy who played the young version of Johnny ended up just being him the entire movie. Nicolas Cage wasn't bad but there were some cringe worthy moments in there. Anyways! Johnny Blaze ends up becoming the devil's bounty hunter, The Ghost Rider, after selling his soul to save his father. Now that he can't die, he builds a career on doing the most dangerous motorcycle stunts in the world. When Mephisto's son, Blackheart, arrives with a trio of elemental fallen angels to destroy the world, Johnny must turn into the Ghost Rider (which requires him to burn his flesh off his bones) and stop them. He does it pretty easy, hardly ever losing control of the situation and only losing his best friend, which only happened because he wasn't around to protect him. In the end he ends up becoming the Spirit of Vengeance, no longer working for Mephisto, but against him.

4. Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"To quote a friend of mine: 'It's cloberrin' time!'"

The reckless playboy is back but as the world threatens to end it's time for Johnny to grow up and truly take the responsibilities of being on the Fantastic Four. It's not an easy process and he definitely has a couple of set backs when his powers get messed up by the Silver Surfer and then finding out about Sue and Richard's plans to leave the team, but he does come through in the end. With the power of his teammates, Johnny is able to take down Dr. Doom despite his new silver surfboard.

3. King Leonidas (300)

"This is Sparta!"

The King of Sparta, and he makes sure everyone knows it! Leonidas is proud, loud, and willing to kill any foreign invader that threatens his people's way of living. When he doesn't have the support of his councilmen, he takes his best 300 men and takes off to fight the Persians. They do exceptional and last longer than anyone would have hoped for, but it becomes obvious even to Leonidas that they won't survive the war. Their final battle ends quickly as he's shot down by hundreds of arrows, his wife on his mind as he joins his men in the afterlife.

2. Eben Oleson (30 Days of Night)

"We live here for a reason: because no one else can."

Eben probably didn't expect a bunch of vampires murdering everyone in his town during the 30 days of without the sun, but man does he step up to the plate and handle business! As sheriff he is constantly thinking up plans to protect the survivors in his group and doing the more dangerous traveling by himself. His leadership is full of dangerous decisions including turning himself into a vampire to save his wife. He succeeds in defeating Marlow and debates going after the rest of the vampires but decides to spend his final moments with Stella watching the sunrise, which eventually kills him.

1. Norrin Radd/The Silver Surfer (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

"I will no longer serve."

In order to save his own planet, including the one he loves, Norrin Radd becomes the Silver Surfer, a cosmic being that serves Galactus. His job is to find planets with life on them so that Galactus could absorb it's energy, killing the planet and everyone on it. Who knows how many planets Silver Surfer has given to Galactus by the time he reaches Earth, but it's clear there have been millions of lives lost because of him. After the Fantastic Four and the military fail to bring him down, it's actually Sue Storm that starts reminding him of his humanity and also of the woman he loves on his home planet. He decides to make things right and sacrifices himself to destroy Galactus once and for all.

[7goodangel]

Discussion on Recent Post on PJ

AKA Answering Ask Time

Ah man sorry for just suddenly disappearing like that guys. Just I had to take a sudden break from tumblr. Anyway – I got several asks over the hours I was not on there... though I did turn it off at one point due to some hate being sent to me, which I will address below. I decided to go ahead and answer all of the asks that are surrounding the situation that happened and the events that happened due to it in this post. Any other questions that are specifically asking about something else (though mentioning a bit of what happened Monday) I’ll answer on their own and appropriately tag them, since I know a few of you were wondering about PJ a bit.

Anyway! On with the show! I hope that with this I can clear up a bit of things as well as give my thoughts on what you have to say about it! And I’ll be going in a random order with the asks… so bear with me! ^^

First, let’s do the not so great ones. Exactly – what happened with these:

Ok… so by now I believe all of you know that Rouge was joking about all of that. Guess I can kinda claim these anon(s) as the first ‘hate-like’ messages I’ve received on Tumblr. Honestly I was expecting hate much sooner than this o-o But you guys can relax – the AUs that Rouge has are not being altered or going anywhere! Though just so you know – it was inappropriate to send hate about this when the problem stemmed more from the fandom and not me.

And to the next… time to do some clearing up ones:

Yeah @lesmolghost … I thought so too. But then I discovered Amino and OH BOY… I’ll talk more about that with the next Anon answer…

First – there have been a small amount of people who have been breaking my rules. There has been and probably is sin of PJ floating around on the internet when I asked people to not do it. I’m glad that most do not do this and some even ask the ones who have sinned to take it down on my behalf.

Second - as in how some of my friends would word this: “Show me a body”. This means ‘show me the proof’. I didn’t say that I hated the AUs or want them all to disappear. Goodness! I love all of the AU ideas you all make! Like dang, I am super surprised at that! I was more stating that I just really wanted people to understand who canon PJ is and not argue about it since people have been pretty hostile and even arguing with me on that an alternate version of PJ is canon. It’s fine if you like an alternate interpretation more, it’s fine if you hate PJ all together, it’s all fine – I just want to reestablish the foundation and then release y’all back to doing what you do best – creating stories and ideas!

A big part of me is keeping as much creative freedom to everyone as possible. I am a huge advocate of this idea. I hate limiting people – and my friends can back me up on that. (Honestly, it would kinda make me a hypocrite by having a character design based on two AU Sanses then saying no one can do AUs of that character o-o)

I say that Sam from @askinfresh did a great job of explaining this here: http://askinfresh.tumblr.com/post/158373656135/hi-7goodangel-i-am-here-to-ask-you-about

Plus… gonna mention Amino again – Just… if you have some free time to kill… humor yourself and look up either “Paper Jam”, “Paperjam”, or “Jammy” over on the Undertale Amino and… I think you’ll see where I’m coming from with at least being kinda…ticked about this.

So with that in mind:

@annaskeleton – That is totally fine with liking how she interprets him! And it’s totally fine to have him in your AU however you imagine him to be like in there! ^^

Though if you want to know more about PJ, I have the tag “paperjaminfo” for any miscellaneous information on PJ as well his main bio on my main tumblr, my RP blog of PJ, and even on a wikia!

https://7goodangel.tumblr.com/pjbiodatru1

But yeah – As long as you mention that your PJ or any of your interpretations of characters are not to canon within an AU – go forth and make some universes!!!

So don’t be sorry about making an AU! Be proud! I can’t wait to see more of it! ^^

And also:

Yep @iludahirihiri! I am the creator of PJ! ^^ And I would refer to the items above for more info on Paper Jam! These links are on my tumblr page as well! If on mobile, click “Nav for Mobile” and it should take you to the page where all my pages are at!

Now… while the top was a little more neutral or kinda negative… I want to say that majority of the response to what I had to say was positive and overall… I was dumbfounded of how many nice messages I got... I’m gonna try my best now to respond to each one that I was sent here: 

First some anons – though I see one is @artisticcopykat ^^

But just… I was shocked to find people who never knew about how PJ really is… people who knew canon PJ for a while, and people who don’t even like any PJ at all – just coming together and saying nice messages. Like gosh… I say that there is a huge chunk of the UT fandom that is toxic… but you guys? You guys show that with every con, there is a pro. Just man… seeing support from all angles is just… amazing. YOU ALL ROCK!!!

Thank you @sparklyracer44. I can see by the amount of people liking the post and for the ones that reblogged it either as is or added their two cents to it (no matter if you agreed or not! Still appreciate ya adding your thoughts to the conversation!). Again, I didn’t really see that extremely happening on Tumblr – it was happening on other sites I’m either not on as much or not at all. Again – to reiterate – I just want people to understand how PJ is truly. Not to convince everyone to like him or to force everyone to use that version only.

And @aimeetheshrimp, that’s exactly how I think on that too! Jammy is like an entire entity separate from PJ and that’s the same with all versions of PJ. I think if people thought of Jammy and PJ as two separate beings – then a lot of air would clear up! Again – love Jammy too! I really thought about the situation of Jammy’s Love and in his own universe – how he acts makes sense. But yeah – not canon, but still interesting to read and individual AU!

Strangly enough @trusting-my-insanity…

OmniPJ hasn’t gotten that much hate as I expected…

However, while I have not received any major hate directly due to the ship, there have been people on different platforms that have given disrespect and hate to the creator of Omni, @cereusblue.

One time that I witnessed this was when Blue got an ask about how someone mentioned about how popular FreshPaper is and Blue responded “Too bad it’ll never be canon”. (Ya know… to be truthful yet funny!) But then… another person replied to that saying “What did you say you piece of shit?” (sorry for no censors but yeah o-o)

There has also been times that people that have thrown shade onto OmniPJ ship on more than one occasion. As well as directly disrespecting Blue with anything regarding to Omni. Which leads me to AMINO HELLO ONCE AGAIN. As one example, someone straight up told her that they will not change the title of their favorite from “PJ x PJ” to “PJ x Omni” due to using an OmniPJ picture… and both I and Blue explained it to them!

Yeah… just wow Amino.

And for a more recent example of someone disrespecting Blue, here is a link to a recent post of hers: http://cereusblue.tumblr.com/post/158449708763/this-is-why-i-hate-amino-fucking-spare-me-this

Some just see Omni as another PJ and that is just another topic of ranting and pointing out… =_=

But yeah… I didn’t just want respect for PJ and myself – I want respect for ALL creators and their content.

@awesome-moni-sama, thank you for the nice message! I do hope that people that haven’t looked at his bio and do things with AU PJs take a look at it and at least get an understanding on who is truthfully! But gosh… still thank you and your friend!!! ^^

I agree with you @bloo-the-dragon, that’s how it’s like for most fandoms, just Undertale has really gotten that B A D.

All I want and wish is that this could be a lesson for all artists to understand the risks of posting an original character connected to a huge fandom, as well and more so for people who see artist’s content and want to go and do things with their OCs. We are all so supportive of one another, and want to show our favorite characters to others. We just need to make sure we all respect the artists and writers and creators. We all need to double check our information. We are in the age of individual research! If you can access Tumblr, you can also take the initiative to go and look up characters and make sure you know who created them. Sometimes the artist is just as popular as the OC, and sometimes they are not that well known. All artists no matter how big or small deserve the same respect across the board.

But to really end on a positive note – I want to thank everyone again… and also:

Thank you so much for the support!!! I cannot believe I am under 200 away from 5000… o-o

Gosh I thought I was gonna loose followers due to what I said…but you all proved me wrong! Thank you. And though I am unable to do a lot of drawings due to school, I am so thankful that you are all patient with me!

I’m gonna announce that I do have two comics planned! Of course Mediplane… but I only have arc 1 fully thought out and needing to go through some editing (if I find time), so I want to work on one that is shorter! Which the temporary title is “Witch and Siren”, being about…of course… a witch and a siren and how they interact with one another! More info will be shown of that once I am out of school! Which all I need to do is pass these last few classes, take an exit exam…and I’ll be complete with my masters!

So I hope to go ahead and post some more sketches I’ve done and reblog some amazing art for the time being! Thank you for being so patient again!