#who's projecting on fictional characters?

[maxdibert]

One thing is to interpret certain behaviors of the characters, and another is to invent their personalities. If the James you like is a completely different person from the canon, then you don't like James Potter. You like a character you've invented and named James, period. Because that is not James Potter. The James Potter in the books has a series of characteristics that are clear and well-marked. Even Rowling herself said he was a bully, and Harry himself is aware that he was a bully, which is why he feels deeply disappointed in his father. It doesn't matter if you want to interpret him differently, reality is reality. I’m totally in favor of creating OCs within different fictional universes and building new lore within those same worlds. It’s something many of you could do if you clearly don’t like or feel uncomfortable with the personalities of the canon characters, instead of completely inventing new ones that fit your moral value scale and at the same time allow you to project yourselves as the main characters, which is ultimately what you like about them, nothing more.

On the other hand, I’m really sorry, but you’re the one who made a post making humor about violence and abuse. I don’t care if it's a joke; it’s the same as joking about racism or rape—it's equally problematic and condemnable. Just because you think that humor is justified because it’s aimed at an image of something you utterly dislike and dehumanize it completely, it doesn’t make it any less terrible. As I told you, any random sexist could have made the same post making a joke about rape and then say, 'It’s just humor,' and then claim, 'Well, it’s my fanon interpretation of things,' and I don’t think anyone would find that ethical. Sometimes, in order to understand the seriousness or problematic nature of something, it’s necessary to swap a couple of concepts. Because yes, your post sounds like that, it reads like that, and that kind of humor is just as stale as that of a hentai-obsessed guy making 'irreverent humor.' There are comments saying 'bullying is bad, but there are exceptions,' and you laugh at them. Substitute bullying for racism, homophobia, or abuse against women, and you’ll see how messed up it sounds. Some of you have the level of double standards off the charts

snape stans will be like “but james bullied snape!”

like… yeah someone had to

[blueraith]

Some of you have the weirdest fucking takes on sex that I instantly channel my stereotypical inner millennial and 'literally can't even'

Oppressor vs Oppressed?

Boiling a lesbian relationship down to the grossest, hetereonormative views as possible??

Thinking that anyone who liked a sex scene in media is addicted to porn?????

Like, who tf are you people? Who raised you? Social media, evidently, please touch some grass and quit coming into the main ship tags with your frankly utterly bizarre, puritanical, and just weird-ass takes. They're an instant block from well-adjusted, non-terminally online people who just want to see some good fucking fanart and decent media analysis.

Because whatever the fuck y'all are on about? Not media analysis. You're projecting your hyper sensitive political identity on fictional characters where the gods and all of creation can see you. I'm suffering from second hand embarrassment from some of you because y'all are coming out with your whole chest ranting about how eating pussy is inherently political.

Fucking hell, I feel like I'm aging five years every time I see whatever stupid shit some of the kids are on about.

Anyway, I'll eventually get back to my Vi analysis. Christmas prep is bullshit, and I got distracted with posting my very first smut fic lol.

[2-dsimp]

[Imagine A yandere toon! being obsessed with its Co-creator]

Yandere toon! Who’s been growing up with you from the moment the both of you were born. Your father was the said creator of the cartoon called Toonforce Go! Primarily dedicated to you since you had a hand in giving him inspiration to make the series. Ultimately, it’s launch on social media platforms attracted big named companies to endorse the production of said project. And air it live from different respectable channels for kids, teens, and adults to look at.

Your father was blind to how you were always having interactive conversations with the cartoon boy upon the tv screen. Neinov was such a lively and energetic character. Up to no good, always beckoning you to come into his world and have miscellaneous adventures with him. He’s your self-proclaimed partner in crime. Your childhood days were spent stepping in between parallel worlds from fiction to reality with his guidance.

But as you grew older, the less time you spent with him. It appears that your father scolded you to cease your nonsensical chatter about entering his world. Telling you that the connection between you two were only superficial. Essentially banning you from ever from watching the toons episodes.

At your absence the your goofball grew oddly ooc, Neinov’s lighthearted jokes coming off a bit demented. His previous displays of innocent mischievous acts, were now presently considered gruesome even in cartoon standards.

Causing the rating to be changed to only teens and up. In some choice episodes there was bits of errors and strange markings. Of what seems to be a missing poster flashing on the screen for only a brief second.

In some of the frames, the toon was even asking his viewers where his partner in crime could be. Breaking the fourth wall bringing up how much he missed his other half. And if he should cross over some gap to save them from the monster who took them away from him.

Everyone thought it was some kind of Easter egg, or a new character yet to be introduced. Theories were running rampant online. Wondering who exactly the pixelated figure of the missing poster. The lovable toon was looking for could be.

Little did they know that missing half was you in the real world.

—-/——/———-

A/n: any questions about him or the concept itself are welcomed 🤧

[casperagender]

yet another dazai hc post! U^ェ^U

--

i'm not sure if this is a popular headcanon?? but ive seen it in quite a few fan fictions and oomfs i've proposed this idea to agreed heavily so i thought i would share it publicly and see what everyone else thinks!! (this hc is 100% just me projecting but thats alright <3)

i would like to imagine that dazai has chronic nightmares, so much so— that nearly everyday of the week he's waking up in a cold sweat from them, wether it be related to his past— or some random nonsensical one. in both the manga and anime we see him sleeping during work hours and rather than it being due to overall laziness i think about him not being able to sleep during the night. dazai's always getting caught sleeping during work hours, and in the beginning everyone in the ada just assumed it was him avoiding work, either that or he's trying to annoy kunikida... when in reality it's because it's the only time he can get actual rest, rest uninterrupted by his nightmares.

no one other than kunikida really cares, so it's not like he's interrupted much anyway.. though it gets quite lonely when you're practically nocturnal, it's a given that dazai would get quite depressed at the fact he hasn't had much human interaction other than when he shows up to work, is awoken by kunikida who's yelling, and when he's leaving to go home.

--------

a little kunizai add on! >_<

in addition to the headcanon, i like to think about what would happen if kunikida found out about it, how worried he would be, and how he would insist dazai get actual, proper sleep. but of course he's unable to— as stated before. the two eventually come up with a compromise when they realize dazai is able to sleep properly when others are around him, or when he's in bed with someone. so kunikida begins coming over after work and sleeping in dazai's bed with him instead. it's definitely embarrassing for the taller man, but he cares for his coworker, so he endures it.

(this is definitely a little out of character.. but hey!! it's for fun♡)

[canmom]

yeah, for sure!

it's a portal system, where the playing field is level, meaning there's loads of stuff getting posted and you just have the contents of that box to entice someone to try your story - there's no blurb for them to look at, and of course, here these ads are being shown while you're reading another story so they have only seconds to intrigue you enough to pop it open in another tab. in that context, simple is better! it's the same reason (I imagine) so many Japanese web novels on shōsetsu spell out their entire premise in the title...

a lot of the tools available to printed books aren't available to web novel authors. you don't have a blurb. you don't have famous authors or critics to provide pull quotes about how important or profound the book is. you don't have the style of the binding, communicating what type of novel you have in your hands, or how physically long it is from the spine. with such limited information... well, memes win right? they're a format optimised for rapid communication in tiny boxes.

but what's fascinating about it for me is like, it's a window into a different literary subculture, with totally different priorities to what i'm used to.

fanfics are usually categorised by things like relationship dynamics and in particular the sort of emotions aimed to be evoked by a story. for example, hurt/comfort, slow burn, porn without plot. by far the majority of stories are romances; we have a term gen for the minority category of non-romance stories. as you mention, mainstream fantasy/ya/etc. novels have increasingly started to be marketed in similar terms ('cozy'), as well as emphasising demographic boxes (e.g. asexual protagonist).

here, by contrast, stories are largely sorted by types of power-fantasy premise such as isekai, cultivation, litRPG and harem. the 'MC' exists as a kind of meta-character, an audience-projection figure who will presumably be more or less similar in most stories. it's a feedback system: the more RR becomes known for a certain type of story, the more readers will be attracted there to read it, and the more readers will be inspired to become writers of the kind of genre they've been reading.

at least, that's what I surmise from the window of advert boxes - i've only been on RR to read Worth the Candle and The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which don't really fit the stereotype of a RR story, but rather use its familiar genres as a point of departure for character-focused stories and examine familiar science fiction themes like power, mortality, the weirdness of the mind, moral philosophy, sexuality, trauma, and so on.

and maybe some of these stories are that too. after all, you bait the hook with an easy-to-comprehend premise, you can't lead with anything too dry. but i get the impression (from memories of writing similar stories as a kid) a lot of people approach this kind of thing more like a solo TTRPG. it's sort of like. what if you wrote down the narrative you construct in your head when you're playing a game?

anyway i shouldn't speculate too much about a genre i don't read and don't super plan to get into, i just think it's cool to see all the different things people do on earth, you know

so on royalroad, the english-language serial webnovel website, there's ads created by users for other stories at the top of each chapter - you know, for the common case where you're reading a book and you want to suddenly start reading a different book. (they set it up in a way that's fiddly to block.)

they're kinda fascinating? I almost want to start collecting them. they triangulate into genres with bulletpoints. isekai. cultivation. reincarnation. yes romance. no romance. harem. no harem. some of them use anime-styled art or fantasy concept art (most likely a lot of it either AI-generated or used without permission/attribution, I get the vibe)... but a lot of them are straight up just memes.

hell lemme just refresh the page a bit and see what I get. I'm only a liiiiittle selective here.

...I could keep refreshing but you get the picture.

and sure, it's just the same as the AO3 tagging system with a different set of aesthetic priorities right? people are searching for stories which scratch a very specific itch. but there's something weirdly fascinating in advertising a story based on how formulaic it is. or ads for a novel that look like ads for a mobile game. how so many of them refer to their protagonist as 'MC'.

I assume this like, works, or people wouldn't do it? Same principle as long light novel titles. otaku database theory stuff. I just... don't really get it! who's it for?

[fair-fae]

I feel like a lot of the FFXIV takes I've seen on here that have made me groan a bit are all part of this same phenomenon where like... people will get upset about a character being incorrectly reduced to a single quirk or specific interpretation of that character but like. Sometimes it just feels like they're basing this opinion on some silly memes or shitposts or a little comic or fanart, or maybe one specific remark from a fanfic author or RPer or gposer or something, and not actually on the opinions of a significant number of the fandom, but probably also not even on those specific people's actual opinions. Like... maybe that person making an "Estinien stinky" joke doesn't actually define his entire character by that and maybe doesn't even actually think he smells in general, maybe they just made a joke. Maybe you're just projecting a lot because the joke hurts your feelings or something and you're reading way too much into a single comment assuming that person has no other thoughts or feelings about the character like you do. You're not the only one who knows how to ~correctly~ consume a piece of media and you're not the only one with a rich inner world etc. You don't need to feel superior about the way you stan a character. To take it a step further, it's especially questionable when people do this about stuff they're trying to paint as problematic i.e. people claiming fans are boiling down a character from a RL marginalized group to a single archetype that may be harmful in some way. There are absolutely bad faith takes on characters in this community, lord knows, and that is something to be vigilant about. But don't people get tired of always trying to invent new ways to accuse someone else of being ~*problematic*~ over fiction? Don't you get tired?? I get tired just reading it. Maybe this kinda contradicts my first point (we love some good nuance here), but like. Some people just suck at writing. Some people have 0 media literacy. Some people don't know how to critically analyze anything. I know this is probably a hot take. Maybe that person didn't, for example, paint that female character as a mother figure and ignore all her depth and nuance because they hate women, but because they just kinda suck and all their character portrayals in general are flat, one dimensional reads forcing every character they engage with into one of their favorite fandom tropes even if they don't actually fit, and not something like, targeted at women in particular (even if it becomes an even worse look on female characters and other minorities) lol

[btskitty17]

The Yandere Doll Walks Free at Christmas 🪽 pt. 1

(Jungkook X Reader Series)

Pt. 1 :Wishlist

"I understand that you filled out a Toybox application form, requesting a boyfriend?” She really had had been too much of a good girl. But the last thing that she had expected was to actually end on the top of the Nice list on Christmas Eve and get exactly what she had asked for…or not. As she grows increasingly fond of his pattering presence in the background, she begins to ponder whether a present from Santa Claus is supposed to possess such a darkly dominant disposition, which only begins to expose itself bit by bit.

main masterlist

genre: slight humour, dark fantasy au ୨୧

🪽 ongoing (10-ish parts of 1-2k words throughout December 🎅🎄✩ ₊˚🦌⊹♡❆⛄)

warnings: jungkook x fem! reader (insert any name of your choice), yandere behaviour displayed by the male main character: possessive, controlling + clingy tendencies, eventual smut, seemingly chaste fantasy with a sinister twist

🎄~ ୨୧ 🎄~ ୨୧ 🎄~ ୨୧

Even though ___ was swamped with work, she could not ignore that the air was scented with festivity.

The final rendition of her non-fiction manuscript was due right after the holidays, and it was the promise of a publishing deal from a prestigious academic think-tank that propelled her to work throughout her Christmas break and only see her family and friends at dinner parties. Her book was framed as a commentary on contemporary socio-political subcultures and consisted of the findings from her research work which spanned over four years. Was she going to be the next Joan Didion? Or perhaps, a likeness of Susan Sontag? Who’s to say, but she surely liked fantasising along these lines.

As snow settled on the windowpanes of her house and Christmas pop songs drifted from her neighbour’s balcony, ___ made herself a cozy setup with multiple blankets, and continued typing away at her laptop, occasionally sipping from her reindeer-themed coffee mug. Ever the workaholic, ___ was going to spend Christmas Eve shut into her apartment, and obsessively read and reread her research proposal, check the index sheet associated with her project and the revise statistics that she had painstakingly put together. Despite her best efforts, she could not find a flaw. And yet, it was too early to call it a night, so she scrolled through her social media as a Hallmark movie calmly played on her flatscreen, tapping hearts on the array of photographs of her friends’ holiday nighttime rituals of eggnog-drinking, reels of their party tricks, exorbitant decorations and their recent vacations to Cabo, to Mallorca and other seemingly exotic destinations, ___ could not bring herself to envy her friends’ international getaways: she was just far too busy to break free from her routine.

___ knew she that wanted more from life than just grading papers as a teaching assistant while working on her PhD; there was a certain kind of solace that a classroom full of sulky nineteen-year-olds in an eight-thirty morning lecture was not going to grant her so she started volunteering at a children’s shelter earlier in the year and as days went by, they looked forward to her interacting with them, helping them with their homework, bringing them crayons, stickers, and at times takeaway junk food, which brought the kids joy and her, some much needed contentment. She had assisted the children in adorning their Christmas trees with candy canes, giant toffees,  miniature bells, Santa Claus masks and faux snow-streaks and even joined in on the custom of writing a letter to Santa along with them; despite feeling a bit silly, and upon being assured that no one was going to read hers, she scribbled that she hoped to have a boyfriend and stuffed it hastily in the red-and-white striped, cartoonish post-box located in the party-room of the children’s home.

 ___’s apartment had been scrubbed clean with the utmost attention-to-detail and she had draped decorative red and green lights around the windowpanes. The Christmas tree standing tall in her living room, gleamed with trinkets like golden and silver baubles, clusters of ribbons, and large red bows; her favourite ornament was the decade-old mini-Edward Cullen figurine, a memento of her teenaged Twilight obsession, peeking from the canopy of the tree. She could be merry after all, despite everything on her to-do list. After a dinner of soup and butter-garlic sticks, __ drifted off to sleep nestled by her soft-pink quilt as Christmas carols wafted in the distance. 

The morning of Christmas was bitingly cold, catalysed by fresh snowfall; ___ shuddered upon waking up, as she pulled a woollen cardigan over her torso and decided that a mug of spiced coffee ought to be the perfect to start to her holiday and headed towards the kitchen.

The sight of her Christmas tree brought ___’s feet to an abrupt halt as an involuntary gasp left her lips. A giant box awaited her in the living room. “Doll,” the label on it seemed to say simply. A man, around her own age, seemed to be enclosed within it, staring at her, with an uncanny, unblinking gaze, ___ wanted to shriek and scream; there was a peculiar present in her living room, and a man she had never seen before, tied up all pretty with ribbons, delivered inside a cardboard gift box nonetheless, but she could not bring herself to either move or scream; ___  felt as if she could be dreaming, given that there was a handsome yet creepy being standing beneath the golden star placed atop her Christmas tree. Who was he and why was he in a box? And who let him have such a graceful, neat entrance into her house?

“What?” ___ finally managed to squeak out.

“It is your delivery from Santa Isle… I understand that you filled out a Toybox application form, requesting a boyfriend?” The man inside the box spoke up at last, sensing her disbelief.

“I did not order anything… Wait, wait, how did you get in?”

“There is an elaborate process that is followed; the gift delivery services of Santa Isle possess absolute accuracy and we have our own undisclosable ways of reaching the destination, which in this case, was your residence. I am certain an order has been placed for a boyfriend; I am meant for you, otherwise I never would have been sent to this part of the world.” his way of speaking was extremely lucid though his voice was a low droll of molten honey.

___ racked her brain to recollect when could she have possibly filled a form for a present like this and thought about the possibility of an ethereal landscape called Santa Isle, and the way this doll-box was magically inserted under her Christmas tree. She soon began to question her sanity.

“Not everyone is privileged to receive exactly what they have mentioned on the form… There are mechanisms through which we monitor’s the applicants’ good deeds, and you, have been awarded the top spot in your province; I have skimmed your file, it said that you have dedicated this year to children’s welfare endeavours, thereby creating a rightful place for yourself on the Nice list and thus, deserving of anything that you wish for on Christmas.”

“You all are collecting my data without my knowledge?”

“Isn’t everyone?” he snickered; his face came into focus after her initial haze of perplexity....

The so-called doll was clad rather gentlemanly in an immaculate two-piece tuxedo; his wide doe-eyed gaze and arched eyebrows made him seem perpetually amused at something and his facial features, albeit innocent, wore the armour of a mature expression, like a baby cosplaying a warrior; her questions remained unanswered despite the fact that he was so sure of the legitimacy of his presence in a gift-box under her Christmas tree.

“I realise that you might be bewildered but you were the only applicant who requested a human relationship… you wrote down that you desired to have a boyfriend, a wish that would now be fulfilled by me, a Santa Isle worker; the other people at the children’s shelter had wished for video games, comic book-sets, and so on…” he attempted to explain, observing the confused scowl cemented on her face. It was Christmas after all, she should not be frowning.

“Are you implying that the post-box at the children’s shelter named Little Smiles possesses a direct portal to Santa’s Isle? What are you even talking about… how is any of this real?”

“I can understand your disbelief but, there are many realms in this world that you might be unaware of. We have a radar that monitors needy children’s wish-lists and we leave them anonymous packages with the items that they have wished for around Christmas every year…Contrary to popular belief, there is a Santa and he is hard at work… you happened to insert your own list along with the children, and we here, at Santa Isle, fulfil each and every wish that we come across.”

“What do you mean? Is Santa your boss? I am having a hard time believing that I am not the centre of a prank-based reality television show…and even more shocked by your ability to get into the house…How did that happen? Another one of Santa’s miracles?”

“I am not a criminal, if that is what you are thinking. Could you please unbox me? That plate of cookies looks ever so delicious and I have been waiting for you to wake up since midnight so…”

___ stepped forward furtively, eyeing the doll-man, man-doll, overgrown doll? What was he, an adult toy? Wait that sounds wrong, ___ thought.

___ extended her hand to unfurl the pink ribbon garlanded around the giant, transparent toybox as he looked on with anticipatory eyes; as soon as the ribbon was undone, he began to step outside the box: turns out that the unboxing was a mere ceremonious activity, he could have been outside this whole time if he wanted to, but it was the recipient’s right to unwrap the present on Christmas morning.

“Jungkook Jeon.”

“Um?”

“My name is Jungkook and I am assigned to be your boyfriend. But there are some activities that have been listed on my agenda that have to be conducted with you before you can bestow that title on me,” Jungkook stated in the most placid of tones, as if he was there to carry out the simplest of tasks: doorstep boyfriend.

“What sort of activities are you insinuating? Listen I will ring up the apartment building’s security right now if you pull something funny, I swear I do not look like it but I am capable of kicking you back to --,” ___ rambled in an exasperated state, even more confused now.

“Activities like going to dinner and playing recreational games! Why are you suspecting me and threatening me with violence with each and every step that I take?” Jungkook’s voice was now raised a bit, flustered by this impossible customer, who was putting his reputation as the Santa Isle worker with the most golden stars (a token of appreciation) for his service-delivery, at risk.

___ scanned Jungkook from head to toe; he was glorious in his formal wear whilst she was yelling at him with a mismatched set of a tank top and floofy pyjamas on, secured by an ancient, lint-laden fraying cardigan: a clothing article that she only kept because of its sentimental value as it not did not do much to keep her warm, rendering her a quivering, blathering mess. Jungkook’s ocean-wide eyes were fastened on her being, watching out for further explosive reactions but he had worn her down, the girl just wanted her morning cup of coffee; she was tired of overanalysing the situation and questioning the existence of Santa Claus’ secret city. Or was it a factory? She will have to ask Jungkook.

Jungkook was not average-looking by any means; he was a doll, that was for certain, ___ she thought. The structure of his body was burly, his fairly large built was evident as he loomed several inches above her; ___ was surprised by his ability to fit into the box that now lay opened on the floor. His crisp white shirt clung to his well-formed biceps and broad shoulders, a contrast to the fabric cinched around his narrow, narrow waist. Nevertheless, this beautiful being was practically an alien for her.

“You are shivering,” Jungkook spread out his arms and drew ___ into his unexpected embrace.

“What are you doing?” ___’s twitching and thrashing was no match for Jungkook’s athletic arms.

“I would be a failure as a boyfriend if I let you shake like a leaf in the wind on my very first day here," Jungkook spoke with a gentle pout.

___ could feel Jungkook’s gaze cutting into her, as he enfolded her in the tightest hug he could possibly dole out.  ___ discerned the rhythmic thrum of his heart with her back against his strong chest and her senses were clouded by his scent, which was a concoction of dark chocolate and musk, a combination that she found brought her an immense and indescribable oceanic calm, as if all her anxieties were rolling into the sea-waves and away into a sunset; all her defences against him seemed to momentarily collapse. He was humming a pop-duet which was currently deemed a chartbuster, and his way of singing made it sound like a tranquil lullaby; his enormous palms were running circles around ___’s nearly bare shoulders as her cardigan slipped from her frame. Jungkook bore the warmth of a fireplace, it seemed, ___ could no longer tell that it was even snowing outside.  

___ was almost lulled to sleep, when she felt Jungkook lower his face and let his soft lips wander to nape of her neck: an action which broke the trance she was in and made her eyes snap open as she jerked her face away from Jungkook with indignance burning within her irises; this was inappropriate.

“How dare you? You are not my boyfriend!” she bellowed.

Jungkook was staggered by ___’s sudden shouting, and her denial of the very label which defines him at the moment: boyfriend, she was his, rightfully so; a pitch-black look overcame his otherwise innocent features, and the formal yet genial smile that he had been wearing till now also dissipated, leaving behind a cold stare which had now claimed ___ as its victim.

To be continued ⊹

(will update my main masterlist with newer parts as i write, thank you for reading 🎀)

DISCLAIMER  This is a work of fanfiction with the BTS members as characters; I do not claim ownership to the aforementioned characters. This fanfiction has been written solely for entertainment.

© @btskitty17 on tumblr 2024

~ ୨୧ ♡ · ₊

[youchangedmedestiel]

Dean is sitting next to Cas on the dinner bench they picked up to eat after wrapping up their case with Sam.

He doesn't know what is happening to him tonight, but it's like his body wants to melt with Cas's. He wants to lean against him, he wants to touch him. He also wants Cas to touch him, and melt under that soft and comforting touch.

It's like every cell of his body is calling for Cas's. And when their elbows touch because Cas leans his back against the bench backrest and Dean shifts a little, Dean feels the serotonine spreading in his whole body.

That brush is barely perceptible, though Dean thinks Cas is sending him some signs to cuddle up against him. And Dean wants it. Oh yes, he wants it so bad that he needs it. He'd like to take Cas's hand in his. He'd like to cup his jaw and kiss him softly. He'd like Cas to hold him tight. He'd like to pet Cas's hair or have Cas pet his. Cas could be so submissive under Dean's stroke. Or Cas could be so dominant that Dean would do whatever he wants, he could even sink down on his knees under the table and take him in his mouth while Cas's firm hand would grab his hair.

Dean would moan at that and Cas would come in his mouth, groaning and holding him tighter.

Dean needs this so bad, but instead a brush of his arm against Cas's will have to be enough.

[realityhop]

“For my part I consider that it is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary to beat and ill-use her; and it is seen that she allows herself to be mastered by the adventurous rather than by those who go to work more coldly. She is, therefore, always, womanlike, a lover of young men, because they are less cautious, more violent, and with more audacity command her." — Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)

"Glory-seeking heroes have dominated boys’ fictional worlds since humans started telling stories. In the classic narrative, the superheroes, fantasy warriors, and video game avatars tend to be one man, working alone, often with some kind of superhuman power or at the very least hypermasculine strength and abilities, who slays the villain, saves the day in a blaze of glory, and usually "gets the girl" as a result. … At their best, these narratives can provide enticing imaginative worlds and valuable lessons about morality, bravery, and self-sacrifice. Clearly, the vast majority of young boys consume them and go on to live happy, productive lives. But there are invisible harms to this impossible vision of manhood, and boys can easily internalize damaging expectations from them about masculinity and their their own place in the world. Boys are socialized to see themselves as the hero on his journey and the main character in any story, and to see everyone else, and especially women, as minor characters or narrative foils. … this sense of specialness and superiority comes at a price. Taken together, the messages about individual heroism contained in these stories can end up breeding an odd combination in boys of both entitlement and inadequacy. The hero’s story creates impossibly punishing expectations for boys of what a man should be: physically invulnerable, emotionally bulletproof, and ideally, superhuman. Actual boys and men, with human flaws and vulnerabilities, will always fall short. Failure is built into the project. … I think about the friendship and relationship narratives we give to girls, that help them absorb the idea that they are part of a relational system, a community that everyone contributes to and draws from, while boys are socialized to think they need to be unique and special. Christensen writes about the ancient Greek concept of kleos, a kind of fame and glory or "eternal renown" that a hero earned through his great deeds. This was the basic reward system for the classical hero, his motivating drive. And at some level, that hunger for specialness and glory has endured as a kind of baseline expectation in the modern male psyche. “I think it’s about innate ability. You believe that you’re innately better and good," Christensen explains. With all this in the background, it makes sense that men might avoid the boring tasks of adulthood. If you are shooting for eternal renown, doing the laundry or studying for your social studies test might well feel a little beneath you. The model of quiet diligence and cooperation that girls are encouraged to emulate can easily read as emasculating when compared to the glorious feats of the hero. But in most situations that life throws at us, quiet diligence is more important to success than splashy acts or a feeling that you are special. It’s not innate genius or superpowers or once-in-a-lifetime feats of bravery that get you into college or land you a job or force you out of your childhood bedroom. Mostly it’s tedious, incremental drudgery. It’s perhaps not surprising that boys are spending so much time playing video games—they provide the only arenas in which they can play out their hero fantasies and expectations of glory, instead of fulfilling the tedious tasks of the real world. The pressure to be masculine might have helped boys launch into adulthood when it was an economic requirement, when men were the sole breadwinners and had to provide financially for a family. But now, with most women working and less expectation that men will be the main wage earners, masculinity has been stripped of the only part of the story that really promoted adulthood. Without the breadwinning, what’s left are just toxic scraps—a grab bag of childish vanities and impossible pressures." — Ruth Whippman, BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity (2024)

"It was Machiavelli who broke with the classical and Christian aspiration to temper the tyrannical temptation through an education in virtue, scoring the premodern philosophic tradition as an unbroken series of unrealistic and unreliable fantasies of “imaginary republics and principalities that have never existed in practice and never could; for the gap between how people actually behave and how they ought to behave is so great that anyone who ignores everyday reality in order to live up to an ideal will soon discover that he has been taught how to destroy himself, not how to preserve himself.” Rather than promoting unrealistic standards for behavior—especially self-limitation—that could at best be unreliably achieved, Machiavelli proposed grounding a political philosophy upon readily observable human behaviors of pride, selfishness, greed, and the quest for glory." — Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed (2018)

Harrison Ford - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

[redinthesea]

Here's this year's annual birthday illustration!!! I think this one is my favorite one so far, happy shared birthday Miss Crown Prince! Spare me some of your long lifespan... 🥂🎂🎉

(+stupid silly discord interaction doodle featuring improvised funny touhousonas under the cut)

[satsuha]

one of the reasons i like what aa6 did for apollo so much is because i feel like he's accidentally a really nice example of a third culture kid and i......... never really thought i'd see that kind of experience in the kind of media i like. apollo returning to khura'in and all his conflicting feelings regarding dhurke and khura'in just make me Feel something

it's a lot of projecting from my part but i don't think apollo fully views either khura'in nor japan/US as home, there's just something about viewing a place as your childhood home and even if it is the place you imagine yourself returning to, things are just... different now. he's different now, and the literal home (dhurke's mountain hut) he'd wanted to return to just isn't there anymore... khura'in might've been his entire childhood, but the experience he got was so different from the other locals that he really doesn't know much about the average khura'inese lifestyle at all... khura'inese is probably his mother tongue, but he's so out of practice that he has to relearn it from scratch

i think again, i prefer apollo being japanese because i can just imagine that it was so difficult to fit in when you're so different and you're just so unfamiliar with the same experiences that everyone else had growing up... it's the kind of environment where i can't blame him for growing up not wanting to ever talk about his past, not when he's finally managed to fit in and seem Normal for the first time in his life...

i just feel like it's... easy to say that apollo is returning home to khura'in but there are so many loaded feelings that came with that and the idea of home is such a subjective one that i don't like the answer being so clear-cut. it's more like, on a good day apollo probably considers both khura'in and japan/US his home but on a bad day he thinks about how he'll never really belong in either place. it's another thing when i wonder if apollo ever resented dhurke for the decision to send him away even when he knows it was good for him... or even his real parents for taking him to khura'in in the first place? just imagining, or wishing even, that he could have been fully khura'inese like nahyuta or japanese/american like clay then maybe his life wouldn't have turned out this way.....

i don't know LMAO apollo eventually settling back in khura'in is so cathartic yet so tragic to me at the same time. it's a really weird feeling to not have a citizenship or to speak the language in the place you consider home... heck he doesn't even have a physical home in khura'in when he decides to stay?? it's just. i have a lot of thoughts about this. third culture kid apollo is important to me...

[potatobugz]

eek! scary!

[classicalliberalleague]

Oh look a blithering idiot.

What I like here is that (A) you have to attack people for having a different opinion, heavens forehand that I don't like the banal slop Hollywood theatrical productions are becoming (this film being only a symbol of it). If I don't like terrible films I must be an "18-year old" distraught. Apparently you can't have an opinion without being distraught....it's probably a bit of projection.

"Snaps necks and lays waste to cities" Well let's see the comic version killed people, Chris Reeve killed people, and yes Cavil killed people (the different being the comic and Reeve version smiled and quips, Cavill actually felt bad about it. Heaven forbid we should have a character who feels about about justifiable killings).

As to the lays waste, you know I'm sorry if I prefer movies to suggest there is some stakes in what is happening.

But my favorite is the that he's insulting Snyder fans with "Where'd his poorly CGI upper lip" this in reference to the Joss Whedon directed theatrical Justice League. Now I can't think of a single Snyder/DCEU fan who like that abomination. Not one. It's like insulting people who like the worst part of Star Wars by pointing out how dumb the new Star Treks are. The two have nothing to do with anything. But it does reflect the depth of your intelligence.

"Oh neat, I thought I made you up" I wish you were fictional.

The new trailer was terrible.

It looked like a film made for children and people who never grew up.

Regrettably it appears the era of films for people with a functioning frontal cortex that Snyder and Nolan gave us is dead comic book films...and it appears to be dying everywhere else as well.

[explodingstarlight]

returning to my baby donnie roots

[stolenviolet]

how tall do you think harry is? 🥹

Three apples tall.

But like really big apples, y'know? Think fuji picked at peak season. Yeah, three of those bad boys stacked on top of each other and that's how tall I think he is.

[charrfie]