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buryyourdoves · 1 year

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Writing Jewish Characters (what not to do, according to one jewish gal on discord) (a probably incomplete list):

(For reference, because I say it a few times: goyische = not Jewish, or relating to non-Jewish things/culture/etc)

Preface:

Many of these are things that some Jews do irl for various personal reasons, and that is 1000% valid and fine!! This is in no way dragging any Jew’s life choices whatsoever. When it comes to representation, there is a huge skew in one direction: the Jew-ish, bacon cheeseburger-loving, Xmas-celebrating, modern Jew whose nagging, kvetching Jewish family comes up for a special holiday or life event episode and is never heard from again. The implication is that Jewish traditions don’t fit modern people/society and that a non-Jewish audience can’t connect with a Jewish character who remains close to their cultural roots. All that to say, this piece is all about representation, not necessarily irl accuracy.

Primer:

Jewish characters don’t have to be “religious,” and definitely not in the way you might conceive of a religious Xtian character. But being an irreligious Jew doesn't inherently mean they won't follow any Jewish rituals or holidays. It’s a culture as much as it is a religion, and there are a million reasons an atheist Jew (not an oxymoron!) might follow any of these rituals/rules, including but not limited to cultural heritage, community, and religious family/friends <3

Eating treif (aka never-kosher food like pork and shellfish):

They don’t have to keep kosher (altho that would be a very welcome change just one (1) time ksdjg), just don’t make them actively not kosher. I know it feels super innocuous to talk about Erik Lensherr grabbing a bacon egg and cheese from the bodega, but it sticks out to me every time because it is, in itself, a statement. If that's a statement you want to be making, think about why. What are you trying to add to this Jewish character by giving him bacon, or shrimp, or a cheeseburger, etc etc. And is it something you think is a positive addition, or is the implication just that not eating bacon is silly, or outdated, or only something super duper religious Jews could ever want to do? If so, maybe skip the shrimp. It’s a tiny thing that can really make a big difference.

True bonus points: actively have the character keep a semblance of kosher. A simple, 2-second choice for a character to turn down a bite of their coworker’s pork fried rice because they’re Jewish feels SO NICE to read in an ocean of Jewish characters eating treif.

A lot of media codes Jewish characters by drawing attention to the fact that they’re eating bacon, even though they “shouldn’t.” Very little media codes Jews by having them leave the cheese off their burger.

(And if you do write them eating non-kosher, a friendly reminder that Jews who don’t keep kosher don’t think about how disappointed their mother would be everytime they bite into a piece of bacon. They just eat it lol.)

Interfaith parents/“half-Jews”:

I feel it necessary to reassure with this one in particular that there is nothing wrong with this, and both matrilineal and patrilineal Jews deserve representation. This is common enough irl and if they identify with the Jewish side of their heritage to consider themselves Jewish, that’s great! Variety is the spice of life. Once again, I want to emphasize that I am not making any judgments on irl Jews in any of these complaints.

This is only up for representation discussion because this feels like another trend in media and fandom, where it seems like one parent is Certified Not Jewish™️ almost as an excuse to…have Jewish characters not have to be Jewish except in name. Interfaith families are almost always shown mainly celebrating Xtian holidays, with a tiny nod to Judaism: agiant Xmas tree with a menorah to the side, or an Easter episode with a throwaway mention of Passover (if anything). Mainstream media especially will do either this, or have both parents be Jewish and the main character be such a ~disappointment~ to their parents for being less so, and of course falling into lots of icky stereotypes along the way.

Basically just, don’t not write interfaith characters, but be careful with them. Please don’t use interfaith characters as your reason excuse to let them do the Goyische Stuff, like celebrating Xmas. And speaking of…

Christmas (derogatory):

My opinion on Jewish characters celebrating Xmas, my prayer hands and shameless begging, is just…please don’t do it. I get it, plenty of irl Jews participate in Xmas activities or even celebrate it with their friends and extended families, that’s fine, absolutely no judgment. But without getting into the whole shebang of christian hegemony and the myth of secular Christmas, that’s already EVERYWHERE. Almost every tv show, every movie that has Xmas in it, if there’s a Jewish character, there’s a solid 98% chance they celebrate Xmas too. Maybe even LOVE it. Maybe there’s even a confused goyische friend going, “aren’t you Jewish?” and the Xmas-loving Jew happily informs them why that doesn’t matter, or how actually only their dad is Jewish (and he loves Xmas too so woo!) so they get to do the whole Xmas shebang and maybe have a lil menorah off to the side for the token representation.

Jews who participate in or celebrate Xmas exist, but this is a reminder that those who don’t also exist, and they are not remotely uncommon. And we don’t feel deprived for not having had Xmas, I promise. Go against the grain! For lols you can even have your Jewish character be half clueless about Xmas traditions because he never had them! Ben Grimm who has no idea what a garland is and at this point he’s too afraid to ask. There’s so much you can do with it and have fun with in a way that still keeps your Jewish blorbo unassimilated <3

There Was Only One Jew:

Most content has one (1) Jew and that’s that. It’s almost like there’s a rule that there can only be one (1) Jew per friend group. If you have more than one Jewish character, then slay! More Jews are always welcome, and the more you have, the more leeway there is, imo. It feels less egregious for, e.g., a Jewish character to loooooove shrimp if you’ve got another in the story who’s never touched it in his life and never plans to. (Although, when deciding which characters to do this with, consider making the more observant one your main, instead of relegating them to the background and/or parental characters.)

In Summary…

Thanks for reading!! There’s no one way to write Jewish characters, but I hope this helped give you something to think about! I’m always happy to answer questions if you want to learn more. You can also check out the Jewish and Judaism tags on the Writing With Color blog if you want to hear opinions from other Jews. (Not affiliated, just love their blog, haha!) These are just my thoughts on these things after reading a lot of Jewish characters (canon or headcanoned) in fic. 😊

B’hatzlacha! <3

#writing tips #jewish representation #writing jewish characters #jumblr #judaism #writblr #writing #representation #writing resource #jewish characters

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clavissionary-position · 2 months

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Gilbert vs. Azel

(crack but also contains some main story and sequel route spoilers)

Azel: (standing saint-like and unbothered at the end of Gilbert’s pointed cane)

Azel: And now that you’ve learned that little factoid, feel free to donate this—(skewers a receipt onto the cane)—exact amount to me. You know my contact information, right?

Azel: [email protected]. I’m telling you that free of charge, of course. It’s common knowledge, but it’s okay to be embarrassed if you didn’t know.

Gilbert: Hehe. As it happens, all of your other contact information is also common knowledge. (Retracts his cane to glance at the receipt) To me, anyway.

Azel: I’m happy for you. That means there’s no need to send any more rando princes to my country. It must be gratifying for a mortal to be so creepy, I mean knowledgeable.

Gilbert: Oh no! I’m not the one mystically window-watching into every bedroom ever, am I, Mister [email protected]?

Azel: May I ask why you seem so envious about that? Your current god complex isn’t lacking by any means.

Gilbert: Well, as you know, you can never know too much. Hehe.

Azel: You’d be surprised. By the way I also charge interest on any pledged donations that aren’t paid off in a timely manner. You will find my rates are completely reasonable.

Gilbert: For a prince.

Azel: For a man with eclectic means.

Gilbert: Ah. (smile deepens) While I’m not Silvio, it’s not a bad idea to attack me through my investments. But unfortunately for you, I don’t pay any bills I can’t read.

Azel: Tsk, tsk. It’s not a good look to lie to an omniscient character.

Gilbert: (pouts) I’m not lying. I mean, this handwriting is pen vomit. It looks like a tiny animal tried to imitate what it thinks a human being writes like.

Azel: (maintains his generous smile even though his eye is twitching) I wrote the receipt out in front of you not even ten seconds ago. Had I known you suffered from such catastrophic lapses in memory, I’d have gone to Prince Chevalier first.

Gilbert: Ahaha! Maybe you should have. He’d have ended this conversation much earlier. With much more blood.

Azel: (grimace) I’m happy we can agree on that much, at least. So in the interest of parting ways as soon as possible… (points at the receipt)

Gilbert: How shameless. So you think you get to order an Obsidianite prince around? I almost admire your foolhardy levels of courage. But I think there’s something that needs to be made clear.

Gilbert: Tigers, you see, are at the top of the food chain. They answer to no man. No god.

Gilbert: Sometimes to bunnies, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

Azel: I don’t contest that. But unicorns, you see…

Azel: (appears to glow under the mid-day sun) …are not even on the food chain.

Azel: (eyes sparkling) They prance-fly in their own pastel dimension, unfettered by this world’s foolish ways and uncivilized biologies.

Gilbert: Hehe, that’s a creative way of saying you’ve noped out of reality.

Azel: (under his breath) Your face is a creative way of saying ‘punch me’.

Gilbert: Hm? What was that?

Azel: (saintly smile) Nothing, nothing. Just praying for you.

Azel: (scribbles an extra surcharge to the receipt) You’re learning so many new things today, Gil. I’m sure you’ll achieve a grown-up’s level of knowledge long before you reach a grown-up’s level of physical stature.

Gilbert: You know, you shouldn’t directly plagiarize insults from whatever is popular at the moment. If it’s too mainstream, it loses its bite.

Gilbert: (dramatic shrug) I really thought a living god would be much more inspired than that, but I guess I was wrong.

Azel: I have better things to do with my time than murder normies, stalk bunnies, and brainstorm funnies.

Gilbert: Are you sure about that? That second point, I mean. A little bunny told me about some very interesting dreams she’s been having as of late.

Azel: (serious expression) I’m glad you brought that up. Can you tell your pet to quit stalking me? I’m a very busy man and I have no interest in starting a harem.

Gilbert: (tilts his head with an evil smile) Tell her yourself.

Azel: …..?

That night in the rosy dream world…

Azel: Oh, goddammit, not this goddamn stupid dream again! (kicks one of the columns) Urgh, that hurts!

Emma: Um, A….zel? Oh hey, I remembered your name this time! Azel, are you here today?

Azel: Of course I’m here. If I’m here, you’re here. If you’re here, I’m here. If you have a cure, I’m all ears.

Emma: Aw, that’s a cute poem.

Azel: Shut-up.

Emma: Right, anyway, I’m sorry about this. (points a gun at him)

Azel: …

Azel: …….

Azel: (watches the crystalized rose on the table begin to rot)

Azel: (sighs)

Azel: Does he want a discount on the bill, is that what this is about?

Emma: (realizes what she’s pointing and scampers to put the gun away) Oh shi… I’m sorry!

Crystalized Rose: (goes back to being uwu)

Emma: I meant to hold out my hand in a truce!

Azel: Truce? I don’t remember being at war with you.

Emma: Apparently we are? Stuff gets twisted around in Gil’s head all the time. Although usually there’s at least a grain of truth to it. But basically I’ll stop stalking your dreams if you stop stalking mine. I don’t know how, but I figure this is a good start.

Emma: (looks up at the dreamy clouds) See, Gil? We’re talking it out. Stop strapping your gun to my thigh while I sleep, please? It tickles and it makes me want to pee!

Azel: This is our dream. He can’t hear you.

Emma: I know, but I heard that if you shout stuff in your dreams, it's more likely you'll remember it when you wake up.

Emma: AZEL IS DEFINITELY THE GUY WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE DOWN IN THE CURRENT STORY ARC!

Emma: I NEED TO STOP CASUALLY TELLING HIM NATIONAL SECRETS!

Azel: (covering his ears) You're the reason I wake up with seven hundred bags under my eyes.

Emma: So... truce?

Azel: Yeah, sure, truce, whatever. (goes to shake her hand)

Emma: (points gun at him again) I'm sorry, I can't let you actually physically touch my hand or Gil will literally kill you.

Azel: THIS IS A DREAM WORLD

Azel: I’m not even going to tell you that your love is cursed. Your entire man is cursed.

#ikemen prince #ikepri spoilers #ikepri gilbert spoilers #gilbert von obsidian #ikepri azel #incorrect quote folder

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mrdarcygenderenvy · 3 months

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Recent Austen adaptations yelling

Ok I DID make this blog to review historical-set Pride & Prejudice adaptations (with an exception made for iconic B&P). But for everyone who was DEFINITELY WONDERING, yes I have also been storing away a lot of opinions about other recent Austen adaptations that I Must Tell Someone.

Fire island (2022)

A modern gay party cheesy rom-com P&P that genuinely made me laugh. Having seen some other (whiter) cheesy gay romcoms that were extreeeemely PG & playing it safe, I was pleasantly surprised.

Also Bowen Yang and his story just came across really earnest in a way I was into - would watch this man cry again, 10/10.

Personally as an extremely disabled british nerd (now tragically unable to travel and/or go to the club...) this gay scene is a long way from my queer scene. But I still had emotions, you know?

Kinda wanted more of the Mary analogue and generally just normal looking people (almost everyone is so ripped) but I appreciate that's how beautiful smooth people often look in mainstream american films, we can't have everything.

DARCY WATCH: I do not want to dress like this adaptation's chinos Mr Darcy. But Conrad Ricamora was generally great and very hot and awkward and understood the assignment. Good ice cream throw.

Emma (2020)

I know I know, it's pretty... but I don't think that's enough!!!!!

Lovely production, beautiful costumes, a candy wes-anderson cinematography that really suits the story, and it's fun to notice references to actual outfits and prints from the time but lads. LADS. UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME: Where is the chemistry???

You can’t make Mr Knightley a nice sweet boy (so funny to have cast a posh folksy singing man) and leave the plot the same and expect it to work!! Also I was personally pissed off that a lot of the promo/ ads for this made it look like ~forbidden love~ when it's the 2 richest white people in town getting together?? ? There's actually not even a class difference in this one, guys.

Basically this romance was nothing to me!!! I felt nothing!!!!!!!! WHERE'S THE DEPTH

I did like the bit where he lies down though. Relatable.

Also why are you drawing so much attention to the servants when you don’t seem to have anything to say about class...? 'Wow look how many servants they had! Anyway, they don't get any speaking lines'... it's 2020 guys!!! like what are we saying here. 'isn't it cool to think about how people were rich'??

kind of the point of Emma (character) is she's pretty superficial, but the story does not, in fact, have to be

Persuasion (2022)

Weeping softly into a pillow........ did you know this version meant a version with Sarah Snook and Joel Fry got cancelled?? we could have had it all

(standing on a table yelling) THE MODERNISATION WAS NOT THE PROBLEM WITH THIS FILM!!!

Honestly I actively liked all the entire secondary cast in this. Louisa and Mary were extremely charming fun takes to watch. ('I'm an empath' IS right for the character if you're doing modern jokes!!!) And nobody can deny this was a correct and powerful use of Richard E Grant.

Henry Golding was naturally great. Apparently he got offered the lead and took the villain instead, which DOES mean the villain is super charming and fun to watch which is... hard to match and.... kind of shows up.... the main man.

It's been said before but the main two were WOEFUL imo. I have no beef with the actors I just question the DIRECTION and whether anyone making this knew (or cared) why people... enjoy things.

Book Anne is the quietest gentlest loser and I LOVE HER and so does basically every Austen nerd. Making her a quirky wine-bath girl who's honestly just cruel sometimes fully stops the main romance chemistry and plot from working.

And it means the main boy is still like 'god I'm so horny for how KIND AND CAPABLE YOU ARE' which is just 100% no longer true. You can't transplant a personality in a romance but leave the plot the exact same and expect it to work. The chemistry IS the plot in a romance..........

you can't act morally superior to your siblings and still rate people out of ten.... also so funny to me that everyone else gets period outfits and hair whereas this protagonist looks like she just glanced at a picture of any time in the past and grabbed a couple shirts from primark. it doen't even look good or build character!!!!!

Anyway, not to be an elderly man like 'ohhh why does nobody care about character these days' but the reason something like Clueless works is because it has the heart of the story right, instead of just copying the surface level stuff.

#making all of these a single post which probably means nobody will reblog it ever. OH WELL #emma 2020 #persuasion 2022 #fire island #austen adaptations #full disclosure yes I was midway through making a queer regency romance GN whose plot is partly based on emma and p&p when i saw 2020 emma #so YES.......... i have strong opinions... possibly UNPOPULAR ONES..........#anyway if you enjoy the things i'm complaining about more power to you. I'M TOO BORING tO ENJOY THEM UNFORTUNATELY

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princess-unipeg · 7 months

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If you hadn’t heard of this show yet it’s probably because it’s on Peacock and not the more mainstream Netflix and Disney plus.

I watched the first season out of curiosity and I gotta say I was surprised that I actually enjoyed the show. It’s a shame that the show doesn’t get the attention it should because it deserves all the seasons it needs to tell their whole story.

The story by the way is about these 5 teenagers living in New Orleans who are chosen to save the world following an accidental release of a malevolent spirit. Each of them have been granted a special ability bestowed upon them by these ancient spirits. Soleil elemental powers, Stanley knowledge through touch, Missy strength, Maybe the ability to see and talk to the dead and Pat the ability to hear voices of those unheard by others.

I’ll admit the animation does have it’s wonkiness and they could have made their characters more expressive but it’s not the worst I have seen but they could do better.

I wasn’t a fan that the two main female characters have beef with each other but at least their motivations are explicitly linked to them as characters and completely unrelated to the relationship to the other boys on the team.

It gets points for having casual LGBTQ representation with Soleil having two happily married lesbians as parents.

Not to mention the fact they actual went into depth about the voodoo religion and how it’s not about these weird dolls you use to torture people. So it’s one of the very few stories out there to not have a simplified surface level understanding of the voodoo practice.

I also like how multidimensional the characters are and I especially give them props for what they did with Pat. He’s a plus sized character but his personality and trait doesn’t revolve around neither food nor his weight. He gets to be the expert. The guy with all the know how who gets to be part of the important stories and gets to have a heart wrenching subplot with his dead father.

I also want to get into the big bad and the compelling way they compare and contrast with the main character Soleil. She’s the girl who enjoys scaring people for fun and games whereas the big bad scares people for the sake of gaining power. A goal he seeks to achieve by any means, especially murder. Soleil, the girl who enjoys the spooky and supernatural, learns about the true fear that anyone can face in real life. A powerful man who has no qualms hurting innocent people to achieve terrible power.

It was the perfect new series to start off the Halloween season with and I can’t wait to see more.

#my post #my posts #thoughts #my thoughts #fright krewe

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anti-anti-vents · 25 days

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Welcome to my blog! If you’re new to these debate, leave now and never return there are some things I’d like to define, since I find often times people mean many things when saying them.

What is shipping?

Shipping is the act of depicting, or wanting depictions of, two or more FICTIONAL characters in a relationship, that is romantic and/or sexual unless stated otherwise. The most common reason people would do this, and the one that comes to most peoples minds, is that the person thinks these characters would work out well together. However, there’s many more reasons than that to want to explore a dynamic, so it’s a misconception that that’s always the case. Please note, it’s not shipping when real people are involved instead of characters, that’s sexual harassment!*

What is a proshipper? What is an anti? What is an anti-anti?

In short, a proshipper is somebody who believes it’s okay to ship any characters for any reason. An anti is somebody who believes that shipping dynamics that would be toxic or immoral IRL is also not okay to do in fiction, and often go to length to let people know this opinion when they find a ship they deem to be inappropriate. And finally, an anti-anti is somebody who doesn’t necessarily believe that EVERY ship is morally neutral, but does believe you should never harass somebody over it regardless.

So, why are you an anti-anti?

Obviously, I don’t believe in harassing people, that should be a given. And I do find most ships morally neutral, but the main reason I don’t call myself a proshipper is that some do still leave a sour taste in my mouth (namely ships that “fix” a queer person, or turn an abuser into somebody super sweet; but feel free to RESPECTFULLY drop some reasoning into my askbox why those are okay if you want). However, I do recognize that it’s just fiction, and I can’t see into the minds of the people making it, so I’ll never truly know their reasonings.

What the hell got you into this discourse?

Well, if you can’t tell by my pfp, I love the game The Coffin of Andy and Leyley. (Spoilers ahead) But if you know anything about the game, you’ll know that the internet didn’t agree with me. They got mad over the CLEARLY PORTRAYED AS IMMORAL, completely optional outside a few implications, part of a demonic dream and not actually a real thing that happened, horror game incest. My goodness, you’d think they’d be mad at the actually romanticized cannibalism, or the many other pieces of media that include incest, but no. At the end of the day, this was just an excuse to doxx a trans woman until she left the internet. Because that’s who’s affected by this discourse. Not big media sensations and fiction that’s reached enough mainstream appeal to be genuinely normalizing things for the masses, but instead small indie creators and queer people. We need to do better.

Do you have a DNI?

Just don’t harass people, that’s all I ask. Regardless, this is a side blog, so I won’t be following back.

#proship #proshipper safe #proshippers please interact #proshipper #anti anti #intro post

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threewaywithdelusion · 8 months

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I truly don’t understand people who think Byler is going to be canon. This is nothing against people who ship Byler, because I absolutely see what would draw people towards that ship.

But some people genuinely think it’s going to happen in season 5 and that’s what I can’t wrap my head around. Stranger Things is a show written by, as far as we know, two straight men. It’s a mainstream show and it’s target audience is everyone from teens to adults. A large portion of this audience is going to be straight.

The Duffer brothers are probably patting themselves on the back for their excellent queer rep. They have two whole queer characters in the main cast. I think there’s a decent chance Robin will end up with Vickie, in which case we have three characters who are confirmed gay and one gay couple ending up happily together. The Duffer brothers have been at least exploring the fact that Will could be gay since season 1, when Joyce said that Lonnie used to call him gay slurs. They committed to it in season 4, but also in a very subtle way. Queer audiences saw this coming years ago. I rewatched season 4 with my parents and had to explain to them that Will was crushing on Mike. (I straight-up said those words and they said, “you mean… he likes Eleven?”). Straight audiences are not picking up on some Will/Mike love story. And yes, I don’t think Mileven was super well-written in Season 4. But that’s a problem with the writing itself, not proof that the Duffer brothers don’t intend for Mileven to be endgame.

Also, Mike is arguably The Main Character. Especially with how he was framed in S1. Modern shows might make one (or several) main characters or series regulars queer to show how inclusive they are and appeal to queer audiences. But I truly don’t believe we’re at a point where you can make the main character queer without alienating straight audiences (especially if your fan base is not just younger people). Maybe that’s cynical of me, but I think people want to watch shows with queer representation but that aren’t Queer Shows. And that’s what Stranger Things would be if Byler happened, because both Will and Mike (two of the main leads) would be queer and together.

Even if the Duffer brothers wanted to make Byler happen from a creative perspective (which I seriously doubt), it would be a terribly marketing move. I just don't believe we live in a world (at least yet) where predominately straight audiences want to watch shows with large gay casts. (Of course there are exceptions, but I'm speaking in generalities). So while I totally think there's space for Byler in fan fiction and that it's a fascinating dynamic to explore, it bewilders me that people think it's going to happen for real. I think this comes from being in fandom spaces and/or interacting mostly with queer people.

The majority of the world isn't the fandom and also isn't queer. We're still years away from a time where a hugely successfully, mainstream money-maker like Stranger Things can make two of its main characters queer and in love.

I adore the world y'all are living in though. I don't think we're there -- but I hope some day we will be.

Addendum because I wrote this quickly: I also think Mike/Eleven are a really important relationship that is central to the show. That's not to say that Will and Mike aren't, because I do think they have one of the closest friendships on the show and that there's something special about their bond. But the show, from the beginning, has centered around Mike and El as the protagonists for the kids' generation. Their love for each other and trust in each other has been a huge characteristic of both Mike and El and a huge driving force for the plot. They haven't adequately set up a pivot from that central relationship, and I don't think they could do it in the final season without doing a disservice to the past four seasons, but especially to El, who is the center of this whole show.

#stranger things #someone is going to yell at me for tagging this but #byler #will byers #mike wheeler

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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Hi ONTF, sorry to vent in your inbox but I’ve just stumbled into 3 different posts in rapid succession that had me boggling. I don’t know, they were probably just vent-y tumblr hyperbolic posts but is this really how a lot of people on here are about the media they consume?

One was about how another show ended in a queerbaiting mess (did it? Really? Does queerbaiting mean what you think it does?), the second one was about how people should boycott any show with even a hint of queerbaiting (which, in context, seems to mean with any shippy dynamic that doesn’t become canon in 2 episodes!) and the third one was about people insisting that a show is actual representation when, as much as I liked Good Omens, it just isn’t.

I was left staring at my screen with the impression that these people are either looking at meh shows they don’t actually think much of with their slash goggles firmly on and basing their opinion of the show’s worth on weather their ship becomes canon or trying to shoehorn representation in shows that they did enjoy because otherwise they wouldn’t feel as good about liking them? Idk, I guess what I’m asking is was it just 3 badly worded posts or is this an attitude you’ve noticed on this hellsite?

And at the same time if representation, no, let’s be honest: if the canonical status of their specific ship is so important to them that they can’t enjoy a show unless it’s there why do they seem to mainly be watching mainstream stuff with low chances of an actual payoff? I keep rewriting this part, I keep getting sidetracked. Basically I agree with you that people on here seem to put way too much faith in the idea that mainstream shows are writing things a certain way to bait queer audience when I think they’re just doing what mainstream shows have always done and most just don’t much care. But I wonder what has caused this idea, what gave people the expectation that their queer ship, often between well known main characters, has a chance in hell of becoming canon? Is it because roughly ten years ago a couple of shows went “actually yes, this infamous cannibal is in love with the fbi agent! Straightbait! Our main pirate is queer!”? But Hannibal and Black Sails were both pretty niche, not super popular shows. They were, and remain, exceptions. Sherlock and, idk, Got, were whole other beasts popularity wise. The fact that it is still unusual is why people where so happy and excited about ofmd! But statistically? Either a show is clearly marketed to a queer audience or the chances of a queer main character/ship are abysmally low and I don’t get why people keep doing this to themselves. Sorry, I’m rambling and confused at that absurd boycott idea and I’m curious to hear what you and others think.

Well... when you mostly read books by AO3y people and hang around in fanfic space, reality does cater to you. One forgets how different the rest of the world is.

And in many ways, that's a good thing.

But I spend a lot of my time on original m/m rather than big name shows, and it definitely helps.

When one swims in the AO3/Tumblr/Tiktok/whatever waters all day long and then goes back to really big media, expecting the same status quo, one is disappointed.

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rockinmusician · 8 months

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Dear Ibuki, I didn’t like your concert and it made me uncomfortable. Let’s just say that while I enjoy rock, punk and metal, I choose not to listen to aggressive/extreme metal subgenres involving death growls and screaming vocals because I believe they sound mediocre, and I can’t stand how strangely popular they’ve become, to the point where mainstream rock stations are now playing this kind of music. Ever since your concert, everything you say and do doesn’t make me laugh or feel happy, it makes me feel anxious, and yet everyone loves you for your positivity, fashion, sexuality, and your help during the class trials. I find it hard to believe that someone who acts so positive and energetic would want to sing songs about dark, negative topics. Everyone says you’re a cinnamon roll but I think otherwise, to me, you’re more like the dark humor joke character whose purpose is to make the player uncomfortable by being a K-ON parody with references to the death metal subculture. Even your free time events weren’t inspiring for me, it was more like, you told Hajime that you’re proud of who you are despite your taste in music, and I don’t want to acknowledge that, and your free time events also felt like you were forcing Hajime to start a metal band and it made me feel sorry for the poor guy. The only things keeping me from hating you is that I find you very attractive and there are some hard rock bands I love that I think you would love too. I apologize for how long this is, and I’m sure you think otherwise, but what do you think I should about it?

----

“... Yeah, this one’s on you, Admod.”

I don’t feel like writing such a long deconstruction of Ibuki’s character as an in character letter is something Ibuki can respond to, so you have me.

From what I can see, you have one major problem with Ibuki’s character, and that keeps you from enjoying her other traits. And that’s fine. You don’t need to agree with popular opinion, and it sounds like you have a pretty good reason to not like her specific musical tastes.

I’m pretty sure that was what the joke was supposed to be. “She looks so fun and upbeat, oh, wait, she likes really traumatising music”. And this is apparently a really recent development, perhaps as recent as it being while she’s still on the island.

I don’t know how being a K-On character is supposed to be dark humour, unless you mean it’s because she mixed K-On references with death metal? Ibuki’s talent in Japanese is specifically “Ultimate Light Music Club”, and I feel that explains a lot about how pushy she is in her Free Time Events. Apparently, school clubs are expected to be like a second job, where you dedicate all your free time to them, and competition is fierce. So they get really aggressive about getting you to join, and that’s what Ibuki’s “Pick me!” thing is about. She’s exhibiting her talent, and that got lost in translation.

The main point of her free time events is that it shows her thoughts on music as a way to have fun with others, rather than being some high exhibition art that should only be done by people with talent, and I find that sweet. She also gives Hajime some life advice on loving yourself.

If you don’t like Ibuki despite the majority liking her, that is 100% valid. There’s plenty of characters that the majority like that I don’t. But I feel like it’s a bit shallow to say “I don’t hate you because you look good.” Maybe hypocritical of me to say, but I feel like if her portrayal of Death Metal weighs so heavily against her, then Looks good is a pretty poor counterbalance.

If she doesn’t work for you, she doesn’t work. Neither of us are going to die if a fictional character isn’t 100% adored.

#dangan-kagura #Ibuki Mioda #Admod #OoC #Ask

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beansterpie · 2 months

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B, D, J, L, T, U

Thanks for the ask moth!! <3

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

LMFAO Agohiru from ES21 😂 I remember when I first got into es21 back in highschool, Hiruma was my fav, but I didn't think much of Agon other than 'wow what an asshole!' and didn't like him. (Also I was a big Hirumamo shipper at the time, and I'm the type who clings onto One Ship for a character and isn't too interested in anything else lol) It wasn't until I got back into it in the last couple of years that I've come to appreciate how much fun it is to bat that asshole around, and just how loaded Hiruma and Agon's ~history~ is.

Though I guess no one person specifically changed my mind, unless you count past me vs present me lol. OH actually, what changed my mind was the fic "Independent Variable" on ff.net. I think I got back into es21 and was like 'you know, hiruma/agon totally has potential' and so was looking up fics of that pairing, and then I read that fic and was lost.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Hmmmm oh, Merther (Merlin/Arthur) lol. Their set up as a ship is extremely juicy (two sides of the same coin?? fate ties them together??? conflict because their initial world views are diametrically opposed????) and there's soooo much fic for them, but. I just. I don't like Arthur 😭 Like, I mean, he's FINE. But the writing of the whole show is so inconsistent and there's entire seasons where he's just so shitty to Merlin for no damn reason in a way that I'm supposed to take as funny and silly which pisses me off more.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

I mean, most shows that have mainstream popularity that I never checked out lol, though I think one that I've seen a lot of shipping art for on my dash is Star Wars? I've seen the main movies, but I think this is from.... Clone Wars, or the Obi-wan show or something. I see a lot of Obi-wan shipped with... one of the clone guys I think lmfao.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves.

Hmmmm this isn't even a character I dislike, but whatever-- Judeau! I like him a lot tbh but I also find him shady 😂

I like how his 'friend who gives good advice and just has your best interests at heart' vibe is subverted by his personal biases and emotions, even if he'd probably deny that lol. He's flawed and it colors the advice he gives, and he even has moments that I'd argue are kind of judgy. It's what makes him interesting!

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Yes! Main one coming to mind rn because I've been thinking about Hiruma (ES21) a lot, is that Hiruma is on the ace spectrum! I'm usually pretty take-it-or-leave-it when it comes to sexuality headcanons, like I can buy most interpretations but I generally don't feel strongly about them, but with Hiruma I really struggle to see him as anything else.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

OOHHHH. Well in Berserk, it's legit a tie between Guts and Griffith. I wouldn't like either one of them as much without the other in their orbit, and Berserk is one of those rare stories where both characters are really complex and compelling in their own way, and bring a lot of significant baggage into their dynamic lmfao. With Guts I love how sensitive he is, and the various ways in which he subverts and deconstructs the Macho Male Power Fantasy™ archetype, how at the end of the day he just wants someone to care about him and find worth in his existence. With Griffith, I love his ideals and his fragility in the face of the sacrifices those ideals demand from him, I love how much he cares and how much he gouges himself for caring, and how all of his stress and guilt and obligation still aren't any match for his love for Guts. And with both of them, I love how their upbringing informs their decisions so well to ruin everything even though they care about each other so much :')

w/ ES21, it's Hiruma lol which might be basic because he's everyone's fav, but for good reason! He's just fucking fun! I love how unhinged and demonic he is, I love the borderline slapstick loony-tunes tyle antics he gets up to, and I love his shamelessness. But I also love how accepting and realistic he is about his limitations, and how that doesn't stop him from striving for the top and going for what he wants. And like, for such an anime-level strategic genius type character, I love that such a core part of what makes him great is that he brings people together and uses teamwork and creativity to overcome everyone's various limitations. He's just-- so much fun!

And because this list is depressingly male lemme throw in a wild card-- Chase from Midnight Furies! It's a webcomic that I recently read for the first time, and Chase is the deuteragonist and a Hiruma expy lol. Which you can definitely tell, they both have the unhinged vibe and shark teeth, as well as the mysterious past and having a lot of cards up their sleeve, but I also think they're quite distinct. Obviously, Chase is a butch lesbian (which really does just add to her cool factor), but also I feel like Midnight Furies is a more grounded story compared to ES21, despite there being supernatural elements lol, and so Chase feels more grounded and realistic as a character. She's a bit more raw in her relationships to other people, and she shows vulnerability more, but she's also much more of a direct physical threat than Hiruma is. Because of that, she has moments where calculation gets thrown out the window in favor of a good ol' beat down, which of COURSE I love to see. And I think she has the capacity to be more ruthless. ANYWAY, awesome character, A+++ (please read Midnight Furies)

[alphabet ask meme]

#marley-manson #ask meme #sorry this took a while and i think i'm posting this when most of my mutuals are asleep lol #but ohhhhw ell

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absolutebl · 2 years

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Hello, one question just popped into my head during watching Don't say No and it's a loaded one. Are there any BLs where psychotherapy gets mentioned or is part of the story. Or is stigma so big that it doesn't even get into mainstream let alone genre such as BL. I know some regular kdramas and some cdramas with mental health and therapy as a topic but I wondered if there are any BLs that acknowledge mental health.

Mental Health As A Plot Device in Romance

The use of mental health issues as a plot device is super strong in a lot of Asian romance dramas (particularly favored by China and Korea). But the representation of professional help in order to overcome said issues is pretty slender. I mean I could probubly count on one hand how often I've seen it represented, and mostly only from Korea, and only recently. And, do I think that's partly because they’re worried about one of the highest suicide rates in the world now? Yep.

Note: yes I get there is a huge stigma around disability in general, I don’t want to get into into culture critique/debate on this matter in terms of how individualist societies versus collectivist societies handle mental health. Both basically kinda suck at it, in the end.

Because this is big concern I have throughout the romance genre. There's a real damaging message of "I can heal my lover with love alone." It's a salvation trope that activates the paladin archetype, and neither of these are healthy IRL.

ALT

Moment of squee:

The fantastic romance author and professional trauma therapist Adriana Herrera has talked about this (with regards to western romance literature) quite a bit. Her romances are written in part to help correct for this, she often has positive portrayals of seeking counseling, as well as having healthy supportive relationships while grappling with mental health and residual trauma. I HIGHLY recommend her, her interviews, and her work. She has a lot of GREAT queer romances and almost all her main characters are Afro-Latinx. Seriously, check her out. My favorite is her Dreamer series.

A companion to this is something I've heard called pussy salvation, which is the idea that the bad boy or byronic hero can be saved from himself and poor life choices by sleeping with (and/or marrying) the right woman. Historicals do this for their rakes all the time. The Tuxedo might fit into this one, but then again, who the fuck knows what that BL was doing or trying to do.

ALT

And then a companion to THAT one is the idea that a man can be saved not by the love of the right woman, but by having a child with her. Something like the first season of Bridgerton. This one is common in both historicals and religious/christian/clean romances.

I do not like ANY of this.

Back to you question!

Honestly, I can’t name any BLs off the top of my head that include a visit to a professional for mental health reasons except Innocent (short, Taiwan, on GaGa I think).

To My Star obliquely references coping with it, which I think implies professional help, but I’m not sure.

Dean insists (and takes) Pharm to a doctor for his panic attacks in Until We Meet Again.

Now go on commenters, what BLs did I forget?

(source)

#dmaging romance tropes #Adriana Herrera #thai bl #taiwanese bl #innocent BL #The Tuxedo

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allthingsfook · 11 months

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If you're still doing ships (you put so much thought into them. It's amazing), I'm Jake [he/him]. I'm 26 and in grad school. I'm graduating with Masters's in History (studying queer history) in August with the intention of getting my Ph.D. so I can teach college-level history classes. I am always listening to music like Spotify told me I listened to 200,000 minutes last year. It's literally always in the background. my music taste is all over the place. Harry Styles, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and The Smiths are probably my favorite groups. When I have free time, I like to read, i tell everyone my favorite fiction genre is High Fantasy and that's not a *lie* but it leaves out the part where my other favorite genre is romantic comedies. My love language is act of service, like being asked to do things for people makes me feel needed and loved. I hate the taste of coffee but drink it 1. because I have a horrible caffeine addiction and 2. because as a graduate student, I need to be awake more than my body wants to be. I have two cats one named after a star trek character the other named after my favorite poet.

This is my main blog, my GVF blog is @theintelligenceoflove if you get around to this thank you so much.

Hi Jake!!! Thank you!! I hope that these make everyone feel special 🤍🤍

I ship you with….

No surprise… Jake 🖤⚔️🤍

I wanna touch every point, so let’s start with your education! Jake would be incredibly impressed by your commitment to schooling, passion for history, and goal of teaching. I don’t think it would take long for Jake to be enamored by the way you talk about your schooling and what about it interests you most. Jake is definitely a history buff!!!!! As Kelly and Dan mentioned in an interview, Jake is the one that stays up until the early morning and will chat your ear off about anything under the sun. I can picture the both of you sharing a drink on the porch of his beautiful home, talking all through the night. The warm Tennessee air hugging you as you delve into the obscure details of a certain period. 🌅🏔️

No doubt music would fill the house if you lived together. To some people, it might be like an annoying mosquito that won’t go away, but you and Jake prefer it to silence, background noise, or even chatter. Just take a second and imagine the impressive record collection that man has!!! 🤯🤯 I think your music taste would be accepted by him (I don’t think there is much he wouldn’t appreciate) Even Harry Styles — I mean that sometimes the boys come off a little pretentious with their music taste and would like people to think they don’t indulge in anything mainstream, but let’s not forget that summer solstice shoot where they did, pose like Fine Line Harry!)

If I was going to give you and Jake a Smiths song, it would be Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. I imagine that song is something people wouldn’t normally think Jake would listen to, but I didn’t think he paid any mine to Third Eye Blind either. He’s full of wonder.

I don’t mean to be unoriginal, but it’s not secret Jake loves to read as well. I hope that you could be the person that helps him create more time for it. I picture that being in the form of gifting him books he can’t contain himself from not picking up. As I’m sure you already know, any musician’s autobiography, or something about pirates 😂

Acts of Service is accurate for Jake as well. I remember him saying that if he wasn’t in music he’d probably work in healthcare. That’s very commendable of him and no doubt the biggest form of service to others. Through that statement, you can tell he has a huge heart.

WHATEVER YOU DO!!!!!! do not think about Jake stumbling down the hall, be-lining toward the coffee machine. His hair frizzy from a good nights sleep. His pajama bottoms sagging and lopsided on his waist. His bare chest appearing tanned in the morning sun. 😫😫😫 DO NOT GO THERE!!!!! The thought is more addicting than the coffee 🥰🥰🥰

Lastly, Jake would adore the fact that your cats are named after Star Trek and a poet. That’s right up his alley. And if you convinced him to get another, he’d insist on naming it something like Oscar (Oscar Wilde) or Bedivere (Monty Python).

Hope you enjoyed your ship, Jake! Let me know what you think 🧐❣️

#greta van fleet #gvf #peaceful army #gvf ships #gvf imagine #greta van fluff #jakegvf #jake kiszka #jacob thomas kiszka #sir

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pianostarinwonderland · 2 years

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I’m not sure if u mentioned if ur a Disney kid before, but there’s something about twst that gives me so much serotonin. Like even with the slow updates last year, I still kept coming back to it. I even forgot about it until the Harvestpn event and I was invested in the game just like I was back when it first came out 2 years ago. Maybe it’s because I’m a Disney kid so it’s fun going omg a reference/hidden Mickey, but tbh it rly is a good game overall. I love what Yana Toboso did with the game; the characters r all unique with interesting personalities, the main story and event stories r rly enjoyable,I love the amount of depth they put into the world especially during events that explore the characters home countries like damn the amount of research they must have put into those events is crazy. And I especially love the og disney references they make, and how they all fit into the word of twst, and in regards to chapter 6, they even referenced the old mythology of Hades which was pretty cool (the theories r going crazy for it and I’m loving it, makes me question so much now ahhh). Haha I’m just gushing about twst but I defo enjoy it a bunch (maybe my inner child is calling to me lol) and I’m not rly a gamer but I’ve always loved games w interesting stories, and since twst is for the most part a visual novel type, so it’s great for me! But how about u? Do u feel the same? U always seem enthusiastic talking about twst and I love it so I’m just wondering.

Fuck 🧍 I think you already put everything I feel about Twst into words

I wouldn’t say I grew up as a Disney kid, but I will say that Disney was the one thing I could connect to in terms of what is ‘mainstream’ as a child. I don’t really watch many movies and shows, and I used to be kinda elitist about pop music (pls don’t be like this guys, you lose out a lot in life with that kind of mindset), but Disney is just everywhere and the movies really appeal to me, so it’s one of the very few mainstream things that I know and lets me connect with other people since that’s what I know.

There are few things in life that I hold onto dearly or feel passionately mainly because I’m very picky about everything and anything really. XD So already being in Twst for more than two years means a lot. Twst gave me so much that at this point, it’s the home that I can never find in my actual home ;A; I found friends that I want to keep for life, I found stories that enrich my wisdom. But most of all, I reconnected with my inner child in so many ways. It goes beyond being a Disney kid, it became singing and dancing and laughing and hugging the inner child that I intentionally left in an empty room to forget about. Twst gave me so much that I can’t bear to really leave it. The pace can be slow, doing lessons can sometimes be a chore, but when they pop up with a big announcement after a few weeks of silence, I remember why I fell in love with the game in the first place. 🥺

#twisted wonderland #twst #ask

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kukuandkookie · 2 years

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Please send help Xi Yang Yang literally has me in a chokehold and I am struggling knowing that out of most donghua, most of which are generally already pretty underrated and niche in the mainstream, this is probably one of the MOST NICHE fandoms I could ever get into because it is a kids’ show. 😭

It has a fandom in China that’s actually super active (I love getting lost in Bilibili’s AMVs and animation memes when I can afford to (as in I usually can’t/shouldn’t because I spend too long on that addicting site)), but obviously I’m not fluent enough to be super active on Chinese websites. 🥲

BUT XI YANG YANG JUST HAS GOTTEN SO ANIME AND BADASS AND HEARTFELT AND IT KILLS ME BECAUSE I’M WATCHING THESE ADORABLE LITTLE CHARACTERS I LIKED AS A CHILD BECOME AMAZING, ACTUALLY DEEP CHARACTERS IN REALLY INTRIGUING STORIES!!! It doesn’t help my addiction that the Xi Yang Yang channel on YouTube literally uploads all the episodes so I can watch them!! For free!!! It’s so accessible and thus super addicting!!!

I just found out from summary videos what happens in the latest season (the one where the goats and wolves go back to the fantasy cat kingdom except this time they discover a dog kingdom) and AHHHHHHHHH. I was literally—and yes, I do mean literally!—screaming because OH MY GOD KGJSKFHSJS THE PLOT. THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN.

God I wish there was a fandom for this. I used to yell about it on Twitter and at my Chinese friend who also liked animation (he was even nice enough to send me Xi Yang Yang merch!!) but my Twitter followers follow me for my Scum Villain (and maybe Erha) content and my friend isn’t active anymore. 😭

Obviously it’s my account so I can just post what I want but what I want to do is yell and upload too many screenshots and yell some more and sub video clips and post those too. I LITERALLY HAVE CLIPS OF XI YANG YANG THAT I SUBBED MYSELF JUST SITTING ON MY PHONE GLSJDKSHSJS.

I can’t emphasize enough how this series has grown and changed so much since I was a kid—now rather than have Tom and Jerry-esque comedy and rather stiff animation, it’s more colourful and fluid and even more meaningful—and it remains super funny. Like yes, sometimes the animation is still a bit off but overall it’s just improved so much!! The action is so shounen it’s just so much fun!

https://youtu.be/yQpdr4h2rbc

youtube

And the characters are all so likeable—like I genuinely think Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang are examples of iconic character design, and their friends are pretty good too (Xi Yang Yang can get really funky with some of the character designs—for example with the egg villains etc but overall the main characters look so so cute).

I’m so glad they reformed Hui Tai Lang in Mighty Little Defenders!! I’ve watched every season since then and they’re all really really enjoyable. Since we’re not just constantly reusing Hui Tai Lang as a villain and having him chase the sheep around, we get a lot more interesting stories: the entire Rescue Across Time season, with all its time-travelling shenanigans, remains one of my favourites, as does the aforementioned fantasy cat kingdom transmigration season (we even got the goats brainwashed into lovable jerk versions of themselves who also happen to be cats!!). The whole plot surrounding Xi Yang Yang’s parents and Bing Bing Yang is really nice too, and Hui Tai Lang is such a good dad. 😭

Also I guess it doesn’t technically matter if I spoil the latest season and reveal why I was screaming earlier today, but basically I found out they make Hui Tai Lang brainwashed by dark energy into becoming a villain. Xi Yang Yang tries to fight him and they both get affected with the dark energy, but in the end, Hui Tai Lang still sacrifices himself to save his best friend. GOD THEIR BOND IS SO CUTE. ;w;

I know this is like all gibberish to people who haven’t watched Xi Yang Yang and I’m betting 90% of you haven’t (and that even if you have, 95% of you or more haven’t watched the newer seasons (from Mighty Little Defenders onwards)). But basically besides Xi Yang Yang being devastated by Hui Tai Lang’s potential death, Gou Xing Lang, the villain from the cat fantasy kingdom season (Against the Dark Force) soMEHOW MANAGES TO SAVE HIM FROM WITHIN THE DARKNESS???? AND IT HAS ME EVEN MORE EMO BECAUSE HE HAD A SAD, PRETTY TOUCHING BACKSTORY WHERE HE LOST TOUCH WITH HIS CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND WHO BETRAYED HIM (which they referenced in the Ultimate Battle season) BUT WE ALL THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!!!

So now I’m wondering if they’ll build on the fact he’s somehow in the dark energy??? Or if they’ll just leave it at that!?

Man I haven’t even watched the season yet because the YouTube channel gets the seasons way later than China does, so I don’t know the details and from what I have seen, I might find some of it a bit odd, but they really do have the capability to make me feel feels, don’t they? Just from a summary video and I was already getting all emo over Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang’s bond, and how badass they both are when they’re a bit more villainous.

I’m also wheezing because the summary video pointed out how Hui Tai Lang lamented the fact he always gets made into the villain, and it’s kind of true… 😂

They turned him into a robot in the Ultimate Battle season—and ahhhh he looks so badass!!—and now here too he got infected with dark energy. But I’m down for dark Hui Tai Lang and dark Xi Yang Yang… Like I’m really happy they brought back the kitty versions of the goats because the whole premise there is that they’re like the goats but also opposite, so a lot of them are way meaner than the goats. And that’s always such a fun idea!!

Kitty Xi Yang Yang is brash and arrogant and only cares about power/fun while Xi Yang Yang himself is clever but caring—even when he can be a bit vain. Mei Yang Yang is sweet and a bit timid—although I love the badass older version of herself we got in Ultimate Generation—and yet kitty Mei Yang Yang is just a major bitch and I love it. Like think Flutterbitch from the first couple Discord episodes or from the Chrysalis episode lol. Fei Yang Yang is protective and strong and brash while kitty Fei Yang Yang is selfish and obsessed with cleanliness. Nuan Yang Yang is tender and caring yet kitty Nuan Yang Yang is basically a green tea bitch—she pretends to be sweet on the surface to get people to like her and listen to her but obviously inside she’s not that sweet. Instead, kitty Nuan Yang Yang is rather lazy ahaha.

Speaking of lazy though, we finally got to see kitty Lan Yang Yang, which we didn’t see in Against the Dark Force, since he was never brainwashed. Apparently kitty Lan Yang Yang is still cowardly and gluttonous but also kind of…coquettish? 😂

I’m genuinely so curious about what happens in the dog kingdom season ahhhhh!!! But so far I’m watching Ultimate Battle as it’s updated on YouTube, and I’ve enjoyed this season a lot. It reminds me of Sonic actually, and new Xi Yang Yang already kind of reminds me of Sonic (that’s actually part of why I recommend it—it’s like various really good series all combined into one, and I think fans of modern kids’ shows will also probably enjoy Xi Yang Yang!).

Having Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang chase a villain into the future and meet their friends 15 years after they disappeared is such a cool plot idea! Plus the villain himself is pretty neat—he wants to roboticize everyone to remove the weakness that is emotion—and from spoilers I know, he’s bringing a lot more intriguing things to the table later.

I’m obsessed with how mature Xi Yang Yang’s friends now are—like they still feel like themselves, but you can really tell they’ve grown up! And it feels natural, which is great.

Mei Yang Yang became a journalist to better search for Xi Yang Yang, and we get lore on her this season, which is really awesome. She’s now no longer bothered by dirtiness and she can fend for herself, which is great to watch—I love her weapon too because it’s a sword that can break into pieces to become longer, like a whip.

Fei Yang Yang is now a badass, reliable firefighter, so he no longer carries that childish brashness of his younger self, and he’s really cool in action. For example, the way he figured out Bu Lei’s plot and was later the one who used three cards, overexerting himself yet becoming super powerful and badass in order to defeat Professor T, was just so cool.

Lan Yang Yang is working as a food reviewer basically and while he’s undoubtedly still Lan Yang Yang, enjoying eating and sleeping, he’s well-respected in his community and sometimes he actually feels full because chefs search for him so much lol. He also has a cool weapon—it’s a flying platform with three sort of canons floating above it, and it kind of resembles a fidget spinner!

Nuan Yang Yang achieved her dream of becoming a singer and I like how consistent her love of music—and her being a fan of a singer who’s a duck—is to her character. I am disappointed because they made her slimmer and I feel like her being a bigger goat as a mountain goat was always a fun part of her backstory and why she looks slightly different from the other sheep. Despite that, I get making older characters look very different from their younger selves for the sake of change (eg Anko getting fat in Boruto vs being skinny in Naruto), so while I’d prefer her being her bigger size, I can live with this change.

Some of the roboticization storylines are really badass too—I already mentioned Hui Tai Lang’s, but there’s also Hong Tai Lang’s admittedly hot roboticized look (and I feel like I can call it hot because the Xi Yang Yang team did also release an artwork that showed a human version!!). I also know there’ll be more involving Xiao Hui Hui, as his abandonment issues from Hui Tai Lang’s vanishment were resolved a bit earlier in the season but I suppose they’re bringing some more drama later! Mei Yang Yang’s trauma from Xi Yang Yang’s disappearance also gets explored, and we get to learn some of her lore, which I am very *rubs hands excitedly* about. 👀

And of course I know some spoilers about Professor T that I’m just like ‼️ over. The other robots also had pretty compelling stories—Bu Lei is fun as a green tea bitch/yandere type villain and Hei Zhuan (Hei Zuan?)’s story with his sister was cute. But Otto’s whole storyline literally nearly made me cry. 😭

OH AND I CAN’T WRITE ALL THIS AND NOT TALK ABOUT THE NEWEST XI YANG YANG MOVIE, WHICH IS ABOUT BASKETBALL.

I actually skipped the basketball season since obviously I’m not exactly into the sport, but I’ve determined since I should probably watch it still sometime because I realized later it nonetheless carries that Xi Yang Yang charm, so even if I don’t care too much for the dramatization of basketball (you know the kind; the kind that permeates all sports anime), I can nevertheless enjoy it for depicting my favourite characters. 🥺

I’ve caught a glimpse of some episodes of the basketball season and they are cute!! The one where they compete with the bunnies and actually help save them from famine despite the bunnies trying to cheat to win was really sweet, and later episodes depict that awesome bond between Hui Tai Lang and Xi Yang Yang.

So back to the movie—I brought up the basketball season because obviously the movie does adapt/reference some of it since they’re both about basketball, and I did skip the movie too for a while… But I later watched it and AHHHHHHH GLSBDKSHDKSB OF COURSE I ENJOYED IT. It’s a depiction of characters I love being themselves while on an adventure!! How could I not enjoy it!?

The animation style was really neat; seeing the sheep and wolves in a more detailed anthro style than their usually chibi/cartoony style meant we got some pleasing aesthetics—for example, I enjoyed how their eyes corresponded with their themed colours (like in the series Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang both have dark bluish-grey eyes, but in the movie Xi Yang Yang’s are very visibly blue and Hui Tai Lang’s are very visibly purple. It’s quite pretty!).

I’ve also embarrassingly enough tweeted about this before, but they did make Hui Tai Lang…unfairly hot in the movie LGBSKFHSJSH. Basically, they gave him consistently half-lidded eyes and with the more violet colour and more realistic proportions (since the characters look more anthro). My younger brother even complained about how such series indulges furries since you could tell they gave Hui Tai Lang those muscles etc on purpose lmao.

Who let this man look like this? Who!?

But yeah Hui Tai Lang and Xi Yang Yang have a conflict within the film—which of course they do; it’s a movie so we need to up the ante—but as sad as it is seeing characters we like have a falling out (and as overdramatic as some of the angst may feel), it’s nevertheless characters I cherish facing conflict. So seeing them come back together after and working hard to get the basketball championship after losing is really lovely, and I really enjoy how Xi Yang Yang lets all its characters shine.

In every season, while there may be one character who gets more focus along with Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang—for example Against the Dark Force was very much Lan Yang Yang’s season and in some ways, Ultimate Battle allowed Mei Yang Yang to shine—all the characters get arcs focused on them that correlate to the bigger overarching plot. I mean, every season is 60 episodes!! So of course we have lots of time to explore the characters and I really appreciate that.

So even in the film, we do see the other characters shine, even if it’s all tied back to the overarching plot of basketball and even if Xi Yang Yang and Hui Tai Lang take centre stage. I also really enjoyed the ending since it kept me on the toes—the rival team to Xi Yang Yang’s had a character that was going through his own arc, but I was desperately hoping the sheep would win the championship this time since they lost to the wolves in the basketball season. Plus I was crossing my fingers waiting for Hui Tai Lang to get to shine since they set up how he’s not the best player and thus feels like he’s in Xi Yang Yang’s shadow…

And fortunately the film did end up going with the best possible ending (imo)!

Spoilers ahead if you care lol:

Basically, they did let the sheep finally win the championship, which is perfect since obviously this is a sequel to the basketball season, where they started off as the underdogs yet did end up losing, even with all the growth they had. It felt like a perfect progression—especially since even though the rival team (the tigers) did have a character with his own arc and reasons why he really wanted to win, they only had to have his father finally approve of him playing basketball to give him a satisfactory conclusion. As in, he didn’t need to win the way the sheep needed to.

And thankfully, while I was getting worried throughout the final match, they did let Hui Tai Lang shine!! He got to take the winning shot after Xi Yang Yang faked being the winning shot, which is of course the perfect progression to Hui Tai Lang’s arc too. I was so happy when they did that!!

Of course, some of this conclusion is probably obvious in hindsight, but I did have a fear…mostly because the sheep almost did lose until they protested an issue and it initially looked like Xi Yang Yang was going to take the winning shot—which if he had, it would feel less satisfying, as Hui Tai Lang wouldn’t get to join him in the limelight.

I need to have more trust in the Xi Yang Yang team lol. I’ve loved almost everything they’ve done so far, and whenever I doubt them, they manage to pleasantly surprise me! And what I mean by “doubt them” is that sometimes Chinese series will have writing conventions a westerner may find odd, but even when Xi Yang Yang subverts my expectations and indulges in that “odd” Chinese sense of humour etc, I still love it to bits (and listen, I’m not saying Chinese writers are bad. Not at all! I’m just referring to the fact that as a Canadian-born-Chinese, I’ve witnessed people complain about Chinese story details because it’s not what they’re used to).

OH ALSO THE MOVIE’S OST SLAPS. I KEEP LISTENING TO THE SONGS ON LOOP GLSHFKSHDKSH.

https://youtu.be/eEmzxOGXR_A

youtube

https://youtu.be/fK0fpdOh8C0

youtube

But wow okay I rambled WAY too much lmaooooo. I just can’t help it!! When I really love things I love them to absolute pieces, and when a fandom is underrated, I tend to feel the need to actually be active and promote it so I can spread how happy it makes me. Plus I can happily juggle multiple brain rots at once, even if I have one main one that takes centre stage lol. Like right now Scum Villain and Erha are my biggest obsessions—and y’all have seen how much I can ramble about both Scum Villain and Erha lol—but of course I love all my donghua and danmei and manhua and cdramas and Chinese music. ♥️

Along with my other planned blog entries about donghua and danmei and Chinese-themed media (such as me wanting to write some thoughts on Everything Everywhere All at Once), I have every intention of writing about why you should watch Xi Yang Yang on my blog ahaha.

I just. Have so many happy feelings surrounding Xi Yang Yang right now and I want to yell about them specifically, especially since there’s barely a fandom for them in the west. All this rambling is a result of me bottling up my fangirling for weeks NGNSKDHSKSH. Plus I’m a naturally ramble-y person! But I feel even more ramble-y when a series is an underrated gem and makes me endlessly happy, the way Xi Yang Yang is and does. 🥺

#kuku rambles #kuku88 #long post #喜羊羊与灰太狼 #喜羊羊 #pleasant goat and big big wolf #xi yang yang #donghua #chinese animation #Youtube #GOD THIS IS SO LONG AHKFHSKDJS #AND I DOUBT ANYONE WOULD READ IT LOL #IF YOU DO I’M SORRY BECAUSE THIS MUST ALL READ AS GIBBERISH TO YOU #I need to stop getting into tiny inactive fandoms x’D #(I say even as I have absolutely no intention of stopping—#I mean I’ve been obsessively in love with various Chinese media for months now and that’s so underrated; of course I’m not stopping!!)

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