#I don't care if this isn't canon or not I haven't even watched it yet lmaoooo

[cobragardens]

My Favorite Good Omens Moment:

An Essay on Why It Is Cool and Rad (Part 1)

There's this moment in Good Omens that makes me cackle every time I see it and leaves me full of warmth, so here's an essay on its context and meaning, because explication and analysis are how I show love. I will try to keep my thoughts as tight as possible, but they do have a tendency to spiral outwards, and I am very stoned. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.

My favorite moment in the series so far occurs in 1601. To approach it we will first need an assload of context. There's a TL;DR in bold at the end of the Context if you don't fancy reading the whole assload. Key arguments are in italics and bold throughout.

David Tennant gives Crowley a very consistent facial expression every time Aziraphale says something so outlandish Crowley can't quite believe he's hearing it. It's this one:

Chronologically, we see the Eyebrows of Disbelief twice before my fave moment in 1601: once (above left) in that scene on the Garden Wall that familiarizes the audience with Crowley's face before adding the dark glasses, when Aziraphale admits he's given away his sword; once when Aziraphale tells Bildad the Shuhite that he, Aziraphale, has Fallen because he lied to the angels to save Job's children.

The Eyebows of Disbelief always signal surprise and amusement with something Aziraphale has said or done. This amusement is sometimes at Aziraphale's expense and sometimes not.

In the gifs above, Crowley is laughing because what Aziraphale has just admitted to doing is fantastic and unexpected and frankly pretty gd punk rock. He's not laughing at Aziraphale, he's laughing because he is delighted with him. The only record we have thus far of Crowley laughing at Aziraphale is this one:

Crowley laughs when Aziraphale informs him--him, a demon who has personally been through the process of Falling--that Aziraphale is Fallen and must be a demon now. As though of the two of them Aziraphale is the expert on how and under what circumstances this occurs.

And yet when Crowley sees Aziraphale's distress--not his fear of being taken to Hell, but his heartbreak and lostness over the fact that his conscience has diverged from God's stated will--Crowley stops laughing, and instead he acts very kindly towards Aziraphale. He validates the gravity of what Aziraphale has done and assures him he won't turn him in. He sits with him so Aziraphale isn't totally alone (like Crowley probably was) as he goes through the loneliest moments of his existence to that point and picks himself up newly weighted with the secret he must now bear.

And after this scene (in canon as it stands thus far), we don't see Crowley laugh at anything Aziraphale says or does again.

And he really has to work for it sometimes. We talk a lot about the things Michael Sheen is able to convey with his face in Good Omens, and absolutely rightly so; David Tennant earns a chunk of his paycheck in this regard as well. If you haven't given yourself the treat yet, rewatch the scene in Will Goldstone's magic shop in 1941 and focus on Crowley's reactions:

Tennant takes great care to show, with precision, that Crowley is expending effort not to react to Aziraphale's nervous chaos Muppetry and lack of self-awareness. Crowley is self- and socially and contextually aware enough that he knows (better than Aziraphale, at least, which is not a high bar to clear) what's cringe, what's funny, what's ridiculous, how to behave. But whenever Aziraphale crosses a boundary of normalcy, or even sanity, and there is opportunity to laugh at him, Crowley very carefully doesn't react. He doesn't interrupt him, he doesn't try to correct him, he doesn't make fun of him, he doesn't even smirk; he just watches him, as stone-faced as he can manage, no matter how bizarre Aziraphale becomes.

We should be reading this lack of reaction to Aziraphale's social and rational transgressions as powerful positive action. Go watch the Doctor Who episode "Human Nature," or literally any episode of The Inbetweeners, or read or watch Regeneration, and reflect on what it shows you about English masculinity; then consider again the depth of significance in how English- and male-coded character Crowley treats English- and male-coded character Aziraphale in an England created by an English and male-codedpresenting author based off a book written by himself and another male-presenting author. Within its context of English masculinity, Crowley's lack of reaction is not a neutral stance; it is a very fucking loud show of support.

This is not even an inference; it's stated outright in the show. Crowley himself puts it into words 422 years after my favorite moment:

You know how Crowley calls Aziraphale "angel" because the factuality of the descriptor offers him plausible deniability to any Heavenly or Infernal agents who might be listening? Remember how Crowley is a great equivocator? Crowley is equivocating here, too: he's using the cover of what Maggie and Nina will take as a disparaging joke at Aziraphale's expense in order to make a perfectly sincere statement. This is his genuine perception of one of the relationship dynamics he has with Aziraphale and how he feels about that dynamic. Crowley thinks he himself is quite witty (an accurate assessment), Crowley thinks Aziraphale isn't sufficiently self- or contextually aware to hide how strange he is and therefore frequently says and does mad things (also an accurate assessment), and Crowley is Into. That. Shit.

Okay. Now let's look at 1601.

Chronologically it's been almost 1,000 years since we last saw Aziraphale and Crowley. In 537, Aziraphale isn't willing even to consider a labor-saving working arrangement with Crowley of fucking off home out of the damp of Arthurian Wessex; but by 1601, he's worked (and met, and Arranged) with Crowley "dozens of times now," Crowley says, and Azirapahle does not correct him.

In that millienium, Aziraphale has grown to care deeply about Crowley:

In fact he may be somewhat smitten with him:

Seriously, go back and watch Aziraphale here as Crowley approaches and starts speaking to him: he doesn't start smiling until he recognizes that the person speaking to him is Crowley (but he only smiles at Crowley while Crowley's not looking at him).

And Crowley is definitely become smitten with Aziraphale:

Our man(-shaped entity) is so allergic to work he sets up a meeting to weasel, cajole, or (as it happens) cheat a coin toss to get Aziraphale to do an easy temptation for him in Edinburgh, and then in the same conversation agrees to miracle a play into success because Aziraphale gives him a single hopeful look. Crowley's got it bad.

TL;DR: The Eyebrows of Disbelief happen when Crowley is surprised and amused by something Aziraphale has said or done. Sometimes that amusement is delight with Aziraphale; sometimes it is at Aziraphale's expense. Crowley is aware of this distinction, and when his amusement is at Aziraphale's expense, he suppresses it, even when it takes some effort on his own part, and remains stocially composed. This is equivocation on his part: to Celestial/Infernal operatives lacking knowledge of the intricacies of human behavior, this non-reaction would seem like neutrality; to Aziraphale, who shares with Crowley and the audience the contextual knowledge of English masculinity's utter viciousness, this non-reaction is a profound show of support; and in the safety of support from Crowley, Aziraphale lets his weirdness blossom.

As another meta points out [link if I find it again], we also see in Aziraphale's wordless request about Hamlet and Crowley's immediate understanding of it that by 1601 Aziraphale and Crowley have developed an unspoken, coded method of communication with each other.

Now that we have all of that in mind, here's my favorite moment in Good Omens:

Ixi of Fuck Yeah Good Omens has even kindly archived a closeup of the aftermath, for Crowley, of "Buck up!" In gif 4, above, you can see that the tiny smile is an involuntary reaction that happens as Crowley's eyes widen: for a fraction of a second, he's caught off-guard. In the closeup it's easier to see that he suppresses the smile and gives a tiny shake of his head, Eyebrows of Disbelief heading for his hairline.

There are a number of things Crowley's reaction could mean and what messages it could communicate (we'll get to that in a sec), but regardless, his reaction is, unquestionably, one of surprise and suppressed amusement. This is an aspect of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship and characters that I like very much, viz., that one of the reasons Crowley likes Aziraphale (though Aziraphale is judgy and occasionally, unintentionally, horrifyingly cruel) is that in addition to being one of the kindest and most courageous beings in existence, Aziraphale is mad as a bag of frogs. Crowley does not know what is going to come out of Aziraphale's lovely mouth next, but Crowley does know there's a good chance he will struggle to believe he's hearing it, and Crowley likes that.

That's what makes this my favorite moment. What makes this moment so cool and rad, though, is its ineffability. We know from the Eyebrows of Disbelief that Crowley is surprised and amused, but any of several things could be read in that almost imperceptible headshake. Like:

What are you doing? or

Why are you like this? or

How can you be aware that you say these things out loud and yet still say them out loud? or

How has my existence come to this? this moment of listening to such insanity?

each of which is a fair and just feeling to have/message to communicate to a man(-shaped entity) who is yelling "Buck up!" at Hamlet.

But that's only if we read Crowley's amusement as being at Aziraphale's expense. And I don't think we should. Because watch Aziraphale here:

He's doing it on purpose. He is shouting a hilariously inappropriate, 100% authentic Aziraphale-brand thing over arguably the gloomiest passage of Shakespeare's famously gloomy play--right after Crowley complains about its gloominess--and he is watching Crowley as he does it. Look at his smile! He knows he's being Deeply Uncool, and he is doing it literally right into Crowley's face.

Remember that we just talked about how by this point in the chronology Crowley and Aziraphale have learned to communicate with each other nonverbally through facial expression? So what does it mean when Aziraphale responds to Crowley's grumbling about Hamlet's gloominess by smiling his minxious Mona Lisa Aziraphale smile, looking right into Crowley's face, and yelling at Hamlet to buck up? Aziraphale, in a carefully coded, carefully Aziraphale way, is joking with Crowley. His silliness in this moment is for Crowley.

So with aaaaaaallllll of this essay in mind, what does it mean that Crowley's reaction to "Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!" is widening eyes, an involuntary twitch of his mouth toward a smile, and then, his eyebrows still showing surprise and amusement, a tiny shake of his head?

Once more, with inferences:

I do propose, y'all, on the basis of this web of evidence I submit for consideration, that what we are seeing here in my favorite moment of Good Omens is the ineffable equivalent of Aziraphale and Crowley sharing a laugh.

Crowley's amusement here isn't at Aziraphale, because Aziraphale is eliciting that amusement consciously and deliberately. Aziraphale, in good spirits and happy to see Crowley, uses his Aziraphaleness to offers Crowley not only an opportunity for amusement, but the opportunity to be in agreement with him about what in this situation is funny. They're on the same side of this joke.

And his humor lands just as he wants it to: Crowley, just for a moment, is caught off-guard, and tickled--

But remember, Crowley is worried in this scene about being surveilled ("I thought you said we'd be inconspicuous here"), and he worries about audio surveillance a lot ("Walls have ears"; "Don't say that. If my lot hear [etc.]," etc.), so he's very limited in what reactions he can show or voice. Aziraphale knows Crowley must be perceived by anyone watching or listening to disapprove of his, Aziraphale's, behavior (just as he must be perceived to disapprove vociferously of Crowley's). Both of them know this.

--so Crowley suppresses the smile almost successfully, and shakes his head at Aziraphale, minutely, to say Stop. What you're doing is working, you're close to making me laugh, and if I show how much you have just delighted me, it will blow our cover of "just an Arrangement."

I offer three final data points in advancing my argument that what we see in my favorite Good Omens moment is Aziraphale successfully attempting to joke with Crowley and Crowley recognizing that overture from Aziraphale and being momentarily surprised into a reaction of genuine delight before pulling his face back under control and indicating to Aziraphale that he must stop:

Datum 1. Nothing going on with Crowley's face in this moment is accidental. We know for sure we're not seeing David Tennant react to Michael Sheen here not only because of literally every other point of Tennant's and Sheen's performances in the show, but because Tennant is wearing opaque contacts and sunglasses under film lighting and therefore cannot be reacting to anything more compelling than a level-10-lift blur because Tennant cannot see shit. Crowley's reaction is a deliberate and careful performance choice on Tennant's part, and it's underscored by director Douglas Mackinnon's choice to film Tennant in 1/2 profile to keep Crowley's eyes visible and face readable to the audience. This reaction is supposed to be there and supposed to be meaningful.

Datum 2. The husbands in 1601 is not the only moment in Good Omens when we may be seeing an angel and a demon communicate the message Stop doing that, it makes us look too familiar between themselves with a little headshake:

Datum 3: There is another moment in Good Omens when Aziraphale offers Crowley the opportunity to enjoy a joke with him. There, too, his humor lands just as he intends, so we can use this other moment as a comparison to our 1601 moment. I don't have gifs for it, but go back and watch it, S1E6 49:27-42. Snips below.

Aziraphale says something that surprises and amuses Crowley (he asked Hell for a rubber duck while he was sloshing around in the holy water)--

--but what Aziraphale says makes Crowley smile long before it makes him laugh.

In fact, his laugh, though a genuine cackle, is quite delayed, and he laughs only after Aziraphale starts laughing too.

In other words, Crowley's reaction to Aziraphale offering him amusement they're both on the same side of is exactly the same as his reaction to "Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!" right up until he laughs instead of shaking his head. Here, after Armageddidn't, Crowley doesn't have to suppress his reaction, so he can let the smile bloom; he doesn't have to control his response, so, although it takes him a few extra seconds, he lets the smile turn into a laugh.

But in 1601, it's not safe to laugh at Aziraphale's humor. It's not safe even to smile at him. A single piece of evidence or eye/earwitness testimony that he and Crowley have anything more friendly than the most passing and acrimonious of professional relationships could mean death to either or both of them, and depending on what Falling is like, maybe something worse than death for Aziraphale.

But Aziraphale is so funny, so effervescent for Crowley, at Crowley, that it catches Crowley just for a moment. Crowley's eyes widen and the corner of his mouth twitches toward a smile.

And that's dangerous. If Aziraphale keeps acting so charmingly mad, Crowley is going to laugh, and they can't afford that risk, so he shakes his head at Aziraphale. Stop, or I won't be able to keep a straight face around you.

And Aziraphale apparently receives that message, because he immediately eases off. Less than 60 seconds later we learn that he's deeply concerned for Crowley's safety--and that it's not so much that Aziraphale has Crowley wrapped around his little finger as it is that Crowley has wrapped himself around Aziraphale's little finger like a snake arranging itself on the tree branch it calls home.

UPDATE 14/10/23: HOLY SHIT Y'ALL IT GETS EVEN BETTER! THERE IS A SEQUEL!

#good omens #good omens meta #good omens 1601 #good omens microexpressions #good omens headshake #angelfish #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #good omens fanalysis

[red-hot-kick]

Theory: Ryuji was popular, before.

I'm not entirely sure if anyone has really talked about this but I maintain my interpretation that, in the canon of Persona 5, Ryuji used to be very (or at least moderately) popular prior to the events of the story.

This is something I've gotten into before when talking to friends who like the game and the character, but I haven't really considered writing it down until now. The main argument I have is based on three things:

Things Ryuji alluded to in canon (but no one believed him on)

The deliberate choice of making him a track athlete

Typecasting for voice actors

1: "There were girls all over me!"

I don't really have the time to go on a deep dive through all the instances in which he hints at his reputation before the Kamoshida incident, but I think the most clear-cut representation of this was during the scene where he and Ann spend the day with Futaba during her post-palace social rehabilitation:

So here's the thing...I don't think he's lying about this. Nobody in the room would be that impressed to find out whether Ryuji was popular since they are already friends (or in Mona's case, he really just doesn't care), so it wouldn't make sense for him to lie.

Regarding everyone's reactions though, here's my impression: Ann was simply not aware of what was going on with the track team, being predominantly focused on dealing with rumors, her friendship with Shiho, and her modeling career (and eventually Kamoshida's advances once he started doing that shit) and she mentions a few times that she and Ryuji weren't actually close before joining the PT; they were just in the same class in middle school. Futaba hasn't interacted with anyone her age in years and isn't the most reliable source when it comes to what people generally find attractive; just because she doesn't have any interest in Ryuji doesn't mean that nobody her age would. And Morgana is a cat that brags constantly about how cool he is, so he shouldn't be throwing rocks.

There are many other times in the game when you get little glimpses of his social savvy, and from my understanding of Royal (I'm an OG vanilla P5 player and haven't done 3rd-semester yet, so don't kill me) when the track team returns to "how it was", he is getting along extremely well with everyone. Not only was he the team's ace: this kid was also expected to become the captain by his senior year (as briefly mentioned when he bumps into his former senpai at the gym, iirc). That's huge! If his team held him in such high regard, then the general student body of Shujin surely had a similar opinion. This brings me to my next point:

2: Girls like boys that run fast(???)

This is honestly something that baffles me. It's also really difficult for me to substantiate; any source material on this is obviously in Japanese and if I could find any of it, I sure as hell can't read it. The only English-language source I know of I cannot find anymore; I think it was an old Tofugu article? However. If you've watched any romance anime set in a high school during the last 20 years, you might have seen this trope at some point: the school sports festival is happening, and the relay race is kind of a huge deal (it's the final event! a make-or-break moment for the class!). The boy thinks to himself "If I win this race, I'll be able to win her heart/ask her out/etc." Low-stakes drama ensues. Maybe a confession happens.

This is (from what I've been told) based on a long-standing trend of girls and women self-reporting in surveys about how, oftentimes, their crushes in junior or senior high school were simply "the boy who ran the fastest in the races". I have no idea what this means in a broader cultural context. It makes no goddamn sense to me at all. Do not cite me on this. But I think it's worth keeping in mind, even if it's almost entirely speculative (and possibly outdated) information. And even if it's just based on rumors, don't you think it's pretty in-character for Ryuji to go for a track scholarship—despite being adept at other sports like baseball and football/soccer, as mentioned in P5 and P5D—because he was aware of the potential of being more popular with girls? Of course, his priority would be getting the scholarship and paying his way through school to lighten his mother's burden, but hey, getting a girlfriend on the way up wouldn't be half bad!

I think this could also inform us as to why Kamoshida (as a predator who wanted attention from high school girls) felt so threatened by the track team in particular, and why he felt a need to specifically knock Ryuji down a peg and sought out a weakness to do so (as opposed to targeting any of the probably just-as-popular boys on the many other athletic teams and clubs in the school). Just some food for thought on this one! Also, if anyone can find a source or has any insight on the relay race thing, please share. I am so confused about it.

3: Typecasting

So this is something that you really only notice if you are very into keeping up with seiyuu in Japan. I am not one of those people. But I do have some favorite voice actors! One of these being Mamoru Miyano.

So I freakin' love this dude. He's voiced a lot of my favorite characters, sings incredibly well, and has an unreal sense of comedy. He's stated in interviews that his acting inspiration is Jim Carrey, and let me tell you: it shows. He is also quite consistently typecast into certain roles, predominantly as princely pretty-boy types, Coolguys, or complete fucking nutcases. Sometimes all three at the same time (shoutout to my boy Ling FMA!)

ATLUS definitely cast him for P5 because of his comedic chops. But I think they also cast him because having him voice someone like Ryuji is a great way to subvert expectations for the player. I think it's supposed to give you whiplash—"what do you mean the voice of LIGHT FUCKING YAGAMI is coming out of this guy's mouth?" "why does the delinquent character sound like king of the host club Tamaki Suou?" "isn't that Rin Matsuoka's voice?" etc. etc. etc.

(here's a quick list, just to really get the idea across. maybe you recognize a few.)

This is obviously a non-comprehensive list, but something that a lot of the characters he's voiced over the years have in common is that they were considered cool, handsome, or popular. Not just for fans, but within the canon of their stories! So...what does that mean? What does that say about how we should see Ryuji?

I think players are supposed to expect that he will fall into one of those categories too, and then be surprised to find that it's not the case—that he's been isolated and made bitter and resigned by what happened to him the year before.

Speaking of his tone, I think it's very telling that Ryuji actually forgets to keep up the delinquent act a lot in the original JP audio, which unfortunately doesn't really carry over in the ENG translation. The delivery of his JP lines sounds a bit more subdued in comparison too—yeah he's got a lot of energy and is very hotheaded, but when he gets to talking about serious shit, he sounds a lot more regretful and melancholy as opposed to the EN delivery which depicts him as more resentful and outwardly angry. I think before Shit Went Down, he probably had the Coolguy vibe. Still a bit of a rowdy idiot and a showoff, but I think he probably came across to most people as a very friendly, sincere, and popular guy.

So yeah, the girls probably were all over him, at least for a short while.

#persona 5 #ryuji sakamoto #character analysis #LONGASS POST SORRY #I JUST REALLY LIKE HIM AND WANTED TO THINK MY THOUGHTS FOR A WHILE #pita.txt

[91vaults]

Ok so here's the thing: I totally get where the Fallout New Vegas crowd are coming from

(Note: I haven't watched the show yet I'm only going off what's come across my dash so keep that in mind)

Fallout New Vegas is and always will be my favorite fallout game. But I also love Fallout 4. I'm a member of both camps.

I'm also weird in that I love Fallout but absolutely will not touch anything else in the post-apocalyptic genre because...I kinda hate it.

Fallout is Post apocalyptic, but not in the same way something like "The Last of Us" is. It's not grounded in reality for one, and whilst society isn't necessarily moving "forward"...it does exist in one form or another...and it is moving.

And then you have Fallout New Vegas which is very much post-post apocalyptic. It's not just about the wasteland and survival and fighting: Society is moving forward What direction do we want it to go? (oh that and Casinos! you have to admin the casinos were fun)

People are absolutely correct in that the games still exist. Nothing is stopping you from playing them It's not erasing the whole game from canon (I think?) and in a game series like Fallout canon isn't the most important thing anyway.

But here's the thing: By wiping out all that stuff on the west coast, the NCR etc. It shows us how Bethesda see's the series. You know that thing you don't see as much nowadays: when a movie had a sequel they would just undo everything that happens in the first one off screen?

It's like that: We have to maintain the status quo: . Because it seems to Bethesda, fallout is about pew pew chaos in the wasteland! it's why it still looks like the bombs dropped last week even though it's been like (200 years?). It's all wasteland rubble and shanty towns! Because it's fallout, that's the brand. Thats what people expect. The FNV fans are frustrated because it's Bethesda sending a clear message that their vision for the series is very much "stuck in one place perpetually" as is often the case with the genre. forever looking back, never looking forward.

But it doesn't have to be like that! the series can move forward whilst still being Fallout. In fact it would be super cool to see a setting where society has started to built more. Like we saw in F:NV . It opens up new story opportunities. New factions, all kind of cool new shit.

This isn't about who likes what games or why or even about the show (I've heard good things, so honestly I hope I like it) . I don't care. I just think I can see the argument that Bethesds wouldn't really want to take the series in any particular new direction because they've settled into "the brand"

#fallout #fallout discourse #fallout new vegas #fnv #fo4 #fallout 4 #fallout tv show #fallout show #fallout amazon #fallout fandom #fallout fandom discourse

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

What makes you know hobie is 18 or above? And not the in the same age range as miles and gwen

Honestly, great question. And the answer is:

I Don't Know Jack Shit. So jot that down.

Additionally, anyone telling you they DO know Jack Shit is a liar. Jot that down too.

[I may go a little Miguel Mode at the end of you know what I mean]

I personally operate under the headcanon that Hobie is over 18.

Why? He says he goes to pubs. You need to be over 18 to do that. The End.

You can headcanon that he has a fake id or simply finds himself in pubs while underage - and that's completely valid. Go ahead. You can headcanon he has a mfing tail. I can't stop you and we haven't seen his ass so maybe he do, who knows.

But my headcanon is just that. And to me - until Hobie's age is clearly displayed and mentioned on screen, then it'll always be a headcanon.

No matter what age you headcanon him as - if you think you KNOW his age, you're probably wrong. And I mean that.

The ATSV describes him as a 'slightly older boy'. Case closed, right? He's a minor then.

Nah, three lines later they say he's MUCH older than Miles....literally contradicting themselves within the same paragraph.

[And the funny thing is - I've seen the artbook used as evidence in the argument multiple times. Even though it literally contradicts itself. And every single time I'm like 'bruh did you even read the full page come on now'.]

Case in point, if you think you KNOW Hobie's age when 1) it's not stated on screen and 2) even the official external material gives conflicting information - you're just wrong. You can't know a theoretical number. And you can't be wrong about a theoretical number.

It's Schrodinger's age.

Example: A character is shown to be in High School. They live in New Jersey where the driving age is 16. If a fanfic writer has the character say "I can't do that, I can't drive yet.", is the fanfic writer canonically wrong? No. Because the character could reasonably be above OR below the driving age, either 14-18. Even if the director mentions the character having a sweet-16 that is never mentioned in the show, it's not screen-canon and the average viewer will not know the character is definitely over 16. Therefore they can reasonable be 15.

"But the director said-"

Don't care. Not weighted canon unless stated on-screen.

Maybe this is a controversial opinion. But if it's not on screen, I can't say it's canon.

Sure, the director may have said in an outside interview that Hobie's conceptually 19-20 -

But a normal person who goes to see the movie, and comes home to write fanfiction isn't going to know what.

They shouldn't have to dig through all conceptual and external content of a specific character in order to be deemed 'acceptable' and knowledgeable enough to write about them.

A person who watches the movie and writes solely based off of what the movie says about Hobie shouldn't be harassed or told they're wrong because they didn't listen to a podcast of a director who's name they don't even know.

There's no pass that says 'Okay you've done enough research about Hobie to write about him, congrats-'

If it's not in the movie, show, book, etc - a fan should not be required to seek out that information to be caught up to speed. External information is supplemental, not a part of the hole.

Also-

If it's not in the movie - It DOESN'T MATTER.

ATSV is a very well written movie. Every line is used for the purpose of telling the story. Especially Hobie's.

They didn't tell us Hobie's age because it didn't matter to the story. And it shouldn't matter to you.

If the writers didn't care enough to take time out to clarify his age, then it makes no sense to spend take arguing about it.

They obviously don't find it important. Because it isn't. It doesn't matter to the story at all.

Hobie's age doesn't matter to the 'love triangle'. Although the film is narrated by Gwen, we largely see it from Miles' point of view. And the 'love triangle' only exists when Mile has no concept of who Hobie is.

Miles doesn't know Hobie. So him questioning a love triangle happens regardless of whether Hobie is an adult or not. Miles doesn't know, neither do we.

The 'Hobie' in the 'love triangle' is an empty-shell of the mystery of who Hobie COULD be. The moment Hobie takes off the mask and we're revealed to the real him - the illusion of who he could've been is shattered for both us and Miles.

Because his age isn't stated, it has no bearing on Miles' perception of him. Miles don't know shit. Neither do we.

Also you people should be fucking grateful GODDAMN WTF

If you deadass beef about this you one ungrateful mfer i swear. Take offense. All offense.

We have a black, attractive, educated, useful, respected character in an animated movie that's available for ANY SHIP with ANY character and what do you people do??? - you argue.

Why? Explain to me why.

You should be happy it's up to interpretation and not definitely stated that you were wrong. At any time the creators could just put it in the next movie and make you look stupid.

You could be out there enjoying any ship of your choosing; with any character you enjoy him with - regardless of age. But no, instead of enjoying the ship that's available to you, you antagonize others.

Sit there and eat your mfing salad you INGRATE

Be grateful we have a character with such free range of shipping. A character that's un-aged and doesn't have a specific gender preference. BE THANKFUL.

You like Gwen x Hobie. Great. You argue with people and harass people who think Hobie's an adult??? - What if Hobie deadass looked in the camera next movie and said "I'm 19 also I'm gay." You'd look dumb as hell.

But they didn't do that. They left it unstated for you to go and enjoy your Hobie x Gwen or Hobie x Miguel or Hobie x whoever the hell.

I'm thankful everyday they didn't say his age because I don't make OCs that go to high school because I'm 24 and hate high school. And guess what, I can do that.

Him and Diane can just hang out on the houseboat all day cause they're grown ass adults with no place to be. Isn't that swell?

Stop playing with me and enjoy the goddamn shipping buffet. Christ almighty

All in all - I don't know shit. You don't know shit. And it's okay to not know shit.

NO UM-AKSCHULLY

Get comfortable with saying "I'm not the authority on this." or better yet "I don't know shit about nothing."

I love him to death, but I am not the authority on Hobie Brown.

For me - I know he said he goes to pubs and I know I wanted to ship him with Diane. Personality wise, Diane is 19. So Hobie is 19.

But I don't know anything about his age. No one does.

I'm just cute and like to share headcanons. Hobie Brown as of right now doesn't have an age. And that's fine. Cause he ain't real.

If you made it this far ummmmmm Here he is. I'm giving you this photo under the condition that you'll act right and enjoy him in a ship of your choosing if you'd like to do that.

Now lets sit here, and eat this ship salad.

[me making sure ur enjoying ur shipping salad]

Bye.

#I said what I had to say #Argue with the wall Im sure someone will #hobie brown #spiderpunk #spider punk #atsv #spider-man #spider man #spiderman #across the spiderverse #marvel #hobie brown x reader #hobie brown x you #hobie brown x y/n #atsv analysis #across the spider verse #spiderverse

[kiragecko]

cherrystainedknuckles

I guess the only problem with being asked to take a “marie kondo approach” is that in order to find any fanfic that appears to be based in actual canon timeline and plot points and characterization (which does exist, and I’m not sure why fanon fans seem insistent that it doesn’t), I literally have to search for hours. I’m not joking, I consistently make fic rec lists, and I have to search for hours and hours for actual canonical basis. same thing with character tags on tumblr.

I’m not saying fanon fans have to stop enjoying fanon or making up their own content. I’m just saying that when the tags used for both fanon tim drake and canon tim drake are the same tag it just becomes incredibly annoying sometimes, and I understand why people who like to engage with canon (me, often) become frustrated

-

I have definitely had periods where I got incredibly frustrated with fanon! Around 2019, I was wondering if I needed to leave the Batfandom, because it had been so long since I read a new fic where the characters felt 'right'.

-

But, if you're willing to, I'd like you to consider what you mean when you divide 'fanon' from 'canon'. Because I struggle to find a hard line between the two, for several reasons:

1. Fandom is transformative. Every fanfic is going to have some interpretation of the source material. The line between what is too much interpretation and what is acceptable is different for every person. For me, I find it can even vary based on writing style or other odd things - lighthearted fic can have more noncanonical stuff in it than heavier fic, and still seem true to canon.

2. 'Canon' is subjective. I do not consider the movies or video games to be 'canon', and it annoys me when things from those creep into the fic I'm reading. (I'm okay with SOME Battinson.) Some aspects of the cartoons are okay. I consider precrisis Jason Todd to be an alternate reality version, but Donna's precrisis origins are more canonical than the dumb retcons. Wayne Family Adventures isn't my main version of the characters, but I'm not bothered if some elements show up in my stories. I'm ignoring most of the nu52, but I like Duke and I'm still watching this new Lian to see what happens. I doubt your divisions are identical to mine.

(Also, some things that I think of as 'fanon' have shown up in nu52 canon! I do not accept them as any more canon because of this.)

3. Most 'fanon' is based on canon. Canon Tim has weird sleep habits. 90s Dick is really lighthearted and joking around some characters in ways similar to fanon. Dick can canonically not be trusted to take care of himself if his mental health gets low enough. Jason likes classical literature. Etc.

These are exaggerated and/or twisted in a lot of fic, but where is the line where they stop being canon? I wouldn't bat an eye at a lot of this stuff, if it didn't show up SO OFTEN.

4. Most 'fanon fans' do know some canon. What line are you going to set where it will be 'enough'. And are they allowed to mention parts of the canon they haven't read yet? Is anyone allowed to talk about Dick's early Robin days, or only the tiny amount of people who have read the golden age stuff? A lot of the 'mistakes' I see are obviously made by people who have read ABOUT canon, but don't know quite how it fits together.

5. 'Canon' is FULL of contradictions. Yes, there are canon events. Yes, there is characterization that is consistent across 3/4s of comics. But. I'm still working on my sidekick timeline. I've devoted days to figuring out ages and passage of time. I've spent over a decade trying to figure out Jason Todd's motivations, and why Tim treats him the way he does. I've read all the 90s and early 2000s CANONICAL character assassination of Jason.

I spent years thinking that Donna's death was almost as foundational as Jason's, only to later discover that I had just happened to read the specific comics that focused on the fallout, and she only stayed dead for a short time. That happens to fans ALL THE TIME! We read a character summarizing an event we haven't directly read, and just accept it as what happened. But characters have biases, and not all writers care about accuracy.

-

I've read some Tim Drakes that I consider to be almost entirely 'fanon'. And quite a few that were so scarily 'canon' that I got chills. (Not all of which were similar to each other.) But the vast, vast majority have fallen somewhere in the middle.

I definitely do not want the responsibility of deciding which ones count as 'canon'! And I think I would strongly dislike anyone who tried to decide for me.

Being frustrated is logical, and I empathize. But the original post was about the impossible expectations some fans feel. The expectation to read thousands of comics, synthesize all the contradictions, and come to conclusions that match the 'true fans'. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to be complaining about.

If that's what some fans are experiencing, of course they're not going to want to engage with canon! There's no way for them to succeed, so why should they even try?

When you join THAT conversation to discuss your frustration about fanon, it strengthens that perception. When you call them 'fanon fans' it emphasizes their belief that you don't think they belong. And rather than trying to change, it's more likely that they'll double down. Canon is full of gatekeepers, so they'll avoid it.

#gatekeeping #fandom policing #fanon #canon vs fanon #usually don't do stuff like this anymore #I'm old and tired #but sometimes the words want to come out

[yanderes-galore]

Master Cheif yandere alphabet please!?

Yes you can have that :) Please do enjoy! This is GAME/BOOK CANON Master Chief, not the Paramount show (I don't like it-)

Yandere Alphabet - Master Chief

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Violence, Death, Blood mention, Possible OOC behavior, John doesn't understand complex feelings, Dubious relationship/companionship.

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Master Chief, or John as I'll refer to him, is an interesting yandere. Most Spartans like him don't experience obsession like normal humans. They haven't felt such strong emotions and their enhancements usually dampen any sort of romantic desire.

So John ends up coming off as an overprotective guardian. He can't quite figure out how to process how he feels for you. So he does it in the best way he can, fighting for you.

He struggles with affection, an example is when Fernando Esparza hugs him in Halo Infinite. John just... stands there awkwardly. He feels he can show affection towards you by fighting for you, but isn't sure how to reciprocate physical affection.

John can come off as intense as he doesn't entirely... feel human?

He just feels like a force of nature who can't figure out how to show he cares. As a result he can be intimidating.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

John is used to the sight of blood and violence. He doesn't mind getting his armor messy, especially if it is for the greater good. He is primarily violent towards Covenant, Flood, Prometheans, and Banished... but not really humans.

Even if John saw you close with another human and it sparks something in him... he restrains himself. He understands he can't be like you, you're both so different.

Yet part of him yearns to keep you beside himself... for protection.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

John would not kidnap, the closest he gets to it is "relocating" you around UNSC bases. Even then he doesn't mock you, he just explains that it's to protect you.

John is used to caring for others. After all, Blue Team is like family to him. You're no different according to him.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

He tries not to, he understands you're happiest with your freedoms. He wants to preserve that.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

John is not vulnerable, even as a child he never let weakness show. He doesn't show much of anything about his true feelings. He just lurks beside you... always attentive to your needs and vulnerabilities.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Due to the strength difference it's more like disciplining a child to him. He just advises you against it and drags you back where he wants you. It's a one-sided conflict.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

No and he doesn't (he also doesn't understand why you're trying to leave?).

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

John would never hurt you and he tries not to hurt other humans. However, he'd be ruthless if anything tried to hurt you. So, while this is OOC, maybe when he snaps and attacks a human who pushed you too far.

John realizes he's hit them too hard when blood splatters his armor. He pauses for a moment before ordering medical attention. He doesn't really apologize though.

If he's smart... he waited until others saw the person provoke him.

He doesn't think of a future all too much. He just focuses on now... all he wants to do now is not let you out of his sight.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

If he does he hides it well. He isn't sure how to cope with or understand such an emotion if he even has it. So if he does feel that emotion he just... approaches you and stands there.

It gets the hint across.

Overprotective, Suffocating, Slightly Manipulative, Ruthless towards others. He feels like a guardian more then anything. Even when you show him affection he takes some time in order to mimic it.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

He probably either works alongside you or saved you. Ever since then the Spartan has stuck beside you. You have a strange grasp on him... so he stays beside you.

Aren't you lucky?

Occasionally, but not often.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

He wouldn't. He could easily hurt you so he chooses to redirect you instead. That's all I've got.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Tries not to take many.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

Very patient.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

It's hard to tell... but maybe he would struggle with it. But he has to move on for the sake of humanity eventually....

He wouldn't forget you though. Never would.

Wouldn't abduct, so this does not apply.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Curiosity and maybe a sense of purpose.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

He tries to provide some comfort, but he comes off really cold. Even when he holds you against him... it doesn't feel right.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

SKIPPED.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

Nothing I can think of. He means well, so why bother, right?

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Not intentionally/Never.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

Would do anything to protect you, but not a worship yandere.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

Doesn't really snap so he can "pine" for a long time.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Not intentionally.

#yandere halo #yandere master chief #yandere john-117

[chubs-deuce]

Ok I just watched whole hazbin hotel show and I know what you mean about Charlie and Vaggie relationship

their have cute songs together but Vaggie to me personality wise hasn’t got that much of a personality compared to the others characters ?

I think the last 2 episodes she had more of a personality 🤷‍♀️ (this isn’t a anti post , I feel like she has a lot of potential to flash her character out more hopefully in season 2)

personally I prefer Charlie and Alastor cause I feel like theirs something there, it’s interesting and it has a lot of potential

if they wanted me to root for Vaggie and Charlie I feel like they should be friends at first and then we see them slowly falling in love , that’s my opinion of course XD

Agreed 100%

To be fair I don't think charlastor is inherently better in any way, since I recognize that they don't actually have much of a leg to stand on in canon, but they still intrigue me a lot more conceptually in fan-content, in ways that I've outlined in this post already so I won't repeat myself here lol.

Charlie and Vaggie are sweet, unproblematic, thoroughly wholesome and that is a dynamic that can not only absolutely work but also be very appealing!

Good domestic fluff is my bread and butter, but it just doesn't really hit the same when I'm not really given much of a reason to care for the pairing beyond the narrative going "look they hold hands and use pet names, isn't that cute?"

So I agree that having their "falling in love" stage be explored more would've helped a lot in elevating how and why they love each other, though it wouldn't even have been necessary, established relationships in fiction can work really well even without that if done right.

The way they're shown to first meet has SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be a great story bit to explore (I might try and do that in writing some time ngl), with Vaggie just coming from this intense of a betrayal, likely having her whole worldview usurped and now, after being taught all her life that demons are worthless scum, being shown unconditional kindness and offered a helping hand from one... There's a lot for her here to process!

Like I really feel like her repeatedly underlined trust issues could've so easily led into a sweet narrative of how meeting Charlie taught her to trust in others again, but her "learning to trust others" path was already explained with brothers-in-arms style bonding on the battle field and the rest was just kinda played off as a love at first sight thing. It had potential! It was right there! And yet!!! [frustrated groan]

I get they were probably trying to aim for combining those two points and had very little time to do so properly, but it imo just missed the mark by a painful amount...

It doesn't help that Vaggie also generally fell kinda flat as a character for most of the show, in part because she's often forced to share the spotlight and has very little focus put on her as an individual.

I really hope they do her better in the next season either way :')

I haven't given up on chaggie yet, but only time will tell if that changes.

#anti chaggie #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel spoilers #again technically not actually against the ship but I'd rather people be able to block out tags that don't talk positively abt their otps #charlastor #bc it got mentioned even if it's not the focus #chubs answers

[itsclydebitches]

IT'S BEEN A DOOZY OF A DAY, FOLKS

Yeah I've got a couple asks about it lol. (Always a terrifying experience when you log onto tumblr and immediately wonder why your inbox blew up...)

Man, I don't even know how I'm feeling right now. We've spent so many months working on the semi-confident assumption that RWBY would be cancelled that on the one hand I can't feel very shocked about this. On the other hand there's definitely a wide-eyed part of my brain going, "Holy shit the 'RT is failing' theories finally came true O_O" I'm kinda devastated that a company that's been a part of my life for almost a decade (and for other fans far longer) is just up and gone, but simultaneously I don't care because what I loved about RT hasn't existed for some time now. We've already been dealing with that nostlgia for years, we just got a hell of a concentrated dose of it today. There's admittedly some level of vindication regarding those who've been pulling shit in the company for so long and empathy for those who were just getting by and are now suddenly out of a job. There's regret that (despite my tendency to fall VERY behind on projects. RIP I owe everyone in this fandom a massive apology) I'll probably never have an official end to my RWBY Recaps. And there's worry about how this will impact the fandom...

Yeah, not to jump on the pessimism train, but I feel like this is going to catapult some fans' misreadings into new territory. RWBY is now forever the show that was canonically unfinished and thus its perfection is assured. Think there are major issues in Volume 9 and earlier? Nah, that's setup for Volumes we just never got. Catch a contradition or other mistake? They would have explained that if they could. Any possible issues with the show if it gets picked up by someone else? Well, of course there are issues, RT isn't writing it! This was already a fandom where having accurate, nuanced discussions about the text was hard as hell... but it just got so much worse.

Honestly, I say let it go. If they're going to do anything I'd prefer a complete reboot/reworking so that this story might stand a chance. Airing new RWBY Volumes was already beating a dead horse. Resurrecting the horse to start beating it anew just feels ridiculous. Yes, I'm sad for those fans who wanted an official ending, but we've spent so much time waiting on RWBY, being worried about RWBY's future, and I personally have encounted so many shows lately whose finales soured my enjoyment that there's something reassuring in the combination of definitive ambuguity here: you know you're not getting an ending by RT, so just have fun imagining your own.

Overall, I feel like I've got to sit with this for a while, you know? I totally get why so many fans (partiuclarly RWDE fans) are celebrating and/or releasing a sigh of relief right now. I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen any crabs yet lol. But maybe it's just because I'm "old" my tumblr's standards, but there's something undeniably sad about losing that part of your fandom life. Or at least, losing what led to/represents that life. Getting introduced to RWBY by a friend, binging it for the first time, pulling new people in, finding like-minded friends here on tumblr, analyzing it for thousands of words, tracing its history and watching how radically it has changed... that's gone now. Not actually because RWBY still exists, as do my friends, and there's nothing stopping me from writing as much fic/meta as I want, but it still feels like someone closed a door on that part of my life. That's not wholly a bad thing given what RT has been lately, but I do think it'll take more than one post for me to unpack it all.

#RWDE #RWBY #mymetas

[compostboy]

Reigen Needs To Win The 2023 Tumblr Sexyrematch & Here's Why

(Spoiler warning for mp100)

Reigen Arataka is the best candidate, but also has the best motif. When thinking of a tumblr sexyman we want someone who is an unattractive disaster in many ways but is easy to yassify and slutify.

Disclaimer: This is a very lazy breakdown of his character and not meant to be a serious analysis, partially because I am very insane over him and would be putting way too much of my own personal headcanons and fantheories in that no one would want to read and partially because I want to go make lunch soon

In canon Reigen is a conman with a good but somewhat selfish heart and he manipulates children for money, and when his 14 year old student temporarily leaves him he gets depressed and drinks his sorrows away and vomits, except the bartender says something about not even having served him alcohol. He crashes his whole career in a fit of hubris. Certified pathetic man. Sewer rat energy at many points in the story.

His heart is in the right place and he has a redemption! It is very emotionally satisfying and he is willing to die for his student who he previously used and lied for. Ultimate sweetheart, perfect husband material, you want this man to raise your kids but not to file your taxes. Possibly divorce material? Wouldn't key your car I don't think

Gets a nicer and nicer ass as the anime progresses.

Known outside his fandom! My own mutual is reading my nsfw Reigen fanfiction and they haven't even watched or read the source material

Could be fucked by anyone and still be hot, the ship isn't even important at this point he could do it solo

Ultimate dilf number one babygirl hottest anime woman etc etc

Was disgraced by Sans Undertale, needs this rematch to take back his honour and receive the final title as a crown on his hard work to be the hottest character on the Internet

His theme song 'go go Reigen’ is very good to do your chores or homework to, gives you just the right sense of urgency

Multifaceted! You can do whatever you want with this man it is very easy to rotate him in your mind

Wears a suit as per tradition

Modern yet traditional, similarities to our one and only Onceler in that he owns a company that doesn't have the most ethical business practices except Reigen is actually very caring and kind and he is the sexyman for the future

Vote Reigen Arataka

#reigen arataka #reigen #reigensweep #reigen sweep #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #sexyman #tumblr sexyman #tumblr sexyrematch #sexymanotd #reigen campaign #reigen sexyman campaign #reigen arataka campaign #reigen for sexyman 2023

[galvanizedfriend]

surprising absolutely no one, second ask of the day!!

this isn't really a question tho, I just wanted to let you know that since I've read Speed Dating, it has been stuck in my mind 24/7.

I'm not kidding when I tell you that I think about it at least once a day (I'm sorry if I sound like a fanatic but I mean it in the best way possible).

it was/is such an easygoing three-shot, but yet it really left me the feeling of having watched a five seasons show! it's like you managed to perfectly compact a long rom-com series in just three chapters and 23k words! idk maybe I'm overreacting but I really want you to know how much of a great job you did, that fic bring me so much comfort I can't even explain it 😭😭

ALSO, I have a feeling there will be a CaroMille moment, and THAT will be the final wake-up call for Caroline. Probably Camille just getting dumped from Klaus and Care runs into her, telling her that she's sorry for them, and Camille would just shrug and be like "I had zero chance against you". So Caroline would look at quizzically because she's a girl's girl and she DOES NOT go after "taken" man, so she would ask Cami what she meant and Cami would look at her with arched eyebrows and say something like "don't tell me you haven't noticed he's in love with you?" AND THEN BAM. (yes, I know, it's creepy and weird that I thought this through a lot, but in my excuse, I had to do something during math class other than sleeping)

This is just the loveliest of messages, omg 🥹🥹

I tend to get messages about The Wolf a lot, and I obviously love all of them (all of your messages about TW and your Eve hadcanons as well!), but it warms my heart so much to know people are reading and enjoying my other fics as well. 🤧

Speed Dating was such an accidental fic, it was never meant to be any longer than that first chapter, but years later I had this crazy friends to lovers phase and I knew I had to keep going with that one.🥹 I love rom coms sm! it's so, so, so nice to know you enjoyed that one so much. ❤️❤️❤️

It's also a good reminder that I need to get back to it. 🥲 I'm so close to the finish line you wouldn't believe, but I have been living in canon-ish universe between TW and NOLA that it's sometimes hard to switch back to human AU. But I gotta do it, I need to finish that.

And honestly, that's not a bad idea at all 😂 Caroline really is a girl's girl. She can call them bitches and be mean AF whilst still standing up for the collective cause. It's not what's going to happen, but I really like the idea.

I had to go back and see where I left off on chapter 3 and I just realized that I posted way less than I thought I had. 😂 Wow, you guys don't know the half of it.

Seriously, thank you v much for this message. ❤️ I've been having a bit of a rough time and this week in particular was not easy, so this has been the nicest lil thing to read. ❤️ It's very kind and very sweet of you and I appreciate you sm! muah!

Here, have a cute Klausy gif as a token of my appreciation

#yokan answers #rosedforbes #nice people being nice! #i rly need to get back to speed dating at some point #SIGH

[thesoftboiledegg]

Overall, Full Meta Jackrick was decent. I liked it. It's not a personal favorite, but I won't mind it when I eventually rewatch the series. I just had the same problem with this episode that I did with the previous installment, Never Ricking Morty: it's not bad, but it's just...there? Meta episodes don't go anywhere because they CAN'T go anywhere. They're just twenty minutes of "Check it out, we're characters in a TV show!"

Still, I think this episode did a decent job of leaning into the meta without ruining the show. I was a little worried that Morty would realize that he's in a TV show and the entire universe would fall apart as he and Rick deconstruct everything, and then we'd have to act like nothing happened in the next episode. Luckily, Full Meta Jackrick didn't push the show's boundaries too far.

But yeah, I thought this episode was a little...pointless? It avoided cliches for the most part, but it also didn't say anything new. It wasn't a groundbreaking deconstruction of Rick and Morty or TV shows as a whole. It was just another take on the "Rick knows that he's in a TV show" concept, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it left me going "What was the point of that?"

The episode looked like it might have an anti-capitalist message with the Rick plushies, but that didn't really go anywhere, either. However, that might be a good thing--a preachy statement would've weighed down the episode even if I agree with it.

Full Meta Jackrick had a little more substance than Never Ricking Morty because at least we watched "our" Rick and Morty go on an adventure. I enjoyed watching an episode with just the two of them again. Their dynamic is brilliant--EVERYTHING that Rick and Morty do together is entertaining.

The first half of season six was great, but the episodes felt a little "off" because Morty didn't have much to do in most of them. Now, he's finally stepping back into the protagonist role.

Bringing back Story Lord (and Jesus) and writing a follow-up to Never Ricking Morty in general is a little gutsy and unexpected, which I can respect. Did anyone think that we'd ever hear anything about that train again? Never Ricking Morty isn't particularly loved or reviled--it's just an experimental episode that we probably would've forgotten about if it didn't foreshadow the season five Birdrick reveal.

For me, Full Meta Jackrick is a slightly better version of Never Ricking Morty because it's canon and has a more cohesive storyline. Full Meta Jackrick, like all of season six, also has great callbacks to the first couple of seasons. They never feel pandering or like they're trying to trigger your nostalgia--instead, they poke fun at the series itself and show you that the writers really care about this universe.

I also thought that this might've been the funniest episode of the season. Gotta be honest, guys--I normally roll my eyes when people say "Rick and Morty isn't funny anymore blah blah," but season six is the first season where I'm like "Yeah, the jokes haven't been great." But this episode had a lot of funny lines.

We did get some great character moments with Rick and Morty. Rick's still Rick: he's lazy, crabby, selfish and rude. But he's gentler with Morty, too. He treats him like a person and partner (in crime) instead of hoarsely shouting at him. He looks out for him and gives him his lab coat when they're freezing--boy, THAT'S been a fandom staple for nearly a decade.

This might be a stretch, but the scene in the garage caught my attention, too. Rick gently turns on Morty's goggles for him--you know, like an actual grandfather--instead of telling him to do it and then yelling that he's too slow or whatever.

This is seriously the fanservice season. Rick in a suit and tie yet again, Rick draping his lab coat over a shivering Morty, Rick tearing off his clothes to reveal that he's jacked underneath (I guess he's still working on those abs? lol.) The new writers' influence is so blatant, and I don't think most of us are complaining.

And we saw Rick's favorite thing yet again: crystals. 💎✨ (Well, ore.) Someone needs to give him $100 and cut him loose in a New Age store for a couple of hours.

I also want to note how much I love Justin Roiland's voice acting. Rick's voice is so complex and reflects his character development brilliantly. I hate how people dismiss Justin Roiland as a shouty guy who burps and yells into the microphone. Honestly, I don't hear Justin Roiland at all when Rick speaks--I just hear Rick.

Overall, Full Meta Jackrick was a decent return to the show after the six-week break. Those "Rick is a nihilist" YouTube videos need to go away forever because this episode's theme could have been "Nothing matters, we're just cartoon characters, blah blah," but it wasn't. Instead, Rick tells Morty that his life matters, and he looks at the audience as he says it.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #full meta jackrick #morty smith #rick and morty s6 #rick and morty season 6 #story lord #story train #review

[enough-spider-noir-stuff]

Writing from Hobie's perspective about ATSV is actually super interesting because he has like, zero of the context we do from ITSV. Like, about the dynamics between the characters.

Like, Peter B? Wonder what Hobie thinks about him. Like, okay. There's Miles and he hasn't been allowed into the Society yet because "canon" and these people he's very close friends with haven't deigned him important enough to contact anyways. Okay. That's not looking good.

Now, Gwen Hobie has some context for. She's stayed over with him canonically, he probably knows she was kicked out and her dad tried to arrest her. She doesn't have options outside of the Society. Frankly, they have a concerning and incredibly messed up amount of control over her. (Also that's a perfectly valid reason to hate Miguel, especially since Hobie has a predisposition against authority figures like that. How much Miguel's motives are understandable is also entirely irrelevant in this case.)

So, Gwen didn't contact Miles. Or she did, but only very recently and it immediately spiralled out of control. But it makes sense why she didn't try to reach Miles. It makes sense because she literally did not have a choice.

Peter B on the other hand? That's the only other OG ITSV-gang member Hobie gets to know, from what we see in canon. He's obviously also close to Miles and they mean a lot to each other. But he, too, kept Miles in the dark about everything. He's trying to stop Miles from saving his dad.

Peter B isn't a special case within the Society. Basically everyone is ready to put canon over saving actual lives. But this guy here should have another motivation. And he has nothing stopping him, really. He isn't dependant on the Society. He doesn't rely on them, he can live without them. And still he chose not to visit Miles.

Now it's a bit more complicated than that (and also we're moving into headcanon territory).

"It's not that simple" is easy to say. Peter B has a baby and has to take care of her first of all. He has responsibilities. He's acting according to what he thinks is the right thing, he believes in canon, so why shouldn't he wait a few months and then comfort Miles and help Miles and do all the proper things to do without endangering an entire world or even the multiverse? It's not good, it's not easy, but in the grand scheme of things it's the only right thing to do. Right?

But now we have Hobie, who thinks a lot more than he lets on. He literally built a dimension watch, okay. He's a punk. This guy is smart as shit and he questions everything, especially when it's portrayed as a universal black-and-white truth, especially when going along with that universal truth keeps you in line and just following what the power structure - in this case Miguel - wants you to think.

He's an anarchist. He's a punk. He fights the system. He fights against societal norms - against the society of his home world just as much as the Spider Society. It's a horrible place he comes from, we know that, and community, the punk community, leftist community, whatever, it's the only thing he can likely actually rely on. Okay, headcanon territory, but we're still very close to ATSV and comic canon, I think this is more than reasonable. "If you don't control your government, people want to kill you." (- Anti-Flag). He has canonically killed cops and in the comics it was also the literal president.

If you don't look after your people, your friends, your community, then what are you doing? That's all you have. Community is the core principle of everything. Survival in a world that tried to kill people like you. Being strong enough to fight against that system and bring about change. You can't do any of this alone.

So, whether a rule from above makes sense or not - and this whole canon thing feels dodgy as fuck anyways - friends go first. Friends before government, before absolute rules with no room for any shades of grey.

I think, with what Hobie was able to think and see in ATSV, he wouldn't trust Peter B. At all. This guy chose the rules over a friend. He chose conformity over community. That's the people who enforce the government's rule even without being cops themselves. That's the ones who make the world worse through inaction.

If Hobie was in Gwen's shoes, I think he'd have gone after Miles regardless, but - and this is headcanons based on the comics, but it adds up okay - but Hobie never had the chance to fit into a system in the first place. He never would have been accepted, never could have kept his head down if he tried, or he wouldn't have ended up the face of a revolutionary movement. Comics Hobie evidently didn't give a shit about consequences when they stood up against Osborn and the Venom cops. "I'm a radioactive suicide machine" - he wasn't in a good space of mind, but I think the attitude fits. Fuck consequences, fuck the future you might never even see, what matters is that you do the right thing for as long as you can, and that might be just now and never again. ("That's the way I like it baby, I don't wanna live forever.")

Gwen doesn't think like that and she's scared and drifting and dependant on the Society. It's not the right thing, maybe, but it's somewhat understandable. She's a kid who just lost everything.

Peter B has no excuses.

I mean, every character acts in accordance to what they think is right. They all have a point, in their own ways. That's honestly the beauty of the spider-verse films - there's no paper cutouts, all those characters have their own motivations (all understandable in their own right), and the conflicts are natural.

And it's so so so fun to actually get really deep into Hobie's perspective to explore all of this.

(Also anyone, feel free to add on or anything really, i just pulled this out of my ass but it's so interesting sdkjcsncdhbaks)

#hobie brown #spider punk #peter b parker #gwen stacy #lowkey analysing the characters lmao #a biscuit's rambles #vaguely related to #wmm #when multiverses meet au #character analysis #? #idk

[missmungoe]

I don't know if you've watched it yet, but I'm SO happy about the live action, and about Makino ? No spoilers, but I can't wait to hear about it from you ♥

I'm glad you're enjoying it! I have mixed feelings, some good, some not-so-good, but I...am unfortunately not a fan of how they did Makino, so if you were hoping for that, I'm really sorry to disappoint!

Thoughts under the cut for those who haven't seen the first two episodes (and remember that these are just my feelings, so don't let them ruin yours! If you liked her, that's what matters ♥):

First, I will say I was pleasantly surprised that she's in it, and even had speaking parts, but the actress just didn't feel like Makino to me. I thought she had a sweet moment with Luffy in the second episode, but beyond the costume, I struggled to find Makino in her. And it's not like she has a well-established character, but some things have always stood out to me, like how she acts as a barkeep, and there's a reason I write her as someone who enjoys her work. And in the first scene with Higuma, she just looks so...done? Like she'd rather be doing anything but her job, and maybe they're trying to imply that she's tired of the bandits, but her whole behaviour in that scene just felt off to me. Even in the scene with Luffy, the way she sighs and goes about her work - compared to the anime, where she's smiling and polishing her glasses like she enjoys the work just for the sake of it - rubbed me the wrong way. She just seems so encumbered, and feels so much older than she's supposed to be at this point in the story. Honestly, she reminds me more of how I write Emiko in Siren's Call. And I can see them changing it if they wanted to give her a more "world-weary tavern wench" kind of vibe rather than how she is in the original, but that's the Makino I love, and for me, she'll always be how I've written her in Shanties - a fresh-faced but determined 19-year-old who's immensely proud of her bar and her work. And that's my own interpretation, based on the few scenes she has, and by no means is it the only interpretation you can make. Netflix had a different one; I just didn't vibe with it.

Also RIP the scene where she runs out from behind the counter to help Shanks :') I was hoping we'd get that, but my main issue isn't even that they didn't get the little moment on the floor, it's that she just...stands there? And sure, Higuma didn't break the bottle over his head this time, although honestly, had I written this scene, Makino would have been even more distressed at him breaking a bottle on her polished countertop.

So yeah, while the actress wears the clothes and the kerchief, she didn't feel like Makino to me, but then I'm irrevocably influenced by the way I've written her in Shanties, and at no point was I expecting the live action to cater to my preferences. But I'll keep writing her as I love her, and then Netflix can do their own thing ;)

But oh, speaking of clothes - and putting aside my personal vendetta against her canon outfit, sans kerchief - I really didn't care for how dingy her clothes looked? Same with Party's (#NotMyBar, and I was so offended by that ugly neon sign I almost forgot that Makino looks like she hasn't bathed in a week). I get that they're going for a more ramshackle fishing village vibe, but here I also vastly prefer the original. I love Makino's tidy bar with its soft green walls and flowers on the shelves, so this was just a huge swing and a miss for me.

Things I am enjoying so far about the live action:

Iñaki Godoy

#One Piece Live Action #opla #opla spoilers #One Piece Makino

[monstersinthecosmos]

Do you think the show really will be cancelled? And do you think the awful part of the fandom that sprung up from it will go away anytime soon if it does?

tbh I really don't know enough about the show to have an opinion on that. I'm not really interested in hate-watching or lurking in fandoms that I don't belong to LOL so I'm not really on the inside of any gossip about how it's looking behind the scenes and I don't really want to speculate because I know I don't have all the information. I think this question is for people who are more invested or have more industry knowledge than I do!

As far as the "awful" part, if you mean fandom casual normies who travel from fandom to fandom like locusts to harass people until all the creators give up: Yes, they will move on. I think sometimes in fandoms you get like, casual normies who discover there's a subculture of nerds they can harass, and they do that for a couple years until it either gets boring or their personality grows enough to have more productive passions, and there's also fandom lifers who actually like, care about their thing (probably in a ND fashion tbh) and are usually the ones who stick around and make all the content that everyone else wants to consume.

The casual normies also just tend to have such underdeveloped senses of self that they join tumblr bc it's the thing to do, and pick a fandom because it's a thing to do, and they spend their whole time fandoming in such a deep state of denial that this might be a real hobby and there might be real people participating that they just neg everybody and shit on it the whole time for being cringe without realizing that they're here too lol. Like the amount of times a bully has tried to shame someone for being too passionate, and used "it's not that deep" as a conversation stopper, etc. These folks will move on because they're here because they're bored, not because they actually are POSSESSSED by the THING. (and hey, if you joined a fandom because you're bored THAT'S GREAT that's how we all got here in the first place, but don't shit on the carpet lol please be respectful to the space you just intruded upon!)

So a show going off the air isn't going to deter the people who actually love it. I mean, my other fandom is Sheith and that show was A. Terrible, B. Over in 2018, and the fandom is still going strong because a lot of people genuinely love the characters. I'd even say the same of VC book fandom, especially considering how much of the fandom falls off after the trilogy, and that ended like, 30 years ago LOL.

The thing about fandoms is that they're self-generating, right? And if you're one of the deep fandom nerd lifers you'll learn this if you haven't yet. Even AMC fandom; S1 ended a year ago and fandom is going strong. Part of it is the hope and hobby of watching news drip out - SURE! But it's also the fanart and fics and meta and conversation. The season is what, like, 7 hours long? And I'm SURE that the deep nerd lifers have spent way way way way way more hours than that reading fanfiction by now. And fanfics can really supplement a canon and give people ideas and deepen their love of the source. So I'm positive that there are people out there who have been moved to tears by fic and feel so strongly about THOSE stories, as well, and it just deepens their love of the show when they return to rewatch.

From 2016-2018 I exclusively read Yuri on Ice fic and there was only one season. And that season is even shorter! It's like 4.5 hours of canon! But when I think about YOI I am thinking about like multitude of NOVELS I've read about it, not JUST the 4.5 hours of canon, right?

All fandoms are like this. Fanworks are the lifeblood. And even with book fandom's lack of fic, I still feel that the friends I've made are the experience here, and how we can chatter all day & night about Armand forever and never get tired of it because we're all ND weirdos lol. I mean my Armand friends and I just spent a week in New Orleans together, it was the best! And as a fanfic writer, I will ALWAYS want to dedicate my free time to writing stories and talking about the blorbos, and I share those stories because fandom is self-generating and I want to do my part in keeping it alive. People create stuff and make friends and stick around well past the death of canon because they are POSSESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I hope that one day when the show is finished that the bad actors get bored and move on and the creators and true fans stick around and keep making stuff, because bullying people and being a cunt uses up a LOT of energy that could be better spent on productive and creative hobbies when they're ready to heal themselves and grow up. It's just not sustainable! :)

[entropy-sea-system]

I think the reason I see a little less potential for any mh gen 3 ships w the guy characters is bc they're just.. not given much screen time?? like. Clankie (neither of them are guys and both characters get enough screen time on their own) is probably the ship that makes most sense in canon even if other ships also do?? Like. that tends to be why the ships I think have more build up happen to be nblw or wlw???

I think Like. Gil had literally hardly any screentime without Lagoona even if they both seem into each other and communicate with each other. And I haven't even shipped any mlm ships yet bc .. the guy characters hardly interact w each other as much as they do w the nonbinary and girl characters.

Clawd had more screentime than him, but I think he and Draculaura haven't had much interaction outside of like two episodes, and I feel the show focuses mostly on him being from Beheme and being Clawdeen's brother most of the time. I've heard other ppl say in concepts he was supposed to be an inventor and I feel that his canon characterisation isn't as fully fledged as it could have been.

I do still ship Dracugoona but. tbh I don't think they had as many moments after witch hitch to be honest. But I do ship it.

Clankie feels like the ship with the most moments. They seem consistently interested in each other and even if recent episodes don't have many moments the finale is literally mainly about Clankie so. It feels like I don't have to detail this one because everyone knows how canon has hinted at it basically.

I like Lagoona x Gil, and their interactions are cute but I think maybe we could use more screen time for Gil to actually like, know something about him other than a couple of hobbies he has. I don't think a ship has to be slow burn to make sense because romance just works differently for different ppl even irl!! Its not unrealistic for ppl irl to date without knowing each other for like months or years lol... so Idk why thats unrealistic in a fictional show anyway. I think similarly about Clawdulaura but the episode with the dancing and the one where the talismans go missing did make me ship them.

For most of the characters I don't really like easily ship them if theres no hints in canon but yeah. Like Im not in a rush to ship every character with someone, and Im arospec allosexual, and hc some of them as arospec and/or maybe just not wanting to date at the moment. I should also probably add that Im friendship repulsed and familial repulsed (atertiary also) so I'm not very invested in the friendships and family in the show. I think I mainly prefer to analyse the events and characters on their own and sometimes ships.

In the movies, after the second movie, I kind of ship Toralei and Clawdeen and feel they had a bit more chemistry at the end than whatever was going on with Clawdeuce.

I don't really care for claiming characters "are better as friends" or shipping them platonically or queerplatonically bc that repulses me and Im already just p much ignoring the stuff in the show that repulses me lol. (Also I know I could just.. not watch the show then, but its extremely hard to find media without friendship as a plato-repulsed aplatonic, and I like cartoons.) I'm more in the fandom for the world building and the events of the show, and characters, and a bit for shipping but the shipping wasn't really there until I saw the potential of Clankie tbh.

#aplatonic #shipping #mh gen 3 #clankie #dracugoona #lagoona x gil #monster high gen 3 #clawdulaura #plato repulsion #monster high #mh gen 3 ships

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

How was your Helluva Boss watch?

It was pretty neat! Thanks for asking!

Here's a list of the stuff I liked:

Moxxie and Millie's marriage is cute! I'm a sucker for fictional married couples who are sickeningly adorable and genuinely care for each other rather than arguing all the time.

I think I might have an autistic headcanon for Moxxie? It was the bit where he started infodumping to Millie's parents that did it for me.

There were plenty of lines of dialogue that made me splutter because I wasn't expecting them to be so hilarious.

The part of the interrogation scene where Moxxie intelligently explains why torture is a bad interrogation tactic and Blitzo adds that the demons might enjoy the torture too much and then the agents would have a whole other set of problems on their hands lives in my head rent-free for some reason.

While I'm not sure I want Stolitz to become canon, I will admit that their complicated relationship is interesting to watch. The childhood flashback episode had some cute moments. And I'm fascinated by the changes that Stolas has undergone over the course of the series. I'm glad he's not as creepy as he was at the start.

(I prefer Owling at the Moon over Stolitz, which is probably why I don't want Stolitz to become canon. Imagine if Loona and Octavia started dating and Blitzo and Stolas became the awkward in-laws. I'd like watching that play out!)

Fizzmodeus intrigues me. I wasn't sure about that ship at first, but they do seem to have a cute thing going on. Watching Asmodeus trying to help Fizzarolli after his panic attack was unexpected. I've not really seen stuff like that in the fiction I've encountered.

I came across a Hellaverse crossover fanfic where Angel Dust meets Asmodeus and I thought it was well-written. (You can read it here if you're interested. But given the two main characters are the King of Lust and a porn star, it's very much NSFW, so don't look if you're a minor.)

And here's a list of the stuff I wasn't keen on:

The show was supposed to be about a team of demonic assassins taking out targets on Earth, but it seems to have abandoned that premise rather quickly to focus on exploring side characters and fleshing out the worldbuilding in Hell. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the worldbuilding (certainly more than I would have enjoyed the gory killings) - it just bothers me that the show starts with a premise and then forgets it. At least in Hazbin Hotel, the themes of redemption and second chances are almost always present, even if the Hotel itself isn't getting much focus. By contrast, what does Fizzarolli's clown career have to do with assassinating humans?

The sound mixing on the songs bothered me. Most of the time, the dialogue is loud and clear, but when a song starts, the voices go really quiet for some reason and the instrumentation drowns them out and I can't hear what they're singing. It's as if the show keeps coming down with a bad case of Sonic Adventure 2 sound mixing.

I wish Loona was treated better by the narrative. She seems very underdeveloped to me, and I'd love to see an episode or two focusing on her and giving her time to shine. (And more of her hanging out with Octavia. That'd be neat.)

They got Barrett Wilbert Weed to voice Octavia and they haven't let her sing a song yet?! I've heard her Heathers and Mean Girls stuff! She's a good singer! Don't let her go to waste!

So, as you can see, I do have some quibbles with the series, but overall, I had fun!

I am now finally watching Hazbin Hotel properly (hooray!), and I prefer that show over Helluva Boss. The characters resonate with me more, and the songs stand out to me more. But I still enjoyed checking out Helluva Boss!

#helluva boss #blitzo #moxxie knolastname #millie knolastname #m&m helluva boss #loona #stolas helluva boss #stolitz #octavia helluva boss #owling at the moon #fizzarolli #asmodeus #fizzmodeus #hazbin hotel #angel dust #hellaverse #barrett wilbert weed #heathers the musical #mean girls the musical #sonic adventure 2