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beastranpo · 9 months

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please stop calling dazai/ranpo ‘souheki’

I posted this originally on twitter, but it unfortunately didn’t get a lot of traction, so I figured I’d post it on here as well in hopes it would get a little bit more traction and I apologize in advance for the fact I will be ‘clogging tags’ so to speak to get the word out.

I generally don't like to flood tags but people who tag Dazai/Ranpo (also known as Daran/Ranzai) as ‘souheki’, please don't. Yes, it is their team name in the japanese version of 55 minutes, but it not unique to BSD the same way ‘soukoku’ is for Dazai and Chuuya.

'Souheki’ in japanese is commonly used to describe an unbeatable pair or duo/matchless people, alternatively referred to as 'two treasures' or the lit translation 'double jade' as the japanese for heki is the chinese for jade.

This being said: MANY OTHER SERIES' USE THIS NAME FOR CHARA DUOS!! If you look up souheki, especially in Japanese, you will find everything from the Lan Brothers and Lan Juniors fom MDZS, Ferdibert from FE3H, Haikaveh from Genshin Impact, and even Fukumori FROM BSD. It does not belong exclusively to Dazai and Ranpo, so you are making the search all the more difficult for everyone involved, and you are burying and missing out on amazing, pre-existing content of them that has been around for almost ten years now.

I’ve been a big shipper of Dazai and Ranpo for that same amount of time, and the ship name has always only ever been Daran/Ranzai. The JP fans have never changed it, because ship names and team names are not equal or interchangeable. (Similarly, content intended to be shippy for them is tagged as Dachuu/Chuuda, never SKK.)

Additionally, soukoku was introduced the second Dazai and Chuuya were announced as a duo in bsd. The term souheki towards Dazai and Ranpo was not mentioned at all throughout the series until 55 minutes, which wasn’t written until 4 years after bsd was created and Dazai/Ranpo already had a ship name. (I’ve been here since 2013, trust me it has only ever been this.)

Once a ship name is created, it is not changed, especially in the japanese fandom where we borrow the ship names. (dachuu, kunizai, akuatsu as examples)

The JP fans never even brought much attention to the souheki concept aside from how it catered to the ship itself. The ship name(s) has not changed for ten years.

For further comparison, this is how the google search looks when you search soukoku / double black:

And this is what happens when you search souheki / ‘double jade’ ‘twin jade’:

This has reached so far that even Japanese fans are seeing this and being confused because, again, ‘souheki’ is not unique to just Dazai and Ranpo!! And it has been used for other ships!

If you are posting content for them, please please PLEASE tag it as daran/randaza/ranzai/etc. Please stop using souheki and muddying the waters to find content of these two.

if you want to find content for them, these are their tags in jp:

乱太 / らんだざ / randaza or ranzai (top ranpo content ONLY)

太乱 / だざらん / dazaran or daran (top dazai content ONLY)

太乱太 (content that can be translated either way / switch)

Please keep in mind that ships are tagged accordingly for who tops/bottoms or is the one who may have the more confident or dominant personality in jp fandom to filter content and those who dislike one dynamic will not be exposed to it. This is not an argument over top/bottom discourse. Jp fans do not have that problem. When you write/read a fic with top A, their actions/thoughts/etc will differ greatly from reading bottom A content 9/10 times. Some people have a preferred character interpretation like everyone else and are much more consistent with filtering.

While I am certainly happy daran/ranzai are finally canonically confirmed to be the agency's 'unbeatable duo/two precious treasures' (souheki), it is misleading and quite frankly incorrect to claim this is their ship name and to please keep tagging them as daran/ranzai so older content doesn't get brushed under the rug and completely ignored/missed altogether in this attempt to give them a 'special name'. They dont need to combat skk. They are unique and special as they are!

Please give attention to the content made by fans of Dazai/Ranpo fans that have existed for a long time now! We promise there is actually a TON of content, it is not lacking whatsoever. You’re just looking under the wrong name!

As a really big fan of Dazai and Ranpo for a very long time, who is friends with a majority of the Dazai/Ranpo fanartists in Japan and has spent a concerningly scary amount of money for content of them over the years, I hope you will consider this advice. I really want fans of Dazai/Ranpo to come together, enjoy content old and new, and make more in the future together. (〃＞＿＜;〃)

Please share this around if you could!

#Dazai Osamu #Edogawa Ranpo #bungou stray dogs #souheki #daran #ranzai #it pains me to tag it as souheki but i really want people to know about this cuz this misinformation is spreading way too far these days ;;

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thelovelyghostwriter · 5 months

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Detective Conan M26 (Casual) Review as a long-term CoAi shipper

This is just a casual review. It's not serious and my own opinions.

As someone who had shipped CoAi as a child (even before I knew what shipping was), I squealed so hard when I saw the movie trailer. It seemed like they were going for CoAi shipping HARD.

Of course, not everything is perfect, and this movie is far from the best (I still think the best DetCo movie is M6, which was the Phantom of Baker Street).

I do have certain aspects that I liked and disliked in this movie (SPOILERS AHEAD):

Let's start off with what I liked in this movie.

THE COAI SCENES.

This movie was the ultimate ship-bait for this couple. 2023 was their fucking year. The creators shipped CoAi hard this year. This was from making this movie, re-releasing the Bell Tree Express episode into a Haibara Ai-focused movie called "The Black Iron Train", the sale of official CoAi Uniqlo x ShonenJump shirts, and even an official ShinShi poster. It was like, CoAi suddenly had the spotlight - which was weird since canonically we know they aren't a couple.

There were several scenes that CoAi fans loved a lot. Two of them stood out to me:

The first was the scene where Conan gave Ai his glasses. It was a reference to the Haido Hotel case scene.

I think this was really one of the most iconic and romantic scenes in the series. Him placing glasses on her as a reassurance, and they even did a little Superman-Louis Lane kind of reference.

Granted, I still preferred the scene in the actual anime or the manga panel. They stayed in that scene longer. But it was definitely a callback to the older DetCo episodes.

Believe it or not, Uniqlo even made a shirt out of this scene. This was around in 2023 when Uniqlo would collaborate with Shonen Jump and when they sold Detective Conan shirts, one of the shirts were of this scene. Which I find really odd given that there was no sale of ShinRan shirts (I don't recall ever having one).

The Uniqlo shirt design can be found here. I actually even got this particular shirt. I just had to.

The second scene in the movie that everyone was talking about was the underwater CPR "kiss" scene.

But since the movie was going to have a submarine, I figured there would be a scene where they would be underwater.

The other movie I remember that had an underwater "CPR" kiss was in Movie 2, "The Fourteenth Target". It was between Ran and Conan. It was the scene where they were underwater and Conan was losing oxygen so Ran gave him a "kiss".

But I never thought they'd actually go through with this kind of scene with CoAi. While yes, she's trying to give him CPR because he is drowning, we all know what they were trying to do with this scene. She also attempted it not once, but three times. And their ascend to the top of the water's surface was very romantic. She also seemed unhappy when she thought she had to leave him, but Conan noticed her sadness and reassured her. There was also a flashback to him in that bus episode - "The Mysterious Passenger". That episode where Conan saved Haibara Ai from an exploding bus and told her "Do not run away from your fate". I think that was a great callback too.

I also squealed when Ai acknowledged that they kissed! It was like, OH WOW HAIBARA YOU KNEW. It sucked that Conan is still clueless ever, but that was a fangirl moment for me.

There was also more spotlight on Haibara Ai, of course. Given how she's popular, we got to know snippets of her childhood. I got emotional upon knowing that Ai stood up when Naomi was getting bullied, but that in turn she got bullied and became a social outcast. I think that it is very characteristic of Ai to be a social outcast, given that she appears cold and quiet at first. But my heart ached for her as well, because she was very kind towards Naomi and she suffered so much as Shiho Miyano.

I also liked that there was more spotlight on the agents, like Sena (Kir), Rei (Bourbon) and Akai.

The scene of Ran vs Pinga was great too. Now, I'm not a big fan of ShinRan, but I am fond of Ran as a person. I do think as a character she's a Mary Sue, but as a person, VERY ADMIRABLE. She's sweet, kind and the fight scene was quite intense. I also liked how in the second battle she lost, because I would like to see Pinga win a bit (because he has to have good fighting skills if he is in the criminal organisation, it would have been embarrassing if he lost to Ran).

Now onto the things I didn't really like:

The Detective Conan Movies with Black Organisation as a plot often felt the same. There was a threat, but nothing ever changed because the movies are not supposed to affect the canon manga plot. Hence, Gin and Vodka etc. will never know Shinichi and Shiho's identity as Conan and Ai. They will have their suspicions, but it will always have a roundabout way of them brushing it off. The highlighted characters in the movie like Curacao and Pinga are then killed off in the movie because they are not supposed to exist in the manga. That's why movies with the Black Organisation plot will always seem underwhelming, and they will not be as good as the actual manga plot arcs like Clash of the Red and Black arc.

Another plot hole I didn't like is that the plot or threat was kinda "eh". I was also baffled by how the Interpol's security system is so poor, they can get hacked in seconds and also get infiltrated in the Pacific Buoy so quickly. But you know, it's for the plot purposes, I guess.

The other scene that I really found unnecessary and that I predict that most people would also find it odd and out of place was the scene where Ai kissed Ran to "give back" the kiss Ai took from Conan. Like wtf was that. It's like the creators needed to reassure the audience that Ran was the main girl. It's like "ok guys, chill, we wanted CoAi to kiss, but end of the day we can't make them canon". We all know Ran is the main girl, but let us CoAi fans have this moment. It's like giving us a huge bait for us to bite, only to get it ruined by the last particular scene. There was also no built-up for Ai to feel guilty regarding the kiss. It was a very big surprise and there was no follow-up scene on why she did that, like "I really care for you but you love someone else and it will be selfish for me to do this" moment.

Ran was also understandably stunned that Ai (whom she would think is a 7-year-old child) would kiss her like that. It would have been a good moment for Shiho/Ran shippers, but it's not Shiho kissing Ran. I felt so bad for Ran in that moment because she seemed so confused and there was no explanation (if they could actually explain to her) and the scene was really out-of-place. Conan also didn't seem to question Ai about her odd actions on that part.

The last part I didn't like was that the end of it seemed abrupt. There was no scene where they were back in Tokyo and Conan/Ai having a last moment together. It sort of sucked that the last scene we saw was Ai kissing Ran, which ruined the momentum of CoAi. I was waiting for something in the end credits, but the end credits that rolled was the teaser for the next movie in 2024.

This is the end for the review. Of course these are my mere thoughts as someone who had watched DetCo since mid-2000s (but dropped it in 2017) and had liked CoAi since I was a kid. I'm not sure how the manga is so far since I dropped it at around ep 800, but I heard that there wasn't a lot of CoAi moments in canon now (let me know if it's otherwise, maybe I'll pick it up again).

#coai #shinshi #detective conan #detective conan movie 26 #detective conan movie 2023 #haibara ai #conan x ai #conanxai #conan x haibara #shiho miyano

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xoxomyseriesxoxo · 1 year

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There’s something that has been irking me in the past few months... /That/ part of the fandom (that mostly was NOT here when the manga was still published weekly and when it got cancelled by SJ) changed the narrative about our reaction to the ending.

Now it’s all ‘omg mean IR shippers who are bitter over their ship not being canon!! They are terrible people!!!’ and calling us us bullies when no, you weren’t there back then where there were daily d*ath th*ats and rude asks sent to us... Not to mention we were mainly angry at the way the ending was so rushed and poorly written. We didn’t even know whether I//sshin, R//yuken, G//rimmjow (AGAIN), U//rahara and Y//oruichi were still alive or not because it was never said IN THE MANGA (because we only got an answer in light novels years later but majority of people only read the manga, not the novels that are semi-canon at best). We were angry over U//rahara’s “forgive me, K//urosaki, K//uchiki, for leaving everything to you” was somehow forgotten and the final fight with I//chigo, R//ukia and U//ryuu (who had THE silver arrow) VS Y//hwach never happened. We were angry because C//had ended up fighting for profits (profesionnal boxing) and U//ryuu ended up alone (again), overworked and working as a doctor just like his father and that go against their character arcs. We were angry because there was a whole arc and hints in the final arc clearly showing how I//chigo didn’t fit in the human world anymore and yet stayed there in the end. We were angry because the Sokyoku, the symbol of S//oul S//ociety’s old ways and injustice that I//chigo destroyed, was REBUILT. We were angry because M//ayuri was still a Captain and not in jail for his crimes. We were angry because we loved and cared for the story and the ending went against the main and side characters’ arcs and against the s//hinigami’s new ideals represented by I//chigo and R//ukia. And yes, we were angry for the pairings too because it was so badly written but most of us were fine with an open ending or IR and ISH ending but the new ‘IR would be nothing without anime filler moments’ argument is so ridiculous because even if you only look at the manga, IR was great, developed and made sense. Weirdly enough, the ones repeatedly shouting that filler “argument” aren’t saying a word about R//ukia’s scenes getting changed/deleted in the anime rn despite being the deuteragonist as if her erasure hadn’t been bad enough in the manga vers. of the final arc (same for B//yakuya scenes to a lesser extent)... But yes, our anger is mainly aimed at how poorly written the ending was, not only shipping-wise but in general. And now it’s irritating to see new fans act as if criticism that were there for a decade is not allowed towards the story or the mangaka.

While I’m watching the anime so far and I’m happy with the added scenes (especially the ones with U//ryuu concerning his heritage and the conflict he feels over the whole situation), I must say I don’t like how they deleted R//ukia scenes and B//yakuya scenes on purpose. I prefer the old characters designs as well and though and color palettes are now closer to the manga’s, the body proportions often look wrong (B//yakuya’s face, U//ryuu’s jaw to mention only a few exemples) and the lighting is horrible. I’m watching because I want to see EBTR, R//ukia’s bankai, U//nohana’s true self etc. but I do understand why fans who were in the fandom back then aren’t watching the anime or simply left the fandom given how we’re being treated and how some people are changing the narrative.

(And before my words get twisted... There’s nothing wrong with being a new fan, just don’t make up a new version as to why we dislike the ending/how we react(ed) to it. The criticism towards the writing is also more than fair and has existed even before the last arc even started.)

#tagging the ships just in case because you know how it goes here even if it's not mainly about them #anti bleach ending #anti bleach 686 #anti bleach fandom #ichiruki #ishihime #text post #long post #elena talks #/that/ part of the fandom being dudebros/inc*ls and you know who #not tagging the characters' names and putting / everywhere bc i know what will happen lol #y'all know i've been here for so long and i see moots/ppl i knew in the fandom leave it bc it's getting tiring... it's even worse on twt

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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The racism discussion is making me wonder: when do you think it is a good time or what is a good way to discuss racist shipping patterns in fandom? Because I don't think it's productive to tell people "my ship not being more popular is racist" or "you liking this ship better than this other ship is racist." But it's hard to argue that hasn't been the case in some fandoms, where those broader preferences are obviously influenced by, at least, insidious cultural ideas about who is more attractive?

No matter how you discuss it, someone will be too fragile to handle it, so there might be good ways to talk about it, but there are no non-contentious ways to talk about it.

It's helpful to know what your goal is. Are you venting? That's valid. But if the objective is to educate people or to change behavior, you have to think about whether those people actually don't know the things you know and what will actually change behavior.

A goal of "If you would just think about X" is not useful. It ends up being a guilt trip and not a useful call to action.

Obviously, it's better to talk about aggregate patterns in aggregate, not singling out any particular fic. It's also probably more productive to talk about pan-fandom trends if the goal is raising awareness. People aren't going to change what they ship in the fandoms they're already in. Thinking more about those patterns might change what they ship in a few years though.

I would listen to people when they tell you why they don't ship a thing. They're often being defensive and annoying, but there's usually something worth noting in their responses too, and it usually points back to character tropes and what kind of roles get cast which way.

I would not undersell how much canon is contributing to fandom behavior. It's supremely annoying when people point to trends that have their root in canon screwing over characters and blame fandom.

I would also try to have a bird's eye view of fandom trends and contextualize them. Don't say "Fandom only likes white characters" or I know you're one of those jackasses who's still ignoring that Asian media is internationally popular. Don't pull the "Asians are basically white" thing if you want people to take you seriously and not just think you are the racist. People do that shit constantly while critiquing fandom racism.

Don't blame m/m shippers while being clueless about het shippers. Understand what the patterns look like on Wattpad and FFN, not just AO3. Understand how typical fandoms look, and by typical, I mean small and medium-size ones. Don't assume that MCU is a "normal" fandom and everything should look like it. Ditto Harry Potter or Naruto. Don't be like "But fandom often has whole archives about walk-on characters who are little more than a name!" when that's true only of a tiny handful of outlier megafandoms.

Basically, people probably won't listen to you anyway, but they definitely won't if you sound like a clueless n00b who wants to teach your grandma to suck eggs.

If you want people to change their unconscious ideas of what's attractive, that's a long battle. You're talking about fixing culture. That's not a small undertaking. You might be better off reccing media full of hotties that people may not have seen yet rather than discussing shitty patterns in shipping in media that's already popular.

Also... why are shipping stats on AO3 the measure of everything? It's good to explain why that's the thing you care about rather than claiming it stands in for all forms of fandom and popularity.

More than anything, if you say you're starting a discussion, be willing to discuss. Far too often, I see people making a proclamation and then being mad that the response isn't grovelling agreement. Even if everyone else is wrongity wrong wrong, if your intent is to talk them around, you have to actually try to do that by hearing them out and discussing their actual opinions, not railing against a strawman version.

As for what's a good time... any time, I think, if you're posting to your own tumblr.

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rey-jake-therapist · 7 months

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Hob Gadling's wives and girlfriends, the forgotten women of The Sandman

DISCLAIMER: the following posts contains major spoilers for Season of Mists, World's Ends, The Kindly Ones and The Wake.

A couple of weeks I told @writing-for-life my next meta would be about the women who shared Hob's life. There's not much to work on in the comics for most of them, but the fact remains that they exist and that Hob probably loved them all. And his second wife in particular, Margaret/Peggy aka Jim, had a story dedicated to her journey, in World's Ends.

Hob's canon romances always interested me because these women were all mortals, while he was not. We know he had at least one kid who died, and he saw almost all his lovers/wives die while knowing he would never follow them in the grave unless he wanted it. We didn't see it happen with Gwen, but it will, eventually.

It makes me wonder: how does he do it? How does he manage to be completely invested in a relationship knowing that the people he loves will all grow old and die, while he will stay the same and live forever? I would have loved it if the comics had him discussing that, and I still hope in the show he will. We never saw what his last conversation with Hob was, after all... I like to think that Dream stayed a bit longer than usual with Hob, and that they opened up about their respective lives and experiences with love. Audrey is still alive and probably in Hob's life at this point, it would be nice if she showed up, met Dreams and asked him embarrassing questions... but I digress haha

Before I continue I'd like to confess that not being a shipper, I don't read Dreamling fics - I rarely read fics revolving a ship in general... I prefer Morpheus x oc or non romantic fics -, so any comment I can make about the fandom is based on what I see on social media, and not on fanfic contents. I'm sure that Hob's wives and girlfriends are often evoked and maybe sometimes, even more developed there than they are in canon.

Hob's first wife: Eleanor

Eleanor's just a portrait, we don't know much about her except that Hob probably cared about her since in the show he still calls her "my Eleanor" long after she died.

She exists only to show that Hob's situation stabilized after he started making money. Also, their son's death and hers may have been the first time that it hit Hob in the head that while he could live forever, he couldn't prevent his loved ones from dying. The loss of his family affected him very much and yet, he still wanted to live. I'll probably write a meta later about how his situation purposely mirrors Morpheus', about how they both lost everything they loved at some point but reacted in a completely different manner.

Hob's second wife: Peggy/Jim

We meet Margaret/Peggy/Jim in World's End. She pretends to be a man hence why she calls herself Jim, as she did during all the trip during which she met Hob Gadling. It's quite obvious that she did it for safety issues, as she would have probably not been allowed to travel on a boat let alone work on one if she had revealed as girl without a chaperon, and she clearly enjoyed the freedom and advantages she got as passing for a man. It's good to emphasize how brave she was to do that, as if her secret had gone out it could have put her in great danger.

Hob was the only one who saw through her, but he protected her secret. He also confirmed her doubts that he was much older than he seemed, a secret she protected as well. It seems she never believed he was immortal though - see the part about Audrey - .They bonded over having secrets they could possibly not reveal to anyone else, so it's a really sweet love story.

Later, in The Kindly Ones, we learn that Peggy died in his arms, during the Blitz. If they had kids, he doesn't say, but it's obvious he loved her very much and was deeply affected by her death, as he says on Audrey's grave, in The Kindly Ones, that Audrey's the first woman he was with since Peggy died.

Now I know that certain fans want Peggy to be trans or non-binary because she disguises as a man and asks to be called Jim. It's generally not as much because they care about her character or representation,than because it would make Hob canonically queer. Now I have no problem with anyone's headcanons: there are no right or wrong headcanon, no stupid or offensive ones - as long as they're not hateful, homophobic, racist, transphobic etc. - and whatever makes people feel represented and happy is fine by me. That said, I personally believe it's a bit simplistic to reduce a woman's refusal to follow societal norms to her being a man or non-binary, but again, whatever floats your boat guys.

I personally think that Peggy/Jim was written as a strong young woman who wanted to travel and see the world, knew she couldn't do that if she was seen as a woman, so she disguised as a man, took a man's name and enjoyed the role because let's be honest: the life for white men during this period was wayyyyyy funnier and easier than for women. What do you mean, it still is? I don't understand, are you saying institutional patriarchy is still very much a thing? *pretends to be shocked*.

You can find many stories like Peggy/Jim's in modern literature, and of course, in real life!

As for Hob, he knew Peggy was a woman quite early, and when he talks about her on Audrey's grave he says "Peg' ", not "Jim", which tells me he kept seeing her as a woman. But again, that's my headcanon and I won't argue about that, I just feel like Peggy/Jim deserves better than being discussed solely regarding Hob's sexuality. Her story is one of my favorite in the comics :)

Talking about the particular subject of Hob's sexuality is immortal and even though the comics doesn't mention any male boyfriend, he seems open minded and hedonistic enough to have at least tried... I always headcanoned Hob Gadling as pansexual, because it doesn't make sense to me that a man who lived for hundred of years would be straight, simply.

I really hope that the show will give us Peggy/Jim's story on screen, she highly deserves it. I love this character, I just wish it would be clearer in the comics that she's the future Mrs Gadling... I learned through social media that the Peg' he mentioned on Audrey's grave was the Peggy he met in World's Ends. It's very confusing, the way it's written.

Hob Gadling's girlfriends

We of course don't know every girlfriend that Hob had, in the comics we're just introduced to two: Audrey, and Gwen. We learn a couple of other names in The Kindly Ones though: Lisabet and Anne.

Audrey

Audrey's another woman who's never part of the conversations, yet the panel dedicated to Hob's reaction to her death is the first panel that made Hob sympathetic to me. But whenever this panel is discussed, everything that's related to Audrey is ignored so the focus is entirely on Hob's concern for Morpheus. Before I read the comics, I had no idea that Hob had just buried his lover, and begged Morpheus to resurrect her because the pain of losing her was too hard to handle.

A bit like for Margaret/Peggy/Jim, it's not clear at all that in Season of Mists, the woman we see with Hob in bed is Audrey, the woman whose grave he visits in The Kindly Ones.

It's really in The Kindly Ones that we can see how much he cared for Audrey, as he cared for all the lovers he had before but died. The reaction he has, he admits it himself, responds to a question we probably all asked: does he ever get used to it? Become insensitive, with time?

The answer's no:

I always wondered why Morpheus visited him at this moment: was it because he felt his pain and wanted to be here for him? Or was it because he wanted to say one last goodbye and it happened to coincide with the moment Hob was drowning in his grief? Was it because he himself needed a friend, more than ever?

Anyway he certainly didn't expect Hob's request. For the first time that we know of, Hob asked Dream to use his supernatural powers. Hob, the immortal who saw all the people he knew die, not only wasn't used to it but asked Dream basically the same thing as Orpheus asked him: help him to get his lover back. It must have been very painful for Dream, but poor Hob couldn't know that. I doubt he even knew that Dream had once been married and had a son.

So yeah, afterwards he runs after Morpheus and tries to make him confide in him, he even feels his friend's death is imminent and he shows a deep concern, but that's not all that this panel is about. I think it's about saying that no matter how old you are, how many lives you lived, how many people you loved and loved you.... The death of a loved one is always painful.

2. Gwen

Gwen is Hob's last girlfriend that we know of. She's also, in his own admission, the first Black woman he dates. Considering that Hob used to be an enthusiastic slave trader who needed an ethereal entity to tell him that slavery was wrong to think that he should find another way to become rich, I find this information.... interesting. After 600 years, it was about time... did he refuse to date Black women because of guilt for what he did? Or because he remained racist for a long time and didn't think Black women were worth his attention?

I feel very protective of Gwen, first because I dislike how she was written as a moral caution for Hob, as she absolves him for his sins but without knowing the extent of his sins - she has no idea he's immortal and was a slave trader - . When she appears in the show - and I really hope she will! - , I hope she'll be written in a way that she doesn't exist solely for Hob to express his guilt while being too coward to tell her the truth about what he did.

I was going to say something very personal about me, but I'm not sure the comparison I want to make would work, so I prefer keeping it for me, finally. If anyone's interested in knowing me better they can join me in private though :)

The second reason why I'm very protective of her is that as Audrey, on social media she's generally treated as non existent by the fandom - who focuses entirely on Hob's grief regarding Morpheus' death - . I recently saw a wish regarding Gwen that made my blood boil and almost made me hit the 'deactivate' button, but I'm not here to start a war, let alone to point fingers. I just really wish some people paid more attention to what they wrote, because some stuff I've read these last days came off as very insensitive.

And I'll conclude with one last panel featuring the gorgeous Gwen:

Also tagging @violetoftheendless and @tickldpnk8 , in case you're interested in discussing this subject :)

#sandman women #hob gadling #hob gadling's lovers #hob and women #the sandman #season of mists #the kindly ones #the wake #sandman comics #sandman spoilers #the sandman meta #fandom misoginy #fandom racism #fandom critical

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moonsunlovers · 8 months

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Just read through your "watch" posts. And despite thinking that it's too much of a coincidence, I still think applying Occam's Razor is best.

Harkening everything Jimin and Jungkook do or are surrounded by back to their relationship borders on insanity. They can exist without constantly thinking about each other even if they are in a relationship.

Sometimes, a tattoo of two letters doesn't have deeper meaning.

Sometimes, a clock just stops working without the wearer noticing [because most of us use the phone anyway].

Jikookers always jumping on these "oh that's a secret message about xyz" trains, makes me believe in Jikook less than highlighting actually proven gestures. It makes Jikookers more into Taekookers than any of us want by turning nothing into something.

Hello anon. Thank you for passing by my blog and share your thoughts. (They are talking about my two previous post about the watch that Jimin wore in his live on Jungkook’s birthday: the first one here and the second one here, in case you want to know what is this post about).

I agree with you, we don’t need to analyze everything they do. They can do things without having any intention or being a secret message. I agree, really, and if it had happened in any other date I wouldn’t have share this idea because probably I wouldn’t have found it relevant. But you know what? I’m here to have some fun, I’m here to share the things that I notice and my thoughts about it, not to demonstrate anything. Jikook had done it by themselves already.

And naming taekookers here, well, the difference is that if Jimin came live saying it was an accident and he forgot to set his watch to the correct time I would believe him in a heartbeat. If he were walking hand in hand with a girl openly I would stop shipping him with other person automatically. I’m not here trying to proof that Jungkook is a Christmas tree in a group photo just to convince everybody that they are in a relationship lol.

I already explain why in my opinion this coincidence is very unlikely to be just a coincidence given the date when it happened and the circumstances around it. I talked about this theory because it’s not that crazy. It’s not about trying to be the more delusional in the room. If there were an obvious explanation that would make sense I would embracing it, really. But Jimin does use the clock to watch the time (as I stated in my second post) and the watch was perfectly working in the live, so the obvious justifications are discarded. Even you said it yourself anon: “despite thinking is too much of a coincidence”.

But once again this is just a theory and it’s just my humble opinion. It’s completely fine if you believe in something else anon. With all the respect, if you prefer just a compilation of cute moments and talk about more tangible things then maybe this blog is not your place and you should expend your time somewhere else.

In this situation where we don’t have more information and both of us aren’t omitting data that proofs the contrary, both opinions are equal valid. It’s up to you. Once again I didn’t come here to convince anybody, I’m not sharing this on the army timeline for everybody to call us “crazy”, I’m not using it against any ship. I’m just here sharing my thoughts with my fellow jikookers to have some fun and learn new things about Jikook. Who knows, maybe in one of my rants somebody brings actual data that helps me to confirm or discard some of my ideas. I could be wrong. That’s the enjoyable part of all of this, I’m not presenting my theory as an universal truth, but a way to exchange facts and ideas, to learn something new or to confirm something that I already knew.

So yes, anon, I agree with you: making silly theories out of the blue just to proof something as others shippers do maybe is not the right thing to do and all of us know that we don’t need it, BUT discuss some ideas based on facts just to have some fun, trying to bring new points of view on the table and respecting the truth and data that we have is something that could be really enriching if you give it a chance. You would be surprise.

Until next time 🙋🏻‍♀️

#jikook #mingukkie #kookmin

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tamelee · 4 months

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Hello, I wondered what you think of the proshipping/anti shipping debate, and maybe where you position yourself?

From what I’ve seen, pro-shipping is usually people saying that you can ship everything you want since you have to "separate reality and fiction"… and most of the time it sounds like an excuse to create/consume incest fanfictions or child porn without guilt

On the other hand, in the anti-shipping side you have people who are treating some media as "irredeemable" for literally nothing… Like, "oh, this story is saying directly into your face that what thing one character has done is bad? So that means the story is not spreading awareness of this harmful behavior"

I think there are wrongs on both sides, but in general I disagree more with the proshipping community, because most proshippers I’ve interacted with are just people who don’t want to accept that there can be consequences to their actions, what they create, and what they consume. I’ve seen a lot of them saying that fiction has no impact on reality, which isn’t true at all. Most of the times proshippers handle sensitive and "problematic" subjects carelessly, sometimes even while spreading misplaced ideas, but don’t want people calling them out on the matter… (by calling out I don’t mean harassment of course, harassment isn’t and never will be a good solution to those problems)

The subject can be pretty complex, I’m curious to hear your thoughts about it! If you want of course, I would understand you not wanting to talk about it… And I’m sorry if expressed myself badly, since I don’t speak english very well

Take care, you’re doing amazing art pieces💙

Hi ^^ it is expressed very well, dw! And thankyou so much 🧡!!

↓🍵;

Well, you specifically talk about shipping, which I think is completely fine. But the debate itself claims so often to be more than just that, using ‘shipping’ for something much too broad to define through these two terms which meaning is questionable.

The debate is only interesting to me because of the whole fiction=/=reality aspect (at least I personally think that is an enjoyable debate, especially reading the arguments.) The most famous and skilled literary theorists and scholars can’t agree on this matter even today because there are too many variables and barriers like culture for example. A lot of opposites are both deemed true and false at the same time and it often lands on a slightly disappointing “it depends”. You say it yourself also. As well as you “leaning more toward one side” because it’s impossible to put a term on it unless someone would write down a bunch of guidelines to which they then commit to. But then you’re more defined by that than by your own thinking or even preferences.

It isn’t so black and white that you can just.. idk, simply throw it all into two terms to define a preference that includes your entire life-experience and gain a Universal agreement by what it even means in the first place with everyone else on the internet, as if that’s how it works with this topic y’know? As if suddenly a shipping-filter will shame our literary masters out of any logic “because a fan/shipper wants ‘x’ to molest ‘y’ through non-con sex in fanwork’ and to say whether that’s okay or not in general depends on which of the two terms you used to define yourself in your bio and literally nothing else. And I don’t see how that logic connects when it is used like that and so often in this case.

I know, this is an exaggeration, but I hope you know what I mean regarding the debate. This isn’t about your ask directly. The “it depends” is kinda frustrating for me too, because I’m always searching for an answer that makes sense for anything >< But what doesn’t here is as I said before, that people don’t even agree with each other either about the meaning of ‘pro/anti’-shipping’. Even the general definition is (or used to?) different and has literally nothing to do with reality/fiction just.. shipping. Whenever another popular post shows up people share that as ‘the next truth’ or even I receive it for clarification for an older post, but then another says something along the lines of “maybe that’s true for them, but to me it means....”

So, where would I position myself? Well, “it depends” on who asks and what it means to them. Nah, I don’t think a single term about shipping can define how I think about the relationship between fiction and reality, what is right/wrong/acceptable/etc which you’re right- is very complex. At least, I refuse to do that if I can help it. I’ve seen enough misunderstandings and the harassment that you’re talking about to think that this isn’t going about it the most efficient way despite some parts being interesting and definitely topics worth talking about whether it is about shipping or something much broader.

“On the other hand, in the anti-shipping side you have people who are treating some media as "irredeemable" for literally nothing… Like, "oh, this story is saying directly into your face that what thing one character has done is bad? So that means the story is not spreading awareness of this harmful behavior"

And you’re completely right about people using ‘whatever/however/whomever’ as an excuse to justify anything, but that itself is kind of common human behavior and I genuinely don’t know what to say about it. Though you bring up something that (and similar extreme views) is why I would definitely lean more towards a separation of fiction and reality. Not to justify anything, but if anything else... I’ve always rooted for the freedom of expression/creativity whether I agree with it or not because censorship has always been tricky and sometimes outright dangerous. Who's going to decide what exactly? The fact that no one will agree with each other remains regardless. (And yes, I think there are definitely things I don’t want to see either of course, but discussing all that is a whole different topic.)

However,

“I’ve seen a lot of them saying that fiction has no impact on reality, which isn’t true at all.”

You’re right again, but to quickly note; fiction=/=reality or fiction having impact on reality isn’t the same thing. Storytelling has always shaped beliefs and perspectives all over the world. In fiction especially, morals and ethics are often explored. Almost always a story is a problem in some form or another that needs to be solved because that’s satisfying, but how are you going to do that? And how will you write it in a way that people root for your character? And how else can you do that than involving the encouragement of a readers’ own reflection of their values and beliefs while simultaneously sharing and possibly influence them with your own?

No one can deny this though? And if they do I wonder about the argument tbh.

If a story can inspire it can also do the opposite. It’s not one or the other.

Storytelling is such a powerful tool and imo it should be used wisely which means something else in every case because... aaahhh “it depends” ><

#asktamelee #fandom talk #cw sensitive topics #cw sensitive topic

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vergilsama922 · 1 year

Text

Hope Universe Chronicles: Makoto and Tenko's First Date!

Hello everyone, recently these past few weeks, well actually since last month I've been working on this little story of mine. Really it's because I'm inspired by people like @putaindeplagieur and @pyropsychiccollector who are great writers. Hell, even @makoto-naegi-stud-and-friends is incredible with his smut and he's a fellow brother-in-arms as a Naegi shipper! (Check him out!) But I also wanted to showcase some of the more rare ships or crack ships and try my hardest to sell the romance. Usually I'll just throw a couple of pics and call it a day but eh, some things can't escape my brain XD Please also keep in mind I'm not a writer (even though @pyropsychiccollector insists I should write more XDDD) so I want honest reactions! Also Hope Universe Chronicles are....snapshots of different moments in time of the hope universe. It can range from class 78-A first month to their graduation to weddings to baby showers and even kids going to school. Like my family bonding stuff it's just a...it's like a picture book of a giant family album. Or in this case a story. Maybe a story Tenko tells to her kids, or maybe a story Makoto tells to his kids about when he first fell in love with Tenko. Who knows? Anyway, without further ado enjoy~

Makoto and Tenko arrived at the park for their first date get-together, enjoying the cool breeze and the rustling of the leaves. The sound of birds chirping and the soft sunlight filtering through the trees made it feel like a peaceful sanctuary from the rest of the world. A haven away from the madness and chaos of Hope's Peak with Tenko's eyes lighting up at the sight of the open space. "Wow, this is such a great place for training," she said with excitement.

Makoto chuckled at her enthusiasm, "Well, we're not here to train, we're here to have fun and get to know each other."

Tenko nodded and smiled, "Right, I'm sorry. I'm just really passionate about martial arts."

Makoto smiled back, "No need to apologize. I think it's great that you're so passionate about something."

As they walked through the park, they talked about their interests and hobbies. Tenko shared stories about her experiences training in martial arts preferably how amazing Neo Aikidio is over everything else, while Makoto told her about his love for detective work and solving mysteries.

Tenko's eyes widened with admiration, "Wow, you must be really smart to be into that detective stuff!" Well...It didn't exactly hurt that he's been helping Kyoko, Mikoto, Sachi, Mekuru...wait a minute. Isn't that way too many people? Probably not.

Makoto chuckled, "I'm not sure about that, but I do enjoy solving puzzles and mysteries."

Tenko looked at Makoto with a newfound admiration, "You know, you're really cool. Not just because you're a detective, but because you're a really kind person. I kinda feel terrible for calling you a degenerate when he first met....W-Wait! What am I saying?! All degenerates are bad, you're just the exemption!"

Makoto blushed, "Thanks, Tenko. You're pretty cool too, with your martial arts skills and your ability to read people's emotions even if you have an uh....unique way of doing so." Yeah. Tenko was STRONG. And who ever heard of tossing someone in order to read their emotions??? That was something you'd see out of a shonen manga!

Tenko beamed, "Really? You think so? Sometimes I worry that I come off too strong. I also know you're not comfortable with me calling....the "others" degenerates." Ah. He could visibly see her shiver in disgust when she brought up talking about guys. Still, she HAS been trying to make progress! Seriously! I mean now she only tosses guys after three sentences instead of one!

Makoto reassured her, "No, not at all. I think it's great that you're so passionate about something, and your ability to read people's emotions is really impressive."

Tenko's face lit up with joy and a blush, "Thank you, Makoto. That...means a lot actually." Crap. Makoto could see Tenko's cute side. She was still at the end of the day a normal girl (minus everything else of course).

Makoto noticed Tenko's blush and felt his own cheeks heat up. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So, what else do you like to do besides martial arts?"

Tenko's expression shifted to one of contemplation, "Hmm, well, I like to spend time with my friends and mentor, and I also enjoy meditating to clear my mind."

Makoto nodded, "That's really cool. I've always been interested in meditation, but I've never really tried it myself." Mostly because Makoto Naegi's daily life was never peaceful. Never. Whether it was dealing with the more extreme personalities like Junko, Kanade, or Ibuki or hell even just getting constant death stares from every guy in the school, Makoto knew his life was only just going to get more hectic. Meditation was definitely something he would love Tenko to teach him

Tenko smiled, "I can show you sometime if you'd like. It's really helpful for clearing your thoughts and focusing your mind."

Makoto smiled back, "I'd like that, thanks."

They continued walking through the park, enjoying each other's company and the peaceful surroundings. Tenko's eyes sparkled as she saw a group of people practicing martial arts in the distance, "Oh, can we go watch them for a bit?"

Makoto nodded and followed her over to the group. They watched in awe as the martial artists performed various techniques and forms, and Tenko even joined in for a bit, demonstrating some of her Neo Aikido moves. Of course, given that Tenko is well...an Ultimate she clearly was ten, no twenty steps above the rest. It also didn't hurt that Tenko was not only very fluid but incredibly graceful in her movements.

Makoto was impressed, no. Awestruck. She looked so stunning when she was going through her Kata's and showing off her stance and movements to the others. He was seriously falling for her. "Wow, you're really talented! Have you ever considered teaching martial arts?" I mean

Tenko's face lit up with excitement, How did Makoto have this natural ability to pick up on things like that? "Actually, I have! I've always wanted to share my passion with others and help them learn self-defense against dege---uhh....Bad guys! Y-Yeah! That's what I meant!"

Makoto smiled and sweatdropped a bit (She WAS trying at least), "I think that's a great idea. I'm sure you'd be an amazing teacher."

Tenko beamed with pride and gratitude, but more importantly, she was trying her best to hide a blush from the compliment. Why now? Why all of a sudden?! It was just a harmless, simple praise so *WHY* did it make her heart beat so suddenly? Was it the fact that she saw how Makoto looked at her like she was the most perfect thing in existence when she was teaching that random group some of her moves? Was it the fact that he always brought out the good in her and even others? Was it even because out of all the deg...."others" that he truly CARED? No. He genuinely respected her and shared in her passion. She couldn't deny it. She was seriously falling for him.

As they continued walking, Makoto noticed Tenko seemed lost in thought. "Is everything okay?" he asked, concerned. He hoped he didn't say or do anything to mess up this moment together. He knew why Tenko had such disdain towards other guys, hell every guy beside him and there was a part of him that was afraid that he upset her somehow.

Tenko shook her head, "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just thinking about something." Keep it cool. Just don't reveal that you're falling for Makoto. Simple.

Makoto smiled, "Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

Tenko's heart skipped a beat at his words. She had never felt this way about anyone before. It was like Makoto could read her thoughts and knew exactly what to say to make her feel better. She was falling for him hard and fast. Her master didn't teach her how to navigate the hardest challenge ever. Love.

They walked side by side, enjoying the comfortable silence between each other when Tenko suddenly stumbled over a tree root and lost her balance.

Makoto quickly grabbed her arm to steady her, but in the process, they both lost their footing and fell to the ground in a heap. They both laughed as they dusted themselves off, and that's when Makoto noticed something.

"Tenko, your face is red," he said, concerned. She wasn't hurt was she? Or maybe she was angry? Crap. Did touching her by accident make her super uncomfortable? A thousand scenarios were running through his mind, he didn't want to upset everything with his new friend.

Tenko quickly tried to hide her blush, "I-I'm fine! It's just a little hot out." Honestly, she knew it was flimsy but she at least had to try something. Makoto could be pretty oblivious so she was hoping against all hope that this was one of those moments

Makoto didn't buy it, why NOW of all times did he become super observant?!?! "Are you sure? Your face is really red. Maybe we should sit down for a bit."

Tenko couldn't help but feel flustered. Why was she getting so embarrassed over something so small AGAIN? "No, no, I'm fine, really." Another bad lie and she knew it was just a matter of time. Why did couldn't she just tell him how she feels? Why didn't her master teach her how to navigate this? What if Makoto doesn't love her like he loves the others? Was she too manly? Was she too forceful with her anti-male rhetoric? More importantly, what if he said "No." With a hundred different thoughts turning into a whirlpool of negative energy, Tenko decided to do what she promised to teach Makoto. Meditate. She needed to purge these insecurities and figure out the best course of action! At the end of the day it was no different from sparring right? Learn your opponent's weakness while taking advantage of your strength. These thoughts needed to simply be beaten.

Makoto didn't push the matter any further, but he couldn't help but feel like there was something else going on with Tenko. They continued walking in silence for a few moments which felt like an eternity between the two until Tenko finally spoke up. This....she was gambling everything on this. She finally figured out that the best course of action was to be direct. To go on the offensive!

"Hey Makoto," she said, her voice a little quieter than usual.

Makoto turned to her, "Yeah, what's up?"

Tenko took a deep breath, "I just wanted to say...thank you. For being such a good friend to me."

Makoto smiled, "Of course, Tenko. You're a great person and a great martial artist. It's an honor to be your friend."

Tenko smiled back, but her heart was racing. She knew she couldn't keep her feelings bottled up anymore. She took another deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say. This was it. The decisive moment. The indescribable situation like when both fighters know someone will win or lose.

"Makoto...I don't just see you as a friend. I-I have feelings for you," she blurted out, her face turning even redder than before.

Makoto's eyes widened in surprise, but then a smile spread across his face. "Tenko, I feel the same way. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you for a while now." Was it when he agreed to help be the manager of her Aikido club with only the two of them as members? Was it when she protected him from a group of bullies due to their jealousy? Or was it that very first day Class 79-A first enrolled and they met eyes that one Tuesday morning after homeroom?

Tenko couldn't believe it. She had been so afraid that Makoto didn't feel the same way, but now he was telling her that he liked her too. And her mind was truly empty. She.....She didn't know what to say or do at this moment. Her confession was accepted yes, but she never prepared for what to do after. They just stared at each other, Warm-Green meeting Hazel. Engulfing each other in the middle of the day in some random park they decided to go to.

But that perfect moment with neither saying anything yet understanding everything was softly coming to its conclusion.

Makoto leaned in and gently kissed her, and Tenko's heart skipped a beat. It was a soft, sweet kiss that made her feel like she was floating on air. She wrapped her arms around Makoto's neck and deepened the kiss, savoring the feeling of being with someone she cared about so deeply. She never in a million years, no a trillion would believe she could fall in love with a guy. But here she was. Tenko initially thought Makoto was nothing more than a creepy playboy who for some reason had tons of girls fawning over him. Of course, she blamed him for that but as the days passed, even she had to admit there was something *DIFFERENT* about him.

And yet....Tenko knew now. It was that day after all. Her first week of being enrolled was when she looked into his eyes on that Tuesday morning after homeroom. That's when she finally understood that she truly liked him.

When they finally pulled away, they both had huge smiles on their faces. They knew that this was just the beginning of something special, something that could be even stronger than their friendship. They both were in love with each other.

They both found hope in each other.

#danganronpa #makoto naegi #danganronpa au #hope universe #makoto x tenko #tenko chabashira #fluff #love #romance #first date #rare ship #crackship #story #hope universe chronicles

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chesspens · 1 year

Note

I know it said spammed with ANONYMOUS asks but... I'm just gonna spam you with regular asks.

What is your favorite interpretation of the Joker vs your favorite of Batman/Bruce Wayne?

Of course I love new 52 batjokes! There is just so many things going on with those two, alas the comic introduced me to superwonder and this scandalous but I ship them quite a bit, but that is not what we are talking about. I personally love new 52 because joker is pretty serious about their relationship, it could be read as obsessive but really, like fogman said it is a humanizing factor. I personally love that, and bruce is always constantly trying to understand joker but also distances himself from him, as though afraid of truly knowing him. Afraid of truly knowing that at the center of all this evil, of all his crimes, is batman. It's like... Joker's entire existence is a love letter to batman in the worst way possible. God the ending had me beat, bruce ends up crossing the line, the line joker pretends to have crossed, bruce threatens him, threatens joker with the one and only thing that could ever scare him, his past. Then he falls to his death, or at least what was supposed to be his death. There is honestly so many reasons why new 52 would be every batjokes shippers favorite, the disguise, the uncompromising and unconditional love that joker feels, that bruce fears, and in the end lays beside him, the man that has caused him so much pain and loss, ends up calling him a friend. I love them. Eric border is utterly adorable though, honestly joker pretending to be a good boi has to be everything I ever needed in life. But amnesiac joker is everything to me, I hate scott snyder for giving such a good concept only for it to fit four pages of a comic book, like god! I am so pissed, they deserves so much better. I wanna see him get re-jokerized I want bruce to find out that the guy he met on that bench was joker, I want to see that information sink in. The information that joker pleaded for him not to go back, I also wanna see him chuckle with regret when joker told him that he's talking about the lake. How utterly stupid he was for not listening. Imagine him facing joker again with that knowledge? Looking at him with regret whilst he brandishes a knife with the intent to slice through layers of kevlar, remembering the gun that he held under his chin, how the flower that sat in his pocket used to be the color purple, you remember the the color of brown illuminated by that strangely orange lamp when you see green strands flowing in the wind. You wonder now, the skin of his ears would have reddened with blood in this cold, but it stays that same acid bathed color no matter the weather. You regret ever having met him, that man on the bench for now you wonder, would he have smelled of that rotten and festering green apple scent or would he have worn perfume or cologne, would he have preferred the scent of lavender or wood? You then feel a cold sharp stab of pain in your rib, not too deep and your senses are once again engulfed with him and all you feel is regret.

#batjokes #amnesiac batjokes #ndjddksjsnsks #don't mind me #death of the family

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solargeist · 1 year

Note

how does one justify sootbur,,

idk

i guess if it's arg x simpbur/jared, or a dsmp!bur x a non!dsmpbur would be different, but ships like l'manbur x pogtopiabur or whatever is . i mean? /genq /nm /npa (if you don't know the tone tags, genuine question, not mad and non-passive aggressive)

i dunno it’s kinda complicated tbh bc I know Pog n Lman is sillyyy bc they’re like …. The same person a few months apart, like story wise I KNOW this, and I didn’t ship them originally, but I kept making AUs and kept separating them from canon and changing their designs to the point where they look like different people so…. In my head they became different people..? Plus having friends that also do AUs added another layer of separation.

When I draw or talk abt them, I’m heavily ignoring lore. They’re like…. Different universe versions put into one place. In my head they’re the same as Phantombur/Ghostbur or arg n simp? In my head Pogbur’s just a rebel he wasn’t actually president and Lmanbur is a lot more strict of a leader, things like that. (I’m still capable of ignoring bursonas and talking abt the lore correctly tho..! I just prefer sonas at this point)

But I also never cared or had a problem w/ self ships, it might b because I joined tumblr at 13, but they truly don’t surprise nor bother me akdndksk I don’t view them as inherently problematic /gen (tho I never rly shipped anything) this is why I avoid saying sootcest and encourage others not to call it that bc it is NOT incest n I don’t support that ☝️ not a pro shipper ☝️😭

I guess my reasoning is I just enjoyed their dynamic a lot, they do act OOC often due to all of this. I guess that’s what it is, I just fell in love with the little niche community, we were separate from everything, we have our own lore and designs n ideas n stuff, bc for MONTHS I did not ship it and constantly said so. I was actually actively worried when I did start to wonder abt lpog n wanted to draw them aksnsjs

Of course I don’t ship alllll sootbur pairings tho….. I just like lpog and the ghosts, anything else I draw is either for memes or requests 👍

Sorry if this answer is silly, it’s almost 4am currently for me aksjsjs

#ask #i rambled a bit sry sry 😭#i think this sums up my feelings? it’s interesting for sure #OCifiy like crazy #i know how silly n weird it seems I’m aware enough for that akdbdjsks #lot of people ship Ghostbur n Wilbur . they’re Canonically two different people .which is wild #i don’t ship them but they’re an interesting case

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girl4music · 1 year

Text

A character study analysis -

Why Tara Maclay matters

youtube

"Now I’ve never been much of a shipper. I think the first ship I ever telegraphed was Harry Potter and Cho Chang, and while I was a little sad they didn’t work things out, I never hated Harry/Ginny. And I accept it as the natural progression of their story. But when I was a kid watching ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ for the first time about 10 years after it first aired there was one ship I fell in love with and was willing to die on a hill for. ... This isn’t going where you think.

I) My Unnecessarily Long Backstory

Very quickly Willow became my favourite character. I’d loved and adored Sarah Michelle Gellar in just about everything I saw her in beforehand but when I finally got around to watching the show that made her famous, I strangely preferred her more as these gals. I’m more receptive to Buffy as a character these days and can appreciate her performance but younger me was all about Willow. Alyson Hannigan’s work continues to impress me with how she transformed a shy bumbling nerd into a powerful confident witch across seven seasons without once making me feel like the characterisation was betrayed. It’s still a marvel to me how Alyson can effortlessly be adorably hilarious in one scene and heartbreakingly emotional in the next. One of the reasons I kinda, sorta love the magic-is-a-drug storyline in Season 6 and the subsequent Dark Willow thing is the strength of this gal’s performance. So now I’ve hopefully established my love and devotion to this character and can convey that if they were going to put her into a relationship with anyone other than me and have me accept it… said partner had better be the perfect match for her.

Enter Oz. Oz represents a good example of how to create a love interest that exists to put someone in a relationship without feeling like you’re actually doing that. He complimented Willow and his very presence helped her become a better person. Unfortunately by Season 4 Seth Green had grown creatively dissatisfied and scheduled conflicts with another film meant he had to be written out only six episodes into the season. As heart-wrenching as Oz and Willow’s break-up was, it proved beneficial in the long run.

Amber Benson was introduced the same season as a character called Tara Maclay. She was not intended to be a love interest for Willow outright since although Joss Whedon had envisioned one of the main cast turning out to be gay, he was actually leaning more towards Xander being the candidate. The main reason for Tara’s introduction was because Willow had become significantly more powerful over the four seasons and thus was no longer able to convincingly be put in danger the way she used to. So they needed a new character that could serve as their resident distressed damsel. Amber Benson almost wasn’t cast because, well, Joss Whedon has his body preferences. Marti Noxon, however, could see that the vulnerability she brought to the character was what they ultimately needed. Through a combination of convenient timing and the surprising chemistry between the two actresses, their friendship was eventually written to have them become a couple. In what became a shocking move for the series the episode ‘New Moon Rising’, in which Oz returns, ended with him and Willow parting on good terms and Willow choosing to stay with Tara. To say this was met with an uproar would be an understatement. Willow and Oz have been a popular pairing and in the far less enlightened early 2000’s the idea that Willow would not only turn down Oz but do so in favour of another woman… To cut a long story short, Amber Benson was met with so many nasty comments that she nearly left the show. But, of course, she didn’t. And I want to highlight just how impressive it was that this character was despised for no reason other than the fact that Willow chose her over Oz. And then at the end of Season 6 when she was written out, there was even more backlash. While I love Oz it’s impossible for me to ignore that his successor became just as, if not more popular, and her successor was the most despised character in the entire franchise. Seriously, there are Xander fans, Wesley fans, even the odd Riley fan. I will be very surprised if this video reveals the rare thing known as a Kennedy fan. Tara was that tough an act to follow.

II) The Triumph of Representation

The Willow and Tara relationship was not the first time a queer romance had been depicted on TV and nor was Buffy the first series to have an established character suddenly come out after been assumed straight beforehand. But compare the sitcom Ellen in which the title character came out alongside her actress and was met with a lot of criticism for the tone shifts that followed with people such as Elton John telling Ellen to “shut up about being gay and start being funny again”, Buffy was notable for not having a big coming out moment or a very special episode about homophobia. It also stood out for avoiding the other end of the spectrum. The Willow and Tara relationship was treated with the same grace and seriousness as any other on the show. Incidental and un-stereotypical. It was positive representation without beating you over the head with it. Queer viewers could see themselves in either character and find comfort and relatability. Straight viewers could see another perspective and learn to normalise the idea. The relationship had an uphill struggle behind-the-scenes with restrictions on what the characters could or couldn’t be shown doing. Forcing the writers to use magic as a metaphor for exploring their sexuality. They didn’t share their first on-screen kiss until Season 5’s ’The Body’ after eighteen episodes as a couple. But despite those restrictions they still stood out as being a same-sex couple on a major show, in which they were accepted as a vital part of the main cast. Both powerful and fallible in their own ways and existing as independent characters in their own right rather than tokens there to meet a quota. And while there was obviously a bigger focus on Willow at first, since she’d been on the show since it started, the writers quickly began to explore Tara’s character in interesting ways.

III) A Different Kind of Empowerment

The 90’s were the era of aggressive, in-your-face girl power in which women declared they could do exactly what the men did and asserted their strength in a multitude of ways. Buffy expressed her strength through physical prowess and razor sharp wit. Willow expressed hers through intelligence and, later, unrivalled magic powers. Cordelia and Anya likewise stood out for their unfiltered, independent attitudes towards life that were then refined through character development to being unafraid to do the right thing. Tara stood out by being defined through her kindness and empathy. She’s introduced as the only Wiccan at a college meeting who listens to Willow and validates her interest in pursuing more advanced spell casting. She then acts as Willow’s guide and mentor to help her improve her powers, remaining an understanding and empathetic teacher the whole time. Even when meeting Oz, she’s understanding of the idea that he and Willow might get back together despite how much pain this would cause her. Throughout the series kindness and compassion would be her defining characteristics. And showing that she is far more than just ‘the nice character’, her first episode establishes that she is also a powerful witch in her own right, providing Willow with enough assistance to fight off The Gentlemen. This helped set her apart from, say, Dawn, who ended up in distress so much the show itself had to lampshade it. Tara was given just enough competency that her ending up in trouble was never annoying, and she justified her presence in the main cast. This made her an easy character to root for and accept.

IV) Tara as Her Own Person

Once she was established as Willow’s girlfriend the show set about developing her into her own person so as not to remain a satellite character. The Season 5 episode ‘Family’ properly delves into her backstory revealing that she comes from a history of abuse and has been brought up to think that she’ll turn into a demon when she reaches adulthood. This story serves to put the audience on Tara’s side where we see that she fears Willow and the others will reject her if they discover this. We’re shown what she’s had to put up with from her family, explaining her shyness and vulnerability, and thus endearing her to us all. So in the end, when the demon thing is revealed to be just a lie to keep the women in the family in line, the episode celebrates that Tara can remain within the main cast. Also her relatives disapproval of her interest in magic and witchcraft is an effective parallel to her sexuality, making the ‘family of choice’ theme very relatable. The episode ends with an affirmation that Tara is an essential part of the group and the show.

But I’d argue that the most significant turning point in her character development isn’t actually from an episode that centers around her. Season 5’s ’The Body’ is considered one of the best episodes of the entire series and it is important for Tara not just because it features her and Willow’s first on-screen kiss. This right here gives Tara a role that only she can fill in the show. Someone who has experienced the loss of her mother at a young age and can relate to what Buffy, and indeed Dawn, are feeling. And as someone who didn’t know Joyce as well as the others, she is able to be the one who can hold it together and be a rock for everyone. We’re normally used to seeing Willow reassuring Tara or being the stronger partner, but this allows Tara to fill that role too. Putting them on an equal footing. In the next episode ‘Forever’ Tara establishes her identity as someone with a different perspective from Willow in what would be a recurring source of conflict for them. Willow - the witch who came to the craft late - always wants to bend the rules and push the limits of what she can accomplish while Tara - the natural witch - knows and respects these limits and doesn’t like meddling with the natural order. Conflict between them is further explored in the episode ‘Tough Love’, highlighting another part of Tara that distinguishes her as her own person. The inner-belief that Willow sees her as just an experiment and will go back to boys as soon as she loses interest in her. And while this isn’t great for Willow to hear, it serves to reaffirm that Tara is her own person with her own thoughts and fears and not just an extension of her girlfriend. She is then the one who is targeted by Glory and has her mind… well I don’t know what the technical term is but because of that Tara then reveals the season’s big secret to the villain. That scene may be a little clunky but the act itself further puts Tara on an equal footing with the main cast. Things now only happen because of her that can only be done by her. A conflict set up by her disharmony with another character that then leads the turning point towards the finale and now she becomes the secondary part of the main tension. It’s not just ‘will they protect Dawn and stop Glory?’ But now ‘will they save Tara too?’. And once it happens in the big battle Tara contributes in a way that reminds the audience that she is also a powerful witch just like Willow.

That’ll continue into the next season. So Season 5 ends with Tara no longer being ‘just Willow but less powerful’, but an important character who serves the narrative.

V) Character Development

The two-part episodes that opens Buffy’s first season on the UPN network is the best season premiere across the entire series. Beginning what is my second favourite Buffy season after three. Tara is one of four characters preparing a dark spell to resurrect Buffy from the dead after she sacrificed herself at the end of Season 5. Initially on-board with the idea we see that aforementioned conflict come into play when it’s clarified how Willow has been hiding some of the darker parts of the spell because Tara is the one who would question her. And one of the things I love about this episode is how it shows Tara rising to the occasion. In a crisis where Willow was too drained to be their heavy hitter, Tara steps it up and demonstrates how she’s a force to be reckoned with too. And I don’t want to gloss over this badass moment either. Like in ’The Body’ we’re shown that when Buffy is M.I.A it is Tara who the group really needs. She keeps everyone together and ensures they stay on track. And what is the next significant development in her story this season?

Tara is the first one to become aware of Willow’s increasing problems with magic use and what happens next becomes a fascinatingly ironic twist in the tale where Willow erases Tara’s memory of their arguments just in time for the musical episode in which Tara gets an entire song to herself titled ‘Under Your Spell’. While a double-meaning to the memory erasing Willow did, it’s mainly about how their relationship has helped her come out of her shell and shine to her full potential. Besides designating her as important enough to have her own solo the song serves as an important next step in something very hard she has to do. In the episode ’Tabula Rasa’, when Willow’s problems become impossible to ignore and it’s clear she can’t be reasoned with, Tara breaks up with her. Despite how much it hurts her to leave and the cold reaction she gets from Dawn in response, she walks out because she now knows her own self-worth and understands her right to be treated with respect. At a point in the series where Buffy and Willow falls so low they resort to using the ones they care about, Xander and Dawn just hurt people, and Giles abandons someone who needs his guidance, Tara has reached her peak in knowing when to stand up for herself and not tolerate mistreatment. And she doesn’t punish the other characters who cared about her for Willow’s actions. She still makes an effort to be involved in Dawn’s life after the break-up. Even staying over at the house after Buffy and Willow are out all night. Even though Dawn is on paper just the little sister of her girlfriend’s best friend and Tara has no obligation to keep in contact with her, she still looks out for her and tries to provide some stability. But Tara’s friendship with Buffy is something that just made me love her even more. And like in the previous season, this creates a role for Tara that only she could fulfil. Buffy could never talk to Xander or Willow about her relationship problems. Giles is out of the picture. And, well, Anya isn’t the sort of person you kiss and tell to. Tara meanwhle is outside of the group at this point so Buffy feels safer going to her about problems. And Tara again shares this understanding with Buffy that allows her to open up. Having feelings that you’re ashamed of and worrying you’re biologically wrong for things outside your control. The script for this scene in ‘Dead Things’ originally had a line where Tara drew parallels between her being a lesbian who’s had to hide her relationships to Buffy being ashamed of hers with Spike. And it’s not drawn attention to but Tara herself was recently in a relationship with someone who could be very virtuous but also had a dark side and was doing bad things that was getting impossible to ignore and justify. Tara is able to provide that support to Buffy and be there for her and making sure Spike stays in line. And even with regards to Willow she’s supportive of her attempts to get clean in a healthy enough way. Take this scene in ‘Older And Far Away’ where Anya is trying to pressure Willow to cast a spell that will allow them to leave the house they’ve been magically trapped in. While the metaphor doesn’t really land (how many life or death situations require alcohol or drugs to get out of?) the sentiment does. Tara stands up for Willow, recognising that she is trying to be better, and again, serving as that grounding presence who prevents the others from falling apart.

By her final episode, this shy wallflower who put up with mistreatment for so long has transformed into a confident, passionate woman who stands up for what she believes in, will lay down boundaries that she will not tolerate the disrespect of,… but also balances that with being 100% there for her loved ones and not hesitating to help someone in need. I hate to constantly reference ‘Games Of Thrones’ but the development of Sansa makes for a good contrast. Both she and Tara start out in perpetual victim mode and their powerlessness is frequently emphasised. Sansa’s character development into ‘empowered woman’ involves shedding her femininity and the attributes that defined her virtues in opposition to her flaws. Most notably her compassion and ability to be smarter than she’s given credit for. Someone who took pity on a drunk knight, became friends with an inexperienced handmaiden, comforted several scared women in a war zone, and stood up for her husband when his family tried to publicly humiliate him develops into someone who smirks after feeding a man to his own hounds, nearly has her own sister assassinated, trash talks a woman who’s literally fighting on the front lines for her, and her reaction to being indirectly responsible for an entire city of innocents being destroyed is…

Tara’s character development allowed her to become stronger and more confident while still retaining the virtues that were built into her characterisation from the beginning. She doesn’t become perfect and I’d argue that restarting her relationship with Willow at the end of ‘Entropy’ probably wasn’t the wisest move that she herself admits - but hey, she’s human. And then what happens?

VI) A Meaningful Death

The real twist of Buffy Season 6 is that The Trio of Warren, Jonathan and Andrew aren’t the true Big Bads. Their actions just unleash the real one. Enraged and distressed at Tara’s accidental death, Willow goes off the deep end and first just tries to kill the three boys in revenge but then escalates into trying to destroy the world to alleviate her pain. It’s probably my favourite arc in the series - or close enough. And even though Tara isn’t technically involved in this arc - what with her dying to start it off - it still speaks to the strength of her character. Tara had previously shown herself as the anchor who kept the group grounded in the aftermaths of deaths or absences, and it was her leaving Willow and being less involved with the group that led to them falling apart. So her death is indeed what allows for things to escalate this way. Remove the group’s anchor from the equation permanently and the conflict increases for maximum drama and therefore excitement. And because Tara was such a beloved character it just adds to the emotional investment. We don’t just want Buffy to stop Willow because the world ending would be a downer in general. We want Willow to be stopped before she crosses lines in a way that Tara herself wouldn’t want, and that she would permanently stop being the character we know and love. Tara’s death also forces things like Xander and Anya to actually talk about their issues rather than what they’ve actually been doing in the fallout of the wedding. Or Buffy to stop seeing Dawn as just someone to protect and closer to an equal member of the team. The resolution to this storyline is not an elaborate spell, fight routine or comically large weapon… but having compassion for the monster and stopping the apocalypse with an act of love - which, arguably, is a very Tara solution to things.

VII) Conclusion

Despite Tara dying at the end of Season 6 there were plans to bring her back in various capacities before the series ended. Given that the Big Bad of Season 7 could impersonate anyone on the show who’s died, she was a prime candidate for that. The episode ‘Conversations With Dead People’ was, in fact, supposed to have her in this scene instead of Cassie but Amber Benson turned it down. Her reasoning being that the Willow/Tara relationship had meant so much and been a lifeline to many viewers who related to it, and seeing Tara as an evil being telling Willow to die “would just destroy people”. You can read the script for that scene in the link below. And yeah, it’s good, but what we got with Cassie is just as effective. There was also a proposed episode where Buffy would get one wish from The Powers That Be and consider using it to, say, restore Angel’s humanity, defeat The First for good, or bring her mother back to life. And it would end with her showing off a new pair of shoes to Willow - letting her believe she used the wish for that - before stepping aside to reveal Tara. The reason for this not happening was initially just that Amber Benson had a directing opportunity in the UK but she later confessed the following:

“I had had some issues with somebody on the show and it had kind of come to a head just as I was getting ready to leave… Leaving the show was sad, because there were some of the crew and the writers and some of the cast that I just adore… But I had made my peace with that person and the show, and I was done… I’m leaving everything in a good place… I don’t need to come back…”

Would the series have been served well by having Tara come back from the dead? On the one hand - that part of Season 7 showing Willow dealing with mourning her and learning to balance magic on her own is pretty strong. On the other - Kennedy, am I right? Part of me feels that Buffy was never the sort of show to have the wish fufillment element. On something like ‘Charmed’ - yeah, no bother. But Buffy always had this gloomy 90’s ‘life sucks - do what you can with it’ vibe. Mainly from Joss Whedon’s mantra that happy people make for boring television. Bringing Tara back may have been little more than fan service. And it’s actually another actor on the show commenting on their character that helps me come down on the side of letting Tara stay dead. Emma Caulfield spoke about how Anya was killed off in the finale, and unfortunately I can’t remember the exact quote or where to find it, but she used the fact that people were upset at the death and that it affected them as a sign that she was successful as a character since a death that no one cared about would hardly be an example of good writing. Tara was lucky in that she got the generous treatment from the writers. Never being given these low moments that were less organic character flaws and more ‘WTF Whedon?!’ I mean Willow will probably be the character I love most overall. Buffy is great and Oz can’t be touched. Gotta love Anya and Cordelia too. But I think Tara easily had the best development and avoided any nasty derailment that virtually nearly everyone else got at some point. And she’s a testament to what the show did right and what holds up about it all these years later.” - Better With Bob?

A fantastic well-worded and reasoned character study analysis of the character Tara Maclay and why she matters even though she was never credited as part of the main or season regular cast. While I don’t believe that Tara had the best character development - by a long mile - I can’t argue with the sentiment that she was a significant character in the show that taught above all that empathy, compassion, kindness and love is all-important in telling a story about flawed characters that so often need it and that rarely, if at all, ever got it. If not for Tara - who could provide it? Sure, tragic and dramatic storytelling is compelling and teaches many lessons but without the balance of hope and love, it feels more like torture than catharsis. You can’t just throw in the dark without the light, the hard without the ease, and the heavy without the heart. And I think - if it weren’t for Tara and the marvellous way Amber Benson portrayed her, Whedon would have taken all the substance out of what he calls a “weight-y story’. Yeah, life does suck and we should just deal with it however way we can, but empathy is enduring a battle that hasn’t been won yet. It provides the empowerment needed to keep fighting against insurmountable odds. We may not win the battle - but least we can say we never gave up the fight and that we never lost ourselves within it.

And that was what Tara Maclay represented alongside being the personification of purity and ‘the nice character’ and ‘Willow’s girlfriend’. She represented that motivation to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep enduring, and to also remain our best selves in the process because it’s not easy to be a fighter and a lover at the same time. It requires real strength and power too few possess or realize that they once did. It’s not just Willow who needed that lesson. Every main protagonist character did. And Tara Maclay showed them how to endure in the fight through love.

#buffy the vampire slayer #tara maclay #amber benson #willow rosenberg #alyson hannigan #willow and tara #empathy #compassion #kindness #love #characterisation #character representation #character development #why tara is the best #better with bob?#character study #analysis

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moriarty1234 · 15 days

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T*LC Refutation (but decidedly NOT johnlock refutation)

Part-2: What's wrong with their actual meta posts?

[Note: I love and ship johnlock because I saw it for myself in the show when I watched it and was part of the general audience in the past. I even want it to become canon in some Holmes adaption in the future. But T*lc needs to get sucked into obscurity and forgotten. Other fandoms like Good Omens, etc., are following the same rhetoric in their "meta" posts, and that needs to go. This is crucial for our basic critical thinking skills and objectivity.]

1.) Cherry picking and Tunnel vision: These two are almost always linked together.

Cherry- Picking: The action or practice of choosing and taking only the most beneficial or profitable items, opportunities, etc., from what is available.

Tunnel vision (in slang) : A tendency to think only about one thing and to ignore everything else.

This is the first fallacy that comes to mind. Even when I wasn't familiar with the exact words, I could still see that T*lcers always tended to only focus on the moments that could be interpreted as johnlock, and conveniently ignore the ones that contradicted their theories.

An example of this: Why did Sherlock never change his personalised moaning text alert that was set up by Irene on his phone? It even shows up in TLD, why?

I was looking for meta posts that might specifically give me the answer to this question. A T*LC explanation for this. Turns out I didn't find anything.

Because deep down even they know that this isn't exactly a johnlock element in the show. This element is actually about adl*ck.

Like I said, I do ship johnlock, and I'm not even a multi-shipper usually. Adl*ck is literally my NOTP, but facts are facts, aren't they?

This show does not support just one ship involving the title character, but rather it supports multiple of them. Johnlock is just one of those ships. It definitely isn't the only possible explanation for this entire show.

T*lc believers couldn't ever give a johnlock explanation to that thing, so they decided to ignore that altogether, and only focus on how jealous John feels when he hears that tone in the show.

Or, contrarily, they would actively twist every single scene to make it look like a johnlock scene in their meta posts. Which leads me to talk about the next logical fallacy.

2.) Confirmation bias:

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and prefer information that supports our preexisting beliefs.

These people saw johnlock in the show (naturally), but then they stretched it so far that johnlock became the main plot of the show eventually in their eyes. Every single scene somehow became all about johnlock to them.

This logical fallacy is the main one and can be found in almost any t*lc meta post.

An example: You guys must've seen posts floating around in this fashion on Tumblr: "If t*lc isn't real, then why..." or "if not johnlock, then what?".

Look at this post and this famous video so you'll get my point easily.

That's confirmation bias. The whole show does not become all about johnlock just because certain scenes from many episodes support the ship. Johnlock is just one interpretation among many in this show.

Besides, this is a Sherlock Holmes adaptation. This is about the most famous detective in fiction. Cases and the individual characterisations (devoid of any shipping biases) will always take the first priority. That's what the general audience - or "casuals" as t*lcers like to call them in a condescending way - is here for.

(Side note but "casuals" are the most important part of the audience in almost any fandom. What those people pick up on usually tends to be the authorial intent. Writers need their hardwork to come across to most people in their audience. They're not writing a show for just a few "special' people on Tumblr.)

This show becomes 100% johnlocky only through confirmation bias.

In response to this fallacy, I love to quote these lines by Sherlock Holmes from A Study in Scarlet (by Arthur Conan Doyle) :

Data! Data! Data! I cannot make bricks without clay.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.

3.) Backward reasoning: Closely connected to confirmation bias.

Backward logic or reasoning is a type of thinking that involves working from the end result to find the best solution.

It's not possible for me to state a specific example here. 90% of any T*LC meta starts with a pre-defined conclusion "Because Johnlock!" and then the rest of the analysis is written accordingly.

The biggest problem with this fallacy in the context of t*lc is that any complexity or nuance gets lost in the process. Or on the contrary, these people overcomplicate everything according to their own convenience. Anything as long as they get to the pre-defined conclusion "because johnlock" at the end.

Ok, here's an example, anyway: Irene Adler said she was gay in the Battersea Power station scene. Therefore we'll bend over backwards trying to prove how totally not in love with Sherlock she was.

Never mind the fact that some gay people can develop feelings for the opposite gender sometimes. Sexuality can be fluid for some people.

Also, this episode was written by Steven Moffat, who has been extremely ignorant and insensitive about marginalised people in his interviews in the past. What do you expect?

Her phone's password was "I am SHERlocked". Her last wish was to send a goodbye text to him when she was about to get executed in Karachi. Take a wild guess.

4.) The Black and White fallacy : Self-explanatory.

Black and white thinking is a thought pattern that makes people think in absolutes.

This isn't limited to just the t*lc side of the fandom. Many people, regardless of what they ship are responsible for this.

Example : Moriarty is a "psychopath" so it's absolutely impossible for him to have any real feelings for Sherlock.

This when Moriarty's life has always revolved all around Sherlock ever since Sherlock solved Carl Powers' case when they were both teens.

Just because a character is a villain and abusive towards the main character, it doesn't necessarily mean he's incapable of human emotions. It's not always like this.

Also, ask yourself, why would the abuser in the relationship try every way they know to keep their victim with them? The abuser's real sentiment for the victim is the major reason.

Not condoning abuse or being a Moriarty apologetic here lol. Just saying that his own feelings for Sherlock don't disappear just because this ship is unhealthy.

Also, terms like "psychopath" and "sociopath" have become obsolete for ages now. ASPD is the correct word. Use it. We need to stop throwing around big words we don't even know the meanings of.

5.) Hasty Generalisation:

A hasty generalization fallacy is a claim made on the basis of insufficient evidence or a few examples.

Example:

Mycroft: Oh, Sherlock. What do we say about co-incidences?

Sherlock: The universe is rarely so lazy.

Hoo boy. The way this line got repeated ad nauseam (still does)!

When I was ranting about this line and the fans' attitude towards it to Kim, they said, "The universe is in fact very lazy."

So true, isn't it? There's a reason every phenomenon in the universe, from largest to microscopic, tends towards stability.

In relation to this, not every single event is going to be tied to a specific, neat little narrative in the universe. Entropy is a thing.

Because of this line "The universe is rarely so lazy," any continuity/production error is considered intentional and "clever" (God I hate this word now) by these people. The writers keep getting undeserved credit. There's a reason some people still believe S-4 is fake because it was badly written on purpose.

And this is just one example of the bad things this fallacy has done. Don't even get me started on the symbolisms. (I'm getting there, just wait.)

Here's my response to "the universe is rarely so lazy" then.

This is from the same show.

6.) Bandwagon:

Meaning: Majority of the people believe in this thing, therefore it must be true.

Example: This isn't really specific, but how often have you seen t*lcers just repeat each others' words/statements verbatim? Too often in my experience. Half of the time they don't even seem to think about anything related to the show for themselves. They just seem to be parroting each other.

Ok, have an example then. "Sherlock is such a gay baby bottom twink! 😍"

Not only is this factually wrong, because he's a fully functional grown man, but it's also incredibly fetishistic. Stop fetishising queer people.

Have this in my response:

7.) Ad hominem:

You attacked your opponent's character or personal traits in order to undermine their argument.

How many times have these people falsely accused others of homophobia in response to any kind of criticism? Even if it was constructive.

I've actually seen a bnf say, "People only asked so many questions or expressed so many doubts about t*lc because this theory was about a queer relationship, and the possibility of it becoming canon."

Seriously? So is everyone just supposed to turn their brains off and believe in literally anything you say just because?

You even used to get accused of homophobia if you dared to headcanon Sherlock as asexual or even aro/ace. And these people used to claim they cared about queer representation. LOL.

"Mark Gatiss is secretly straight because he didn't make johnlock canon."

"Sarah Z, the youtuber, is homophobic because how dare she question the sacred t*lc in her youtube video about us?!"

8.) The straw man:

A straw man fallacy occurs when someone distorts or exaggerates another person’s argument, and then attacks the distorted version of the argument instead of genuinely engaging.

Anyone who ships either Sherlock or John with any other character apart from each other (particularly if it's a female character either of them are being shipped with) is characterised weirdly in t*lcer's posts.

"You're so heteronormative if you ship Sherl0lly!"

Even if the said Sherl0lly shipper goes ahead to clarify that they're also queer, and that they headcanon both of those characters in that ship as queer in the show.

You get accused of homophobia for headcanoning Sherlock as bisexual! This comes from the same people who insist John is bi in canon.

Well, something tells me that these people just h/c John as bi to make this ship work.

These were some of the few logical fallacies Kim and I could think of when were talking about the meta posts or even general shitposts by these people. I know there are a lot more than these and this is just scratching the surface.

Well, if most of your posts are just filled with fallacious arguments in an attempt to support your theory, your theory might not be as strong as you think.

Part- 1 Introduction (why I'm making this post now and a bit about me).

Part - 3: Everything wrong with "subtexts" and "symbolisms".

T*LC refutation (but NOT johnlock refutation) master post.

#anti tjlc #anti mofftiss #anti moffat #anti bbc sherlock #sherlock holmes #logical fallacies #we care about science and sherlock holmes in general

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lyranova · 18 days

Note

Ooooooh~! Lyra getting salty?

Tee hee! Can you answer 24 for any three series/media of your choice? As well as 26 and 27 for Fairy Tail?

Hiya Erika! Yeah I’m feeling a wee bit salty today 👀, so I thought I would play the salt game 🤭! And of course, I hope you enjoy~!

24 Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

So the three I would recommend are Black Clover (obviously), Fairy Tail, and Final Fantasy Vii!

I would recommend Black Clover for it’s characters, world building and lore (what little bit we get of it 😭), and for just how undderrated it is! I honestly think people don’t really give it much of a chance, and because it isn’t like other anime where it gives you all or most of the information at the beginning, they immediately drop it and call it boring/stupid/insert some other insult here (although the ones that complain about Asta’s shouting and say he’s annoying; i get it. While I personally didn’t find it bothersome, i know others that did, so that complaint is very valid to me!). Black Clover is very much a slow burn series, so you have to give it time and have a lot of patience imo!

I would recommend Fairy Tail for a similar reason as Black Clover; while the story itself is kind of so-so, and there’s *a lot* of fanservice, the characters and their relationships with one another is just so perfect to me! For me that is probably the most enjoyable part of FT, aside from the fact that at the end of the day everything and everyone is okay (contrary to popular belief, not every story needs to have “real life consequences” in order to be enjoyable 🙄). Seeing the moments of characters bonding, having fun, and just banding together during tough times is just *chef’s kiss*. So…I would recommend it for the characters and their relationships, not really the story 😅!

I would recommend Final Fantasy VII for the story and lore, the characters and their relationships, and the music! God the music in that game is just beautiful 😭! The story is really great as well; it’s fun, tragic, but also human (this story has the “real life consequences” that I mentioned in the FT paragraph 😆)! Also the lore is very interesting, and if i’m not mistaken a lot of it was inspired by Norse Mythology 🤔? So if you enjoy that you’d probably enjoy this! The characters are all so fun and unique, their backgrounds tragic, and all of them are really “grey” morally (at least imo), but you really can’t help but like all the characters, even the bad guys!

26 Most shippable character?

In Fairy Tail, I think Lucy is the most shippable character! She just has a personality that works with anyone and everyone, and its really cool and lovely to see all the different ships with her in them (even if I don’t like or agree with all of them 😆!)

27 Least shippable character?

Natsu. Now, while I’m very much a NaLu shipper, I can also see them as just good platonic friends (although admittedly I prefer them romantic agwjwj). But when it comes to pairing him up with other characters…I just don’t see it 😅. Maybe it’s because he’s oblivious, or maybe it’s because he treats everyone the same, but to me he is the least shippable character in the series (at least romantically, but platonically? He’s one of the most shippable 😆)

#asks #erika♠️#wifey💕#my lovely mutuals #salty ask game #thanks for asking!

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ihhfhonao3 · 10 months

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I decided that I might as well make an about me post. Everything is under the cut, you don’t have to read it before interacting but it’d be cool if you did (so you know a bit about me beforehand)!

TLDR: My name is Chaos, I’m queer, I like ace attorney, I write fanfic, I love it when people send me requests, I’m not a fan of mean people

General info:

Hi! My name’s Chaos. I go by other things, like Endo, Enigma, or Void, but Chaos is my primary name. You really can call me what you like/what you feel fits best for me! I don’t really mind too much :)

I’m aegosexual aegoromantic, genderqueer, amatopunk and voidpunk/nonhuman. I use any pronouns (including xenos, neos, emojiselves and nounselves), but prefer it/they. I like dehumanizing names and terms, so calling me stuff like “creature” and “thing” is appreciated. I’m radinclus, so I accept and support all “good-faith” queer identities (like xenogenders) but am against harmful ones (like transage). I feel like it’s also worth mentioning that I’m a furry and I’m undiagnosed/self-diagnosed neurodivergent! I deal with pretty serious mood swings oftentimes and struggle with regulating my feelings, so how I respond initially to something (especially if it’s a presumed negative comment) may just be a retaliation as to how I’m feeling currently. Please keep this is mind when interacting with me personally (I don’t want to drive anyone away from interacting just because I get really angry at stuff sometimes), as I am not always able to tell someone’s intended tone online. Simple use of tonetags do help, and I will usually use them when talking with others!

Things I like:

I love reading, writing, playing video games, watching anime and listening to music!

Some of my interests include (but are not limited to): Ace attorney, Dead end: Paranormal park, Skyrim, Magical boy, Lioden, Subnautica, Dislyte, Puella magi madoka magica, Pokémon, Cult of the lamb, The dragon prince, LittleBigPlanet, Good omens, Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts and God troubles me, amongst others that I can’t recall right now. These are some of the main fandoms that I’ll probably write for.

Some of my favorite Ace attorney ships include: Klapollo, Wrightworth, Blackmahdhi, Claypollo, Claypollier, Junithena, Franmaya and Asoryuu, alongside some others from various other fandoms (but Ace attorney by far has the majority of my ships and OTPs). Some ships I have from other fandoms are Viravos from The dragon prince, Aziracrow from Good omens, Homumado from Madoka magica and Narilamb from Cult of the lamb.

My personal political and social stances and beliefs:

I don’t really ever dni people, but if you are a radqueer, a pro-contact paraphile, an rpf smut reader or writer, a queer exclusionist/puritan, a bigoted feminist (terf/radfem/kill all men idealist/gender critical type), an unnecessary gatekeeper, a cop lover, an anti-shipper, a server of any kind of baseless and harmful allegations towards anyone, or a bigot, please keep in mind that I do not like you, I do not condone you or your actions, I do not support you and I may actively express this distaste towards you and others like you in any media I may post, create or share. However, those who are actively trying to better themselves, recovering or reforming from believing in any of these or identifying as any of these are welcomed with opened paws! Politics wise, I am based around leftist extremism and believe in philosophies like revolutionary, anarchist, and pseudo-communist/socialist beliefs. Please keep your distance if you are strongly against any of these beliefs. If I find that I am in your dni list, I will promptly block you to help us both have the best and safest online experience possible.

Fanfiction info:

I take fic requests, but I reserve the right to refuse any if they are based around a topic/ship I am uncomfortable with. Also, my asks are open because of this, and I have anon turned on so people can request a fic they may not be comfortable with people on their main account knowing they requested. Please use this feature properly. I reserve the right to any anger, cynicism, or mistrust I feel towards any anons or asks I receive that do not fill this quota. Please do not ask for donations or money in my asks, the answer will always be no.

Requests will usually be completed within two week’s time, unless under unique circumstances. Please do not pressure me to write if I’m taking a while, I will complete it eventually!

Most of my fics will be Ace attorney based, but I may write some about other fandoms from time to time.

Please be aware that I do write smut fics. If you are unable to handle sexual topics, please be aware of your personal limits when considering reading them. I will also have some fluffs and non-smut fics for you to read if smut is not appealing to you! However, many of those fics will be locked, so you need an account of your own or a guest account to access them. All smut fics and fics under 1,000 words will be unlocked for anyone to view!

Interaction and activity:

I probably won’t reblog or like as many posts as others, only my own things, my friend’s things, ace attorney fanfiction and things I thought were important or I want to remember. I will usually comment on posts to interact instead!

While at first glance, my blog might seem a little negative or down-in-the-dumps, I can promise you I am not a usually negative person! Again, I just don’t reblog a lot of things you might usually see a “normal” tumblr user reblog, and I definitely don’t reblog as much. More stuff is in my likes, which are public. Sifting through those might give you a better idea of who I am in a natural sense if you may be considering following me.

So, yeah! That’s pretty much all I have! It’s a lot I know, but the general rule is just be chill to me and others and I’ll be chill with you! So welcome, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay here :3

#introductory post #intro post #introduction #introducing myself

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