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mor-starz · 3 months

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Though I'm unsure this will reach the right people, I need to speak my mind about the reaction to the Shubble situation.

I am overwhelmed with reassurance by how this community is supporting Shubble.

A part of me heals every time I see everyone continue to recognize that Shubble is the most important person in the room.

I am proud that we are supporting the victim.

But I do have to stress that we haven't stopped the support of the Abuser, Wilbur Soot.

While it's amazing to see the community come together for Shubble, and that we have already hurt Wilbur's reputation.

I am still afraid it's not enough.

Wilbur still has a fanbase, he still has reach. But most importantly: He has INFLUANCE.

Though I am already seeing the effects of this community's endless support of Shelby already reaching his fanbase, I can't ignore the people who haven't left.

I know that I can't speak for everyone, but it's hard to immediately cut ties with someone like Wilbur. He was someone that I used to look up to and admire. It was painful to let go of the comfort I found in him. But I still found a way to leave him.

Right now people are slowly learning more about the situation through videos on YouTube and posts here on Tumblr, but there are still people who are blindly supporting Wilbur.

As someone who doesn't use Twitter, which is where everything is taking place, I had to learn about the situation from Tumblr users fighting over Wilbur's innocence.

Which was two days before his apology was screenshotted and reposted on Tumblr.

Before Wilbur's shitty apology, there were only two videos on YouTube discussing Shelby's VOD and Wilbur's allegations, now confirmed, of his involvement as the Abuser.

With the only informative video being a quick summary of Shelby's VOD and all the main arguments for Wilbur being the abuser. Which, as I'm now making this post, the YouTubers who made those videos have yet to update the current situation.

Though there are more "informative" videos on YouTube now, they still lack both reach and current facts. With only one in particular having both requirements, xetn4's video which I'll link here: Why do my heroes become horrible people. (youtube.com).

But while xent4 has made a solid video that has checked these boxes without being clickbait, that video still only has 10k views (as of now).

Sure that's nothing to sneeze at, but that 10k compared to Wilbur's 6 million subscribers (as of now) pales in comparison.

And that's not even mentioning how his video is the only one that doesn't feel like people trying to hop onto the "Fuck Wilbur Soot" train before it leaves, using it as clickbait for views.

But even with how ungenuine those videos are they still only have a thousand views at best.

And while posts here on Tumblr have been reaching nearly a thousand notes overnight, they still don't have the proper reach.

Again, I cannot stress enough how little reach this situation has outside of Twitter.

Because while the support for Shelby has affected Wilbur's fanbase, I'm still afraid it isn't enough.

And with every day that passes my fear that this situation will be swept under the rug and forgotten only increases because I'm already watching the numbers fade with every day.

Because as long as the situation stays on Twitter, as long as people read Wilbur's apology without knowing it's about Shelby, the less people are going to know the very real threat Wilbur poses as an abuser with a fanbase.

And yes, to clarify the apology, people are going to shrug it off without knowing the heaviness of his words. Wilbur wasn't afraid to say Shelby's name, he was ensuring a safety net, a loophole.

Because if you read his apology without any of the facts, then it ensures that you stay ignorant and continue to support him under the guise of him "getting better".

And I'm not assuming here, because I've already seen it happen with my friends. Just showing them Wilbur's isolated apology multiple of my friends have asked me why it matters so much "he's already apologized and is getting better, so what's the problem?".

The problem is that Wilbur is dangerous.

And as long as someone can read Wilbur's apology without Shelby's name or the facts, then they will continue to think that everything's taken care of and that nothing has changed.

I can already picture that without Tumblr I would also be one of those people and would still be blissfully ignorant as I happily listen to Lovejoy thinking about Wilbur's next upload.

This is the very thing that is happening as long as we allow this situation to stay contained on Twitter. Because if we don't spread the facts and get the proper reach, we are allowing Wilbur to keep his peace.

His peace which was the exact thing that kept Shelby silent in the first place, hell it might even be the reason why the VOD was taken down to begin with!

Wilbur is dangerous and shouldn't be allowed peace.

Wilbur doesn't deserve a fanbase and we need this situation to reach the proper audience, his audience before it's too late.

Always Believe the victims.

Don't support the abusers.

Support Shubble.

Stop Wilbur Soot.

#shubble support #shelby grace #shubble #wilbur soot #wilbur soot situation #wilbur situation #shubble situation #Sorry about the rant #I didn't want to make this about Wilbur but it's scary how little has changed in regards to his fanbase #its been bothering me to see almost nothing change when I check on Wilbur's Subscribers on youtube #I'm more checking if its changed now a days #And its worst when i know just how little this situation is talked about irl #Sure its fresh but that shouldn't cause this little coverage and overall basic knowledge of the situation #i hope this reaches the right people but with how little reach these posts have compared to screenshots i honestly dont know #Take care of yourselves #and dont forget to drink water

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bonesandthebees · 11 months

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Ok, so, I've never watched any of the qsmp streams, but I read your rambling about it and read your one shots abt it, and uh do you have any advice on how to get into watching the streams? Like where do I start? How to catch up on missed lore? Stuff like that

well there are a lot of different POVs you can choose to catch up on and which one(s) you choose will definitely affect your understanding of what's going on. if you want to just catch up on the primary major story beats overall (federation lore, main egg lore) this channel on youtube has made 3 videos so far summarizing the lore as it goes on. I haven't watched these videos myself so I can't say how accurate they are or if they leave anything important out, but I've heard positive things!

now if you wanna catch up on more individual lore/character dynamics and all that then you're facing a bit more of a challenge. I believe quackity has most of his qsmp vods uploaded on his vod channel so you can definitely check those out for his story stuff. if you wanna understand my fics better wilbur has the smallest number of qsmp vods out of the cc's at least somewhat tied into the storyline so it shouldn't be too hard to catch up on his stuff. his vod from day 1 of the qsmp has one of the funniest moments from any wilbur stream ever (yes I am referring to that moment he was talking to max) but I don't think you need to watch a ton from any of the day 1 POV's after the first hour or so.

while phil is the pov I watch the most for qsmp, he's definitely less involved in the plot. but unlike what I keep seeing some people on twt and tumblr say, he DOES participate in the rp and does care about the lore. he just doesn't go out of his way to get super involved in it and likes making 4th wall breaking jokes. but yeah if you're looking for more lore based stuff, phil might not be a great pov to watch as your primary.

now bad is the english speaking cc most involved in the heavy federation lore stuff, so his vods are definitely good to check out if you're looking for an english speaking cc to watch. jaiden's also definitely tied into it and has her own very interesting plotline going on atm involving the federation, but she doesn't stream as often so there are a few more gaps with her compared to bad who's been daily streaming for months now.

now for the cc's who don't primarily speak english, it's definitely a bit more of a challenge to watch those POVs if you don't speak the cc's language, but when many cc's are in a group they'll usually switch to english since that's the most common language on the server. also there's the translator that most of them have up on their screen, but it's not super accurate and a lot of the time cc's forget to switch it between languages so I don't rely on it much. for lore stuff, cellbit is a great choice because he's been heavily involved in investigating the federation and solving puzzles and all that since he first got on the server. from the french side, baghera jumped into lore stuff pretty quickly too so I highly recommend her pov as well

again I don't know how detailed/what the summary videos do and don't include but if you see clips from certain streams on that summary video that look interesting, I definitely recommend going to the vod itself and watching at least a bit of it. the group dynamic between all the players on the island is so delightful to watch. so many great friendships have formed bc of this server and it's so much fun to watch them grow in real time.

more than anything though when you're trying to catch up, go through the tumblr tag! follow people who liveblog a lot! follow the updates accounts on twitter! I actually don't catch many streams, but I'm usually pretty up to date on the big plot stuff happening on the server at all times just from what I see on my dash. read posts and check out the tags to absorb info via dash osmosis. that's how I caught up on dsmp when I first got into it back in january 2021 lol

hope this helps :)

#ask #anon #qsmp

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moore-nocturnal · 10 months

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I haven't seen you in a while,how are you?

(I'm asking because sometimes it worries me about my favorite artists,some hasn't posted.)

Hiya! I'm okay👍 to be honest I've been all over, was here a bit when totk came out, left when spiderman came out 😅 making DC and marvel art on different blogs. I've actually been a bit active on my one Twitter account than my main one . Posting my time lapses on TikTok and so on.

Since I've lost my computer, using my phone to draw takes forever. Plus I think my eyes have gotten worse from staring at my phone for so long to draw. I usually take my glasses off to do it, I gotta go get my eyes checked lol.

It seems the more I'm away the more notifications I get for this account lol I'm glad people still like a lot of my older pieces. I'm at that point where I'm comparing myself to other Zelda artists again. And then I just don't post, plus I've been trying to pick up more hours at work to so I've been a bit busy too.

But it's all 😊👍

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burr-ell · 1 year

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🔥🔥🔥

I am here to start a war.

1, 10, and 13 for CR and FE3H

choose violence ask game

That's a lot and I'm here 👏 for 👏 it 👏 I'm gonna split the posts for CR and FE3H so they don't get in each other's tags; this post will be for CR.

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Vex. I've talked about it elsewhere, including here on twitter for those interested, but it's really irritating to me that so many self-proclaimed fans of hers keep flattening her into a Joss Whedon woman (while simultaneously decrying those very tropes). I've seen it a lot of times among Vex/Keyleth shippers who tend to project themselves onto Keyleth and thinks Keyleth "deserves" to have the character they think is the hottest, but I've also seen it among Percy/Vex shippers who are hardcore Vex stans who also think she's being oppressed at pretty much every turn (except by Percy who worships the ground she walks on and is therefore perfect for her). It also happens among the old C1 commentariat, though they use it to bash Vex and Laura for [bleep blorp misogyny].

Vex is complicated. She's resilient, clever, resourceful, beautiful and confident about it, compassionate, pragmatic, frosty to those who haven't earned her trust, desperate for approval, and frugal to the point of obsession. She's a survivor of abuse and racism. Her most defining relationships are with three male characters. She stole a broom for no reason other than that she wanted it. She spent 15,000 gold to free two slaves. She has the most explicitly political career out of everyone in Vox Machina, including the tribal leader and the scion of a noble house. If Syldor and Syngorn hadn't been so horrible to her she'd have become a diplomat like her father, something Laura explicitly said. She and Syldor try to repair their relationship post-canon. She has no problem topping Percy. She gets flustered by Percy.

In short? She acts like a real person. If you're watering her down to "greedy bitch", "step on me queen", or "most victimized character ever", then honestly, I think your tastes are unspeakably boring.

10. worst part of fanon

There have been too many posts to count about my main frustration—that fanon is seen as sacrosanct compared to canon simply because fans came up with it, and that fans get so wrapped up in fanons and headcanons (that are, if I'm gonna get really violent, rather adolescent in scope and tone) that they're genuinely righteously outraged when canon contradicts it or other fans dislike it.

So since we're choosing violence, I'll just say glasses!Imogen. Round cute sweet little uwu baby bean glasses!Imogen. It's symptomatic of that larger problem, it largely exists purely in the context of a ship (which is symptomatic of another larger problem), and it's not an interesting enough concept to justify its existence after everyone and their mom has done it and demanded that everyone else validate it.

13. worst blorbofication

Honestly? I gotta go with Percy, and I say this as someone whose blorbo is Percy. There are two strains of this:

1. The old guard C1 fans who have spent years coming up with ways that Percy, as Vex's simp, will absolutely adore everything she says and does and do whatever she tells him to and never challenge her or consider himself in any way, and

2. The more traditional Uwu Baby Boy types who really seem to like making him as soft and romantic as possible. The character tag is uninhabitable if you don't block characterxreader blogs on sight.

Honestly though, I'll take type 2 over type 1, because I don't remember the type 2 folks throwing a hissy fit over Matt's portrayal of Percy and comparing him to Syldor. If you're genuinely trying to argue that Matt portrayed Vex's husband similarly to her abuser and that either Laura or Taliesin would be okay with that, I would cordially suggest removing your head from your colon.

#asks #cr discourse #choose violence ask meme #all that said: matt colville's vex still sucks

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possiblylando · 1 year

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The Cycle of 'Success' in Jujutsu Kaisen. [Leaks & Spoilers up to 225]

There's an interesting phenomenon that I've only really seen in Jujutsu Kaisen. If you're apart of the JJK community you've probably seen some variation of this image:

Incase images don't load I'll describe it for you. The Cycle of JJK >Chapter where an ability is explained for half the chapter >Fans say "Gege has been running on fumes since Shibuya this is trash" >Cool thing happens because of the set up >Fans say "Gaygay my goat, I kneel!" It's interesting right? I can't say I've seen another manga that's had a reception like this. The only thing I can really say is similar is One Piece but even then it doesn't compare to the cycle. It's hard to analyze because there's not really another series that has or had a similar sort of thing going on with it. I feel like I'll write this whole thing out and have absolutely nothing to say. I think the main thing to blame are the Leaks. JJK has a rather unique leak situation. For those of you unaware there is a person on twitter who goes by Myamura who every week (that there is a chapter) will go through and post raw scans of each page on their twitter. There's a window of about 1-2 hours where these scans are up before they're deleted and Myamura goes private again. Each Page is posted one by one and accompanied by a caption that describes the text and events in the scan. It gives people far more time to linger on singular pages. It makes a chapter that would otherwise last 10 minutes last 6-12x that. So a singular page lasts as long as the chapter itself would take to read. Not only that but the scans descriptions aren't really- Accurate. This isn't to rail against Myamura at all of course. Leaks are going to happen at any rate so there's no point in getting mad at someone who circulates leaks. But still this goes without saying that this leads to many flawed perceptions of chapters which haven't even released yet. The most recent example I can think of is chapter 222.

This page alone was able to entirely shift the view of chapter 222 from being one of the most garbage rushed chapters into one with immense intrigue. All because this page wasn't properly translated and described within the initial leaks. Of course the leaker later cleared this up and the view of this chapter instantly flipped. And this happens for every chapter. THIS IS WHERE I TALK ABOUT 225 AND MAJOR SPOILERS WITHIN IT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF 225 STOP READING HERE AND COME BACK ONCE THE CHAPTER IS OFFICAL RELEASED IM SERIOUS HERE IT'S BIG YOU PROBABLY WANNA EXPERIENCE IT BLIND IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

Alright then. Lets continue. The reason I want to talk about 225 is because it encapsules the entire cycle in a single chapter. We got like 6-8 pages of people just talking about the Gojo Vs. Sukuna fight while not seeing any of it during it. It was essentially just a recap of the last chapter. (One of my boys finally showed up in a chapter hi Kashimo)

this is very much the "Gege is running on fumes" portion of the chapter. Beat to beat honestly. While unlikely I feel like Gege has begun to structure some of these chapters knowing about the leaks. Of course this is just- Not True.

Then the 'mediocre' first half is followed directly after by the SECOND domain clash in the series. That's right this is only the SECOND actual domain clash in the entire fucking series. It's ridiculous. It's interesting to follow what people are thinking page to page. Me and my friends will discuss the leaks as they happen. I also tend to look at the leak hashtag as it happens. It basically goes like this. >"SNOREEEEEEEEE This chapter is boring as fuck what is gege doing" >"Finally back to the action" >"KICK HIS ASS GOJO KILL HIMMMMMMM BEAT HIS ASS" >"Oh shit." >"well Gojo's dead" or "he'll get up gojo's fine [Copium]" I believe the main thing this can be attributed to is the fact JJK is a near unholy mixture of building blocks. Like throwing Hunter X Hunter into a usual Shonen Series. Seen no where better than Hakari's Domain Expansion.

This fucking monster of an ability has an entire double page spread dedicated to explaining how it works. Most of my friends who where also reading weekly had no fucking CLUE what the hell it did until the end of the Kashimo fight. Even then there was still confusion on what it actually did aside. Odds are a decent amount of people reading this don't fully understand it (Which is fair). So then why doesn't HxH have a similar cycle of 'hype'? The main thing is expectations. When you read HxH you expect a cerebral combat system based around very intricate rules lawyering details which need to be stepped around. Fights in HxH also don't command such an enormous part of the story as they do in JJK. The biggest fight in HxH is Chrollo Vs. Hisoka. It can be debated it's actually Meruem Vs. Netero however I'll stick to the former for this example. The Fight between Chrollo and Hisoka lasts from Chapter 351 to 356. Only 5 chapters. This is one of the longest stretches where there's actual brutal to the death fighting. The only other times there are even comparable to this is the ENTIRE Chimera ant palace invasion arc (where the fights are all one sided and based on stalling) or the dodge ball game. Now compare this to JJK. Shibuya was almost ENTIRELY a bloodbath. Shibuya is nearly 60 chapters long. In fact it surpasses that if you include the evening festival arc which is preparing for Shibuya. Most fans of JJK only started reading after Shibuya ended. (Myself included I started reading during the month long hiatus after the Zenin massacre.) So the expectations are there- Readers want to feel a similar high to Shibuya. But that just isn't possible while you're reading weekly. You have time to process events and question what comes next when you only have 1 chapter a week to read. This is an 'issue' all weekly manga face. But especially with JJK because it has a similar thing going on with HxH where it has these advanced abilities with complex usages. But JJK is a much more balanced verse with the exclusion of a few stinkers (Gojo, Sukuna, Kenjaku). So these fights can't so easily be predicted like they can in HxH.

All of this is to say, Expectations matter. Both to the author writing a piece of ongoing fiction, And to the audience who consumes it. There's a reason Binge "culture" is as prominent as it is. Stories like these are meant to be consumed close together. It would be like watching a movie but you can only watch it 10 minutes at a time once a week. When people don't see that progression chapter to chapter (One Piece is really good at this) they become disappointed. Even if a chapter is important in the long run if it doesn't pay off something when it's released it'll often be seen as boring or useless. To use an example from One Piece. Look at Skypiea. Uh- Spoilers for one piece btw I'll be brief because this isn't a One Piece post. Skypiea is an arc that takes place right between Alabasta and Water 7. Both of these are INCREDIBLY impactful and majorly important arcs. So Skypiea being in-between them of course bring a lot of expectations that it will immediately be another very impactful arc. However- It isn't. Atleast it wasn't- Not until recently. Due to events near the end of Wano Saga Skypiea saw a resurgence of fans due to events that happened in it turning out to be incredibly important foreshadowing. To summarize; JJK has a unique mix of story building blocks, Action and Leaks. All of this serves to create a sort of perfect storm around the perception of the series. So remember- GEGE IS A FRAUD HE'S RUNNING ON FUMES SINCE SHIBUYA CHAPTER [Insert Chapter Number] IS TRASHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk spoilers #jjk 225

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thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai · 6 months

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Now that some time has passed and I'm in somewhat better spirits, I'm contemplating again why Fiery Birds & Endless Winter accomplished what I failed to achieve with CYHMH pre-break*. Mind you, this is nothing you see when looking at the naked stats but about the overall reception of both stories.

So, I drew up a list of a few things that might make a difference. Note that this is an analysis that has no actual data basis, I'm not going to change CYHMH because of my findings because it doesn't make sense.

Length

Fiery Birds & Endless Winter has 70k, whereas CYHMH has 355k (198k posted). Longer stories are more tedious to read than shorter ones, especially when it lacks action. Which brings me to...

Conciseness

Whereas CYHMH is a novelisation that entails the entire anime and meticulously narrates hypothetical events between the episodes, the main plot of Fiery Birds & Endless Winter happens within two weeks, which enforces a quicker character development and hence, more suspense. I can see how this is more appealing to the reader than Yuuri taking almost 200k words to figure out his feelings for Viktor. Since I want to stay true to the anime, I didn't include any additional drama that would have added suspense (I discussed this with my beta and she agreed that this would change the story to something that no longer matches my vision). CYHMH is for people who have a lot of perseverance and patience and who enjoy a character & relationship study and I guess that makes it a bit niche.

Freshness

Everyone knows the plot of YOI and in addition to that I assume that the fandom is already saturated with novelisations (I haven't checked because that is bound to cast me into another negative spiral of self-deprecation because I have even less confidence than Yuuri Katsuki and I don't want to go there). To be honest, I expected the scenario of Fiery Birds [Yuuri and Viktor meet at the Olympics] to have been told over and over before, too (again I haven't checked for the abovementioned reasons and I don't care about these things because I write the ideas that strike me). But even if that's the case, in terms of freshness, Fiery Birds seems the more intriguing story to me in my impression. Also, as far as I know, are fans generally more interested in AU and canon divergence, but I'm not sure about that either.

Characterisation

As far as I know, many fans have watched YOI with the English dub, which gives a different impression of the characters as it translates dialogues more freely compared to the (corrected) sub version which I used for CYHMH. This affects how fans see the characters and thus they might not agree with my take. Of course, this would be more noticeable in a canon story than in one that is canon-divergent. In addition, individual factors like one's own views and experiences influence characterisation, which again is more noticeable in a canon story.

My guess is that these aspects made the difference. It's nothing I can or want to change because both stories differ so vastly in setting, plot, and intent. I don't even want to take these things into account for the sequels of CYHMH because again, it would no longer be the story I want to tell.

A while ago, I asked here and on Twitter what a story needs to keep readers hooked and the responses made me think that apart from characterisation, which people have told me I do fairly well, my stories don't really have these things. Not that I would ever want to twist and bend myself for other people, but that showed me how much my own taste in stories differs from other people's taste, and how much my ideas differ from their expectations.

It was a relief to know that a story I wrote had the impact I was hoping for, that I can still move the hearts of the readers, that they get excited about my favourite parts of the story, that my writing has the power to keep them hooked until the end (and not even losing one of them! (I know that losing readers is normal to some degree (I'm not a newbie writer) but in the case of CYHMH enough readers disappeared pre-break that I started to think that this story is rubbish). Knowing that I achieved all this with a story that doesn't have the personal and emotional significance for me that CYHMH has, remains to be a source of frustration and I must find a way to live with that. And, to be honest, that's not easy because writing is how I connect with people and naturally, I feel this urge more keenly for stories that are very dear to me.

I crave to understand this discrepancy between the "hype"** about a story that didn't matter a lot to me and the overall so-so reception of a story that is my love letter to YOI because it doesn't stop bothering me. The experience I made with these two stories is so contrary to my past experiences that made me believe that stories that are written with love reach the hearts of people, which is what I'm hoping for when I decide to share a story I hold dear with the world. (I'm not even trying to understand what's up with Thousand Spotlights)

Please know that I am eternally grateful for every reader who liked CYHMH well enough to stay and who gave the updated version a shot and actually enjoyed it and whose heart I was able to move. Without you, I would have given up 💖

In case this post reaches people who have read both stories: would you mind telling me which one you liked better and why?

*I'm referring to the period until I updated CYHMH with the changes I made myself and the suggestions from my beta. Since I posted the updated chapters, I got a few super lovely and excited comments from a couple of new readers, which fill me with the hope that the hard work of me and my beta was not in vain. However, at this point, it's too early for an evaluation of the "new" version.

**Hype in comparison to CYHMH. Assuming anything else would be preposterous.

#fiery birds and endless winter #can you hear my heartbeat #ADTLTBAverse #my yoi fic #yoi #jen's mind vomit

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timetraveltiddy · 1 year

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alright I'm gonna go on a slightly petty sub4hibi rant that will probably only make sense to like 2 people here but has been sitting in my head for a while (if you haven't read it then. some spoilers ahead!)

posting here instead of twitter 'cause I know some friends and people that follow me there (but not here) that really like the ship I'm about to...definitely not hate on but maybe be a bit critical of and though I know perfectly well those in question can take criticism and the like perfectly fine nobody really wants to randomly have crit, or even just opinions they don't agree with of their faves thrown at them (so if any of you ever see this post in the future I promise that's the only reason why)

ANYWAY sca-di went on the usual art reblog and it made me think about how I'm a little bit bitter at the popularity of Takuji/Kimika. It's a ship I myself like, I think it's definitely interesting and I support it, but to put it plainly I mostly like it for its impact on Kimika's character more than anything else. Her ending and the way she talks to Takuji about her insecurities is great and it gives a lot of insight into her character, plus it's nice to see her sort of get brief bit of happiness in a bittersweet ending. However I still prefer Kimika/Zakuro by a LONG shot and it makes me sad that it doesn't get as much attention

I've gone on a bit about Kimika's relations to Takuji and especially Zakuro so I can see why it's more popular from a narrative perspective. Many of us love the grimdark shit because it's a hell of a lot more interesting and compared to happy sunshiney things, and well...EoS definitely ends on a much happier note than the main narrative does for Kimika. I love a good angsty narrative myself but what I like even better is a complex relationship between two women who have great chemistry together and BOY did this story deliver well on that. But anyway in general I would think most readers of this VN are chasing some of the more philosophical and dramatic components than a happy gay ending. Plus, by proxy of being Tomosane's brother Mamiya is relevant for the whole story, as opposed to poor Zakuro who loses relevance to the latter events fairly early in (most) routes. Why wouldn't a ship involving him get more attention?

And herein I touch upon a bit less hypothetical criticism and more my personal thoughts on the matter. I don't really have the authority to say anything on the matter between the differences between Western and Eastern fandom approaches to the VN but regardless...I see soooo much fanart of Kimika with Takuji and so little of her with Zakuro. It exists, but I could probably count the amount I've seen on one hand (and one of those was drawn for me by a friend!). And it makes me a little sad because I love them so much. Like I said, people aren't reading the story for the gay parts (and if they are, they're braver than any US marine tbh) but it saddens me that one might pass over this ship because they got a happy ending in a single route.

And like...not to be that guy but you can't always disconnect your biases from what you consume. In this case, I'm referring to what appears to be a VERY heterosexual Western fandom. Which is kind of funny to me, considering that the narrative engages in some very interesting choices that aren't tackled too often in m/f stories (but often enough in hentai and other media I suppose). Especially since the game literally starts and ends with homoeroticism if you go back to Down the Rabbit Hole 1 after you finish the game. Regardless, the narrative as a whole really shies away from making any of these yuri relationships lasting or being meaningful (aside from Yuki/Zakuro, arguably). None of them are connected to the main plot and Kimika/Zakuro has zero chance of happening in the canon endings. And then of course there's the constant casual stereotypes ("but we're both girls!" and Yuki's dad, though funnily enough I think it's kinda nice that nobody questioned his sexuality or where Yuki came from) and the constant use of the f slur. All of which may make those who are still sort of uncomfortable with gay content feel "soothed" in a way and still enjoy it. Not to say you can't be an ally and still love the gay ships in this VN but given the intensity of the subject matter, you've gotta have a mind and stomach made of STEEL to get through a good portion of it, ESPECIALLY if you're gay. And unless you're already into VNs and/or enjoy this kind of intense subject matter then it's probably hard as FUCK to get past IMOI.

ALL of this to say that I feel like a big part of the reason there's so little attention to the gay ships is that there's simply...no gay fandom. At least visibly. I was of course being facetious when I mentioned in my post the other day about the fandom being only me and 4 other gay people but I personally haven't seen a lot of discussion of the Gay elements from those who aren't part of the LGBTQ community. I'm sure it happens in places that aren't so public or easily accessible but aside from little pockets on twitter I'm under the impression that there's not a hell of a lot of us who talk about it openly. And it's not hard to see why; take a look at the reactions to this satirical post by @girlwhodeceivesfate! Some are more open than others but those top comments say something about those who bothered to open the post. And many seem annoyed that anyone could possibly have a queer focus.

This went off topic from the specifics very quickly but anyway...of course shipping isn't the main purpose of any of these narratives but I'll be real with y'all. Even though I liked the main story enough Kimika and her relationship with Zakuro were the things I liked most about this VN, so. Longwinded point is that I get why there's not a lot of content for them compared to the other ship but it still disappoints me.

it's past 5:30am and I need to simmer the fuck down so if anyone actually made it through this all the way to the end, well done! you've made it through my messy unedited sleepy ramblings

#it's shiny time #ship hate #like not actually but I don't want anyone to feel bad about their ships ya know

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yemilnisu · 4 years

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The Moon and The Sun

Chapter 1: Good to know.

Synopsis: After finding out that your online friend has a crush on someone that he met online and has an idea who she is. You got curious and wanted to know more. Unfortunately, your online friend deactivated his twitter account and gaming account. Will the answer to your curiosity left unknown?

A/N: If you would like to be on the taglist, feel free to send me an ask or leave a comment! I hope you enjoy my first smau/written work! Also feel free to chat me, I would love to interact with everyone!😊

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕

We were laughing about what the topic of our conversation was. About how we ended up in here instead of attending 7th period. We were seating down at the sand while the sunsets. He we’re holding my hand while telling sweet things to me. Then he stops and stares at my eyes.

"Hello? Earth to Y/N? Are you having a stroke or something?" Hitoka said while waving her hand in front of my face.

I pushed her hand away from my face. "Yeah I'm fine." I said with a bit of annoyance in my tone.

"You were daydreaming weren't you?" She said while getting something from her bag.

"I was at the middle of daydreaming but you suddenly interrupted my moment." I rolled my eyes at her. "Why did you interrupted my daydreaming huh?" I accused her like she just committed a crime.

"Well while you were at the middle of your daydreaming half of our classmates is already eating their lunch." She pointed out. Now holding her wallet in her left hand.

"Oh" I replied. I also reach for my wallet in my bag. "The teacher didn't give any homework right? She just said that there's going to be a new lesson tomorrow." I asked her just to be sure. I wasn't entirely zoning out of course. I care about my grades. That's the only thing I can try my best about something. Knowing I don't have talents, gifts or passion. I really admire people with talents and passions they do their best about something they truly want.

"Let's go" We started walking out of our classroom and straight to the cafeteria. I just ordered a sandwich since I have a water bottle in my bag and I don't really like drinking soda and coffee. Yeah I guess I'm weird. I was looking for Hitoka and I can't see her anywhere. I waited for 5 more minutes for her but I still can’t see where she's at. So I went back to our classroom.

"Where were you?" I asked after seeing her sitting at her desk already eating her lunch. I sat down at my desk which is beside hers.

"Have you thought of a club to join yet?" She asked me before biting down at her sandwich. I removed the plastic that is covering my sandwich while I think about her question.

"A club? No I haven't what about you?" I actually have two in mind but I'm not that good in neither one. It was either the Arts Club or Dance Club. I love designing especially painting and I also love to dance but again I'm not great at neither of them. I wasn't great at sports either but I do love playing badminton and volleyball. If you were to compare me to players, dancers or painters I'm nothing.

"I wasn't really thinking of one yet until this beautiful and sexy girl came up to me asking if I want to be the manager of a volleyball team. I think she's a 3rd year." She explained. So that was why I couldn't find her anywhere earlier. A 3rd year were asking if she wants to be a manager of a volleyball club.

"Woah a beautiful girl I want to be friends with her. Wait, manager of a volleyball team? What do they do? I didn't know volleyball teams have managers." I replied after I swallowed my sandwich.

"Yeah neither did I." She said before taking a sip from her soda drink.

"Are you thinking of trying it out?" I asked her. She could join the Arts Club too since she's great at drawings and digital arts.

"I don't know since it's a boys’ volleyball team." She said.

"Boys’ volleyball team? You're going to be a manager of a boys’ volleyball team?" I asked totally surprise that it was a boys’ volleyball team.

"Yeah" She mumbled.

"I'm not against it or anything I mean, that's your life you can do whatever you want with it but If you decided to accept being a manager of a boys’ volleyball club and they turned out to be jerks. I'm telling your mom and pulling you out of that club, I swear." I proclaimed, dead serious.

"Woah chill." She laughed awkwardly. "I'm still thinking about it. Of course before I agree I'll check out the people in that club first." She added.

"Okay good." I replied. After that the teacher entered the classroom and started discussing the lesson.

****

We're walking home from school when my phone buzzed.

"Is that the guy you met on a discord server?" Hitoka asked trying to look at my phone.

"Yeah, why?" I answered. Putting my phone back in my pockets. I just suddenly got invited into a server and I accepted it, it’s not like I have something better to do. We played together for hours he was really fun to play with though he's a little quiet but when the game starts that’s when he starts shouting nonsense.

After a couple of weeks playing with him. He asked if I have a twitter account. I gave it to him but of course it’s not my main. I think the account he gave me is also not his main maybe a dump account or something because I don't see any photos of him posted in that account. We’re both playing it safe.

"Nothing. You don't really feel comfortable with having online friends." She replied. Eyes looking straight ahead.

"Yeah that’s why I gave him my dump account. We both don't know the appearance of each other." She's right I don't like making friends online. I don't like the idea of being friends with someone I don't know. That someone might be a 40 years old dude trying to sell my organs at the black market we may never know.

"That's good but you know each other's voices right?" She questioned, looking at me waiting for my response.

"Of course, how else would we communicate while playing a game." I said avoiding her gaze. I can see from my peripheral vision that she's looking at me while raising her eyebrows. "I may or may not know that were both living in Japan."

"Y/N!" She yelled while looking at me with disbelief. She now stopped walking and is waiting for my explanation.

"What? He told me that he's living in Tokyo that was it!" I explained defending myself. I also stopped walking and looked at her.

"You didn't tell him that you live in Miyagi?" She said interrogating me.

"Duh, of course not! I changed the topic after that." I answered. "I'm not that dumb." I rolled my eyes and started walking again.

"Good to know." Hitoka said in relief and catch up to my pace.

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕

Fun Facts!

Y/N and Hitoka has been classmates since they were in middle school up until now.

Y/N’s mom and Hitoka’s mom were close friends.

Y/N’s mom trust and treats Hitoka as her own daughter and same with Hitoka’s mom with Y/N.

If one of them have trouble in understanding a subject the other one will help and teach the lesson.

Both of them are very protective of one another.

Sometimes they would have sleepovers with one of their house and they would just gossip, watch a movie or play video games.

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕

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memes-n-ana · 5 years

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Miraculous: Love Eater Theory regarding "collapsing" Adrienette

Love Eater released on 13th Oct, and I must say that each season 3 episode is more overwhelming than the previous one released. Thomas was right when he said s1 and s2 are nothing compared to this one.

MY OPINION REGARDING "COLLAPSING" ADRIENETTE AND "RISING" LUKANETTE & ADRIGAMI:

When LB was saying how losing is a part of life, characters were being shown relating to each of her points. When she said about losing one's first love, Master Fu was shown holding a picture of Marianne; when she spoke about losing the harmony in a relationship, Mr Bourgeois and an angered Mrs Bourgeois could be seen, etc.

When she spoke of losing patience, Chat and she were shown. Right then, Chat tried making her jealous by telling her he'd found a girlfriend, only to receive the reply, "That's awesome!" Obviously, he got upset and left.

I believe, this is what made him so fed up and LOSE PATIENCE, that each of the 2 times Kagami leaned in to kiss him, he didn't back away. I'll talk more about this later. Also, notice that in the latest eps before Love Eater, whenever LB & Chat ended up in the "1 on top of the other" position, he didn't smile at her like in the previous seasons. Also:-

(Totally reversed expressions )

These things make me think that he's been trying to give her up for some while now, but in Love Eater, he got truly disappointed.

While Mari's looking sadly at Adrien's pics, she receives a notification from Luka, which instantly makes her smile. The next second, Adrien's seen swiping LB's pics with a frown, when he too receives a notification of a pic of Kagami & Mari which Mari posted, which lifts up his mood too. The pic is one we've seen in Ikari Gozen, of Mari & Kagami. Adrien likes it as he smiles fondly.

From what I've seen previously (recalling Silencer strongly) there's a high chance Mari has feelings for Luka, even if they're slight. Her constant blushing and kissing him on the cheek says it. But she still loves Adrien.

(These scenes from just before the episode ends) Marinette breaking down is one of the worst scenes in Love Eater...

As for Adrien, as I said, due to his hurt heart he seems to want to use Kagami as a rebound (not in an evil way). In my opinion, he HAS NO FEELINGS FOR KAGAMI. He doesn't even act the way Mari does in front of Luka.

When Mari, Adrien & Kagami are about to buy icecream, Mari is asked to choose the flavours' pairing. Mari refers to herself as blackberry, Adrien as peppermint & Kagami as orange (as in ice cream flavours, as labelled by Andre), when she says, blackberry and peppermint doesn't seem like a great pair, and peppermint could find the berry lame and want to be with the orange instead (can't believe Adrien didn't get a hint). She walks away, extremely down, leaving Adrien & Kagami alone.

They are about to kiss (each other on the LIPS) after finishing the ice cream (initiated by Kagami), only for LB to carry Kagami away to help her defeat the villain.

Towards the end of the episode, they can be seen about to kiss again (initiated by Kagami again), but the kissing itself isn't shown; the scene is left off before that. Also, it's not clear whether Kagami was going to kiss Adrien on the lips or not.

Kagami isn't to be misunderstood, and she herself said to a detransformed LB/Mari(without looking at her obv) that she didn't want to hurt Marinette by her actions, as she was her only friend other than Adrien.

Adrien never backs away from Kagami's kisses, but he never initiates them too. This tells me that maybe he WISHES and TRIES to give LB up, even though he still may be in love with her.

Many a times, in other episodes, Chat calls LB simply "Ladybug", but there was an emphasis put on it in this one, as LB addresses it. At first, Chat's unable to speak clearly, but then he simply asks her if she's jealous of Ryuko. She denies while SMILING, which isn't something I can recall her doing before.

So, while Mari & Adrien are simultaneously upset due to their unrequited love, each knows one who likes him/her. I feel, because of being hurt, Mari & Adrien, wish to abandon Adrien & LB respectively to find LOVE IN RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE WHO DO LIKE THEM.

The last paragraph is my most important point, which sums up what I want to explain. And believe me, if you were too a show creator/writer, you would definitely love to play with the fans in the middle of the show, concerning ships.

A fan had asked Winny (a screenwriter) whether it was alright to watch Love Eater before Cat Blanc & Felix (the release dates of the episodes are a mess). He said that in certain cases, it would be very bad. In other words, we need to watch these previous 2 episodes in order to fully understand Love Eater. So, we might be having some misunderstandings currently regarding this new episode.

I highly recommend you to watch and pay attention to the lyrics of the song "Ce mur qui nous sépare". It will be used in the 2021 film of Miraculous, and is from the POVs of Mari & Adrien, so it's important. It will tell you about Mari's & Adrien's feelings for Adrien and LB respectively; probably something we haven't seen in the show yet.

youtube

If you've seen enough replies of Thomas to fans' questions, you must have realised he's a playful, teasing person. He's the type of person who'd definitely love to make us tense before giving us a delightful ending. Even I'd do that as a writer for a show.

Thomas has said on Twitter that Luka×Chloe is supposed to be "real" in s3. You might say that it'll be weird if he tortures Adrienette shippers just for 1 ep and then the next ep makes Luka×Chloe canon or something. Well, Cat Blanc & Felix are actually set before Love Eater (the release dates are a true mess), so maybe his aim is to play with Adrienette shippers for THREE eps, before making Luka×Chloe real.

And don't forget this for a second—

Miraculous is one of the most popular and successful shows ever, and the endgames Lukanette & Adrigami will ruin not only most of the the fandom, but also the jobs of the ones working on it. You could say that maybe Thomas doesn't ship the two main characters, but that's out of question. No hate on Lukanette & Adrigami at all, but Adrienette is indubitably the endgame.

Merci

#Miraculous #Adrienette #LoveEater #Loveeater #MLB #MLBs3spoilers #Loveeaterspoilers #miraculous #adrienette #loveeater #mlb #miraculousladybug

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lokaneiscanon · 5 years

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Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder rant

Seeing Natalie Portman returning to reprise her role as Jane Foster, nevertheless wielding Mjolnir, finally getting the treatment this character deserves, was surreal to say the least. I had just started reading Lords of Midgard, the 8th issue of Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018), and had fallen in love already. But I didn't suspect at all that Taika Waititi would pull this card in Thor: Love and Thunder, considering Jane was barely mentioned in Ragnarok. The news about my favorite actress portraying one of my favorite characters coming out of the blue - you can imagine the excitement. Alas, I quickly remembered what the fandom thought of that comic (at least on tumblr) and imagined it now growing tenfold, cuz not everyone in the MCU fandom reads comics but pretty much everyone wants to watch another Thor movie. And yes, many fans weren't ready for this step, still recovering from Sam Wilson getting the shield in Endgame. Which is completely fine. We're not obligated to like everything Marvel throws in our faces, we're allowed to criticize and express our opinion on the internet or wherever. What is not okay is mindlessly hating, and even worse - using false facts to support said opinion.

I have seen some people using the argument that it is one of Marvel's worst selling comics. Which has already been proven wrong by multiple sites, including Comichron, just Google it, as I did myself. I read multiple posts, ones saying how good Jane is doing as Thor in sales, others disproving this, so I checked for myself the numbers at the site mentioned above month by month to be sure. The comic truly had its downfalls as the story progressed but in my opinion it's normal for the 1st issue to have more sales than the 21st. If we compare it to Unworthy Thor, which started running a bit later and followed the now unworthy Odinson, the data shows the latter had more sales. But then again, while Might Thor was at its 17th issue, Unworthy Thor was at its 2nd. Also, they later crossed paths, shared comic issues, it's fair to say they go hand in hand and Jason Aaron, the author, probably doesn't want us to compare them, as they complete and compliment each other's stories. Still I decided to check the comic that made Thor unworthy in the first place - Thor: God of Thunder (2012 - 2014), which seemed to me more "comparable" to Might Thor (2015 - 2018). *I keep putting the years it was being released so as to not be confused with previous Mighty Thor issues, whole Odinson was still Thor, please bear with me* So yes, the numbers were pretty close, but from what I saw, Mighty Thor had the upper hand if we compare first issue to first issue and so on. (In defense of Odinson, we have to take into account that this data is only from the US and does not include digital sales. Also, he's been around since the 50s. We could argue Jane was a breath of fresh air that some Marvel fans were indeed ready for. As a non-American, and also a person without a hint of knowledge in economics I cannot take into account inflation and whatever else has prevented or enabled Americans to get their hands on the comics or has affected prizes through the years. Bear that in mind.) Moreover, from what I saw on Comichron, both comics had much competition - God of thunder was released along with Avengers vs the X-men, the Uncanny X-men, pretty popular at the time, and the Goddess of Thunder faced Civil War 2 and DC Universe Rebirth (yes, DC is in the game too), also dominating with tremendous sales for the longest time. Yet I stick with my original statement - both Thors are valid and shouldn't be put against one another regardless of profit. Because at the end of the day what will matter the most is the story. And boy, what a story it is.

Now, I haven't read the Thor: God of Thunder, but as I was doing research I found one very well written summary and explanation of Thor's arc and his becoming unworthy and I will post a link below, because I honestly feel I wouldn't be doing this comic a favor by describing it without having read it. Which I plan to do in the future, tbh. It's a fantastic prelude to the Mighty Thor (2015 - 2018) that I've come to love. First, I'd like to ask you all to stop hating on the comic without having read it first. It doesn't make any sense and being petty for the sake of being petty won't benefit neither you, nor anyone, really. Now, about the comic itself - the art is magnificent. It's just gorgeous. Mighty Thor isn't , thank all the gods, sexualized, she is pretty buffed and generally looks like a warrior. As it is with the other characters, I dare say. The background truly captures the essence of every world Jane finds herself on. Action scenes are just the right amount and balanced with dialogue well. On a side note, it's pretty funny to read/listen to in your head the Shakespearean English cursive in which Jane talks as Thor. The plot line branches beyond this comic, starting from Thor: God of Thunder and leading to the War of Realms. And it is elaborately built in every issue. You don't know what to expect, yet it makes sense when it happens. Which leads me to the characterizations. My God, what a treat Loki is in this. Clearly, my opinion is kinda biased, since he's my favorite character, but you never know which side he's on. What his motivations are. And it just feels so... Loki. His writing is brilliant. Almost makes me forget what the MCU did to him. Also, he gets some daddy time with Laufey (not as kinky as I make it sound). Frigga/Freyja is just as awesome as in the MCU, even more, at least in the comics she calls Odin out on his shit, who btw is I guess an asshole in every version and universe. Malekith, the main villain, is unbearably despicable, I want to tear every page he is on. He really was mishandled in the Dark World, if you want some true action with the dark elves, you are welcome to enjoy. I saved the best for the end - Jane Foster/ Might Thor. Now, if you think Dr. Foster spends her time boasting about her worthiness and how Odinson is just called Thor, but she is Mighty Thor, you are horribly wrong. She just... does her job. Because the hammer chose her. Because there's no one else to do so. That's it. If you think there's some feminism involved, yes, there sure is, but it certainly isn't the reason Jane became Thor in the first place. It was not the creators going SJW because it's trendy, as such a mindset is honestly offensive to any descent creator with any self respect, but a well thought out story arc, which, I repeat, you have to read the comic to understand. Jane is not at all whiny about the hate she gets in-universe, not only from foes like Odin and who-not, but from Shield and generally people whose asses she's saving. Her having cancer is not something they pulled to provoke sympathy and make her look like a victim - on the contrary, she is a damn hero and a victor. I don't want to give out spoilers, but her being Thor is actually a giant sacrifice that no one really appreciates (both in-universe and in the fandom). She is not Thor to prove she can be, or just to prove "women can be heroes" - she doesn't have to. She is simply needed by the realms and so she does her job, even though she is called a thief, persecuted and generally hated. All that matters is that the hammer finds her worthy - the beauty and simplicity of that fact you will find out, for the last time, if you read the comic.

I'm not making you read the comic or watch Thor: Love and Thunder. I myself don't know what to make of this film yet because there's barely any information about it. I only know it will be based on the comic so that's a reason for my hopes to be up already. On the other hand, since I didn't like Loki's characterization in Ragnarok, I'm not sure what to expect from Taika. There are valid reasons to not like the idea of Jane returning to the MCU as Thor, which you are entitled to. However, reasons such as "why does everything have to be political these days" are not. Because if I had to make a list of everything politically related in the MCU, it would take forever. Steve Rogers kills nazis is the most blatant example. Make of it what you want. But I think we're far enough into the 21st century to realize art and real life are not that separable. It's undeniable that art affects people and that is to say, people everywhere. And they all have different opinions and aren't gonna like everything media is offering to them. And I wish I could simply tell you not to watch the movie but I'm a Marvel fan too and I understand that I can't just take away Thor from you because I want Mighty Thor as well. But none of us can stop Marvel from producing it. So, to quote an image I saw recently, I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people. Let the rest of the fandom enjoy what they want to enjoy. Yes, ik I can play around with the tags and avoid posts that unnerve me but, for example, I'm looking up Mighty Thor fanart, which obviously isn't anti-Mighty Thor, yet I get attacked in the comics for anticipating a movie that doesn't even have a full cast yet. Ik I'm not asking for too much when I wish to get the same internet experience (not only tumblr, but also insta, YouTube, Twitter, any site) as the Thor Odison fans, for example. I'm aware I cannot stop all the toxic fans and the trolls but I hope this post has inspired those of you who simply can't envision Jane as Thor, or don't like Natalie Portman in the role, or whatever eles personal preference that doesn't involve political issues and isn't harmful to the community, not to attack every post on your dash with hate. The movie is called LOVE and Thunder, for God's sake. (on a side note, is a franchise that is too afraid to show LGBT characters for more than 1 minute so as to not lose profit from China, THAT politically correct)

Anyway, that was a veeeery long rant, sorry to whoever reads this but, like, please, I put effort into this, hoping this time around I won't be the only positive reviewer of a movie, like I was with Solo: a Star Wars story (yes, I'm still bitter about this), which was boycotted for no apparent reason but was a decent film in reality, and I'm only bringing it up because it has a similar experience to Love and Thunder for getting hate before even being released. I'm not defending a billion dollar company that flopped in box office once, I'm defending the viewer's right to media they are interested in. If you don't like the character, remember - that's your opinion, not a fact that the character sucks. Kudos.

Not very easy to navigate, I advice you to do the research month by month individually for comics you'd like to compare. Also, if you happen to find more reliable data, pls say so in the comments.

Here you have the summary and explanation of the greatness of Thor: God of Thunder, Jesus, I'll go bankrupt if I buy this one too.

youtube

Yes, I want to end the sales dispute once and for all, I'm tired of seeing it on my dash. This guy probably explains it better than I did.

@awesomejenlawrence you said you'd like to read this and I delivered

#natalie portman #mighty thor #marvel #mcu #mcu phase 4 #jane foster #thor odinson #loki #taika waititi #chris hemsworth #thor love and thunder #thor god of thunder #jason aaron #my thoughts #my rants #positivemindset #lovewins

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poipoi1912 · 7 years

Note

I get that Barisi fans are hugely disappointed with this season, but I feel like it's presumptive of some Barisi fans to talk as if because *their* ship may not be as popular/getting new canon as previously, that the entire SVU fandom is "dying". That isn't so. There are still plenty of people actively creating content for and talking about other ships and characters, including ones who-*gasp*!-haven't even been on screen in an episode for 3-5 seasons or more! Barisi doesn't = all of SVU fandom.

Anon, I honestly wish I were only disappointed in this season for Barisi-related reasons. That would mean I’d still be able to find some excitement in the show, while being a little bummed out because my ship wasn’t getting any action. That’s a pretty standard fandom experience for shippers of non-canon or obscure pairings. Like, I still loved The X-Files, even after they killed off Krycek and, with him, my Krycek/Skinner fantasies. I still enjoyed Lost even after Jack and Juliet were toast. I still loved Person of Interest even after my two main ships (Carter/Reese and Shaw/Root) were literally killed. I wish that were the case with SVU.

I’ve made several posts about my issues with this season. I guess the main one would be this post, but you could also read any one of my episode analyses, none of which even mention Barisi. To reiterate some of my main issues, I find the messed up scheduling to be an added source of incoherence, because no character is allowed to have any type of growth, not when we’re watching episode 14 before we get to see episode 7. The supporting characters have all been reduced to cardboard cutouts.

And, the worst part is, even Benson, who is the protagonist, has regressed in terms of her personal story. We no longer see anything about her life. She’s front-and-center when it comes to working with cases or helping victims, but who is she? What does she do when she’s not working? We used to see her with boyfriends, with Barba, with Noah, with Lucy (though I think that actress is currently unavailable). When the main character has no personal growth, how can the rest of the characters expect any?

Admittedly, Sonny is my favorite character, so my main gripe with this season (and the main reason I loved Season 17 more than Season 16) is the fact his screentime has decreased and his character development has stalled. Completely. Barba fans could say the same, I’m sure. And they have. We used to get all those little hints about him, the drinking, the pills, the clenched fists, and this season there’s been nothing. And then, Fin fans have been experiencing this for decades, lol. And Amanda, who used to have a tumultuous but very rich backstory, because she thrived in the more melodramatic SVU seasons (14/15), much like Nick, well, she barely has anything to do, either.

But, characters aside, I also find the cases extremely troubling. I disagree with the “message” the writers are trying to send, almost every week. In previous seasons, my disagreements were far more rare. The mommy issues are especially glaring, and the “imperfect victim”/“flawed but relatable perpetrator” theme is getting old. So I can’t even enjoy SVU as a procedural anymore.

Now, when it comes to the SVU fandom dying out, my recent posts refer to tumblr, and the fandom as I experience it. I’m not active on twitter or other platforms (not when it comes to fandom stuff), so my only real exposure to the SVU fandom is tumblr itself. And, of course, I mostly engage with Barisi, Sonny and Barba fans, because that’s where my interests lie, lol. So I’m talking about my own experience, and the relative lack of interest that I’ve seen, at least compared to last season. I assume the people who send me asks about it are also Barisi/Sonny/Barba fans, and that’s why they come to me. To talk about the characters and/or the ship we all love.

I’ve never engaged much online with old school SVU fans (even though I’m actually one of them, and I’ve been watching the show from the very beginning), but I certainly understand they still exist (why wouldn’t they?). First of all, Benson is the constant, so the people who love her still get to enjoy their fave. But I’m sure that fans of older characters are still active when it comes to fic and edits, too. It’s true that people still create content for characters or ships like Benson/Stabler (of course) or Benson/Cabot (my second fave Olivia ship, after Benson/Amaro COME AT ME) or Fin/Munch, or Barba/Huang, or Casey/Chester Lake (pls send me links I love them). For characters they haven’t seen in years, as you said. Some of these fans have probably stopped watching the show altogether and i envy them.

Hell, Barisi itself is a very tiny part of the SVU fandom, and it’s still alive due to fan interest alone, because many of us still create salty content, even though the show is giving us nothing. The SVU fandom overall is also still very much alive, and it will probably never die.

That still doesn’t help me, though :D

I spoke of new fans in my previous posts, but a similar thought applies to old fans, as well. For a fan who has given up on the current content of the show and writes or reads fic for, like, Benson/Cabot (send links for that too, btw!) I can imagine why Season 18 would feel no different than Season 16. Because these fans may have lost their favorite character years ago, and they no longer care much about the ones who are still there. For me, a Sonny fan, well, I’m losing my fave while he’s still there. Same way Fin fans lost him, like, 8 years ago. And, to make matters worse, the show itself is no longer fun or even watchable, sometimes. That has caused a noticeable (at least on my dash) lack of interest.

Is this permanent? I hope not. For starters, this has all happened before. Season 18 is giving me Season 10 vibes. It feels like the start of a huge decline in quality, which will take a couple of years to be fixed. The thing is, the show just might have a couple of years still left in it, so maybe there’s still hope for improvement. A few new writers, a few new characters (which the show sorely needs!), and we’ll be good to go. Maybe :)

Lastly, in every post I mention the fact I’m sure there are plenty(? lol) of people who are still excited about the show. I’ll repeat it here. I do think the show itself is on its last legs, and the fandom has gotten less active overall, as is to be expected after 18 years, but of course people still care. So, those of you who still love SVU (or who no longer watch it but are still in love with Chester Lake or O'Halloran good taste btw!), keep doing you!

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