#oh very problematic of my brain. not a fan

[welcometogrouchland]

they shouldn't let me stay up past midnight bc then I start identifying every single problem I've ever had. No solutions found. Net zero personal progress and 0.5 hours of sleep are achieved

#ramblings of a lunatic #ignore me I'm having a moment #actually wait that's one of the problems we (the brain council) identified. is my need to not have problems where ppl can see #oh very problematic of my brain. not a fan #look i just got out on christmas break for college the term is catching up to me #i didn't make any real friends and it's not that I'm surprised..but yeah I'm surprised. i forgot about My Whole Deal somehow #like girl do the math. 7 yrs to make A FRIEND. SINGULAR. came pre packaged w/ 2 friends but took you 4 more years to make another one- #-independtly. straight up did not understand friendship and human relationships until you were at least 16 #did we honestly think we were gonna knock it out of the park in terms of socialising this first term???? did we???? #wishful thinking ig #oughh. college...bad. or not bad but. strange. and lonely. and yeah kinda bad #existentially horrifying in ways i didn't even realise were possible. i get why so many tma fans were college students/grads now #college just irl cosmic horror #anyway. i think i should try and sleep now lest the brain demons get the better of me #but also I've gotten like. 4 hours of sleep total over the last 6 days- not for lack of trying mind you #so like. I'm anticipating a struggle.

[bluberryfields]

"David is very easy to fall in love with." - Michael Sheen

Hi. How are you? Good, I hope. Okay, so can we talk about just how fucking beautiful David Tennant is? And by “we” I mean “I” and by “talk” I mean “babble incoherently into the void”? Great! I’ll attempt to impose a bit of organization on this just to satisfy my pathological need to inflict structure on words (thanks college/job/brain), but I can’t promise much. Also, there will be A LOT of pictures and gifs. (you’re welcome?)

And this isn’t just because I am deep in the bottomless well of Good Omens fandom and that Crowley is basically the most breathtaking creature that has ever existed. Well, not just because of that.

*cue Aziraphale's "good lord" from 1793*

ANYWAY, like a lot of people, I became a fan of (i.e., fell deeply and irrevocably in love with) DT during his run as the 10th Doctor. He was young and bright and full of just about everything – joy, sorrow, wit – making him incredibly watchable. His look was also so charming: big bouncy rooster comb of hair, absurdly cheeky smile, expressive-as-fuck eyes and eyebrows, and a tall, lanky form that seemed to be made of rubber and the kind of granulated sugar that could only be found in candy from the 90s that are now banned in all first- and second-world countries.

So yeah, I was super into him and his Doctor’s adventures. And I continued to watch him in other projects and still swoon (looking at you, slutty Hamlet)

even at characters where that was not the desired reaction (fuck you, Kilgrave, you delicious monster).

I would also always become a bit (a lot) weak in the knees at his voice regardless of which accent he took on, though always preferring him doing any Scottish brogue because of fucking course.

Roll that tongue, you sexy beast.

But what I want to get into today is just how incredible he looks in the year of 2023.

He’s 52 years old and I am somehow even more attracted to him. Maybe it’s because I am myself older, and my tastes have matured alongside? I certainly do enjoy gray hair way more than I did 10 years ago.

He’s aged incredibly well, probably a combination of good genes and good health, and he’s clearly not clinging to the Hollywood idea of “youth”.

(insert obligatory grumble about the double standards of men being praised for aging and women being demonized…the potentially problematic nature of the term “aging well” in general…acknowledge this with my enlightened brain but ignore this with my slutty heart…fuck the patriarchy, etc. etc.)

He’s still tall and skinny, even gangly at times, all long arms and legs that can move in impossible directions with unfathomable grace.

His face is leaner, that incredible bone structure creating sharper edges that draw the eye. Speaking of the face, he’s got these creases on his forehead and at the corners of his eyes and mouth that are evidence of time spent well: smiling, laughing, living. Makes you want to trace your fingertips along each one.

Oh god that smile? Good lord. It’s weapons grade charm that can also be quite intimidating. Sweet, humble, silly, scary…full spectrum of options here! His shark smile is the definition of “irresistible” in my Dictionary of Delicious Dudes.

I am both proud of and grossed out by my own word choice.

Continuing with that face...the hawkish nose, the dimples you want to drown in, the big eyes, those motherfucking eyebrows...

I could seriously write a whole essay about those eyebrows, but I already give my therapist enough to worry about.

Oh those eyes. “Piercing” is a term usually reserved for blue eyes, but I would argue it applies to DT’s bottomless chocolate pools in that they slice through my heart every damn time.

Honorable mention does go to those Crowley snake eyes because they could have been distracting and diminishing to his overall look, but they absolutely are not.

Such a pretty shade of yellow.

Random tangent to swoon about his hands. For whatever reason, I like checking out a man’s hands, and DT’s got a set that drives me wild. I can’t even really explain why, but I just really like the way he articulates with them. Crowley is a perfect example, what with the miracle snaps, caressing globes, and holding whisky glasses. Yum.

Delicious demon digits

Fresh tangent: How does this fucker look good clean shaven, with stubble, and a goddamn beard? How is that allowed?

He's got a face that makes me wanna take up sculpting

Further, how is his fucking neck so hot? Like, seriously, show me the math. I can’t stop staring at it. And when it’s cloaked in a turtleneck? Please, sir, may I have some more?

Fuuuuuuuck

With no segue whatsoever, I am absolutely obsessed with his hair, across all contexts. Big, bold, blood-red Crowley coifs (especially in Season 2)? Check.

Proper gentleman side part? Check.

Side shave with cartoonishy springy 14th Doctor shock? Check.

Lockdown locks with and without headband? Check!

It’s a goddamn buffet of delicious options.

Oh damn speaking of that 14th Doctor look? Good fucking Christ on a buttery Ritz cracker. The whole DT collection is on display: the hair, the eyes, the bone structure, the smile, the clothes, and even the glasses!

To quote Pam on Archer, “I swear to god, you could drown a toddler in my panties right now! I mean, not that you would.”

Now that you (I) mention the clothes, I never cease to marvel at how he can wear pretty much anything and look amazing. Stripes, patterns, wild colors, etc. He just always looks…not exactly comfortable, but sort of at ease like the clothes were created with him in mind. And this goes across the spectrum of Casual to Costume to Promotional (e.g., interviews and premieres).

They are almost illegally cute together

We all know by now how ridiculously tight those Crowley pants are and how it influenced his signature serpentine swagger (thank you, Costume department, you’re the real heroes). That said, he and those slinky hips still looks so incredibly natural in them like they came from his actual closet.

Stupid sexy snek

And he pulls off the look of more ridiculous stuff like full Shakespearean costumes or that sad gray-hoodie-black-shorts-and-Wellington-boots combo from the first season of Staged. He somehow gives off the air of “whatever, they’re just clothes, man” while also looking like a damn model.

Georgia is a very lucky woman

Final thoughts: I know DT dislikes talking about how people think he’s so attractive because I’m sure it feels a bit icky if you just want to live your life and do your job. But my guy also clearly understands that he’s not some ghoul who has succeeded on incredible personality and acting chops alone. So, that said, maybe he'll forgive me for posting such a long, rambling, ode to him?

#david tennant #crowley #thank you for coming to my ted talk #really more of a david talk #i feel very normal about him #not at all feral or rabid #staged #doctor who #10th doctor #14th doctor #kilgrave #good omens gifs #good omens #good omens 2 #gif warning #slinky hips #crowley's hair is like a separate character #both an appreciation AND an objectification #Youtube #i just really like hands ok #they grow them differently in Scotland #he's got hands that I want to touch and be touched by

[munamania]

oh my god. oh my god. okay i am posting this as a result of seeing the most annoying tiktok ive ever in my life and the general resounding idiocy all around the internet. sorry that made me sound so mean. re bottoms. and from people who claim to be 'cinema majors' and yet are the stupidest people on the fucking planet. okay sorry im heated i promise because i love this so much. you cannot judge a piece of media, its creators, or enjoyers, on the basis of literal content. based on like. the things that happen within the story. it's a story. this one is special because it's an absurd sex comedy. normal logic is not normal logic. are we understanding that base level concept that things have to happen in a story. and conventions within those. anyway you cannot just do this and make conclusions such as 'these filmmakers are trying to harm x community because they included x happening to [insert oppressed identity here].' you cannot do that and pretend youre being intelligent. on top of being some of the most annoying people on the planet: you're simply incorrect! you're assuming bad faith. youre moralizing in a very surface level manner. a very simple dichotomy. im saying this as a kind recommendation and with hope in my heart. in engaging with any media, ask yourself some questions. you can practice them as discussion questions if you'd like here: under what context was this film made? societal, economic, cultural? what audiences do you think they had in mind while creating this? who are the creators? how do they lend themselves to the work? in what ways can other audiences find pleasure and establish an emotional connection through xyz? which characters are audiences meant to feel empathy for and how are they treated? how are other characters treated? what values do certain characters represent? what did you think of them? did you laugh? did you have fun? who punched up who punched down who punched each other? was it fun? these are just some starters to get you using your fucking brains. maybe once you know that you can validate your own intelligence and understanding of your feelings toward media you can let the fuck go and have fun. have fun!!!!!!!! holy shit. it's a comedy. so yeah in the meantime you can step off the back of comedy fans and stop your claims of 'problematic representation.' just because you don't understand and you probably think comedies and their creators are so below you

#bottoms movie #bottoms 2023 #i am so so so so so incredibly normal about the media i enjoy <3 #sorry wow. like yes im talking about bottoms but i think this was really pent up for a while #abby talks

[myfairkatiecat]

Keefe (for bingo)

AHELDHKAUSHDKJAAHJSSHAKSBDKHSKSDSHAJAHDLDUSBSKSJSHALSHDHSKA

OK I CONTRADICTED MYSELF A LOT SO LET ME EXPLAIN

this is my favorite character of all time in any media, right up there with Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars, Nicholas & Nathaniel Benedict from TMBS (showverse) and Lancelot from bbc Merlin. Actually probably slightly above all those characters which is SAYING SOMETHING.

Is he comic relief? Yes.

Would I be his friend? Yes.

Has he done nothing wrong? Yes!! No he’s done many things wrong he’s so precious to me ok but the law he’s broken the law I love him so much he literally betrayed his friends I will always love him he has sooo much to answer for I’m glad Sophie forgives him after she chews him out she should chew him out longer but I suppose Fitz does that for her He has so many apologies to make but like he’s also done nothing wrong look I’m aware of my blorbo’s mistakes he’s honestly not as problematic as the tumblr fandom makes him out to be sometimes, and I MEAN that, but he’s also not as perfect and sweet as the eleven year olds on Wattpad make him out to be. He’s a LOT okay, you can’t analyze Keefe Sencen without the everything

Are my opinions unpopular? Yep! The other keefe girlies hate my opinions bc I acknowledge his character flaws and the Keefe haters hate my opinions bc I acknowledge the fact that he’s NOT an antagonist and actually has a lot of really good traits, and that’s NOT me making excuses. Also what are y’all on about saying he doesn’t get held accountable for his actions, like yeah Sophie forgives him pretty fast but not until she’s yelled at him, and the rest of his friends do NOT bounce back to normal (Fitz)

Do I relate to him? Yes, unfortunately. I have Fitz’s trauma and Keefe’s coping mechanisms (they aren’t good coping mechanisms but they’re literally mine)

Is the fandom wrong about him? Yes, the Keefe fans and Keefe haters alike. Don’t flatten this guy there’s SO MUCH THERE. (I’m not talking about my Keefe-negative mutuals—if I follow you, you didn’t flatten his character, I am very serious about Keefe Sencen)

Do I want to adopt him? YES I mean I’m literally his age but if I was old enough to adopt him I totally would, get that kid away from Cassius Sencen and kill Gisela Sencen. Honestly tho I’d settle for an Elwin adoption, dad!Elwin rocks

Did he need less screen time? *sighs in resigned Keefe fan* probably…objectively…yes…

Did canon do him dirty? I debated filling in this one. Because Shannon has made him a SUPER complex character. But also I swear if the ending of stellarlune isn’t the last time he steals something from Sophie to carry out a reckless plan he told no one about, I’ll riot. Don’t give him forward character progress and then erase it! If it’s a momentary relapse of bad habits I’ll allow it but I’m starting to want Shannon to let Keefe grow from all of that. Cause she keeps letting him get better—and then slip back. (Which isn’t unrealistic and I can work with!! I love him! But SHANNON PLEASE)

Do I want to study him? I want to get a full on PhD in this guy’s character arc actually

Did he need more screen time? Heh. Uh. Objectively NO. But also this amount of page time has allowed us to learn so much about his character complexities?? Like I’m torn between missing the other characters and eating up his character arc. Currently I’m gonna hope book 10 expands the other characters more bc I need more of them and 9.5 can feed my Keefe brain

Would I hit him with a golf cart? Listen my friend made this bingo game (hi Bods, if you’re reading this) and I know exactly what the actual intention was behind this square. But like. I want to slightly run into him with a golf cart. Just enough to slightly injure him and make him rethink his life choices (affectionate) (actually in the words of@phtalogreenpoison “I’d like to microwave Keefe. Just shortly”)

Does he need therapy? OH MY GOSH YES. I have thought this about other characters but SPECIFICALLY KEEFE HOLY GUACAMOLE GET THAT GUY THERAPY

Is he insane? Define insane. But I love him anyway (what is going on in his head half the time 😭)

Am I rotating him in my head 24/7? WELL YOU’VE READ THE POST WHAT DO YOU THINK

Do I have so many headcanons? Oh you guys don’t know the half of it. I have. So. Many. SO MANY

Is he wasted potential? Uhhhh I have too many thoughts on this to actually put it on this post. Genuinely love what Shannon’s doing with his character, like I said. But at some point she needs to. Address the things. Or he just becomes a guy with all these complications introduced that just kinda sit there and continue to change and grow and Keefe is the complex character to end all complex characters but Shannon you need to DO SOMETHING WITH THE MASTERPIECE OF A CHARACTER THAT YOU HAVE CREATED

The amount of bingos holy moly

Anyway

Keefe means a lot to me

Thanks for the ask anon!

#anon I’m so sorry #you didn’t sign up for this #I just have so many thoughts #keefe sencen #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #ask game #character bingo

[finniestoncrane]

Fluffy Socks for Dano and Gotham Riddlers. We know the canon ones, but what about Finnieverse's? Do they have any extras untold?

Destructive Habits

Riddler Headcanons finnieverse akhkjhasd ;-; ANYWAY yeah i had a few already but it was fun thinking up some more for them (also i did all the beans i had hcs for related to this oops!) request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: some sexual things! mostly just discussions about problematic behaviour and thoughts

arkham

i don't include it in a lot of my stuff, but i imagine he excessively smokes, like an inordinate and "how are you not dead yet" amount

he's got that obvious tendency towards alienating people, pushing them away so he can't be forced to experience feelings

i know he says that he makes himself perfectly nutritionally balanced meals, but that's such a weird thing to say unless you're an idiot who refuses to admit that they forget to eat, which he does, all the time

and he doesn't get enough sleep, on purpose. it's become like a game to him. how long can he go this time?

gotham

he's obviously got a tendency to be clingy and obsessive, but i imagine it could get to a point where it becomes co-dependency, which isn't great when it's someone who doesn't even know you exist

ignoring his mental health is also a bit of an issue for him. like he's either unable to recognise that he needs help or admitting that his very intelligent brain might have something that needs to be fixed would be too difficult

i also wouldn't put it past him to engage in impulsive/wreckless behaviours without thinking them through, just to see if he can do that. he'd usually so proper and organised, which he's been mocked for before. so the temptation to just go wild is there

young justice

oh my sweet beloved, so smart and ambitious. and yet, he suffers from the worst efforts in procrastination, mostly because he's afraid of failure so he'd rather put off doing something that complete it and do it wrong, let it be schrodinger's task

he's also very bad for being negative about himself to the point where those views have been ingrained in his little head and he believes them wholeheartedly

capullo

the man is a walking destructive habit, but let's start with his proclivity for engaging in risky sexual behaviours, so sex with people he barely knows, sex without protection, ignorance towards sexual health and sti testing, practising kinks without the knowledge or patience. it's a nightmare

he's also a fan of forced incompetence, preferring to act like he can't do anything so that someone else has to wait on him every minute of the day

look, i don't like it, but i think he would cheat on partners, especially if he was in a happy relationship. anything to make sure that he's not pleased in life, y'know?

which, related to that, he just hurts people he loves, or that he could love. that purposeful isolation in a bid to avoid all feelings he isn't comfortable with, which are all the positive ones, unforuntately

dano

oh, the sweet baby has been lured in by gambling and gaming, and for him they go hand in hand. he'll get lost in a video game for hours, dedicating his life to it. and he'll waste a lot of money on it, just to get better or to have the newest skins/upgrades etc. and in life, he gamifies everything, to the point where he'll waste time, money and effort on things that he should be able to just leave alone or ignore. and with the lootbox culture, he's found himself also intrigued by gambling, which he's certain you can be good at. it doesn't come down to luck, apprently

he'll ignore happiness in order to wallow in self-pity, because he's more comfortable with that. he knows what he's doing when he's at home, moping around and lamenting about how no one loves him or cares for him. trying to find love or affection is scary, so he won't do it

and, a typical chronically online boy, he is addicted to doom-scrolling. he'll purposefully seek out horrible news and avoid the good stuff, and he'll compare himself to everyone else he sees online just to bolster the self-pity and poor self-image

#finnie writes #riddler x reader #riddler x you #riddler headcanon #gotham riddler #arkham riddler #young justice riddler #dano riddler #zero year riddler #riddler #the riddler

[j-ellyfish]

I don't know if it's just me, but in World Stars also the ship content is limited compared to previous years, even Ludwig and Feliciano are not appearing together in the same chapter in a long time *sad noises*

And there are many other ships that haven't gotten their moments in a long time too, maybe one of the few exceptions is FrUk, you know Francis getting very worried for Arthur who is about to leave EU

Oh yeah you're right D: Gerita was still doing good in early World Stars but not anymore :( Maybe this is also why 'newer' fans seem generally less concerned about Gerita and how it is slowly slipping into "uncommon ship" state despite its absolute dominance in the early Hetalia scene, but like, not even just early, I feel like it was still pretty popular up until maybe 2014/2015-ish. It doesn't seem to me that UsUk and FrUk are encountering the same fate, at least not to the same extent. Sure they got less shippers than they did at Hetalia Fandom's peak, I guess, but the Gerita case is the most interesting one.

Especially because it's like Gerita is now living up to a sort of ghost legacy. If you ask most people, they'd say "oh yeah Gerita is so popular, so annoying I want to ship other stuff because Gerita is saturated with fans and content". But ... This is not true. Not in the 2020s. It's no longer true. And this, what I like to call the 'Gerita effect' (because I guess it's a phenomenon that can happen in any community and not just with ships), causes the perception of something to no longer match the real, current state of that something. We're used to say Gerita is popular and coddled, because that's definitely what it used to be, but if we take a moment to observe the reality around us today, without bias coming from a relatively distant past, we'll realize that it is no longer the case. Not in the fandom and, as you pointed out, not even in canon material. I think this is the reason why, surprisingly, Gerita Week didn't get a lot of attention last year (I think it was last year?). I joined it for some days but, I won't lie, my brain kept feeling in a safe net mindset that went "well it's not like they need me, Gerita Week definitely will get a lot of content regardless since it's Gerita, so I shouldn't sweat it like this". But no, in the end I realized I was falling for my own veteran perception, which is flawed and biased towards the past, how the ships scenario used to be like in this fandom.

Besides this, I think the (relative) downfall of Gerita's popularity was also caused by other factors. First of all, Feliciano became a controversial character. While Romano was always a popular character, in the early fandom most of the focus on him came from Spamano as a ship, or his relationship with Feliciano. As more and more people started to deem Spamano problematic, Romano needed a new place in the fandom's heart. This, I believe, was what marked Romerica's rise. And Romano's arc at Alfred's is often used as an argument to put the two Italian brothers against each other and fundamentally deem Feliciano as "the evil, preferred, spoiled brother" (obviously I'm not implying the opposite is true, both Italies are cool, traumatized and deserve love) to enhance Romano's worth and rights as a character of his own, away from Feliciano's orbit because it was Feliciano's orbit, in the early fandom, what was kind of overshadowing Romano (Spamano was often a clutch-ship in Gerita fics and art).

Let's admit it, humans generally likes what challenges the status quo. So, this new (not implying no one in early fandom might've had similar thoughts but it wasn't a fandom trend) interpretation of canon scratched the right itch in many fans who've never been head over heels for Feliciano and/or for Gerita to begin with, and possibly enjoyed less popular ships on average.

Meanwhile, in the late 2010s something else changed fandom spaces: Yaoi/BL experienced a growth in popularity and broke out of the "loud Internet niche" enclosure. This came with a huge luggage of controversies and debates over the nature of the seme/uke classification and an undeniable growth in popularity of ships with no rigid roles (seke/switches) and the assumptions of sexual role based on personality and physical appearance losing terrain. This had, as a result, a certain degree of demonization of ships that happened to fit perfectly in the "typical yaoi couple narrative".

Guess which ship fit perfectly there? Gerita, obviously. So, I believe many people ended up perceiving "traditional Gerita" as sort of weird, rooted in "old schemes" and not as alluring as it could've been for the average teen in early 2010s. Of course, this also caused Itager and less fluffy interpretations of Gerita (which have always been there but not fandom-wide trends) to rise in order to spice the old ship up.

So, as years went by, these trends continued, they piled up but eventually made Gerita lose a lot of terrain to other ships, ships that fit the "new image of the fandom" better. Perhaps the fact that Gerita was associated so strictly with the early fandom (and Germany being the focus on one of an7is' tone deaf takes on the series) also contributed to its current state, due to the internalized "sense of guilt" we as a fandom tend to have due to some bad apples that populated and populate our fandom like any other.

Huhhh okay I'm not sure how this ended up being a dissection on Gerita's popularity but I hope you don't mind. Also I didn't want to bring up any drama involving fans because I think a single fan cannot do as much harm to a ship as trends and natural human behavior does to a fandom as a whole, as every fandom is fundamentally a bite-sized society like a town or a Country.

Speaking of FrUk, I was really happy to see France's more chaotic side slipping out a little in the Brexit arc, although it made me miss old Hetalia even more </3

#hetalia #ask #gerita #ary spoke

[desertsandsnstarrysky]

I keep getting followed and stalked by this one Hetalia user named /@ragdollpie and a few of their followers on my social media. (One called

/@borzoimuffin I believe as well.) anyways,

Please if you respect the Jewish community and those who have had family in general during the holocaust block them!

They called me a Nazi fetish artist and that is basically a spit in my face. And very rude.

Because they got this way because their s/o or partner came onto my instagram and proceeded to insult my art and so I did… I did slip and say their art is an “eyesore” but you guys legit threw hands first, you could’ve just left me alone and ignore or block me, but you had to throw that dig in!

Did you expect me to not defend myself? While you guys basically went and stalked around for me?

…

And not only that but they are trying to basically find me on many other platforms after I initially tried to sent me a message on instagram the first time but my DMs would not go through and basically when I sent them screenshots about how their behavior was disrespectful and how I felt horrible being called a Nazi, the messages ended up not showing up.

So I don’t know why their intentions to do so was simply for pure control of the fandom, to call out unnecessary and make drama or what, but I’m not the type to make any issues at all.

So please for me. Do not engage with them if you support Jewish folk. Because they clearly shown their “pro Palestine” support by calling me a Nazi Zionist. (I’m neutral about Zionism by the way.)

And they are stalking me online. Which is absolutely absurd… like just leave me alone. If you find them anywhere in any platform, just block and disengage! Oy!

I’m not even PROMOTING NAZI BEHAVIOR! This was all in reference to how the ship existed because I’ve SEEN OTHERS IN THE PAST IN THE FANDOM SHIP THEM.

And also, the ship has a deeply rooted and complex emotional meaning behind it that HAS TO DO WITH MY OWN TRAUMA! Where and anywhere am I showing Nazi fetish at? With one picture!?! Really? 💀 don’t tell me they’re one of those “antis”

I know one thing, they sure are obsessed with characters like Greece and Turkey, whom committed an atrocities to the Jewish folk for HUNDREDS OF YEARS! So let’s CLAP BACK AT THAT … HMMM HOW DOES IT FEEL TO DRAW CHARACTERS THAT AUTOMATICALLY ANTISEMITIC BY DEFAULT?

but guess what??? I didn’t come find you and stalk you, and called you disrespectful things because you draw problematic history… You DID 🫵

I have enough brain power in one brain cell than in the amount your entire head and your little wolf hunting posse’s heads to know that if something on Hetalia bothers me and causes me discomfort, to block it!

BECAUSE I KNOW HETALIA HAS TOPICS IN IT THAT ARE LESS THAN FAVORABLE DUE TO HOW COUNTRIES/NATIONS ARE!

But you know what? I could sit down and decipher this down with you, piece by piece and you still wouldn’t listen or even be civil about it. So I’m done! Now LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!

Oh and if you have any fans who have had family killed in the holocaust, you need to be blocked by them! They need to really know how much of a antisemitic person you are! Disgusting! Do NOT CALL ME A NAZI!

I don’t give a fuck who you think you are… do not call a Jewish person a Nazi!

//slams fists on table over and over again

Do not call a Jewish person a Nazi! Do not! Do not! Do not!

I don’t care what the fuck you do with your life… do NOT CALL ME, A JEW A NAZI!

#Hetalia #antisemitism #I’m sorry but you wouldn’t leave me alone #jumblr #Jewish Hetalia fans #israelhetalia #Jewish #disengage and block them #this is causing me to have massive amounts of anxiety #jewish tumblr #Israel #anti bullying #I really hate people policing others #I also hate when people don’t take into facts at all #hetalia fans #hetalia fanart #this is what hetalia fandom is doing to me now #I seriously got called a Nazi #currently trying to fight antisemitism #hetalia oc #hetalia self ship #hetalia israel #why is antisemitism spreading around through all fandoms? #can we just not #i’m also labeled a zionist and nazi for supporting israel as a country the people in it #im trying to be in a fandom and this is how I get treated #this is why I left last time… the unhinged behavior is unreal #stop acting like you own history #goyims smh #tw

[shadesofdeviant]

For the fanfic asks … all of them? 😁

HAHAHA Ginger! I mean...you said you'd ask for all of them XD So...I guess I'll answer them all XD.

🍄How do you come up with ideas for your stories?

A variety of ways, sometimes I get inspired to write an AU based on an episode of a show, or a novel etc. Or sometimes my brain just pops ideas into my head.

🍉Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I am very much a plotter. It's also why I don't often get much written because I need SO much to be planned before I can write.

🍒What genres/tropes do you find yourself using most often?

Fluff, 5+1, Domestic Slice of Life, AU's - I am an absolute sucker for AU's.

🥝Who are your literary influences, and have they shaped your own writing?

As much of a problematic person as they were, Anne Rice's first 3 vampire chronicles books were the books that got me thinking...oh I really wanna do this kind of thing. J R R Tolkien's descriptions very much shaped my own (i used to write horrifically long paragraphs). Neil Gaiman inspired my shorter style, quirky dialogue with inside jokes aimed at the reader.

🥕What's your favorite fic you've written, and why?

My favourite fic is a toss up between "Your Arms Are Like Corset Strings" (9-1-1, Buddie) and "Rainbow Coloured Monstrosity" (9-1-1: Lone Star, Tarlos).

The rest I'm gonna put under a cut haha or this post is gonna get SUPER long.

🥨How do you overcome writer's block?

When I work it out I'll tell you haha. I don't think I've ever managed beyond just pushing through and hate-smashing at the keyboard, or just waiting for the inspiration to come back by itself.

🍕What's your favorite comment you've received on a fic?

Honestly as cliche as it might sound, all comments I get are my favourites. I couldn't pick any specific ones, I enjoy comments so much.

🌭Do you have any writing rituals to help 'get in the zone'?

I use a lot of notebooks, I also get really sad and make powerpoint presentations of planning. Then I either listen to music, or put on some series that Ive seen enough times that it can be background noise.

🍔What's a headcanon that hasn't made it into a published fic yet?

I HC a few things for different people but they're not exactly huge things, but have a few examples. I headcanon that Alec Hardy is a huge fantasy novel fan. I headcanon that Eddie Diaz has chronic pain in his shoulders. I headcanon that Aziraphale hates the scent of pine.

🍭What's been your most challenging story to write, and why?

I'm writing a huge multi-part reincarnated soulmates AU, in which the soulmates meet each other throughout history and have different names etc. and it's...taking me soooo long. And honestly it's just because it so long and has so many historical points I need to research hahaha.

🍬What's a genre/trope you've never written, but might in future?

I'm...not sure tbh. Theres a lot of genre's/tropes I don't like or I'm not comfortable with so won't ever touch. But the ones I do like, I've attempted or I am in the process of attempting.

🍩What advice would you give to aspiring fic writers?

Just go for it. Find something you really, really want to see written and write it, because at the end of the day you write for yourself first and foremost. If you try to write to please everyone you'll stress yourself out too much.

🌶How dependent are you on feedback, good or bad?

Bad feedback is never warranted. I do not write for profit so therefore do not need amazon style reviews. Nor do I ask for constructive criticism. I appreciate if someone wants to tell me they like what I wrote though.

🥑What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on a bunch of things: Doctor Who x Good Omens crossover - The events of "The Giggle" with Crowley tagging along. Broadchurch Whump - 2 entries, poor Alec is getting tormented. Broadchurch x Good Omens x Rab C Nesbitt crossover - Alec, Crowley and Davina are identical triplets. Shenanigans ensue. Buddie birthday gift for someone dear to me. Buddie soulmates AU.

🍹How do you decide a story is ready to post?

I finish writing it haha. I let it come to a natural stopping point and then try not to over think it.

🍊What's a story that changed significantly from its initial idea to the final draft?

My reincarnated soulmates AU. I've changed so many historical points and condensed some and completely scrapped a whole half of it haha.

🥠What's your approach to world-building?

Powerpoints. Powerpoints and mind maps haha. If I'm going AU I will plan it like I'm Tolkien creating middle earth haha XD.

🍎How do you prioritize which stories to work on when you have multiple ideas?

I don't. My brain goes brrr and tries to plan all of them at once to the point I can't work on ANY of them haha.

🌮How do you balance the desire to write for yourself versus the desire to write for an audience?

I have been writing on and off since I was 13, and I used to write entirely for the audience and it stressed me out. Whilst I enjoy audience responses and like to receive comments confirming that they enjoyed what I wrote, if I don't like it, I won't post it, but if I enjoyed what I wrote I will love it regardless.

#rinwrites #rintrash #Fanfic writer asks #ask game #Thanks for this! haha #These took me so long to write as well

[thatlittleegyptologist]

Sometimes I just cannot participate in fandom for things. I'll go into the tag for a show I've started watching and it's full of comments like 'ughh I've only seen 2 eps but the character is so mean but they haven't told us why' or 'the character does this in ep 1 and it's so problematic™ so I won't watch the show' or 'it's kinda cliche so you can see how this will pan out' and I'm like:

Expecting to be told why a character has a flaw in the first episode is like being expected to be told the twist to the murder mystery five minutes in. Character flaws in long tv series usually don't get resolved/explained until the mid-point or climax of the story. That's basic storytelling. It's not fan fiction where you can just throw it out in a line or hand wave it away. It has to be developed.

Which is why 'characters are doing problematic shit' in the first couple of episodes. Sometimes you have to wait for the character development and then explanation for why they do this shit. Sometimes it's reasonable and sometimes it's not. I once watched a show where the female lead was just Not Nice, but I stuck with it because the premise was about dealing with trauma. By the time I got to ep 5 I'd begun to understand why she was the way she was. I still didn't like her much, but I understood. Sometimes the purpose of the story is for you to not like the characters at first. Sometimes they're meant to be assholes. Not everyone can be good, pure, and flawless from the off. If you're only looking for that in a lead character...you're not looking at a human more a caricature of purity.

Sometimes we need cliched but fun garbage. Fun because not everything has to be so damn serious about issues all the goddamn time. Garbage because not everything should or even can be Prestige Award Winning Television about serious things. Sometimes you just need a show where you can see the ending coming, but the journey is going to be silly fun. Too often you see 'we live in a society' takes for a show that is just switch off your brain and enjoy entertainment. No wonder people struggle with things if they're always looking for 'ahh yes very cerebral' from something like a camp romcom.

I suffer from being too switched on, which means I will often see who the murderer is or where the story is going from the first episode/chapter. I've had to learn to switch my brain off and just enjoy something for what it is, rather than critique it for something it's not even trying to be. Too often you see posts where it's clear someone just didn't vibe with the show, but they then have to make something up to make it seem like a bigger deal because they need to be seen to be performatively Critiquing™ rather than saying 'eh not for me' and moving on. I mean, I've seen a show I might like to watch, gone into a tag, seen tons of people say 'oh no it does this awful thing don't watch it uwu' so I've watched it out of curiosity. Either the thing they didn't like was over and done with by the end of the first episode, pointed out that it was 'wrong' in the first episode, was over in the first 20 minutes of the first episode and doesn't appear for the rest of the series, or it was a very minor incident that the echo chamber has now blown wildly out of proportion.

idk what the point of this post was tbh but I really wish people would just allow themselves to enjoy things without feeling the need to provide a literary critique on why they liked it (or didn't). I miss when fandom was about finding silly little clues or just talking about what happened in the episode without really passing that much judgement. Silly fun, y'know?

#I'm really hoping hollywood remembers that camp silly films that aren't made for awards season are fun #I miss those sorts of films

[kihaku-gato]

@wolverinedoctorwho replied to your post “I finished watching Frieren.... Vote to make me...”:

Well shucks. I wanna know what the bdsm magical girl anime is now.

I can't decide if my phrasing was good or worse at trying to repel interest or if there are people like me out there that are starved enough that we'll nab anything even if it's a bit..... something something. Replying to this late so my brain can be too tired to strangle me before this gets made/sent.

Few disclaimers;

it is VERY ecchi if not bordering/crossing hentai status in certain chapters, while I have yet to see the anime I've heard from some of the manga-to-anime fans that they found it even MORE brazen than the manga. This is the series where very few outsiders will believe you if you say you watch it for anything OTHER than the ecchi/I-can't-believe-its-not-hentai.

If you can turn your brain off for most parts and/or take the content abstractedly you'll probably be okay with this series? Otherwise there will be a lot of "problematicness" that's gonna grate like nails on a chalkboard. The ages of the characters ALONE is a big deal breaker for many and is one of many personal gripes for me as well.

While there are some Interesting Plot Points it mostly just has fun with itself and tries to be comedic at times and could be called pretty shallow of a series overall. If you want a hefty indepth story with this setting that its placed you are probably not gonna come out of the series fully satisfied despite some of its compelling moments. If you know of some other series/story with this kind of setting that do it better PLEASE TELL ME.

I DON'T NORMALLY LIKE TO READ/WATCH THIS KIND OF MANGA/ANIME but the stars aligned in such a way that I ended up checking it out of pure curiosity and somehow fell into this bizarre though shallow rabbit hole of a series.

I've seen it referred to by three different names; Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete, Gushing over Magical Girls, and/or Looking Up to Magical Girls.

Tldr of the setting is that a huge fan of magical girls named Utena who's a very shy magical girl otaku gets tricked by an evil mascot to become a Villain instead of the magical girl of her dreams, her closeted sadism/horniness rears its head and she ends up really good at being a villain to clash heads with the magical girls. There is implications of the Mascots (at least the evil mascot) having some ulterior plans/motives but that currently has been left mysterious and up in the air as of current translation/release.

If you were to a ask me why I ended up continuing to read the series despite my huge nitpicks with it my answers would be that it had the Yuri tag on dynastyscans and I don't get to see many villain x hero stories of this angle so I'll take what I can get (I really need to dig and find some cause there must be some), the villain protag for her simplicity is kind of interesting and funny/crazy, and the other is cause some of the plot hooks/characters occasionally snap your brain into attention in a way that's weirdly compelling.

"oh haha how kinky/funny the villain has mindbroken the hero into submission like the classic hentai tropes in this chapter, surely the villain protag will delight in winning this way right?"

WRONG

GIRL DOES NOT DELIGHT.

Now excuse me as I bury myself into a hole in utter embarrassment cause I feel like I sound almost as crazy as some of the other fans who discuss the chapters of this series in a abstract literature symbolism manner.

#not tagging cause I pray this gets very few notes if at all and disappears into obscurity lmfao

[nitewrighter]

i hate that I'm starting to get those ppl who say shit like "i know it's problematic but I can't not interact w it cuz it's my hyperfixation"

I've been in this overwatch shit since the game launched and stayed even when the fandom was dead like in 2021, and i just feel like I can't leave now even tho everything abt it makes me either sad or angry

Well like, I think it's always been kind of complicated with Overwatch because when it first dropped, everyone was crowing about its representation and its optimism, but at the beginning, so much of it was fan hype. It's never really belonged to just one person like H*rry P*tter. It started out as a completely different game, Titan, passed through god-knows-how-many hands before it dropped in 2016 and became this massive phenomenon. The first big Blizzard scandal was centered on Hearthstone, not Overwatch, and when the sexual harassment and union-busting scandals started emerging, it was clear there were still people at Blizzard who cared about Overwatch and their work on the game and the community it created, they just wanted better working conditions and workplace culture. Overwatch was never the product of one singular asshole, it's always been collaborative, and that's also why I've spent the past few days really questioning my relationship to it--because I poured a lot of myself into this community through my fanfics, and I had gained this wonderful audience from it, but the negative keeps stacking and stacking, and even if you've carved out your comfortable little niche, eventually it weighs on you more and more.

On top of it all, the game was very much designed to be addictive. The sensory overload of the game itself, the euphoria of working with a cohesive team, the exasperation of being on a shit team, the leveling systems, the sounds the game makes as you get a loot box or progress through the battlepass, the challenges and achievements, the cosmetics, the sunk cost fallacy of how much time you've already put in, the way it can be 1 in the morning but you're like "oh that last game sucked, I can't end the night on that note" like--I know it sounds ridiculous but it is a game that really worms its way into your psyche in the same way gambling can.

I think like... the first step to getting some distance from it is giving yourself permission to explore other things. One of the first steps to breaking a habit Like, for me, because I had such a narrative focus on it, I kind of joked that getting into Dune and reading 'Fire and Blood' after months of writing Overwatch fic was like doing lines of coke because my brain was going, "Holy shit, lore." I'm also lucky enough to work in a library, where my magpie brain can go into overdrive. I've been reading a lot of comics, working my way down a reading list I had been neglecting too long, and when I get an urge to play video games specifically, I play a different game like Horizon Zero Dawn or Skyrim. I found that open-world games have kind of helped my brain wean a bit off of they hyper-overstimulation of Overwatch, and it also scratches my narrative itch, too.

Basically what I'm saying is, if everything about the game is making you sad or angry, it's okay to explore other things. Don't make it about quitting, per se, make it about finding something new that makes you happier. And if you're just getting sad/stressed from it, I promise you, you are going to find something new. It might not scratch all the itches Overwatch did at first, but just be patient with yourself.

[oddlyhale]

RWBY: The Show That's Tried To Explain Itself For Years

Lately, I have been into reading and writing again. I love reading books that are pretty fucking bad because, like bad movies, bad books are fun to read and collect. I've also been into watching other content creators review bad books and give their thoughts.

There's a term that I had never heard of before until a few days ago: "steam of conscious." What it means is "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. Basically meaning the author is plugging in ideas that sound cool at the moment, and are forgotten about later because there are other random, cool ideas that the author keeps plugging in.

That's not inherently a bad method of writing. It's similar to "pantsing" a book, meaning "sitting down and writing by the seat of your pants," except it doesn't have to be left as is. You can plug in as many ideas as you want in your story, but you also have to remember to go back and do major editing to try and make these ideas flow and make sense to the story itself. Of course, that means you'll be cutting out a hunk of content that does nothing or makes no sense to the overall story. Unless you're an experienced chaotic writer, you'll be putting in a lot of work.

I like editing, and I like knowing that I am a pantser, so it feels like a good combination. Not a perfect one, but a workable one for me.

But it does make me wonder about RWBY overall, wondering now if the show was a stream of consciousness the whole time, except the writers can't go back to edit everything.

I wouldn't say RWBY is an unedited mess of consciousness. There's definitely editing here and there to make dialogue and scenes make sense, but the overall script is fucking nuts.

RWBY V1-V3 have their stream of consciousness where the writers had anime brain rot, plugging in cheesy tropes that other animes have to make RWBY fit neatly into that media. Oh look, kids with superpowers going to a superpower school to learn more about themselves. Oh, put in a tournament because other school animes have those. Oh, make the main cast have some personality tropes - like Weiss can be a cute tsundere, and Ruby can be the naive but brave heroine who is also likely the chosen one that will save Remnant.

Not saying these tropes are bad, but I don't think RWBY understood why those tropes were so fun in the first place after they blew it all up before V4 began.

This thought has been on my mind for a few days because oddly, it reminds me quite a lot of The Night and Its Moon. If you're not familiar with the book, it's a plagiarized Witcher story, but trying to be queer.

I say trying because the author failed miserably to make their sapphic main couple the main focus. Like, the back of the book promises an action-romance, but that feels like a lie. One of the women would rather be surrounded by her male harem while the other woman is wishing to find her long-lost lover.

But the author of The Night and its Moon admitted to writing the first book in an ongoing manic episode that lasted for a few days. She finished the entire thing in 10 days, self-published it and it was out in the world for her fans to check out. I don't mind if people take such a small amount of time to complete a book, but what I do care about is if the author cared enough to go back and edit everything.

As you can guess, TNAIM's author did little. She was fearful of criticism, saying this book is important to her identity as a bisexual and didn't want any negative feedback. As much as I understand where she's coming from, wanting to live in a bubble of nobody being allowed to criticize your book was where her book fell flat and fell miserably. The book turned out very problematic, not because of the queerness, but because of the weird white skin, white girl worship, and fetishization of the only dark-skinned woman who happens to be one of the main protagonists.

The book has so many plugs of cool moments that it never comes back to, moments between characters that seem to mean something but are actually never expanded upon ever again, the poor sapphic representation, and the racism.

Which is where it reminds me of RWBY.

The difference is that the entire story of The Night and its Moon was written by one person who refused critical feedback. RWBY has three-four writers that all share the same braincell and it still flops.

If you want to know more about the book, you can find out more about it by watching YT reviews made by Booktubers. It is a hot mess, that's what I'll leave you with.

YA novels have a hard time discussing heavy topics, yet they insist on tackling them. That's not a bad thing, but if you're going to do that, you can't just try tackling it while in a stream of consciousness. Many authors accidentally - or maybe not accidentally - come across as incoherent and offensive. Relying heavily on cheesy tropes to help build weak support but never do anything creative with it. Not being sensitive to topics that can be fumbled so badly that the audience may assume you're [a] problematic person(s).

I don't believe that CRWBY is working off a stream of consciousness after V3, however. That stream of cheesy anime material had dried out fast because they shoved almost all of them into the first three volumes. They published their metaphorical books and realized they made huge mistakes that they can't go back and fix, so they have to work with retconning or pretending those things totally didn't happen. Or perhaps acknowledge some of those ideas did happen but then quickly turn tail and run before explaining anything any further. Or, the worse thing, is to plug in a new idea that combats that old idea, but now they have to explain that new idea if it doesn't follow up in the next volumes.

A weird cycle of ideas that can or cannot be explained, and it feels like RWBY has become "the show that is trying to explain itself." Not a show about kids with superpowers trying to save the world.

Stream of consciousness and pantsing aren't inherently bad methods to write a story. I don't mind if you would even refer to yourself as a "chaotic but organized" creator. If you love the story, you'll put in that extra effort to make it cohesive to the general audience, or at least make it all flow together and make sense. But do not leave it in a messy heap that you need to justify in the next fucking book, and don't be mad when people point out the problematic things you wrote into the pages. The audience wasn't the one that put that context into the story. You as the writer did.

#rwde #pantsing writing #stream of consciousness #writing methods gone wrong

[redjaybathood]

1, 5, 7, 8, 4, 11 and 15 for the problematique ships??

oh wow, that's a lot! thank you!

1) what is your favorite “problematic” ship?

Brujay. It is very interesting to get their canon mutual weirdness - their relationship is a mess, it's not healthy - and bring it up to 11. Both because it's like magnifying what's already there, to make it easier to drive things home: none of them is okay and they should, in fact, stay away from each other despite the fact it wouldn't be that hard not just to reconcile but also to respect each other and be deserving of said respect.

It's also curious to me that a lot of Bruce's fan ships are actually... have similar vibes to brujay, minus the "I was his father for 3 years or so" factor. BatCat - I can write an essay about similarities between Jason and Catwoman, and Jason actually feels jealous and replaced by her, at some point in his Robin era. BruTalia, BruHarvey, GhostBat. Especially the GhostBat. It's literally brujay without the incest. Whereas Jason's ships are the opposite. Like, Sladejay comes close but no cigar.

5) a ship you like but can’t find content for because it’s a fanpol fave?

I am like Jaytemis but not enough to go looking. I actually blocked a lot of jaytemis fans because they were dicks in tag. and on some discord server, don't remember details.

7) what kind of “problematic” tropes you like to put your ships through?

Sex while willingly or unwillingly mentally impaired, such as by alcohol (taken willingly), drugs (taken unwillingly), interdimensional demon possession, and having heat while also having a traumatic brain injury. There's also having sex not because you want but for reasons. Proving a point. Trying to manipulate. Things like that.

I think I have about... two fics where a character has sex because they want to have sex, and it ends badly in the second one.

Basically the moral of my stories:

In one of them, it was quite literal.

8) a character you think did nothing wrong but fandom demonizes?

Damian, easy. I find it irritating especially when he's used as Tim's foil. The little guy was brainwashed, and he still is dealing with the consequences of this trauma and his upbringing overall. It takes years to unpack it.

Talia - just leave her alone. "She traumatized Damian" - the authors did that. She was just a tool, and she was character-assassinated in the process. I mean, it is a bit wrong of her to be, like, in charge of an international murder organization but, we all know what the grip fandom has with her is not about that.

4) a ship you think is fairly healthy and unproblematic but the fandom has decided to hate?

JayRoy and joyfire holy shit. I know it stems, in part, from the hatred to New52 overall and Lobdell's RHatO in particular, and I hear them even if I don't care that much (I see jayroy potential even before New52, and after). But "stealing friends from Dick", "age difference", what the fuck else there was - just no. As long as Jason deals with his commitment issues and self-hatred, this is the healthiest relationship he has ever had with the exception of Artemis and Bizarro.

11) is there a fandom that ever made you think “how are there antis in this fandom, why are they even into this”?

Hannibal, Good Omens, and Sandman, to name a few. Curious that they think that if the creator has public acknowledgment it means that suddenly he's not proship anymore. Or if he is, that's okay, we won't be principled and leave/not join the fandom but rather go bully the proshippers who do not have money and fame.

Oh, and Game of Thrones/House of Dragons - while I don't know if Martin is proship, the subject matter he deals with is no more taboo than what fandom does. "I watch dragon incest show for the dragons, y'all weird" no it's you who's weird, you literally watching a show about incest and complaining about incest. "it's not glorified in canon" That's cute, you sure it is in fics? you read them? you read incest fics? Like, come on.

15) something cool about the last thing you watched/read/listened to!

Last thing I listened to was this youtube comics podcast: Grandpas reading comics (eng subs are only auto-translated so bear with it)

It's about Ukrainian comics, The Will, and as a person who has two issues of this comic book and no idea of what's going on, I was glad to find out this video exist. I did not finish watching it yet tho - so I still have no idea what's going on - I will keep you guys posted. After I buy the issue 3, maybe.

#proship ask meme #asks meme

[ladyluscinia]

I know there's not much point to trying to address the "Izzy Hands is Kylo Ren" takes - they're not going anywhere, the loudest proponents already have me blocked, disagreeing probably mostly serves to get me blocked more, etc. - but they bother me a lot and I've got time and motivation right now...

So. Kicking a hornet nest. Halfheartedly. My argument is meandering and ends when I get bored of writing it. Under a cut because I'm not bothering to structure or trim this down.

I find this interpretation of the fandom response immensely frustrating for a few reasons. For one, I think it's rooted pretty heavily in an anti mindset that basically suggests giving positive attention to a "bad" character or ship as a fan is effectively stealing the attention you owe to a morally better one, and then casts suspicion on your motives. Asking "Why would you like Izzy so much when the pure and good Stede / Edward / Revenge crew are right there?" Accusing people of vilifying other characters if they suggest Izzy might have been wronged in any of the numerous interpersonal conflicts. Assuming the only explanation for sympathizing with him is bigotry (unconscious or otherwise) driving opinions... Which is an insane thing to just drop into discussion like it's obvious and unquestionable before we start introducing relevant concepts like "protagonist centered morality". I also, understandably, object to the take that since I don't write extensive disclaimers on how this character is pure bigoted evil, then the most generous interpretation (aka the only way I'm not a bad person myself) is that I'm just really stupid and do not understand the story. Or got distracted by a Victorian ankle collar flash and my ability to understand "this is a bad person" fell right out with my brain.

Like, fuck, people are not subtle with implying anyone who likes Izzy without a "oh but I also hate him and think he's pure villain" tacked on is either a moron or actively malicious, and problematic to the point of demanding public repentance either way. He's a fictional henchman in a pirate comedy.

And that henchman status leads into the main reason this take bothers me... I think it's just plain incorrect.

Ever since the very first time I saw someone arguing this - and responded to it in dissent as the author had invited people to do, though they did not appreciate someone actually taking them up on said invitation - my immediate complaint was that it hinges on taking the absolute worst faith read of every action Izzy takes from start to finish. Like, you can interpret all these things to mean what you say they mean, but it's hardly the only way and often not even the encouraged way. Example: the writers have openly stated they aren't trying to focus on homophobia and didn't intend the anchor hoist to be an example of Izzy being racially biased. It's one thing to declare the author is dead and keep reading those as inadvertently present in the text and relevant potential explanations regardless of intent. It's a whole different thing to decide that it is objectively wrong for fans to dismiss things like the anchor hoist as a coincidence (which it literally was) because you've decided the character is blatantly racist and that interpretations of his actions with less bigoted motivations are inherently unacceptable excusing of racism. For people that praise the writing so much, there is a lot of hostility to the idea that good writing on an antagonist might entail them being complex and maybe even - gasp! - not as evil as they could be. (Which Izzy very much isn't, btw.)

And on the specific comparison at hand, suggesting Izzy is effectively just Kylo Ren or Walter White or any number of white asshole characters that get idealized by fans ignoring that they are meant to be terrible... there's a pretty big elephant getting ignored. Namely, Izzy Hands is not a character with power. He's a henchman, with a much bigger, badder, scarier boss in Edward (who is on screen even more than he is). He isn't respected or feared by the Revenge crew. He doesn't have an institution of blatant symbolic and literal power backing him up like the Badmintons, despite this being a thing they very much could have done. Some of those extras in Navy uniform could have easily been, say, remaining Queen Anne crew, arriving at Izzy's heel to reinforce toxic pirate culture on Edward (who in this version is presumably traumatized by piracy and desperately trying to escape to a peaceful life). Instead Izzy is alone, and unthreatening, and written with both a noticable aversion to impulsive conflict violence and a fawn response. If these great writers were trying to do a Walter White style external harm and eventual self destruction arc to make a point about toxic masculinity, then this setup looks like they kinda really suck at it.

You can't write a character hitting the dramatic fall part of that narrative if they quite literally never get a leg up in the first place, and the fall is kind of integral to that group of toxic assholes. It provides the moral lesson / message that Izzy enjoyers keep being accused of being blind to. Unless, of course, you are suggesting that he's the "bad writers glorifying a power fantasy" version (more like Kylo Ren than Walter White), though I thought these weren't bad writers and it's a very strange concept of a power fantasy to be the butt of every joke.

You can't make any effective point about a toxic white guy with power without writing a toxic white guy with power. Like, idk, the Badminton brother who falls on his own sword because he's too haughty to take the person he bullied seriously??? Sure, nobody would have the point of Breaking Bad fly right over their head if Walter White had been a loser getting mocked relentlessly on screen and failing left and right, but something tells me "cancer patient who is a bit of dick goes bankrupt and dies, and nobody cares" wouldn't have made the points about toxic masculinity and hubris in the first place. If you want a real lack of media literacy, transplanting an arc and associated symbolism onto a character that doesn't fit the associated archetype and not addressing how it still works and sends the same message beyond assuring that it does is a good example.

I mean, seriously, these arguments are made by the same people who also relentlessly tear into the idea that Izzy is even slightly competent as a pirate. So they can't even pretend that his arc in the show is his fall of hubris (a dumb decision to start him in the show just after the climax turning point, but at least possible), because they are determined to remind you that he never had anything he thinks he's losing in the first place. How is that supposed to work??? Loser remains loser, gets embarrassed a bunch, says mean things that mostly get shrugged off, and look how dangerous and destructive toxic masculinity and arrogance is, kids!

That. Is. Not. His. Archetype.

For the thing that will really piss antis off, Izzy's whole comedic butt-monkey routine does give him a few archetypes he can lean into, and most of them are based around symbolic or literal victimhood. Like how he is kind of the designated toxic masculinity guy, and his life completely sucks for reasons often outside his control. Which does convey messages about how toxic masculinity isn't good for anyone, but in a way where the logical conclusion is that Izzy is also suffering under it and the logical arc (especially in a redemptive series) is to have the audience feel bad for him and root for him to get his own happiness by escaping it (you know... like what people think they are doing in a very flat way with Edward). There's also a semi-karmic element when his own actions backfire, but the endless humiliation conga makes that pretty sympathetic too (he's not successfully evil but still suffering plenty for it), and that puts him in the group of unthreatening antagonists who stumble right into the good side because being evil kinda sucks for them and they aren't as good at it as the other real villains. Think Zuko, or Spike.

Butt-monkey characters do tend to be more sympathetic than not. That's a comedy staple.

But sure, keep pretending he's more like Walter White or Tyler Durden than a character from The Office, and writing extensive posts on how liking the pure evil character you've made up in your head is proof of moral failing and / or idiocy. That's really a great use of time and fandom energy 🙄

Izzy will continue to be Just Some Guy

#our flag means death #did some drunk izzyposting now for some sleep deprived izzyposting #though I guess i can save this as a draft and at minimum do some polishing and add a few ref links before posting #i just. i hate that whole comparison so much. and the fact it is always accompanied by 'learn how to interpret media' shit #when it's such a forced interpretation that ignores a lot of izzy's role in the narrative and comparable arcs / archetype #izzy hands ofmd #fandom culture #< failure to interpret media #ladyluscinia

[livelaughlovesubs]

Can u pls talk more ur typing makes me giggle and kick my feet

- 🎀

Oh damn, there is something special about the way I type?? Okay, question for all of you, what is something recognisable about my writing style? I’d love to know. Anyway, what do you want me to talk about? You can just ask me some questions and I’d be happy to answer

So for now, well I think I haven’t talked much about myself yet.

My favourite colour is blue, I like guys with long hair, preferably white but it still depends on whatever the fuck my brain is doing for me to like them. They could fulfil all the requirements but I’d still not like that character and idk why. I’m not a big fan of sweets but I love ice cream. I feel like I always get hyper invested in the wrong things, and overly sentimental.

Flirting is very fun, but it gets problematic if the person starts liking you back. Sometimes I wonder if I have a superiority complex. I’m a very positive person, but even I have days where I’m not feeling it.

Black and white are pretty colours that fit each other very well.

Personality over looks right? But I don’t have a Typ when it comes to personality. As long as they’d sub and bottom for me I’m down for it. Yea, I’m that desperate.

I’m getting so little asks these days I’m gotta cry where are you guys don’t leave ToT

#nini!rant #🎀 anon

[linabirb]

👀👀👀 For the bingo, I'd like to hear your thoughts on Aki (csm just to be safe because its quite a common name haha), Makima, Isagi, Kaiser, Reo, and Mikoto.

.. OH BOY I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO HEAR SOME OF THE WORST TAKES EVER

.. i'm going to be honest. I GENUINELY FORGET AKI EXISTS SOMETIMES. like my brain just goes "uhhh remember denji and power's big bro" and im like "OH". if you remember my akutagawa bingo, i think you can see a pattern which can only be described as "i am so sorry but i just cannot make myself care about brooding dark-haired anime boys" 😭😭 (dan heng from hsr is one of the few exceptions) idk i really do think his story was sad but i'm also kinda like. i was too focused on other things when i read and watched csm JSKDSLASLSL. "what things" well.. let's talk about the next character on our list.

feel free to shoot me or stab me for this. but yes, THIS WOMAN IS ACTUALLY MY FAV CSM CHARACTER 😭 (along with kobeni and asa) i just love evil women! and i love well-written evil women! and i have so much to say about her. i genuinely love the way she was written and she's a very realistic character, but i am not a fan of how the csm fandom just. doesn't care about her character at all and cares only about her crimes and i'm not even talking about her basically destroying the whole world and killing SO MANY PEOPLE, i'm talking about her relationship with denji. which is, OF COURSE, bad and extremely toxic and unhealthy, especially considering that denji is a minor. however, i think seeing that as her only "personality trait" is so.. it just doesn't sit right with me. like i would be okay with people talking about everything she's done and analyzing it and going "yeah she's still a bad person even if she's well-written and deep" but i am NOT okay with people going "yeah she's a groomer and also she killed my faves :(" like. i don't know. if you don't want to interact with such "problematic" content just don't read it? though i'm gonna be honest i'm pretty sure most csm fans are very young and from what i heard, a lot of them haven't even read/watched any "dark" content before csm. me picking "they are innocent if u ignore their various crimes" is obv a joke, i definitely agree that makima is a terrible person, but also. i can't deny that she's pretty <3 and also the fact that she just needed a hug breaks my heart every time i think about it. i actually have a plushie of her too! one of the best purchases i've ever made, she stares at me with her big ol' yellow eyes and i do everything she says. thank you for motivating me to do my hw, queen.

but enough talking about my faves. honestly.. i don't really care about isagi? which actually makes me very sad bc i found him very relatable at first but then i kinda got bored? like i can't even describe his personality, i can only say "uhhh he's friendly with other guys unless he's playing football and also. uh. he likes football"? and ig that can also be very fun and i'm usually a huge fan of characters that usually act nice but also have a very rude and mean side, but isagi is just. idk, i don't really find him that interesting and those moments when he's like, busy analyzing everything and coming up with strategies.. honestly, i just skipped them JSDKSLSLS. I WANTED MORE ACTION OKAY. i think his relationship with bachira is cute though!

BACK TO MY FAVES. i would bite kaiser's head off if i ever got the chance but he's also one of my fav characters. yeah. he's so cool, i love his design sm, i need to look like him. i want to get into his head and figure out what's wrong with him. i want to squeeze him and crush him and tear him apart, but i also love him so much. tbh i don't know anything about the new chapters, but i'd love to learn more about him, it's like, at the same time, i want him to have a backstory that's a little bit (or maybe VERY) sad, but i also kinda want him to be like that just bc he can (even though i'm pretty sure it was implied that he does have a reason for acting like that). and yes, i love his relationship dynamic with ness. yeah.

reo. another fave of mine. though i actually didn't like him that much when i first saw him, but. i knew deep down that a purple boy will become one of my faves. love this gay disaster of a man, everything that happened between him and nagi was more entertaining than every single romance movie that i've ever watched. i want him to get better and realize that he's capable of doing great things without him. i also want him to become even more dependent on him for angst reasons. it's hard. and i honestly both love and hate that moment when he decides to return to nagi right after he finally started to get some character development, because YES I WANT HIM TO GROW AND I WANT HIS PERSONALITY TO BE SOMETHING OTHER THAN "if i spend at least one day w/o nagi i will die", but also it's very realistic and as someone who was in MULTIPLE (platonic) relationships that were exactly like his relationship with nagi.. that moment was very painful. in a good way. and again, i wanna look like him.

my relationship with mikoto is very hard to explain bc it's like. in theory, i'd love to learn more about him. i'd love to stan him. but also.. i'm not a fan of how the fandom pretty much makes his DID his only personality trait? maybe i'm just on the wrong side of the fandom, but i rarely see any posts about his other traits? again, i'd love to learn more bc i have a feeling that we have a lot in common, but. but yeah. i'm a huge fan of his minigram version though <3 so silly. so squishy. so funny. (honestly, me being salty that almost all convos about mikoto usually discuss his DID is so funny to me now that after three therapy sessions i've found out that i'm most likely a system SJHSJDKDLSL like bro THAT IS YOU) about "i would push them down the stairs" i mean it in a silly playful way :) like i want him to fall down and scream in a very cartoony and funny way.

#[ 💓 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 ] #[ 💕 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 ] #[ 💫𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝: 𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐚 ]