#and none of these characters romantically i mean dynamic wise

[feelinmissfeint]

kit snicket and jordan baker same genre of character

[ladyloveandjustice]

Winter 2025 Anime Overview: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun/Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Season 2

After a five year wait, one of my all time problematic fave anime is back, and the anime about a hopeless romantic and her weird little ghost friend continues! I basically wrote a novel when the first season of Hanako-kun hooked me, so you can check that review out for more information about the show. This is a season that contains multitudes—the first arc finally covers the time keeper’s arc in the manga—an arc that had some really good parts and introduced an ongoing dramatic conflict, but also unfortunately introduced one of my least favorite characters (and relationship dynamics) in the series.

That’s a bit subjective and I plan to tag this so I won’t go into detail since I have no interest arguing about it, basically the character in question’s behavior is supposed to be funny and it’s not, I don’t find their motives or dynamic with the character they’re obsessed with interesting (and said dynamic will dominate said characters screen time later on and she deserves better), and the bad behavior is only jokingly condemned and not seriously called out in the way Hanako’s possessiveness is.

 But then the second half covers my favorite arc in the manga, so I was a happy camper. This arc has a lot of emotional development for the main characters, with Mitsuba and Kou and Hanako and Nene all having great little stories, relationship growth, and dramatic moments, the premise is heartbreaking and creative, Mei is complex antagonist and great character, the manga comes out in favor of the power of girls writing self-insert OCs, and there’s a beautiful message about how fiction can help us keep going through dark times, and how it can be a way to live on. It’s so good.

The change in directors is from the first season is noticeable, though the animation is a lot less limited, it’s notably less stylish and striking in its use of colors and elegant flourishes. Don’t get me wrong, it still mostly looks good and the cool art style that drew me in remains intact. There’s some really beautiful moments. I just sometimes found myself missing the pizzazz of the previous director sometimes. While the little manga panel transitions were there in part to cover up the first season's limited animation, I still missed how distinct that style was. It would have been nice to see what that direction could do with the second season clearly getting more of a boost resources-wise. But it's not the end of the world.

The caveats from the last season remain—the frequent mean spirited running joke about Nene’s ankles (as a manga reader, this does stop appearing as often in later arcs at least), and a good amount of ~funny pervert~ moments (though fun fact about one comment Hanako makes: a million chapters later it will be revealed that by “pervy stuff you could do with time travel powers” he meant…touching someone’s upper arm because apparently he’s secretly a Victorian child??? Also he’s legitimately embarrassed he said that later on, wow, growth). You can check out my first review I linked above for a more thorough rundown.

Some additional warnings: A character impulsively attempts suicide (but talks about planning to find a way to come back to life as they do). The attempt's method is not graphic, but I thought I'd warn just in case. Suicide is also discussed a few times, with a few nameless background characters making some shitty comments that are appropriately framed as a bad thing.

Hanako-kun as a story is interested in screwed-up romances and relationships in general, none of them are completely healthy. Personally, I don't need characters to be unproblematic and I usually find how the show explores these relationships really interesting, with a notable exception that I mentioned earlier. Hanako does do some screwed-up things that don’t respect Nene’s agency this season, but Nene reasserts her agency and thoroughly takes him to task for it. She’s so good, I adore her.

It’s a messy show, but it remains a rewarding one, especially if you love ghost stories and tragic ghost/human relationships like I do. I’m so happy we’re getting a third season soon. 

[snellyfish]

Why is Angie your favourite character?

This is really funny I just got off call with Glownary and was talking about how much I don't miss Danganronpa discourse. Anyway I hope someone finds a way to get mad at me in this post!

((Admittedly I'd probably actually place Korekiyo above her because he ACTUALLY has a relevant and specified canon story,,, but, y'kno))

Plain and simple, she just has a handful of design and character tropes I super adore in characters! As a base, I'm usually not super into,,, well-adjusted, well-liked , reasonable, and rational characters. LMAO. They're fine but I live for exaggeration. I LOVE when they're little freaks and not watered down at all for the viewers sake/comfort, I love when they (both the writers and the written) just keep twisting the knife for no good reason other than the bit despite how unconventional it may be.

One could argue that her not being watered down and being as shitty to the other players as she is is a trauma response, or just a mentally ill person being mentally ill. It can be neat to think of her that way sometimes! It's of my opinion that almost all Danganronpa characters are super open-ended lore/personality-wise and we as fans are just making up canon as we go because it's FUCKING FUN, and, as such, all the ways that Angie can be interpreted is very interesting to me-- EVEN if that's seen as "the irredeemable annoying religion-force-feeding zealot antagonist." Which is, of course, an objectively awful way to view anyone REGARDLESS of media illiteracy, but, you know! I like weird freaks so this "flaw" they see is simply more food for me. Yippee!!

Whether I think she's canonically A) genuinely malicious and sadistic, B) traumatized from an abusive religious sect, C) honestly caring about the other players, and/or D) none/all of the above? I'll never tell! Oops all bangers!

Tropes I enjoy, whether or not I found myself enjoying them BECAUSE of Angie herself;;

Religion, especially if it's horrifying and...bad! (Most of my own characters deal heavily with religion and religious trauma, I think it's cool to play with, whether or not it's a fantasy religion like I think Angie's is)

CULTS! Cult behavior! Let's live in a commune!! (GUYS I LOVE MIDSOMMAR)

Dark skin / light hair contrast color combo goes hard!!!

+ The pansexual flag palette is literally my favorite color combo ever!!!!

Manipulative little shits!!!!!

Small scary women!!!!!!

Islander stuff, it's very nostalgic to me and I just have a deep love and appreciation for the beach and ocean!!!!!!!

Piercings!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cutesy sunshine character who could and would stab you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IDK HOW THIS WASN'T MY FIRST POINT!!!!!!!!!!

AND SHE'S JUST FUCKING SILLY!!!!!!!! SHE'S GENUINELY SO FUNNY AND CUTE ESPECIALLY IN HER INTERACTIONS WITH SHUICHI!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HER SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was an IMMEDIATE favorite when I played V3 and when I found out that, like, everyone fucking HATED her and she's probably the least liked character in the entire class by the fans, my brain immediately went the contrarian route to find reasons to like her even MORE. I tend to do this a lot, but when it's a character I already enjoy, it's even worse, dude.

ummmmm obligatory Shinnaga mention sorry but I frequently tend to appreciate a character a lot more based on potential dynamics alone. Ships, romantic or not, have legitimately gotten me to enjoy characters I hated before, based on interesting interactions unique to them alone. So while Kiyo and Angie's (they're making out btw) ingame dynamic and dialogues aren't REALLY what my sick and twisted mind views them as, it's worth noting that my honest belief and interpretation of the two of them could even give me a sliver of that dynamic being possible .......... means she's fuckin slay ............ it means love wins..... It means Vote For Yonaga 2024

[sorinmarkov]

Genuine question, not trying to sound mean, but why do you ship Sorin and Teferi? I know this can sound really sarcastic/"what is wrong with you" but know that my intention is legit, I'm actually curious.

Fantastic question! I will admit that it isn’t based off of the most definitive “proof” when it comes to character shipping, but there is some textual stuff I look to when saying this, namely a handful of scenes from Crimson Vow.

(This will be a bit of a mess so apologies in advance.)

“"We don't have any other way in," says Teferi. "Sorin's in a mood, but he's always been pragmatic. As our leading expert on egomaniacal planar guardians—"

“Give me a few years," Kaya cuts in.

"As someone who's known him for centuries, I think we can get through to him. This isn't the first time he's been in a mood, after all. In fact, come to think of it, I'm not sure if I've ever seen him any other way. But if nothing else, I'm sure he'll tell us what Olivia is planning."”

(A few scenes later:)

“…Then his eyes land on Teferi. Jovial as always, he's hiding a laugh. Teferi puzzled Sorin. He so rarely met others who could see the whole of history or anyone who smiled so easily.”

and

“Perhaps they did not hear him coming, for most snap to attention. Arlinn and Teferi are the lone exceptions. It is frustrating to him how easy Teferi remains, how none of this seems to trouble him…”

- Tithes and Invitations by K Arsenault Rivera

I find their character dynamic of both being these ancient and powerful planeswalkers who look at each other and say: “they’ve always been this way, and I’m not quite sure why.” In polar opposite manners is pretty cute. Sorin is pragmatic yet moody whilst Teferi is jovial and yet wise and despite sharing similarities in motive and desire to help the multiverse they can’t quite wrap their heads around why the other is the way they are, namely Sorin, someone who has a very hard time seeing the bright side of things in light of his own trauma.

This is then topped off by this scene in the final episode of Crimson Vow:

“"Sorin, I know—I know that must have been hard for you, but you did the right thing," says Teferi.

Sorin wants to glare at him. How can he know?

How can he judge? And yet it occurs to him— Teferi, too, is old. Teferi, too, has known loss, has seen things beyond his imagining.

And the others might be shorter lived—but there is something that they all understand about one another inherently. A restlessness.

A wanderlust.

"Thank you."

It is all he can think of to say.”

- Till Death Do Us Part by K Arsenault Rivera

Teferi is the first person to end up stirring these empathetic feelings inside Sorin. Someone else who has seen so much horror, so much bloodshed, and who can reach out to him with something as simple as an: “I understand; You did the right thing” ends up being a really comforting thing for Sorin in this really rough time; this might be one of his first experiences with that sort of connection where he can truly believe that the person talking to him does understand and does care. Ultimately this revelation is what leads to Sorin accepting that he can in fact be empathized with, and it allows him to finally begin his character growth after so much of Crimson Vow was based around confronting why Sorin is the way he is.

Now that they know why Sorin acts the way he does, maybe Sorin can learn how Teferi is able to act the way he does.

There is also just some charming dialogue between the two of them throughout Hunt and Vow where they take little jabs at the eachother that I find to be pretty fun.

Also I just think their dynamic could be pretty interesting. They’re both these ancient planeswalker fathers who are just so different that I find it hard not to think of fun and cute interactions the two could have in a romantic context. Just an all around good, wholesome ship of these two people learning from and taking care of each other.

Simply put: it’s just a cool concept to me with some interesting textual evidence that ties it all up in a sweet little package.

“He’s just a bit moody all the time, but he’ll come around; I know it.”

vs

“He’s so happy all the time and It frustrates me that I can’t understand why, but maybe I can learn.”

[tommykinard6]

you know what the actual problem is with 911? that it never set up any ambitions outside of romance for the characters. the entire discussion about "but what about eddie?" just because of bucktommy possibly being endgame highlights once again that none of the characters have long-term goals in life that they want to achieve, something related to any hobbies or careers. they exist and haven't moved anywhere in years as characters. none of them have a defined passion or goal outside their job, and there is no clear trajectory set up for them of where they want to go in life that is not about romantic love or having a family. as soon as you take away the possibility that eddie might be together with buck someday, suddenly it feels like eddies's story is over because what else is left there that people could root for? on paper, he already has achieved everything regarding platonic and romantic and familial love. i beg 911 to finally give the characters goals and allow them to step outside the 118 cage. i know why they haven't yet, but it doesn't make for good television in the long run. the plot cannot keep going in circles or else the show has a real problem. grey's anatomy, despite all its flaws, did this much better because the workplace of choice allowed for continuous development and changing trajectories/careers.

You know what, I actually find this take really interesting and I think I agree for the most part. I think the issue with moving people forward career wise is that means we face the possibility of losing cast. Like if Hen had become a doctor, it would’ve been difficult to keep focusing on her storyline so 9-1-1 is about firefighters, cops, and dispatchers. We don’t go into the hospital unless someone is hurt. Same if someone gets promoted, like Athena, or retires. There will be a huge dynamic shift. We’ve not lost main cast like on other shows, where characters are killed off every season. To have ambition in life often means moving on and I don’t think 9-1-1 quite knows how to play both ends just yet.

Like if firefighters are promoted. Hen would be a great captain, but that would mean losing her at the 118 or having Bobby retire. If she left, Eddie could transition fully into paramedic if he so wished but what if he didn’t? Maybe Ravi? I’m not even sure about what could happen with Chim. Athena could take a promotion to lieutenant but she wouldn’t be on the streets as much. I feel like Maddie has more room for career advancement, maybe into a supervisory position with Josh.

I definitely see what you’re saying and I’m curious to know what other people think

[muninnhuginn]

Ask game: The Locked Tomb

thanks for asking and sorry in advance. this is so 'it depends' >_<

my favorite female character

Gonna be pretty boring with this one but Harrow. She's got some many layers of denial going on there (okay tbf so do a lot of the characters but shh) but she knows what she's good at and her particular mix of pride and bluffing is so fun. and it's neat how her psychosis interacts with those traits (thinking specifically of her interactions with Ortus in htn in terms of using him as a measure of what's real whilst not letting on to anyone else her 'weakness')

my favorite male character

Palamedes. I will admit there are probably more layers to John Gaius than Pal overall in terms of the whole... dubious ethics in STEM deal, but personality-wise I definitely prefer Pal to John

my favorite book/season/etc

Harrow the Ninth. I like the unreality vibes and non-linear timeline. It reminds me of fic in a good way. The sense of humour in htn also leans the closest to my own sense of humour (aka, whenever it highlights the absurdity of situations) though I will admit the memes take a knock to my personal rating. Harrow narration and humour also focuses a lot more on what interests me personally than Gideon or Nona. (Also, nothing else has been able to replicate the rush I got in htn when we got [redacted] POV. And that could only be pulled off by holding off for so long)

my favorite ship

Locked Tomb has a specific blend of the platonic and romantic which makes it kinda hard to choose any one as a ship more than a dynamic to study? Like, Griddlehark I probably like more as a concept than what's on paper. Ianthe/Harrow is intriguing but ultimately not endgame for either party and both of them are well aware of that. G1deon/Wake/Pyrrha is almost entirely told in implications, same with Mercymorn/John/Augustus (we do get to see more of them in action but we're missing so much about their past it's like looking at an incomplete jigsaw puzzle). Then there's whatever's going on with devotion and miscommunication with both campal and the tridentarii where they're so codependent but have such wildly different approaches (and in the case of the tridentarii, they're working at complete cross purposes with each other without even seeming to realise it)

uhhh tldr; I'm not sure I can decide on a favourite dynamic never mind a favourite ship. I'm partial to the 'playing house' 'family' in nona though because it never could have lasted. it may not have been 'real', but they scraped out some brief happiness for themselves in the time they had

a character I’d die defending

uh, none of them. I can like them all plenty, but their flaws are generally what make them interesting and I'm not connected enough to the fandom to have been subject to all the worst takes yet

a character I just can’t sympathize with

John Gaius. I can understand theoretically how he was essentially radicalised and has had millennia to convince himself his self-justification and recollection of events places him "in the right". And it's clear that the amount of effort he puts into convincing himself and everyone else that he was right means that he recognises on some level just how much he chose to destroy in the pursuit of what he'd call "saving people". But at the same time, I don't ever see him showing any form of repentance. And, like, I know characters don't *need* redemption arcs etc etc, but like. He's had his descent arc now. It's done. I'm about as sympathetic to him as Yagami Light.

a character I grew to love

I can't choose here. The thing with this series is in the first book I didn't truly feel like I "knew" the characters beyond Gideon and somewhat Harrow. But then htn and ntn both returned to characters and provided so much more context to them that I know that whenever I get around to my reread gtn alone is going to kill me with its implications. Will give shout-outs to both Ianthe and Camilla though

my anti otp

More trainwreck fascination here, but John/Alecto is very... in a series of incredibly unhealthy relationships these two give the impression they're heads and shoulders above the rest in toxicity (which is saying something considering the dios apates). I want to know more.

[convoloutedinjoke]

Rating Disco Elysium characters based on how funny I think their kinks have the potential to be

Harry: the DSM of getting off on things. He likes piss he likes feet he likes the idea of being soooo small and tiny you could step on him like a bug, and while none of these things are funny on their own they are when he does them on account of his being a clown. He would also fuck a clown, incidentally. 8/10, knocking two points off because this lacks the element of surprise.

Kim: Leather and uniform fetishist. No wise guy shenanigans here. Will fuck you serious will fuck you professional. His strap is extremely normal, his daddy/boy dynamics are not a laughing matter. 4/10 because he wants to have relations with his car and is embarrassed about it

Jean: No idea what gets him off but he genuinely believes whatever it is means he’s evil and weird, making him the proud owner of The Worlds Funniest Kinks. 9/10, steals mustard from the homeless without remorse but has a moral crisis every time he cums while fantasising about getting gangbanged in a holding cell. Sad!

Trant: not funny. too passionately open about the things hes into. if you tried to make light of his trampling fetish, he would recite the wikipedia entry on cock and ball torture to you from memory and look delighted to be sharing his interests with you the whole time. 3/10

Klaasje: not funny to most on account of being conventionally attractive and good at billing her sexual encounters as suffused with romantic, literary ennui but it SHOULD be funny to be such a Lana Del Rey motherfucker in the sheets so I’m pulling rank and saying 7/10

Joyce: cringefail class dynamics fantasies. Bodice rippers and the opposite of CEO erotica feature heavily here. This wouldn’t be funny if not for the fact she literally owns a yacht. Also wants to get stabbed a little bit. 5/10, probably read the elysium version of lady chatterlys lover as a teen and still jerks off about it.

Garte: a normal man if there ever was one. has kinks but they aren't funny. wears a bra sometimes and it looks cute. 1/10 probably fun to hook up with and a decent communicator

The Deserter: given the 5 decades of loneliness, im willing to bet his brain has rewired itself into having some interesting potentially bug-related reward pathways but whatever he's got going on is too sad to laugh about. 0/10 :(

Sunday Friend: his kinks would be funny on anyone else, but he’s very very very boring. 2/10, you can pay a twink to do raceplay with you, but it wont dispel the grey miasma of being a mid tier government employee

evrart: I don’t know honestly, the lying and manipulating and petty power plays scrambled my brain despite the rube-Goldbergian elements of all his little tasks. Maybe he’d do predicament bondage? Uh. 3/10. Id let him hit, but he also has kind of a Wallace n Grommit thing going on so I can’t say 0

Steban: big on role playing but isn’t very good at it. Starts giggling halfway through when it becomes apparent how silly the fake muttonchops are. 4/10, less funny than it could be because he has a sense of humour about it

Ulixes: probably has a guro thing but also hasn’t had sex since he started focusing on reading theory and feints at the sight of real blood. This should be less funny than pretending to be Kras Mazov in bed, but he takes himself extremely seriously. 6/10 until he starts getting laid again, then still 6/10 but for other reasons

Gary: cuck chair. 10/10. I am not elaborating because I’m tired now, but someone else made a convincing post at one point

[piduai]

Also your ship hate is so real. Keep your hater-head up queen. It's crazy how popular some of them are too (esp sugio n koitsuki) given the fact that it takes away from what made these characters interesting and unique in the first place entirely. Sugio is just your typical 700k-boyXboy-enemies-to-lovers but to make it work you have to completely obliterate both of these characters personalities/what they stand for (motive/writing wise) especially Ogata like c'mon now... His ass is NOT getting redeemed through the power of yaoiful sex. Poor Sugimoto, Shiraishi was right there too. At least this one had the 'EyeSuck' scene, but koitsuki? How would that even work without Tsurumi? Get real. I know the need arose from the fans wanting to give Tsukishima a ''happy end'' but honestly I would rather take years of dilf manupilation if it means I don't get to babysit a dumbass rich kid for the rest of my millitary life. Not that I hate Koito, I like him as a character but he definiatly had 'барчо́нок' mannerisms, like he deadass said Tsukishima was filthy and broke for not owning a handmirror... Sorry you're probably sick of reading about this way more than I am since you've been into GK much longer but I just had to say I'm with you on the GK pairs feeling fujoshibait/homophobic in nature and it's wild considering the content of the actual manga. You have people cvmming from getting their finger ate and yet... Then again I know this has more to do with the general anime/manga consumer mindset rather than GK itself so it is to be expected, I just care about this manga so goddamn much girl Satoru Noda messed up my brain in the best way fr. Sorry I got carried away but if you read it this far thank you again for your translations and I wish you the best!!

but i don't think any of them are fujoshibait/homophobic tho... the way noda wrote them (character dynamics) i mean, not the fujobait anime posters no self-respecting person cares about. like imo there's no need to grasp for straws and paint something you think is stupid and tasteless as problematic/bigoted/morally corrupt 🤷 just say you find it ugly and dumb and move on. none of the popular or unpopular fanon ships were written as romantic/sexual in canon anyway no matter what the coomers say, all that "tension" people keep yapping about is just complex human relationships or titillation/double entendre/play on classic tropes noda is super duper fond of but it all gets over girlies' heads because they lost the ability to see past fanfiction. sad! well nobody has time for this

otherwise i agree, all gk ships are stupid and have no substance but sugio/koitsuki are the dumbest because they're inescapable. with sugio it will NOT work out in any scenario (ever) unless one of them is wildly ooc and let's be honest sugimoto would never say or do that. there's a reason 98% of sugio shippers are ogatagirls, they compromise sugimoto's entire character to get that 700k boy x boy enemies to lovers hot and steamy yaoi because ogata as he is could never coexist with sugimoto as he is. so it just ends up being reductive and shallow and stripping both of them of what makes them interesting

with koitsuki i just don't understand it but it's mostly because i find tsukishima super boring so anything regarding him is a huge blind spot for me (since i simply do not look in his direction). i think koitsuki is one of the "safest" and most bland dynamics in gk (exact reason for which it's the most popular ship) but in fanon again both characters are stripped of their complexity and their canon relationship is severely modified to make it more yaoiful

which honestly i have no problem with... like if that's how people want to enjoy this series, sure. who cares, none of it is real.

i think there's like things to be said about how shipping culture and the popularization of fanfiction has gradually taken the shape of bile that poisons most attempts at interacting with other fans since all they know is sucking and fucking but honestly i'm a huge advocate for not engaging in unpleasant situations when you can. sure there's a lion share of people who can't see past the yaoi thus compromising everything else you and i love this series for but like... so what? i avoid those people, i don't befriend them, i don't read what they say. and i don't have a say in how strangers choose to engage with fiction... at the end of the day it all comes down to personal taste and what you seek from said fiction, if they're comfortable in this insufferable climate i'm happy for them and wish them the best. as for me i'll just stick to my peaceful yaoi-sparse corner

[siren-of-fire]

-QSMP Cubito

Definitely Badboyhalo because firstly he is my main pov and I absolutely adore the chil call hanging out nights. He has the perfect balance of what I desire in my pov's (calm, chill exploring, having lighthearted fun and being rich and sweet relationship with eggs and friendly with others). Cubito wise his lore really drew me in and his dynamic with others and eggs.

-Eggs

DAPPER, POMME AND RICHAS (it's not even close with others). Not that suprising seeing my pov is BBh but my second and third pov's are Etoiles, Aypierre and Tazercraft so it actually works out. Their dynamic is super cool, they all are a whole mood in their own ways.

-Storyline

My favourite storyline currently is none. I did like the soul vultures thing and Fit's lore but I wouldn't necessarily call it favourite. If we talk about the main server storyline I think the black concrete one was interesting but yeah nothing super mind-blowing (I find just tidbits of random lore lines and hints more enjoyable and also storylines and lore just seems like going nowhere sometimes)

-Event

Purgatory 1 and 2. I hated the agony when both times your pov ended second. But smth about staying up late watching those and just sitting there on the edge of are we gonna make it or not and the constant flipping of stomach seeing the bar on the side was smth. I loved it. (Purgatory actually was the event that really drew me into the qsmp because previously it was just a sude thing)

-One Day Event

I actually am not sure about this one. I will just go with Carnaval and Festa Junina they both were sweet, fun and new to me so I loved them

-Quote

My memory us super bad so I probably can't remember lot of the old ones but these are my favourites for sure

1) Did we fail :')

2) Grim Reaper is back baby

3) Do you like being a pawn of someone's game (can't remember exactly what it was)

4) I shark but also totem

Probably a few more but I really can't remember them TT

Mostly just main character energy from these lines makes them my favourite

-Romantic Duo

NONE

-Platonic Dude

ALSO NONE

(I have stopped believing in love and accepted my inner q!tubbo :D, no but seriously I just was so hyperfixated on one of the ships and it died in the worst possible way and I am still recovering and probably can't handle another one happening like that so i am out of this)

-Parent/eggduo

Bad and Dapper's dynamic

Etoiles and Pomme's dynamic

Bad with Pomme, Dappy and Richas (also just with Pomme-Dappy and just Richas-Pomme too)

Bad and Richas (really special tio and nephew relationship)

Empanada with Bagi and Tina

I don't really need to explain, they just are fun to watch

-Non Egg Npc

Ollie and the other bunnies are growing alot on me so I guess them (i never really got attached to npc's so I can't say anyone in particular is my fav)

- Biggest hope for storyline/ character wise moving forward

I actually have a couple of them. I kinda want to see a little bit more of certain elements which just came and were forgotten like the black matter, the purgatory workers, smth about Prison and a little bit more info about the duck and the bunny on the top.

Personal lore wise I so much want the whole emails during the very start to mean smth. The special guest theory has to be true (not entirely maybe but I don't want to end on a complete loss) also kinda hoping for some more demon lore from Bad. His origins the weird portrait and the unknown friend. (There are others too but I don't feel like writing much now cause it's too late)

who/what is your favourite:

- qsmp cubito

- egg

- storyline

- multiple day event (purgatory/prison etc)

- one-day event (day of the dead/independence day etc)

- quote from qsmp

- romantic duo

- platonic duo

- parent/egg duo

- non-egg npc

- biggest hope for the qsmp storyline/character wise moving forward

and why?

[ghosttownwherenoonegoes]

Thank you so much for your thoughts and assessment (is that the right word?) ! 🖤 I always love your opinion about characters, especially in such a in-character depth the show/movie itself didn't provide, you're absolutely awesome and intriguing! 🖤

Can I ask you something more? Of course it's alright if you don't want to 💖

What qualities do you think Eddie would look for in a person, romantic-wise?

You're so welcome! I suppose assessment is as good a word as any for how we look at characters and their personalities. Thank you so much! You sound like you know me from some of my other blogs and if that's the case, I'm honoured that you follow me across fandoms!!!🥰💖Thank you for your kind words, that means a lot to me! I hope my answers to your asks satisfy your curiosity! You can ask things whenever you want and I'll do my best to answer them, though no guarantees of course!

Hmm...

Okay, I honestly think Eddie will date anyone. Anyone. No matter what you look like, how you dress, your music taste, your favourite colour, where you sit in the canteen or where you work, etc., none of that matters to him.

What does matter to him are things like a kind heart – if you're mean to him or to his friends, either in front of him or, worse, behind his back, then there's no chance, even if he thinks you're attractive (and, again, what makes someone attractive to Eddie is personality, NOT appearance. Our metalhead doesn't judge or discriminate, unless you're an asshole. And then he's as mean to you as you are to him).

If you're shy or anxious, then he's actually quite good at balancing out the dynamic and he'll help you to feel comfortable while also seeing if he can't coax you out of your shell a little. If you're softly spoken or spoken over because you take a while to make a point (like Dustin asking about Lucas in Eddie's first scene, or because you just like to think before you speak), then he's making sure that you feel heard and listened to, shushing roughly anyone who tries to talk over you or put words in your mouth so you get to the point faster. I can see him saying something like, "go on, sweetheart, take your time. I'm listening." and giving you a soft smile before glaring at the person who tried to take that space away from you.

So, kindness is a big one. Maybe actually THE biggest one. If you're grumpy and rough 'round the edges (like me) but still kind, then that's something he loves. Someone who won't judge him on anything; his clothes, his class, his music, the fact he's still doing everything he can to graduate. Someone who meets him where he is in life and is willing for him to do the same. Someone who has a little bit of a bite to them; they don't take his bullshit (even if that's just glaring at him when he says something below the belt because you're not brave enough to actually speak up, or outright verbally calling him out; it's all the same to him. Intent over all else) but they also encourage him. Someone who is supportive, someone who is content to let Eddie be Eddie...

This isn't to say his standards are low, but fuck, if you're into him and you're kind and you got something a little off about you? He's head over fucking heels, at first sight. Attraction first, friendship next, and all else falls into place. Eddie would date anyone at all; if you're into him – and I mean genuinely into him, don't lie because he can sniff those out before you're even thinking of telling one – then high chances are, he'll be into you!

Eddie is Eddie and you're you and that's everything.

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Manga Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 (Manga)

A New Look on a Compelling and Innovative Series

A manga adaptation of one of the best and queerest Yuri light novels I have ever seen, what is not to love! As a massive proponent of the light novels, I eagerly followed I'm in Love with the Villainess began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime last year. I am thrilled to get my hands on the first English volume, and now that it is finally out (digitally at the time of writing), I am equally delighted to read over the start of Rae and Claire's journey once again. Getting to see my favorite isekai protagonist and her bratty noble crush in full illustrations is terrific. However, it does not make for a completely flawless work.

I'm in Love with the Villainess follows Rei Ohashi, an avid otome gamer who dies and is reincarnated as Rae Taylor in her favorite game, "Revolution." Rather than chase any of the game's handsome bachelors, all students at the Royal Academy in the European-inspired fantasy world, Rae heads straight for her favorite character, the game's villainess! Rae begins to relentlessly tease the bratty and elitist Claire, much to the latter's frustration. Soon a rivalry forms between the two girls, but despite Claire's taunts and coldness, Rae is determined to stay by her side and protect her.

The increased focus provided to Claire and Rae's early relationship will be noticeable to light novel readers. While Inori's writing focuses mainly on world-building in the first several chapters, the manga makes the wise choice to condense much of this information for the sake of reading. Blocks of exposition work poorly in the manga compared to prose. However, establishing a setting is not completely thrown out the window. There are several small conversations and explanations of key aspects of the world. After quickly setting the story, the characters are left with room to explore.

Claire and Rae are the most enjoyable part of this manga. Rae is eager and doting, with a touch of masochistic. On the other hand, Claire is more arrogant, often looking down on peasants like Rae, and is continuously infuriated by her affection. A hilarious rivalry starts to spring up between the two, with Claire pranking or mocking Rae and then getting outraged when she revels in the attention and teases Claire by expressing her undying affection.

These interactions also further the story. They establish the dynamic between our two heroines and add more detail to the political situation and tensions between the commoners and nobility, the series’ main plotline. Interestingly, while Claire may believe commoners inferior, she also sees it as her responsibility to protect and instruct them in her very elitist way. Noticeably none of the torments she subjects Rea could ever cause permanent harm or damage. It is a fascinating insight into this character's mental state, and even in the first volume seeing her start to change and become more aware slowly is fascinating.

Much of the rivalry is comedy and often plays out as such. However, some readers may find it slightly off-putting and understandably see the dynamic as Rae sexually harassing Claire. I strongly encourage you to give this series a chance. This book will undoubtedly be the worst volume of an incredible series. Once I'm in Love with the Villainess breaks into its stride of exploring queer and socioeconomic issues, some point in the next volume based on reading the serialized chapters, I promise it will become a quick favorite. If you know you may not be able to overlook its immediate faults during the wait, consider holding off on the mage until after the second book is out and get them together.

Much of the previously mentioned content is the same or strongly similar to the light novels, perhaps a touch more emphasis on Claire's early hostilities; however, there are some significant points unique to the manga to consider. For one, Aonoshimo's artwork is fantastic! The characters and backgrounds are distinct, with only slight adjustments for the more comedic or dramatic stylistic choices. No matter the panel's tone, though, it is always easy to read without oversimplification. Aonoshimo also relies on very standard square or rectangle panels during most of the manga, but occasionally produces more dynamic boundaries and layouts for action and service scenes. Lastly, all the characters are on full display. It suddenly becomes a lot easier for light novel readers to picture their favorite moments. It is a lovely treat for returning readers as the visuals aid the characters, allowing us to clearly see Rod as the strong-willed if slightly aloof prince and understand how Maximillion Pegasus-cosplayer Thane is the most unpopular character in the fictional otome game when they are displayed visually.

There are some other vital factors to consider when reading the manga. For one, every character's personality was dialed up a few points, with Rae being a touch more physically affectionate and masochistic and Claire more easily exacerbated. However, the manga and the English translation takes many quirks and exaggerates them further, reducing the series’ performance. For example, while Claire's actions show the complicated relationship to commoners described above, her dialogue contains a surprising amount of vitriol and vulgarity that stands out notably.

Additionally, while Rod is usually the perfect if slightly detached prince acting as the occasional voice of reason in early chapters, his dialogue here appears laughable indifferent and meanspirited. As I'm in Love with the Villainess is one of a very few series that I follow the monthly serializations of in magazines, I was surprised to see this dialogue, as it did not stand out to me in the Japanese version (admittedly, the manga did overblow everyone's personality to some extent for comedic effect). I feel it changes the characters for the worse — do not get me wrong here, calls for "literal translation" are as unfavorable as they are uninformed. Still, the work feels careless at times.

Finally, there is the service. While the first volume contains virtually no romantic caresses or sweeping panels of scenery we associate with Yuri, there is a fair amount of salacious content. Of course, there are Rae's desperate and overblown expressions of admiration for Claire and her slight case of masochism. However, towards the end of the volume, Aonoshimo shows some skin. In one scene, Rae helps Claire get dressed and very openly admires her body, accompanied by some close-up panels of her back, stomach, and butt. There is also a very exposed bathing scene, although light covers the most explicate bits. It is obviously garish, though it tonally fits with Inori and Aonoshimo's more comedic manga interpritation and even includes some wholesome interactions with Claire and Rae alongside the sexualized comedy. Reader's millage will vary here, but I enjoyed it.

This first outing of Aonoshimo's I'm in Love with the Villainess manga adaptation is very likely to be the weakest entry in a phenomenal series to follow. The manga does a fantastic job of bringing the original light novels to life in a new visual format. The artwork is excellent, and the story condensed with a slightly different focus that maintains the feel of the original while providing manga audiences with entertainment that does not feel constrained or lacking. However, the gradual pacing of the plot and the main characters' relationship means that the volume leaves off before showcasing the meat of the series and most of its best features. There is a little bit of the stumble out of the gate, and both the publisher and the manga will likely have to course correct in future volumes or else risk destroying the development and voice of the series remarkable characters. I still recommend the series, but unless you are a diehard fan of the original like you, you might wait a year or so until we have the second volume and can enjoy a more complete vision of Inori's intricate and groundbreaking story.

Ratings: Story – 8 Characters – 7 Art – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Sexual Content – 6 Final – 8

Check out I'm in Love with the Villainess (Manga) Vol. 1 today: https://amzn.to/3wTSJ9R

Thanks to Joshua Hardy, Courtney Williams, Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the rest of the team at Seven Seas for their hard work.

Help support future Yuri news and reviews, and get access to exclusive content by subscribing to the YuriMother Patreon

[countlessrealities]

@advnterccs​ sent: Do you have any ship bias with your muse(s)? What’s something that immediately turns you off from shipping with someone? Shipping questions || Accepting !

Do you have any ship bias with your muse(s)?

Oddly enough? Not many for the muses on this blog. I usually have one ship I fucking adore for my favourite characters, but most of the muses I write here? I don’t have a ship for them xD I found some while writing them for RPs, but not in canon. General ship biases: - Mabel & Pacifica - Millie & Moxxie - Blitzo & Stolas “RP ship biases” (if we can call them that xD) : - Rick & Rick ( @advnterccs ) - Rick & Fish ( @imprvdente I supposed friends-with-benefits is a ship? 0.o ) - Morty & Morty ( @advnterccs ) - Summer & Salomé ( @hvbris ) - Bill & Salomé ( @hvbris ) And there’s Evil Rick and Weird Rick, who belong to both categories because I got into the ship thanks to the dynamic I developed with @mcltiples​ on Discord, but I can honestly say that I ship the two characters in general by now (at least according to my personal interpretation of the two characters, since we have little to none canon info on them, especially Evil Rick).

What’s something that immediately turns you off from shipping with someone?

There are mainly two things that have that effect: - When someone tries to force a ship on me once I’ve already told them than I’m not interested or after I told them “we’ll see how it goes chemistry wise”. In the case when the other person insists even after I’ve said openly “no”, then you can be sure that I’ll never ship with that person again. I might even refuse to write with them in general. I don’t like being pressured, especially in such a rude manner. - When the other person wants to instant ship at all costs. It’s in my rules that I ship exclusively with chemistry, which means that the ship has to be developed step by step because I need to see if the characters click together romantically. So, I need some building, which can be done both IC and OOC, preferably a mixture of both, but I’m content to do it strictly IC too. I’m perfectly okay with people coming to me and asking to ship. I’m always open to consider potential ships. What I ask is that they are respectful doing it and that they accept my preferences.

[iztopher]

please please please do galahad and/or te'ijal i love and cherish everything you think about Them™️

YESSSS thank you i LOVE talking abt them so i will jump at the opportunity and also this message made my day ;___;

also this got a little long so. under the cut time

galahad sexuality: i call him aroace but i think even at his most self aware he conceptualizes himself as "straight man who has never been attracted to a woman before" which like okay dude gender: cis dude. like, impressively cisgender. like "i have been alive for hundreds of years and have never once questioned my gender, gender as a concept, or felt it change" a ship: romantic-wise, which i think is what the original ask meme meant, none, "can be any dynamic" then of COURSE te'ijalahad i am constantly gnawing at my own hands about them a friendship: rhen & galahad... honestly i like galahad as friends with So many women & teenage girls who are infinitely cooler than him hfgdsjksfdj but rhen & galahad is always my kneejerk a NOTP: anything that ships him with one of the teens. boring answer but it's true. the more interesting, but potentially meaner, answer is romantic sexy requited te'ijalahad. i'll still read & enjoy aspects of fics where that's the author's intent but i cannot register it as them anymore a random headcanon: when he feels uncomfortable in a situation he will fully sleep in his armor. this does mean he has been sleeping in his armor for hundreds of years when living in ghed'ahre with te'ijal! general opinion: galahad is the character i have the single most complicated feelings on because i absolutely hated him for years and now i'm like wow my second favorite character of all time <333 and there was a good three year chunk where those two emotions were overlapping

te'ijal!! sexuality: bi/pan, arospec gender: i alternate between calling her "enlightened cis" and wiggly fem nonbinary and i can really go either way - i think she likes being a woman but also has a very immortal perspective on gender where she thinks it's kinda fake and opt-in. she just enjoys opting in! a ship: romantic wise... te'ijal/beatrice. i think they are exes. i think the debt beatrice owes te'ijal is te'ijal turning her the first time and i think galahad is a rebound a friendship: i pretty much thought three different ones simultaneously so lars & te'ijal, elini & te'ijal, and mel & te'ijal oh my goddd a NOTP: same answer as galahad dhgjfkldf a random headcanon: she was always a vampire! she came into existence because people believed in vampires, so in the same way the strength of aveyond shifts based on people's beliefs, so does the existence of supernatural creatures. she & gyendal emerged from the same tomb one day. they both lived with rashnu for a while while they got their footing, and he fostered her initial love of humans. general opinion: MY FAVORITE FUCKGING CHARACTER OF ALL TIME i love her so much. she is everything to me

[number5theboy]

Please elaborate on how Five could've turned into the most insufferable character to watch

Thanks for asking me to elaborate on this text post:

@tessapercygranger​, @waywardd1​ and @margarita-umbrella​ also wanted to see a more detailed version of it, and I ended up writing an essay that’s longer than some of my actual academic essays. So buckle up.

WHY NUMBER FIVE SHOULD BE THE MOST OBNOXIOUS CHARACTER IN TV HISTORY, AND HOW HE MANAGES NOT TO BE

Number Five: The Concept That Could Go Horribly Wrong

Alright, let’s first look at Five in theory in an overarching way, without taking into account the execution of the show. The basic set-up of the character, of course, is being a 58-year-old consciousness in a teenager’s body, due to a miscalculation in time travel. Right off the bat, Five is bar none the most overpowered of the siblings; by the end of Season 2, no one has yet been able to defeat him in a fight. He is a master assassin – and not just any master assassin, but the best one there is – and a survival expert, able to do complex maths and physics without the aid of a calculator, shown to have knowledge of half a dozen languages, has very developed observational skills and, to top that all off, he can manipulate time and space to the point where he can literally erase events that happened and change the course of history. And Five knows how skilled he is; he is arrogant, self-assured and sarcastic, and his streak of goodness is buried deep inside. David Castañeda once described Five in an interview as 90% chocolate with a cherry in the middle, meaning that you have to get through a lot of darkness and bitterness before knowing there is a good core, and I think it’s an excellent metaphor. However, Five is also incredibly, fundamentally terrible at communicating with anyone, and, because he is the only one with time travel abilities, the character a lot of the actual plot - and the moving forward of it - centres around. Also he’s earnestly in love with a mannequin, who is pretty much a projection of his own consciousness that functions as a coping mechanism for all the trauma he has endured. All in all, this gives you a character who looks like a teenager, but with the smug superiority of a fifty-something, who a) is extremely skilled in many different things, b) has a superiority complex, is arrogant and vocal about it, and most of the superiority is expressed through cutting sarcasm, c) has one very hidden ounce of goodness that he is literally the worst at communicating to other human beings, d) is what moves the plot along but is also bad at talking to anyone else, meaning that the plot largely remains with him, and e) his love interest is essentially a projection of himself. Tell me that’s not a character who is destined to be just…obnoxious, annoying, egocentric, a necessary evil that one has to put up with to get through this show. There are so many elements of this characterisation that can and should easily make Five beyond insufferable, but the show manages to avoid it, and I’m putting this down to three aspects.

That Trick of Age and Appearance

Bluntly put, Five as a character would not work if he was anything else than an old man in a 13-year-old body. Imagine this character and all his skills and knowledge, but actually just…a teenager. Immediately insufferable. Same goes for him being around 30, like his siblings, all of which are stunted and traumatised by their father’s abuse. If Five, being comparatively unscathed by Reginald to the point where he explicitly does not want to be defined by his association with his father, were 30 like his siblings, it would just take the bite out of that plot point and also give him a lot less time in the apocalypse, reducing the impact it had on him as a person. And making Five his actual 58-year-old self would make him very similar to Reginald, at least on surface level, with the appearance and attitude. Five and Reginald are two fundamentally different people, but having one of the siblings being a senior citizen that’s dressed to the nines and bosses his siblings around in a relatively self-centred way does open up that parallel, and would take away from Five’s charm as a character. Because pairing the life experience of a 58-year-old with the appearance of a teenager gives you the best of both worlds. You get the other siblings (and a lot of the audience, from a glance in the tags of my gifsets) feeling protective and paternal about Five, but his age and experience also give the justifications for his many skills, his arrogance, in a way, and his ability to decimate a room full of people. It’s the very interesting and not new concept of someone dangerous with the appearance of something harmless, a child. This is also where Five’s singular outfit comes in. I know we like to clown on Five to get a new outfit, but I think what gets forgotten often is how effective this outfit is at making the viewer take him seriously. The preppy school uniform is the perfect encapsulation of the tension between old man in spirit and young teenager in appearance. The blazer, vest and especially the shirt and tie are quite formal, relatively grown up. They’re not something we, the audience, usually associate with a teenage boy wearing; it makes Five just a little bit more grown up. But there is also a reason characters in this show keep bringing up Five’s shorts and his socks, because those are not things that we associate with grown men wearing; they’re the unmistakably childish part of his school uniform. Take a moment and imagine Five wearing a hoodie or a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers; would that outfit work for him as well as the uniform does? Would he be able to command the same kind of respect or seriousness as a character? I don’t think so; the outfit is a lot more pivotal in making Five believable than a lot of people give it credit for.

Writing Nuance

The other big building block in not making Five incredibly insufferable is the writing. Objectively speaking, I think Five is the most well-written, and, more importantly, most coherently written character on the show (which does have to do with the fact that the show’s events are all sequential for him), and his arc and personality remain relatively intact over the course of the two seasons. More to the point, a giant part of what makes Five bearable as a character is that he is allowed to fail. He is written to have high highs and low lows, big victories through his skills and his intelligence, but also catastrophic failures and the freedom to be wrong. His superior intellect and skillset are not the be-all end-all of the plot or his character, just something that influences both. His inability for communication has not (yet) been used to fabricate a contrived misunderstanding that derails the plot and left all of us seething; instead, it’s a characteristic that makes him fail to reconnect with the people he loves. This is a bit simplified, as he does find common ground with Luther, for example, but in general, a lot of the rift between Five and his siblings is that they can’t relate to his traumas and he does not understand the depth of Reginald’s abuse, which is an interesting conflict worth exploring. Another thing that really works in Five’s favour is that he is definitely written to be mean and sarcastic, but it is never driven to the point of complete unlikability, and a lot of the time, the context makes it understandable why he reacts the way he does. Most of the sarcastic lines he gets are actually funny, that certainly helps, but in general, Five is a good example of a bearable character whose default personality is sharp and relatively cold, because it is balanced out with many moments of vulnerability. Delores is incredibly important for this in the first season, she is the main focus of Five’s humanising moments, and well-written as she totes the line between clearly being a coping mechanism for an extremely traumatised man and still coming across to the viewer as the human contact Five needs her to be. In the second season, the vulnerability is about his guilt for his siblings, it’s about Five connecting a little bit better to them. There’s also his relationship with the Commission and the Handler specifically – which honestly could be an essay on its own – that deserves a mention, because the Handler is why Five became the man he is, and this dynamic between creator and creation is explored in a very interesting way – their scenes are some of the most well-written in the entire show. And TUA never falls into the trap of making Five a hero, he is always morally ambiguous at best, and it just makes for an interesting, multi-faceted character, well-written character, and none of the characteristics that should make him unlikeable are allowed to take centre-stage for long enough to be defining on their own. I know a lot of people especially champion the scenes where Five goes apeshit, but without his more nuanced characterisation, if he was like that all the time, those scenes would not hit as hard.

Aidan Gallagher’s Performance is Underrated

But honestly, none of the above would matter that much if the Umbrella Academy didn’t luck out hard with the casting of Aidan Gallagher. I think what he achieves as an actor in this show is genuinely underappreciated. Like, the first season set out to cast six adults having to deal with various ramifications of childhood trauma, and a literal child that had to be able to act smart and wise beyond his years, seamlessly integrate into a family of adults while seeming like an adult, traumatised by the literal end of the world, AND had to be able to create the romantic chemistry of a thirty-year-long marriage with a lifeless department store doll. The only role I could think of to compare is Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire, where she plays a vampire child who, because she is undead, doesn’t age physically, but does mentally, so she’s 400 in a child’s body. And Kirsten Dunst had to do that for a two-hour movie. Five is a main character in a show that spans 20 episodes now. That’s insane, and it’s a risk. Five is a character that can’t be allowed to go wrong; if you don’t buy Five as a character, the entire first season loses believability. And they found someone who could do that not only convincingly, but also likeably. As I said, he is incredibly helped by the costuming department and the script, but Aidan Gallager’s Five has so much personality, he’s threatening and funny and charming and arrogant and heartbreaking. He has the range to be convincing in the quiet moments where Five’s humanity comes to show and in the moments where Five goes completely off the rails. Most child actors act with other children, but he is the only child in the main cast, and holds his own in scenes with adults not as a child, but as an adult on equal footing with the other adult characters. That’s not something to be taken for granted. But even apart from the fact that it’s a child actor who carries a lot of the plot and the drama of a series for adults, Aidan Gallagher’s portrayal of Five is also just so much fun. The comedic timing is on point, he has the dramatic chops for the serious scenes, the mannerisms and visual ticks add to the character rather than distract from him, and his line deliveries, paired with his physical acting, make Five arrogant and smug but never outright malicious and unlikeable. It’s just some terrific acting that really does justice to the character as he is written, but the writing would not be as strong if it wasn’t delivered and acted out the way Aidan Gallagher does. He is an incredible asset for this show.

Alright, onto concluding this rambling. If you made it this far, I commend you, and thank you for it. The point of all of this is that Five, as a character, could have been an unmitigated disaster of a TV character. He is overpowered, arrogant, uncommunicative and could so easily have been either unconvincing or completely unlikeable, but he turned out to be neither. It’s a combination of choices in the costume department, decisions in the writing room, and Aidan Gallagher’s acting skills that make the things that should make him obnoxious and annoying incredibly entertaining, and I hope you liked my long-winded exploration of these. Some nuance was lost along the way, but if I had not stopped myself, this would’ve become a full-blown thesis.

[ranboo5]

whats 'the clip' and knifetrick?

Augh. Under the cut for shipping discourse and p/dophilia ment (nothing graphic or specific). Gets long bc I discuss my thoughts on DSMP shipping in general. You are setting me up fr anon

Some quick vocab -

intimacy here is used to refer to. Well. Any kind of intimacy between characters, of any sort, as an umbrella term /r, /p, and /qp here are used as shorteners to denote "romantic," "platonic," and "queerplatonic," both as adjectives And as verbs ("to /r" = "to portray romantically") shipping here is used to refer to any focused examination of intimacy between characters

And some clarity that Should follow from the essay next but may not - """anti-antis"""" and RPF writers delete forever

The Clip is from one of if not the? most recent Discord stage(s) Mr Live has done (which I missed when it was live RIP) wherein he issues a hard ban on shipping him ("do not ship me, in any way, with anyone!") which would less influence c!beeduo (which has been portrayed/stated to be romantic AND nonromantic both conflictingly for a while until being confirmed unconfirmed several months ago, that being the last was heard) without its direct invocation if he hadn't also cited for the reason as being underage ("'Cause, one, it's straight up pedophilia") which is! a) immediately applicable to At Least his DSMP character, Partially and b) while not Strictly True (should b obvious that portraying a relationship within the bounds of what it is in canon and in a nonsexual way is not That, and /r-ing c!beeduo etc was possible to do Appropriately again by remaining w/in the bounds of canon) is Clearly Indicative of the fact that baggage-wise it IS associated with people being fucking creeps

This Really complicates things bc like okay the apparent solution is "lol just don't /r it" but it's really like. A Worse issue than that bc like.

Okay the reason shipping in terms of fictional characters is a Different Bar is bc it's an examination of Intimacy and certain lines exist in certain dynamics of intimacy that Isn't Shown (which is the whole Within The Bounds Of Canon thing) which is important in a medium like DSMP because of the smaller gap + more personal relationship b/w character and streamer. Examining intimacy beyond th bounds of the consent that has been established in that regard is Weird at best and Violating And Creepy more often and, As Mentioned In Ranb's Stage, Literally Evil at worst

Which is why writing abt like. QPR or platonically intimate Techno and Philza (characters) is smth that is fine because that's smth that has been shown and repeatedly stated onscreen; it's in the bounds of canon n thus within th bounds of what the streamers've consented 2 be done with their characters. But writing T3chza making out or whatever is fucked up because it's smth that's beyond those consent barriers

And the thing is right

Slapping a /p on T3chza makeout doesn't. Make it less violating

Like what you CALL romantic is not the measure or whether it's past those barriers yk? And if it's indistinguishable, if it's in extrapolative territory that is Past The Bounds, it Does Not Matter how much you /p it EVEN IF IT IS TECHNICALLY PLATONIC y feel? Like at the end of the day placing a moratorium on some/all forms of shipping is placing a moratorium on certain examinings of intimacy

And okay 2 go back to Mr Live and his character. What it implies taken in context w/ older portrayals of c!beeduo and said by invoking smth that both evokes Really fucked up baggage (that does unfortunately exist btw I'm sorry if you didn't know that but People Really Do B Fucked Up Abt Beeduo) AND applies to his character is a revocation of consent to examining deep intimacies:tm: with his character, which is gonna apply regardless of the nature of that intimacy (even if nonromantic)

Like I don't /r c!beeduo myself, do not, never have, but I talk to people who have and have consumed content where they r background /r; I also don't think it matters. Like I don't Actively /r it and I don't Actively Not /r it because imho w/ the intimacy regarding c!beeduo that is plot relevant and character important whether that intimacy is /p /qp or /r doesn't really matter. I don't consider myself Less of a c!beeduo shipper than someone who /rs them because that would be dumb as hell and while none of the content I've made* is Intrinsically or Intentionally /r it certainly can be read tht way as much as it can be read /qp or /p. It's be dumb and hypocritical of me to like, dunk on ppl for /r-ing c!beeduo when I'm also invested in these two and my tonetags r not gonna suddenly Delete the picking apart I've done of the dynamic @ hand

Which Has Been. Within Bounds Of Canon. It's been what's been shown (sometimes to my great distress. There is a reason that the :canon_beeduo: emote looks the way it does) Directly Onscreen and in general keeping with the tone n intensity/directions of what they've Done With The Characters

HOWEVER

As mentioned up there. Revocation of consent

It makes. Full sense 2 me that Mr Live wants to place a moratorium or fullon ban on shipping his characters perhaps where he wouldn't have before because of the Unfortunately Very Extant trends of people being Fucking Weird about shipping his characters AND of using them as a Thinly Veiled Excuse to ship HIM, which. I should not have to explain why shipping real people is fucking abhorrent

THIS creates a problem which is a. Bit of a vacuum in interacting with what is a facet of c!Ranboo's arc, decision making, and character. Like you CAN have c!Ranboo w/o cbeeduo but you Can't Really have his plotline without examining c!beeduo. And as I mentioned earlier: even if your examination of c!beeduo is fully platonic, the significance of it To the plotline means that any examination of it and its relevance to the plotline and characters IS gonna be an examination of intimacy, which. Regardless of it's platonic, Is Still Shipping

Unless some HARD retconning happens it leaves this like. Hole in an aspect of c!Ranboo's arc and decisionmaking and it's very. Uncertain? God. Fucking months ago I was already kind of :huh. Does he know what the fuck he's doing: irt c!beeduo and desperately wishing for things to be cleared up and now it's only That Much Stronger

NOW. KNIFETRICK, FINALLY

Knifetrick (or, as it’s actually listed, Bishop’s Knife Trick) is a fic about "Ran and Jackie from The Pit TFTSMP" in a "canon-typical ambiguously romantic relationship." As you can tell from the scare quotes, especially if you've seen me vague, both of these are, to put it politely, Doubtful. I've read the fic; I will not be sharing my opinions because that would be neither productive nor responsible (I will just say I can't recommend it and leave it at that) but I WILL say the following that Is relevant to the conversation:

Ran's and Jackie's characterizations respectively have very little to do with characterizations from The Pit, and bear a dollar-store-version resemblance to tropes and personality motifs found in ESPECIALLY fanon c!beeduo, especially later in the fic. I would not go so far as to say they are Intentionally Literally Ranboo and Tubbo but they are transparent expies and were clearly written at LEAST unintentionally w/ c!beeduo in mind (esp since. Ran and Jackie barely interacted in The Pit), and for a readerbase that, as far as I can tell, is HUGELY dominated by /r c!beeduo shippers. Like. Sorry. This is off-brand c!beeduo.

The dynamic between the two is pretty unambiguously romantic, also; despite what the fic's white knights claim, romantic tropes and implications/motifs/imagery from at LEAST chapter two, and is very much explicitly romantic by the most recent chapter.

FROM CH1:

"And now, with raised eyebrows and a pursed lip, the newly named General Jackie observes Ran in such a way that makes the enderman’s skin crawl. Ran reminds himself that this kid, as short and harmless as he may look, is trained to kill. [...] Jackie narrows his eyes and tilts his head a little, as if he’s trying to read in between every one of Ran’s imperfect scales."

FROM CH2:

"It makes Ran’s skin itch with discomfort. [...] 'That actually doesn’t explain much of anything at all,' complains Jackie, and he pops a few croutons into his mouth with one hand. 'Tell me what you’re thinking, pretty-boy.'

"Ran feels his face flush, no doubt mildly glowing green.

"Yes, that was the other thing. The unnecessary compliments to his physical appearance.

"They don’t happen very often, and don’t seem to have very much meaning or intention behind them— Jackie often speaks like an unthinking kid— but when they do happen… they’re embarrassing. [...] It’s annoying how the rug is pulled out from under his feet in these moments when he’s 'embarrassed'. Like the conversation see-saw has temporarily shifted weight in the general’s favor."

I am not going to include excerpts from Chapter 6 because it's just the entire chapter.

I WILL SAY, HOWEVER, STEPPING ON THIS SCORPION BEFORE IT STINGS: they are not written in an RPFy manner and I don't think there's any grounds, including Vibes, of accusing Knifetrick of being like. Closet truthing or whatever. Also, while I think there's certainly Some Weirdness ESPECIALLY around the reaction, the romance itself is Not written in any way I'd call weird or problematic pre-clip; it's nothing inappropriate or like Weirdly Fetishy or whatever. Knifetrick is not #problematic or anything and I don't have beef with like the concept of liking it intrinsically; if I thought it was like. Abhorrent I wouldn't be sharing excerpts lmao dhjfnhdsbvdnfjh. Hence: if anyone uses this post or anyth like it to send harassment or bad faith ANYTHING to anyone involved with Knifetrick I will hunt you down in the fucking night even if it WAS #problematic that'd be the LITERAL OPPOSITE of productive and as it stands it's Literally Not. Essentially: Knifetrick is a (questionably-written /mean) fic using Ran and Jackie from The Pit as a vessel for a large chunk of the dynamics and headcanons of fanon /r c!beeduo in particular

And again, I would not call it problematic in any way (aside from the disingenuity of the insistence that it's TOTALLY UNRELATED TO BEEDUO and TOOOTALLY WASN'T INTENDED TO BE ROMANTIC GUYS like own your shit please)... IF it weren't for the advent of The Clip, which is calling in2 question the Entirety of the problem of /r-ing any variant of c!beeduo or any of Ranboo's characters at all

I really do not have an answer for this tbh. I genuinely wanna hear from the streamer on this more specifically because I like,,, I got no clue where 2 go from here? Do I just consider an arc retconned? Was it an issue of speaking abt a troubling subject kneejerk wise and I'm reading too much in2 it?

I just. I dunno

Tl;dr (AT LONG LAST)

- The Clip is a clip of a Discord stage where Ranboo (streamer) loudly explicitly decried shipping in a way that implicitly applies to characters he plays - This would be all well and good but is rendered complicated by the plot relevance of c!beeduo, which does not stop being shipping if it's /p'd due to it still necessarily being an examination of a particular intimacy in a way that is in canon hard to distinguish the /p, /qp, or /r nature of - Bishop's Knife Trick is an AO3 fic centered around using TFTSMP characters as /r c!beeduo expies which is not a bad thing in and of itself unless it also is covered under this moratorium - Things remain unclear until and unless we get clearer word from streamer, but considering Mr Live seems to be allergic to clarifying anything abt c!beeduo this is doubtful

*very little if any of the content I personally have made 4 c!beeduo has been posted publicly, for related reasons. You May have seen it if you're in servers w/ me, depending on Which Ones

[tolkien-feels]

Aragorn for the character breakdown!

How I feel about this character

Would die for him. Movie Aragorn and Book Aragorn are different guys and guess what? I love them both.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

...none? I mean, Arwen comes closest, just because he clearly loves her so, so much and I like that. But I don't actively seek out content for them or anything, they're just sort of... there?

My non-romantic OTP for this character

The flipside of the above: LITERALLY EVERYBODY. I swear Aragorn is friends with every single character and all his dynamics are so good?? I cannot emphasize enough how much I BROTP Aragorn with everyone he's ever spoken to.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I have no idea what's popular or not, but maybe: I don't think Aragorn is similar to Beren in any way, personality-wise

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Let This Man Go To Therapy. This goes for most Tolkien characters, I know, but I have a post that is just like, a compilation of quotes where Aragorn is Not Okay at the Prancing Pony and it only goes downhill from there. I understand there's no therapy in Middle-Earth but I hope his post-canon life is extremely stress-free. Who cares about his tax policy? Is he taking bubble baths, that's what I want to know