#i may regret this post

[iris-shifts]

it's getting kinda ridiculous how a good 95% of my drs could really just be renamed pound town

[ouijathicc]

Literally Every Fandom I’ve Ever Been In

Warning. Long rambly essay up ahead mentioning stardew valley and the undertale fandom and briefly topics like self harm and abuse. Be warned that this is here. And if you don’t want to see that just enjoy the meme. But before you go to be clear. This is not about how it’s bad to like characters who do bad shit. It’s about how people will like characters who do bad shit off them being fun or being nuanced but sometimes ignore nuance in characters who are mean because how dare they be mean.

Hot take here but media literacy means a lot of things and it also means the understanding that being mean isn’t worse than being a serial killer.

I must clarify here I am not saying you can’t like characters who have done terrible things you can I myself do and love them this is not a post shaming people for liking Bill Cipher he’s a great character and overall may characters who do horrible things have great writing either being pure evil or having deep lore as to why.

This is also not a post talking about characters written to be annoying without any nuance to them. You’re supposed to not like those guys and while it’s hard to tell sometimes if a character is written to be hated on or not there’s usually some ways to tell especially if the character has no reason to be rude and is just… unneededly cruel and bigoted… I will also say how this differs from pure evil is that pure evil is usually written to be entertaining an intentionally annoying character without any reasoning is written to be annoying not entertaining. A lack of motive can be fun or make someone annoying depending on execution and specific actions.

This is solely a post on the weird treatment of characters who are not nice and especially those who have a reason not to be. It feels odd that people are willing to let off or at least still like a character who does horrible things because of backstory but not a character who simply isn’t nice. And I am not saying a character who is mean and does heinous crimes though weirdly I feel those are also let off far more. I mean people who are just… generally kinda rude.

Like what I am referring to is a character who was raised in a situation where they were forced to adopt a rude persona to survive. A character who was horribly abused or lost someone close to them and now act rude because they don’t want to let anyone into their life. A character who is put in a position where being rude is the only way they can be heard. A character who is rude to someone who isn’t all that nice to them either say being rude to someone because they can’t take no for an answer. A character who just doesn’t trust people. A character who will be socially or even physically ripped apart if ever they let their gaurd down. A character who is rude because they are legitimately an emotional mess. A character who lets be Frank here… isn’t even that mean people just keep saying they are.

I will admit that sometimes a fandom will click and things will be great especially when it comes to redeemed villains who have anger issues or have been mean in the past but sometimes… sometimes they won’t. And I’m gonna talk about a few examples without going into much detail. And forgive me there are going to be weird and niche.

Let’s start with Hailey from stardew valley who I swear people talk about like she’s the spawn of Satan or will stress how she’s mean when you first meet her but has a good arc. And she does yeah have a good arc. But also maybe it’s just me being ignorant or I never got any of the actually bad lines of dialoge or I’m just clueless or whatever… and you can disagree here.. but Hailey isn’t that bad. Like when you meet her most of the lines I got were… maybe rude? And I know people also don’t like her for not liking the prismatic shard but she’s not the only one who doesn’t like an otherwise universally liked gift. Plus one of her loved gifts is honestly easy as hell you don’t even need to go to the effort of a prismatic shard literally give her a sunflower. It feels like the real reason people hate her is because they hear other people hating her. Because my experience with the character at the very least if I really am clueless or lucky is that she’s just mildly stuck up and materialistic.

Next up… very weird and niche one, Underfell Sans. Yeah that’s a weird one. You may be thinking “from the Edgelord AU?” Yes. I could actually go into this and write a whole essay about the fact that Underfell as an AU is actually unironically kinda fire it just has an aestetic that people don’t entirely take seriously and that the reason that aestetic isn’t taken seriously is because it’s heavily associated with counterculture movements (including being queer btw) and being overall against the dominant culture causes it to be made fun of often. But that’s a whole other essay and a whole other can of worms involving a fandom I am cautiously ok with talking about but would like to for now be distanced from. But to get back to the topic Underfell Sans is in a lot of AU projects. Almost all of them actually. And in many of them the character is commonly portrayed as “Edgy McMyChemicalRomance” while not even being usually that rude, not usually being the worst person in the room, and often with the AU’s lore intact. The lore of which I’m talking about being that in this AU the ideal of kill or be killed is a cultural value of the whole underground meaning people within this system must follow it to survive often having to be hostile because yeah it’s not the characters it’s the whole AU so it’s not like Flowey who’s a jerk for having that belief because Flowey got that on his own the Underfell characters were raised to believe it. Raised to be kinda mean and never show weakness. And to attack people who do show weakness. This lore is usually in tact in underfell portrayals but… ignored. Like the AU is still one with a broken system that forces people to be cruel or die yet no no any character from that world is just mean jerk who’s a total Edgelord and often gets bullied by the other characters for behaving how they were taught is correct. It’s like getting mad at someone for eating with their hands when they come from a culture that doesn’t use utensils and have never existed in a culture that did until now. I’d say in this specific situation where the fell character is being rude to people it is fair for the characters to be rude back but the fact that the fans themselves and the creators themselves ignore entirely the fact the character has a reason to be rude that actually could make for a more engaging story about the character learning to exist outside of a culture that actively is physically threatening to people who show weakness rather than the same copy pasted joke about “character edgy lol”. It feels like all people see is that the character is rude to the other characters and never question if there’s a reason WHY. And honestly it’s a little disappointing it would be refreshing to see a nuanced take on this AU and its characters (and let’s be real the Sans specifically because that’s who’s gonna be in the AU projects). Also more unrelated to the character being mean… but when a character from another AU is being rude to a character from Underfell before they’ve said anything based on vibes it makes them look like the jerk actually because they know nothing about the character more than how they dress at this point. Also final thought… yes this is an AU so there is no canon however this is the widely accepted canon of the AU.

Ok there’s my two weird examples but lemme extend upon this and talk about fandom culture as a whole.

It feels like people don’t want characters ever to be wrong unless they’re always wrong. Like if a good guy is a jerk they can’t be the good guy right they must be evil and bad because being a jerk is bad and we all know people in both fiction and reality are either one or the other with no nuance. Something similarly I have noticed is that when a character is a victim of abuse, especially physical, they are portrayed extremely cutesy 100% of the time. It’s like they aren’t allowed to have a personality that isn’t innocent and sweet and childlike like god forbid we get an abuse victim who responds by lashing out towards others. I’m not saying they should be or should always be portrayed as jerks but it feels like a symptom of a greater problem.

That problem being that people wrongly equate likability and kindness (and in the case of the abuse victim… also equating being abused with being weak and childlike and soft ignoring fully that anyone can be abused and abuse victims are people which I guess I get it if it’s a comfort character thing but fandom culture overall needs to also realize equating being abused with being cute and kawaii is a little fucked up). I’ll be straight up here, both a jerk and a kind little sweetheart can be equally annoying in fact the latter can be more annoying because often the creator in question doesn’t think they are and treats them like the infallible hero that you’re evil for disliking. And they feel it would be wrong to give a character we are supposed to be rooting for flaws because if they have flaws especially being not very nice then they must be bad which isn’t true.

It also feels like an issue of people taking what they see at face value like they see everyone talking about how much of a jerk this character is and they just accept it without looking further or go into a confirmation bias state where one rude word is the whole character. It feels overall like people in fandoms don’t actually look at the characters and their lore and their motives so much as they look at how the character acts without further consideration or more often how the other people in the fandom talk about them. And I feel like the kind of group think fandoms sometimes have going on where if a character is disliked they are disliked by everyone or made a joke of by everyone or whatnot is toxic behaviour I feel like we need to start analyzing not just what a character is doing but WHY because it can change your opinion of them pretty heavily if there is a very specific and understandable reason why they are doing the thing they are doing or let’s be real… if there isn’t.

This essay isn’t “character is jerk is good” it’s think about their reasoning and if that changes anything because if taking their reasoning into account changes how you view them then there’s something there. Also in this realm you will realize some characters who are liked do horrible things for reasons that fall apart when you look at them critically (in this case I mean characters who are often justified by viewers) like ok you were bullied in school… how does that relate to nuking most of the country?

If you got anything from this poorly planned out rambly essay I should hope it will be a desire to look at these situations more critically in the future to figure out if the general public is right in your eyes or if maybe there’s a bit more to this. And if anything else… that edgy styles and music are hated on by the general public because they are associated with counterculture movements and that “cut yourself emo” jokes are weird because the whole joke is finding it amusing that someone is doing self harm purely because of their aesthetics not being your preference.

Anyone is welcome to bring up more examples of this but please do not derail the post to be about something else. It’s about media literacy in regards to characters who are mean. Also if you do Stardew please tell me if I’m way off base there or got really lucky and the character is actually a mean girl from hell. Also how is her name spelled..

Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[nothing-an-iratze-cant-fix]

Now I know you’re going to say Dustin, but let me tell you why it’s Mike - Dustin can actually speak to other people.

[virtualmish]

When you make an oc-fication of your favorite character just because you thought it would be fun to insert him into a story of yours and have him interact with the main character of that story...

The second pic is a reference to ''The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy'', by Frank Dicksee.

[laddertek]

etho said actually you _don't_ understand the intricacies of how tango is my boyfriend and bdubs is my ex

(and how tango and bdubs kiss too)

Scar: We went on that little adventure, you know! Etho: Yeah, yeah, we had our adventure, that's true, that's true. Scar: You disparaged your teammates. That's it, all right, no more spoilers. Etho: (laughs) Our team has -- our team has some weird dynamics this -- this season. Cleo: (overlapping) Really, Etho? Is there trouble in paradise? (pause) Who's third-wheeling with you, again? I can't remember. Etho: (laughs) Uhh. The -- Cleo: Genuinely can't remember. I know it's you and Bdubs. And...Tango? Tango. Tango. Etho: (loudly) Why -- Why is Tango the third wheel? Why -- why isn't Bdubs the third wheel? Cleo: Because it's you and Bdubs. I'm sorry. I understand how that relationship goes. Etho: (dissatisfied) Hmm.

[yukipri]

Nezha has me in a stranglehold

the gay mythology Chinese boys are dragging me out of art slump, so have some quick sketches of Nezha & Ao Bing

(psST go see movies!!!)

~~

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, TRANSLATE, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART. To share, please reblog! Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!!!

❀ You can see the rest of my art through the Masterpost pinned to the top of my blog!

[cryptidinlaw]

Huskerdust text posts

Hazbin Testposts: 1, 2

[tshifty]

truly just curious what the general fandom vibe is lmao! i always see extremes, love or hate... but curious if that is the average

anyways pls just vote dont comment bc i really dont wanna hear comments on either side lmao

rb for sample size

[tardigradetv]

To all selfshipers out there:

Y'all are awesome! No matter if you post anything about your ships or not, you're practicing self-love to such a deep level thanks to your f/o(s).

Every time I see imagines here, I think of all of you guys enjoying life and finding your individual foundation to grow stronger and healthier. You guys really deserve every single piece of love your f/o(s) give you, just as they do. Your individuality fascinates me. No wonder your f/o(s) love you! How couldn't they? Y'all have such charming personalities that even I have taken interests in your selfships and what you make out of it. Feel free to express yourselves! I'll gladly listen to what you all have to share. Your strength and bravery must not be overlooked!

Pls no darkship/proship/etc. here!

[medblackcoffee]

I’m bored‼️‼️ send me your fav stsg AUs I wanna draw em

[ao-xingyume1987]

. . .

[sparta369]

I bought slay the princess but haven’t started it ‘cause it kinda intimidates me, can you convince me to play it?

Ok now I know you just asked me to convince you to play it but hear me out

Don't play it yet

There's a huge, Free Content expansion coming out on the 24th of this month, in just 8 days called The Pristine Cut, which is going to expand the game by about 35%. The Devs themselves have said to wait for the expansion release if you haven't played it already lol

That being said, I'd never pass up an opportunity to gush about one of my favorite games ever created

I realized far too late that I'd accidentally written far more than either of us probably wanted. So I'll try to sparknotes it, and leave the full thing below the cut.

The less you know going in, the better. However, it is still a horror game. You can find a list of content warnings here. It's just a list, so it doesn't really reveal very much.

A single playthrough lasts about 3-4 hours on average, though I can guarantee you'll want to do more than one. The game is positively dense with choices. It's impossible to see everything in one playthrough, and one would be hard-pressed to have the exact same playthrough twice.

Words cannot really capture how much I love this game. It's story masterfully crafted with a vast ocean of choices for the player to make, all of which make a true and profound impact on the narrative. If you enjoyed Disco Elysium or The Stanley Parable, You'll like Slay the Princess. The game was lovingly hand-drawn, pencil on paper, and the music was beautifully composed. The voice acting, featuring the talents of Nichole Goodnight and Jonathan Sims, are also, in my opinion, phenomenal.

I truly cannot express the emotional impact this game has left me with. It's a game I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

Whether you intend to stop here or read on, I'll leave you with this one screenshot. It's only text, and it's literally the second thing you see upon booting up the game, so don't worry about spoilers lmao

"Whatever horrors you may find in these dark spaces, have heart and see them through."

"There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions."

"There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings."

"This is a love story."

Oh boy you clicked the "keep reading" button :o) I wrote this over the course of most of my day today before I realized exactly how long it was. Besides a small change to the end, I'm going to leave most of it un-touched, just for the sake of preserving whatever the hell was going on in my head at the time :o)

Slay the Princess is one of those games where, the less you know going in, the better, So I'll do my best to convince you without revealing anything.

Still, though, It is a horror game. If you would like to look through it just in case, you can find a list of content warnings on their website here. It gives a list of many things you may encounter, but there is a 0% chance that you will encounter all, or likely even half, of the things described in there. In addition, they present these things in a way that reveals as little as possible. Still, I would personally recommend against reading through them, but there's no shame or judgement if you go dig through it. You know yourself better than anybody, if you think ya need it that's fine.

There's also some flickering image effects & a parallax effect that has caused motion sickness for some players, but both of these can be disabled in the settings.

With all that out of the way...

Words truly cannot explain how much I love this game.

It is an absolute masterwork of interactive narrative storytelling. No other game I've played or heard of in my life gives as much weight to every single choice you make, every little thing you do. There are so many choices and possibilities, and not once does the game ever make you feel like you've chosen "wrong." It's impossible to see everything in one playthrough, and you would be hard-pressed to get the exact same playthrough twice. Quite literally, every time I've watched somebody else play the game, they happened upon something I'd never seen before, despite me having 100% of the achievements.

One playthrough usually takes around 3-4 hours, but you will almost certainly want to do more than one.

There are also a number of places where you can safely and logically pause and come back later, should you need to.

The narrative itself is expertly woven. The storytelling is phenomenal, interweaving paralyzing fear with heart-aching beauty, while also carrying a healthy amount of comedy at carefully chosen places. The themes carry through beautifully. I've cried actual tears on more than one occasion, and it's not easy to get that out of me. Slay The Princess is a story that will be a part of my heart for as long as I live.

If you've played and enjoyed Disco Elysium, you'll enjoy Slay The Princess.

If you've played and enjoyed The Stanley parable, you'll enjoy Slay The Princess.

I know that I often struggle with games that require a lot of reading, and that includes a lot of visual novel type games.

Thankfully, the game is, for the most part, fully voice-acted :) The very few bits that aren't voiced are that way for narrative reasons hee hoo

The voice acting itself is, in my opinion, phenomenal. Both actors put their heart and souls into their roles, and their care shows in their performances. The Princess is voiced by Nichole Goodnight & the Narrator is voiced by Jonathan Sims (Who you may recognize from The Magnus Archives, if you were ever into that).

The art of the game is beautiful. It is all lovingly hand-drawn, pencil on paper. Thousands of images, and even a few animations, all coming together to form a wonderfully unique visual style that lends itself well to the game itself.

The soundtrack of this game, composed by Brandon Boone & with vocal performances by Amelia Jones, is absolutely breathtaking. It does a phenomenal job setting and supporting the tone of the game, whether it be tension, fear, hope, joy, or anything between and beyond. I can't put it's beauty into words.

Brandon Boone actually just recently won the "Game Music Award" at the World Soundtrack Awards for his work on Slay The Princess, and I deeply believe that it was 100% deserved.

This is... probably far more than you ever asked for. But I mean it when I say that Slay the Princess is one of my favorite games of all time. I mean it when I say that Slay The Princess is a story that will be a part of my heart for as long as I live. I'll take any opportunity to make more people play it, in hopes that it might impact them even a fraction as much as it has impacted me. I've bought a total of 11 copies of this game (1 for myself, 9 which were distributed to friends, and one that's coming with the Collector's Edition)

As my final word, I'll once again remind you:

"Whatever horrors you may find in these dark spaces, have heart and see them through."

"There are no premature endings. There are no wrong decisions."

"There are only fresh perspectives and new beginnings."

"This is a love story."

[onesidedradiostatic]

was gonna make a joke about this and have this be a shitpost instead but honestly may pass out soon so I'll type this seriously cause I have no energy to come up with a clever joke

it's interesting how vox's insults in stayed gone are literally just different ways of saying "you're old and outdated you're old and outdated you're old and outdated you're old and outda" tackled with a bit of "you're a coward" in there, whereas alastor's insults are not jabs at vox being new or modern tech, but rather his practices, "clout-chasing mediocre video podcast" he's saying he's a pandering, attention-seeking sellout, and he targets at vox's insecurities, questions his power, then makes fun of him for still being salty about his rejection.

I feel like it's pretty telling how vox's insults are just SO shallow, while alastor's cut deeper and more personally. while you could say, alastor may be just better at roasting than vox, I feel like it could also tell you something about alastor's hatred of vox being based on actual reason, which makes sense, he is the one who rejected the idea of being on a team with vox, the one who decided to make the decision to step away from their friendship. there were likely legitimate things about vox that alastor started to notice he didn't like.

whereas vox's hatred is extremely petty, he's still pissy over that rejection, he has no reasonable reason to hate on alastor's practices or medium. literally ALL he has is constantly repeating how tv is better and newer and how radio is worse and older, that he literally uses that SAME snap back even after alastor has his part "what a dated voice!" "you're looking at the future! he's the shit that comes before that!". he has NOTHING on alastor. if you asked him to make a list about what he hated about alastor he would probably just give you 10000 synonyms of "he's old and outdated" and be unable to come up with anything non-superficial. because the falling out on his part, from his perspective, was being rejected. and after that, BLIND RAGE. he hates alastor. he does. but he can't reasonably tell you why.

[sixseasonsandamovie-meimei]

Resting sad face and resting mad face

and please ignore my scribbled Chinese, I have the vocabulary and writing skills of a toddler

[wtfforged]

(folding hands)hello. i decided that i Would post a bunch of ancient art of these two actually. welcome to the years 2020 through 2023 where i drew these two (and co) constantly before the dnd&OP takeover. more ⬇️

[thecheesecracker]

Teeth examination