#ramblings

[nereidprinc3ss]

I just saw a thing that was like if you fantasize too much you’re releasing enough dopamine that you won’t be motivated to actually do anything or live your life because the fantasy feels almost as good with none of the effort and it can essentially become an addiction that messes with your ability to perform daily tasks or maintain/develop real relationships……………… awkwardddd

[gorgynei]

ordered t shot stuff from a vet supply website. werewolf gender affirming behavior

[ishtea]

“Palworld stole from Nintendo, Palworl stole from shitendo, Poopward stole from Ninsendhoe”

idk man i don’t think they did but even if they did… are we team Nintendo?? the “mod your 3ds and we’ll gangstalk you” company?

not to get political but i think nintendo deserves it and worse actually, if only piracy actually was stealing, imagine the joy of pirating a 30 year old Mario game and Nintendo doesn’t have it anymore, imagine if downloading Mario galaxy on your PC actually took food off the table of some faceless heartless freak Nintendo employee who just got done sending threats to someone who played smash brothers outside their own home, but it doesn’t, nothing actually hurts a company like Nintendo other than their own incompetence and even then a billion people still buy the next game they shlop out next to Hentai Golf on the E Shop.

like if Palworld really did do harm to Nintendo and maliciously took advantage of Pokemon, a property Nintendo hasn’t treated properly in like 15 years, we ought to be applauding them. good job Palworld, show that Digimon knock off run by ghouls how it’s done

like idk y’all, where i come from Evil Multibillion dollar corporations are bad actually and causing them distress especially financially is good actually

but i don’t think Palworld did that beyond making Nintendo look fuckin stupid so it hardly matters at all

[buckera]

everyone is all "well, Tommy understands what's it like for Buck" and i'm just here like no, actually he doesn't

i mean sure, he worked with him and knows how he is, but Tommy was a very very closeted gay man when he worked under Gerrard, coming off of serving in the military during don't ask don't tell, Buck has been coming out to people left and right within hours of his first (and badly botched) date with a dude, then kissing said dude in public within their would-have-been-second official date

Buck is out and proud pretty much immediately after coming to terms with his attraction to men and never in his life did he even have to consider before that'd there be anything about him that'd make him face prejudice, Tommy was aware and consciously hid that part of himself

anyway, all i'm saying is that i don't want Buck to come home to Tommy and him nodding all understanding, i want them to have an all-out fight about it because they can't understand each other's point of view (and then talk and make-up, but first: ✨angst✨)

[jesncin]

The Potential of Asian Lois Lane: An extra addition

A bonus addition to my Asian Lois essay. I know Lois Chaudhari isn't technically a Lois since the premise of the comic she's from is where the Superman mythos is fictional and the characters in it happen to be named Clark/Lois etc. But since she's a Lois stand in and romantic partner to the Clark Kent of that story, I figured she deserves an honorable mention at least.

Here's where I position her in my Spectrum of Asian Lois Lane chart. And I'd like to talk about her!

Compared to American Alien, this Lois is actually specific and textually Indian in Superman: Secret Identity. Unlike American Alien Lois (that never specified what kind of Asian Lois was), she can't be replaced as a white woman because the text acknowledges her Indian identity (her name, lines of dialogue like this, etc.) hence she's not interchangeable with whiteness. So this take has that going for it.

Where Lois Chaudhari still falls behind Girl Taking Over (and what it shares in common with American Alien) is yet again a sense of missed opportunities narratively.

In Superman: Secret Identity, a man named Clark Kent from Picketsville suddenly has Superman's powers. After years of being made fun of for his namesake, he suddenly is what everyone has been making fun of him for- and as he lives through life he slowly understands why fictional!Superman is the way he is. It's a great story but where it misses the mark for me is its failure to recognize Superman as an immigrant. Secret Identity's Clark isn't an alien immigrant, or a human immigrant, and is instead ostracized because of his name. Government baddies want to do experiments on him so he has to hide from them too. But then he meets city girl Lois Chaudhari, and they connect because people keep teasing them for their names and Lois knows what it's like to keep secrets because she,,, committed a crime as a teen once.

"I guess we're both dangerous felons, then. Public menaces."

Being hunted by the government and being experimented on isn't really the same as being caught shoplifting.

It works well enough as a connection but to me is a huge missed opportunity to have an Indian American relate to your Superman stand-in as an immigrant. To connect on a deeper level other than "people make fun of us for sharing names with fictional characters". Later in the story, Clark and Lois have twin daughters who are visibly Indian. They too, have Superman's powers. While we're treated extensively to the narrative showing us why Clark would hide his powers from the government wishing to seek harm on him, we never get to see what Clark's daughters have to deal with on top of being visibly non-white.

Superman as an alien immigrant is an anecdote in this story. Because after all, that's not what a white American man from Picketsville would find relatable about him, is it? I have the same thing to say about Secret Identity that I did with American Alien: "Clark isn’t the only American Alien in American Alien, if you catch my drift."

I think this story is the perfect encapsulation of the limits of a white writer. One of my hottest takes on Superman is that the best and most holistic take on his character doesn't exist in the white imagination. Take a look once more at the Spectrum of Asian Lois Lanes chart that I made. All save for Girl Taking Over were headed by white men (MAWS may have Asian directors and writers on their team but ultimately its pitch and main ideas are the brain child of Jake Wyatt, a white man).

People have taken issue with me saying this and assume that I mean white people can't write a good Superman story, and no. That's not what I'm saying. I like Superman: Secret Identity. I even like American Alien. But it's been 80 years of predominantly white writers of all backgrounds getting the chance to write Superman- and already multiple attempts at an Asian Lois- and yet it took until Gene Yang (and artists Gurihiru) with Smashes the Klan and Sarah Kuhn (and artist Arielle Jovellanos) with Girl Taking Over that I felt Superman's themes as an immigrant finally took center stage and weren't just a mention or anecdote.

In no way do I want to imply that getting writers of color or Asian writers specifically will mean you'll be guaranteed a great Superman story. I'm against promoting the idea that diverse talent is infallible or tokenizing and essentializing them in such a way. What I am saying is that the best and most holistic story on Superman as an alien immigrant isn't even a goal in the white imagination. Immigrant Superman doesn't live in that mind. He doesn't pay rent there. He doesn't stop by to visit. And no, Superman creators Shuster and Siegel wouldn't have written that story either. Superman may have been the "Champion of the Oppressed" from another planet under their pen, but he would never have related to or have had immigrant solidarity with America's perpetual foreigners the way Smashes the Klan portrayed him as having. Superman's creators were too busy writing Slam Bradley to be able to write that kind of Superman.

The appeal of these cape characters for me, is the process of adaptation. Seeing them be handed off to someone else with different life experience. Seeing them bring a whole new perspective that surpasses even the creator's intentions on their character. That's what makes these characters rich and worthy of constant revisits. I just think that people of different backgrounds should be able to get as many chances as white men have with writing Superman and his cast of characters.

[bbutterflies]

do think emilie kept all of adrien’s baby teeth and how absolutely WEIRD was she about it

[biblicallyaccuratecrow]

i love the isat twitter bio bc like. its so fucking meta. thats not the game. thats the game that is before this game in a meta sense. like. yeah. theyre goin to defeat the king but like the premise of this game is that youre at the END of a turn based jrpg. and then the horrors begin. so like???? on a meta level this is describing the game that isat would have been had the loops not been a thing

anyways-

[lostiel]

their first meeting went well

[fools-ramblings-and-whatnot]

Fool's Rambling #29:Will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks?

There's this new Kdrama where the female lead accepts the bribe of the mother in law to leave her son.

And I just think it would be funny for Yuu if it were the same.

Premise, feeling bored, Yuu watched a new TV show and got an idea to play a prank with their boyfriend.

Yuu: Ask me if I will leave you for 1 million thaumarks.

Twst boy: What??!

.

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Riddle: Will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks???*questions the question*

Yuu: No I won't!

Riddle:*smiles*

Yuu: Unless tax is excluded, too.

Riddle: OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!

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Leona:This is stupid.

Yui: Just say it!!!

Leona:*sighs* Will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks?

Yuu: No, you're way more richer than that!

Leona:Damn right I am.

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Azul: Will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks?

Yuu: Never, but I will leave you for 5 million.

Azul: That's my entrepreneur!

Yuu:Haha! I thought you'd be sad on the prospect I'll leave you.

Azul: Incorrect. You may leave me, but who says "I" will leave you? We are bound by a contract of love. Your money is my money.

Yuu:Greedy.

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Jamil: I'd leave you for a goodnight's rest...

Yuu: Hey!You were suppose to say the question to me! *sulks*

Jamil: *sighs*Yeah yeah...will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks?

Yuu: Never, I love your cooking too much. I literally can't live without you.

Jamil:*proud smirk*

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Vil: What a stupid game.

Yuu: Come on, just say it.

Vil: *raises an eyebrow* Hmph..you're better off doing something else. And I already know you'd never leave me for money so meager

Yuu: So you think I'd leave you for a higher amount?

Vil:*clicks his tongue* You better not, you should know what's good for you *stares at Yuu has offended him already*

Yuu: Yes yes...sorry, Vil. Of course not, you're my #1. The best thing in my world money can't buy.

Vil: Don't patronize me, darling.Besides, you can't buy anything, you're broke.

Yuu: Ouch, reality check.

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Idia:Is this one of those dumb TV show tropes?

Yuu: So what if it was? Come on, ask me.

Idia: *sighs* Will you leave me for 1 million thaumarks?

Yuu: I'd leave you right now for free.

Idia:...

Yuu: I'm joking...Don't give me that look

*Spends hours consoling him*

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Malleus: I'd never leave you for all the riches of the world, beloved.

Yuu: Wait, no. YOU ask ME.

Malleus: Oh? Why should I? Are you thinking of it? Leaving me for such a petty sum?

Yuu: No!!! Ofcourse not.

Malleus:*teasing* So a higher sum, then?

Yuu: NO SUM AT ALL!!!*blushes because they realized they were teased*

Malleus: Good to hear, my love. But just in case, let me remind you...*drops several jewels into their hands* That leaving me would be foolish,for I can even offer you the stars if you wish, so perish the thought.

[introvert-slushie]

Parallels of Stanford and Fiddleford

I just realized something, I think someone already stated this so this isn’t an original opinion.

The way Ford was obsessed with his muse: Bill parallels the way Fiddleford was obsessed with Ford.

Instead like it is unhealthy for both, because if you really think about it. Ford didn’t focus on Fiddleford much when he met Bill. Then Fiddleford either didn’t focus on his wife and kid when he was working with Ford. Fiddleford chose to work with Ford. People forget that both Ford and Fiddleford are technically selfish in way that they wanted to work on something else and ignore the other love that they deserve probably. Or already had.

Also you could say that Fiddleford was trying to impress Ford with intelligence and gifts and Ford was trying to impress Bill with his intelligence and the portal. Again I wouldn’t say Ford was as bad as Bill, of course. Bill manipulated Ford a ton and put him through torture.

It’s just neat to see the differences in how Fiddleford and Stanford’s choices affected their lives.

[goblinintheblog]

I finally got around to watching the acolyte. I genuinely want to know why I’m so attracted to Qimir in the acolyte but not Jason in the good place?! They’re literally the same person! But god Qimir is so tasty😮‍💨. I would do so many unspeakable things to him and let him do what ever his heart desires to me. Hell I’ll go to the dark side all he needs to do is ask. But Jason he’s just so adorable in like a dorky cute way. But ehh. Why is my brain like this 🫠

[hotwaterandmilk]

I'm seeing "Wedding Peach was unsuccessful" trotted out on Twitter again and it's honestly kind of funny to me. You can dislike the series, but you're rewriting history if you suggest it was a massive commercial flop/astronomical failure — it simply wasn't.

The Wedding Peach TV series maintained viewership throughout its run which is why it aired an entire year's worth of episodes (the full length it was intended to run) and didn't get cancelled like Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, for example.

I'm not going to pretend it did Sailor Moon numbers, dear god, it absolutely didn't get close hence why it wrapped as it did. I would suggest looking back now, that it was the definition of a mid-performing title for the time period. It sold toys decently but not outrageously, it got viewers but not an outstanding number, and it garnered a small but dedicated fanbase of male otaku. All of which is par for the course when it comes to a mid title in 1995.

Wedding Peach DX was produced because the TV series LD sales were decent enough to warrant it. Children were not buying LD box sets at this time, adult fans were and it was this interest that justified the creation of the four DX episodes as direct-to-video releases. If a series doesn't sell well they don't make more episodes, let alone higher quality deluxe episodes specifically for the home video market (and thus for older audiences with spending power).

It is very important to point out that Wedding Peach DX had NO INVOLVEMENT from the original creative team. Tomita Sukehiro and Yazawa Nao did not contribute to its creation, Tadano Kazuko didn't provide designs. Yuyama Kunihiko was the driving force behind the production of the DX episodes and he served as both director and writer for all four episodes (bringing on Wedding Peach animator and soon-to-be frequent Pokémon collaborator, Ichiishi Sayuri to serve as character designer).

What inspired these to be fanservice dreck to the level they ended up being is honestly beyond me. I mean the otaku market definitely wanted more episodes featuring the characters (and more songs featuring the seiyuu, if you want to see how keen otaku were for FURIL please see this post) but part of what they liked about the characters at the time was their (barfbarfbarf) perceived purity and innocence. The DX including panty shots and swimsuits kind of threw them for a loop. Even now, if you look at discussions about the DX among otaku there's a bit of a divide in opinion.

The DX episode sales were (as far as I can tell based on magazines from the time) also mid, but enough to cover four episodes. Three and four don't seem to have sold as well as one and two, but again the stats from the time aren't comprehensive. I think the fact that there weren't any after episode four says it all, honestly. OVA episodes are expensive to produce and it was extremely common for them to stop immediately if the sales weren't there. DX didn't justify its existence beyond those four episodes and Yuyama moved onto a far more successful project in Pokémon.

On that topic, I think it's important to note that Wedding Peach was OLM's first television series (albeit a coproduction with KSS). If it and the studio's adaptation of Mojacko hadn't made some level of profit it would have been quite difficult for them to adapt Pokémon. Neither Mojacko nor Wedding Peach set records with their viewership or sales numbers, but they both did "OK". It was in Pokémon however, that that OLM truly found a successful property with the series still running today. Sometimes you've got to have a few runs at producing things before you find success. Wedding Peach was one of these early runs, a project where a lot of people cut their teeth but one that didn't justify its own continuation beyond a certain point. Just a very standard media mix from the mid-90s, in other words.

Wedding Peach is a problematic title with indifference through to outright objection to representing love outside of heterosexual romance. Looking back now it feels like an absolute dinosaur on so many levels. Between the anime's fatphobic episode and Momoko dropping some gender essentialism, I'm not surprised people want to relegate it to the dustbin of history.

However, I think it is very telling that Tomita Sukehiro, when presented with the opportunity to tell a similar story in the modern day, chose to represent not just queer love, but platonic and familial love in Wedding Apple. While he can't undo the regressive and cringy elements of the original series, as a creator he has progressed and I'd like to think we can all continue to improve our outlooks and output as we grow.

Disliking Wedding Peach in the modern day is completely understandable. I'm not going to pretend anyone should watch it in 2024 without knowing that it is a camp, cheaply made relic of a time when heterosexuality was considered magic. However, just because it pandered to all the worst things trending at the time doesn't mean it didn't sell enough products or hold enough viewers to justify its production. It did, it just wasn't a strong enough property to go beyond that and that's representative of mediocrity rather than mind blowing commercial failure imho.

[whumpbby]

Every time I see someone questioning "why Mu Qing was do resentful of Xie Lian" and coming to some fantastic conclusion I have to grit my teeth, because the answer is obvious.

Mu Qing came from poverty. How could he not resent Xie Lian, even if he wished to be friends with him?

He was in a drastically different situation than Feng Xin, who was sure in his position as the prince's bodyguard - it was guaranteed that he'll become someone of importance when XL ascends to the throne.

Mu Qing was a low-born servant - his whole life was at XL's whim. XL being a "good person" didn't mean shit - it's easy being good when you have everything going for you. It's easy to say you want to help the "common people" when you have the means to do so and little awareness of how complex life outside of the palace is.

From MQ's point of view (because he didn't have insight into XL's mind) XL was playing a hero (like the French royalty playing the simple cottage life) because he could and people loved him for it.

There was jealousy there, sure, but MQ wasn't jealous of how good XL was - he was jealous of how XL came from conditions that allowed him to "be good" and how XL was praised for it when it really cost hims very little.

Xie Lian could have been the best person in the world, and Mu Qing would still side-eye him, because someone with so much power over you is never just "a friend". Friendship means standing on a level field, and no matter how Xie Lian felt about Mu Qing, they have never seen eye to eye when they were humans.

[chrliekclly]

i want frank to b charlies dad just so he'll have married 2 of his children

[beamorgan]

One time in primary school they rented a May pole to teach us May pole dancing, presumably for reasons of Joy and Whimsy. During the second lesson, the teacher gathered us around.

"This is a May pole," she said.

Yes, we'd been introduced in the first lesson. It was still perfectly identifiable with the long ribbons hanging off it in different colours.

"Please," she said, with the air of a woman with regrets. "When you tell your parents about it, call it May pole dancing. I am not teaching you pole dancing. That is something else."

Turns out one of the kids was less than precise in his recounting, and his mother came in with Concerns. Oh to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

To this day, I cackle at the image of the teacher, on the cusp of retirement, deciding she had no fucks left to give - she was going to teach twenty eleven year olds to pole dance

[biblicallyaccuratecrow]

had a brain blast based on this post by @entryn17

siffrin spends so long in the loops unable to cry (thinking abt that specific bathroom scene), do you think they'd like??? realize if they were crying at all???? post loops????

combine this with the default smiling state

imagine if you will. siffrin is having a Bad Day. is completely and totally at their limit but doesn't want to tell the party bc they seem to be having a good time. So they're just smiling. Like they usually do

And then the party turns around and starts looking concerned. Mirabelle asks Siffrin what's wrong.

Siffrin is confused because??? they're smiling. they're doing this right. so they just say "Nothing's wrong? what do you mean"

Cue everybody looking even more concerned,

and after a few moments isa just goes "Sif, you're crying"

and yes, they are. They're smiling that fake smile while tears pour from their eyes.

And siffrin is just like. Huh??????????????? what

touches their cheek. sure enough. tears. and not just like, a few, like, pouring out of their eyes even as they speak

The party is still trying to pry the reason from them, meanwhile Siffrin is just. frozen. panicking. because they didn't even notice. how could they not notice? nothing bad even happened. nobody got hurt, nobody died, nobody was upset at them. they shouldn't be crying.

finally after a bit they just very quietly and shakily admit that they don't know. cue comfort.

do you see my vision

do you