#I think a lot of it also comes from people moralizing against popular stuff

[eemamminy-art]

I don't know who needs to hear this but liking something in fiction doesn't mean anything about who you are as a person.

Liking a male character doesn't make you less of a lesbian, liking a villain doesn't mean you agree with them or condone their actions, finding something awful like murder to be intriguing doesn't mean you condone it or romanticize it.

Things appeal to people for different reasons. Maybe I like that male character because I relate to his backstory of being abused or his backstory of losing his entire family. Maybe I like that villain because I empathize with what started them on the war path and find it interesting that they never stopped where a normal person would. Maybe I like that character doing something horrific because of the morbid curiosity that sometimes people do inhumane things and fiction is a safe way to explore the worst sides of humanity.

Or maybe I just like how they look aesthetically, or I want to look like them, or I find the sound of their voice soothing.

If something isn't for you, it's fine. If something is for you but it doesn't match up with who you are as a person, that's also fine. I find there's an increasing attitude where people are only allowed to like fictional characters and storylines that match up with their real life 100%. Which to me defeats the purpose of fiction. It's a means to explore things outside of the self, and sometimes you'll find things you do relate to that you didn't expect to. And I just think policing what people can or can't like stifles that exploration and potentially self discovery.

[ponett]

Whenever I complain about graphic or dark content in media I watch, I keep hearing people retort with this apparently very popular opinion that people who enjoy comfy, wholesome things are actually more likely to be raging assholes than people who love things like death metal and gore. As someone who seems to enjoy comfy, wholesome things yourself and likely met many others who enjoy similar such things, do you agree with this opinion? If so, why do you think this happens?

So I've been sitting on this ask for like a week, not knowing whether or not I wanted to touch it because it kind of feels like being handed a live grenade

For one, I don't like being pigeonholed as someone who just likes "comfy" or "wholesome" things. Yeah, I enjoy My Little Pony and Animal Crossing. I made a game with cute furry characters and lots of bright colors. I also enjoy things like Berserk and Chainsaw Man and Doom and violent crime dramas and punk rock with vulgar lyrics and porn. Variety is the spice of life

Anyway: I generally don't think it's a good idea to make sweeping statements about peoples' moral or intellectual character based on what genres of story they enjoy, regardless of what direction you're coming at it from. But this is a very leading question that kind of skirts around the root problems

There's frequent (perhaps a bit exaggerated) pushback these days against people who prefer their fiction to be a warm blanket, a form of escapism meant to distract you from the real world. In particular, the dreaded "person who only watches kids' cartoons" is a form of this that gets brought up a lot. I don't think the root problem here is what media people enjoy or don't personally enjoy - taste is subjective, and I don't think it's a moral obligation for everyone to have diverse tastes in TV shows - but I do think some folks should try to get out of their comfort zone a bit more. Sometimes stuff that seems like it won't be for you on a surface level will really end up speaking to you, but you won't know until you give it a shot. Trust me, I've been there many times

It becomes a problem when people demand that media ONLY cater to that "warm blanket" attitude. And I think that's part of the reason why that stereotype you mentioned about fans of ""wholesome""" media being assholes exists. People who view dark or violent content as an inherent flaw because it's not what they like. People who yell at creators when they make bad things happen in their stories, because how dare you do this to my comfort characters? People who say movies should never have sex scenes. People who want "problematic" moral complexity stripped out in favor of black and white moral instruction. People who seem to hate any sort of interpersonal conflict in fiction at all

These attitudes can be the result of many different cultural factors, factors that can't all be traced back to Tumblr or what shows you like, but sometimes it's definitely because of that lack of broader perspective on media. You can tell when someone's opinions on The Right And Wrong Ways To Write Fiction were shaped almost entirely by, like, Steven Universe discourse. (Yes, this is a jab at Lily Orchard.) And when these people are very loud about their opinions, well, it becomes a trend people notice

Like. I don't know you. You sent this anonymously. But when you say you "complain about graphic or dark content in media you watch"... that could mean a few wildly different things! Maybe you're just venting about something that unexpectedly triggered you, and that's totally fine. But the wording could also imply that, like, you take issue with these things being present at all, and that you expect a person who likes "death metal and gore" to be more of a "raging asshole" than someone who likes the "wholesome" things you like. So... well, maybe you're more dismissive or judgmental of things outside your comfort zone than you realize?

Unfortunately, in case it's not already obvious, on the internet this shit quickly becomes a proxy battle over dozens of intersecting cultural issues at once where everyone is kinda just talking past each other. So it gets messy

For example, I have no reason to believe that the people who run the "Wholesome Games" showcases have anything against games that are dark or violent or contain adult themes. (They've outright said they don't. Many times!) But when you see people going "why is Spiritfarer allowed in the showcase? That's a game about DEATH and that's NOT WHOLESOME, why would you make me think about death?" or "Ugh, why does Disco Elysium have to be about a cop? Why can't we apply these systems to a game about a young witch who's trying to find a lost cat in an idyllic village instead?" it... Well, it makes me sympathetic towards the indies who don't feel comfortable with the "Wholesome Games" label and consider it limiting. But it also doesn't make me think that devs catering to a demand for more chill, nonviolent video games are categorically facilitating fascist censorship from the Christian right

It's complicated! The written word is imprecise and the internet is a nightmare

I've kind of gone off on multiple tangents here. Basically: I do think that people can kinda turn fans of "comfy" media or "adults who only watch Bluey" into an overblown boogeyman these days. I think people online generally have a habit of swinging too hard in one direction or another in their stances on certain things, overcompensating based on what group of people online are currently annoying them the most and turning said group into like The Main Problem With Society Today. But I also think that boogeyman only exists because of very real examples of people demanding that everything cater to their narrow comfort zone. Go like what you like, but also, y'know. Don't be that person

[gala-art]

Hi! I recently come across your art on pinterest and found your blog thanks to the link. I apologize in advance for the errors in the text, because I speak English poorly, I write through a translator (hello from Russia!). I just want to thank you for the atmospheric and cute drawings (of Daryl and Beth), I often review them. I am also an artist, I have an audience (1,500 people have subscribed to me on the VKontakte social network), and I wanted to ask you if you have come across any hate to the fact that you paint Bethyl? If you have encountered this, how did you react to it? On Pinterest, I often noticed people who strongly hate Bethyl, saying that they have a big age difference and other age-related arguments (in my personal opinion, meaningless arguments that can be strongly argued with, but it's still a shame when cute pairing is condemned from scratch). Because of such people, I'm a little afraid to share the art related to this couple. Your advice will be useful to me. Thanks in advance for the answer!❤️

Hello! Thank you so much for your kind words, and for your ask. I'm always excited to meet other artists and fans who support bethyl. They are a beautiful ship. I love to hear that you have a following for your art in your home country. I would love to support your art. If you ever consider sharing it on tumblr, or if there's a way for me to find it on pinterest or elsewhere, please let me know!! The bethyl community here is still active and very supportive.

In response to your question: Yes, I have received hate on my art. And I know that many of my friends and our fellow shippers have also received hate even just for posting their opinions about bethyl online. It's unfortunately not that uncommon, though as I've heard, it used to be a LOT worse. Unfortunately, there are people on the internet who think that they are a kind of "morality police." It's usually because they simply want another character to end up with Daryl in the show, so they use any excuse to invalidate ships they don't agree with. For bethyl, that happens to be the age gap. It often results in all kinds of bullying. Name-calling, harassment, etc. I've seen people refer to Beth as a "kid," even as that is clearly a lie.

As you said, and as we see here, there are of course arguments to be made, ie: Daryl and Beth are both adults, it's a fantasy, it's a fictional apocalypse setting, shipping something or liking something in fiction doesn't mean you'd condone it in reality, etc. etc. etc. Unfortunately with these people, none of that stuff matters. It doesn't feel good.

SO. The best way to deal with it is mostly to just ignore it. In the past, I've mostly just told people to go away. If you're being harassed, block the person, report them on your platform if possible. The last thing I try to do is argue with them, because it's pointless. I also try not to let it affect me and my love for bethyl and my experience as a fan artist too much. The thing to remember is that bethyl was and still is very popular. Most people don't care about the age difference. Most people aren't sitting around and thinking up ways to make other fans miserable. Being a part of a community, if possible, is the best way to fortify yourself against antisocial bullies. Having friends and mutuals on your platforms who lift up your art and support you, and who you support in return, is the best defense against haters. I have made many friends in this fandom who I will cherish always. That's why I am here.

On that note, try not to be afraid to share art of the couple you love. This is a hobby, a passion that we take part in for free. And there is nothing morally wrong or "problematic" with bethyl. Haters will make that claim, because they will say anything to bring other people down. If people are put off by the age difference, that is of course their right. They are entitled to their opinion. But that is JUST their opinion. It doesn't mean that their opinion is more correct or better than anyone else's, no matter what they say, and it DEFINITELY doesn't justify hate and abuse. So surround yourself with friends and a community of people you enjoy. Even if it is very small, it's enough! Ignore the haters, and block/report them if they become a problem. They will always be there, as haters are a fact of life. So we just have to persevere. That's my advice. I'm very flattered that you would ask for it ❤️

[yellowocaballero]

re: utopia, one thing that i personally find funny is that a popular CN gacha game (damning words when it comes to taking me seriously, i know) just had an arc where the antagonist was a guy following Order that wanted to put everyone into a collective hallucination where everything would be perfect (obv without the opportunity to grow as a person Ever, but well, at least everyone is Satisfied), and him being a jesus figure that would suffer for everyone's sins and be aware of the dream/control it. (man i wonder if they had a naruto rerun while writing penacony)

i really liked it, but i did not anticipate that i'd get two cakes due to my favourite writer tackling similar themes (well they do be as old as time)!!!!1!!!1 and i think that you're really good at getting your point across — you once said that writing a fic is kinda like a dialogue with yourself to you, if i'm not mistaken —, and i always have to clear my glasses after reading your works because they get covered in dried little tear dots from my eyelashes, and what im saying is that im excited to do so again. it sounds stupid. thank you for sharing your work, im incredibly excited to see you unravel the narrative knot into heartstrings. yellowocaballero going to ascend to moirahood on national tv in 2035, keep your eyes peeled, everyone!

anyway sorry for blabbering so much i hope this didn't come across as comparing (though you'd be better obviously) i just crack up every time i think that you got around to writing naruto fic when that arc dropped. the timing is great. prophets of the new age receiving a beam of light telling us about personal growth and lifted jesus allegations. if i ever see you writing fic for honkai star rail or genshin or whatever it's going to be both too soon and the greatest thing i've ever read in that fandom. stay funny (not an obligation or a threat, you can be unfunny if you want, but i don't think the universe prepared for that opportunity. it'd flop into itself like a wet tissue)

Oh, literally I downloaded Star Rail because I was interested in some of the stuff I heard about it. Played it a little and never picked it back up again. I should, I'm just awful about phone games! Not ADHD enough. Maybe I can watch a playthrough...?

I love nice life parallelism. I do think the themes of "the bad guy wants everyone to be happy" is inherently kind of interesting, because it inherently raises a lot of questions - why is he a bad guy, if he wants to be good? What about his plan makes him a bad guy instead of a good guy? What delineates a bad and good guy, anyway? How did this guy get so turned around that he thought badness was good? If handled well, it's inherently a rich character. If badly, then it's just kind of nonsensical and goes against its own messaging.

The "well, the bad guy is right, but since he kills people about it that invalidates his own point" approach is always boring and conformist, but it can be surprisingly hard to shake. I don't think Obito, Madara, and the Ame 3 are 'bad guys who are right morally but with bad methods' - I think they're good people who are so deformed by their world that a hugely destructive evil scheme is the closest they know how to come to goodness. By that logic, Obito had to be written as...deformed. Very much so. But that was what made him so interesting to explore. How do you un-deform that? Is that even possible? When we put him on the good guy team, is he genuinely a good guy who overcame his warped nature, or is he just a warped person doing good guy things? FWIW, I think a big difference between the HSR character and Obito is that what Obito can't partake of this Eden because he thinks of himself as somebody who's far too late to save (also, isn't God/Jesus all about Free Will?)(Calvinists DNI).

I don't think this story gets too sad...it's just too nuts...but, of course, you have to feel sorry for Obito. He wants to change the system that ruined him, but as the evil created by that system he still can't fully see the very important thing that he's missing. We've seen him shy away from the thought already - if only a perfect world can create good people, how the hell do you explain Naruto? As the reader, we want him to be helped. We continue reading in the hope that he will be helped. Thanks for the ask, I really should find some way to consume HSR.

[jegulus4444]

hi! so u asked for unpopular opinions about marauders, so here i am, ready to deliever them

james potter was bully. he bullied not only snape but other people, he sexually assaulted snape. "oh, but that's because snape is a nazi!" yes, he is. i am not defending snape, he is an awful person. but james started bullying him, making fun of him, calling him names and stuff, when they were ELEVEN. he literally started making fun of him in the train. they haven't even talked to each other yet. he just overheard some boy in the train telling his friend that he would like to go slytherin and automatically decided to bully this boy. and that is something unforgivable and i hate that some people in this fandom try to portray snape as pure evil, because HE IS A MORALLY GRAY CHARACTER. he did a lot of awful things, he also did some good things, he also is a victim of abuse, of bullying and of sexual assault. and probably there is someone who's going to come to me and tell me that he was never sexually assaulted. well, james potter held him down, and took of his clothes against his will, including underwear, in front of a lot of people. basically he exposed snape's genitals against snape's will. he also tried to choke snape with soap bubbles, he heavily bullied him. his age is not an excuse, being 15 is not an excuse. if it was all really about snape being a nazi then that would be james's explanation for lily when she asked what his problem with snape was. if it was really about how much james hated purebloods supremacists, then he wouldn't focus on snape, but on mulciber and avery and wilkes and people like this. but instead he chose snape, because snape was an easy victim. and because of that: fuck james potter, i never really started to like him, i can only tolerate him in certain fanfiction

i couldn't care less about jegulus. i've read some awesome fanfictions, i've seen a lot of awesome art, but the ship on it's own doesn't really speak to me. it's a worse version of drarry, honestly, and i never was a big fan of drarry. i get with people like it but i'm just really tired of the fact that you cannot find anything about marauders without jegulus

this fandom has a lot of really toxic parts, especially when people talk about liking some rarepairs, there are so many people who attack them and threathen them and stuff. someone shipping james with barty is not a reason to send them death threaths.

also the fact that someone doesn't headcanon james as poc does not make them racist. someone not shipping a lesbian ship doesn't makes them a bad person and a person that hates lesbians. someone. a lot of people in this fandom just get really mad at people for no reason and it really should stop.

i don't really have any opinions on dorlene. i know that it's popular and stuff but i just don't get the hype. i prefer dorlily lilylene marylily and marylene and dormary and all other combinations between these girls, but dorlene... it just doesn't stand out to me that much.

so now it's time for all the rarepairs that i like:

peter x xenophilius

lily x marlene

james x sirius

james x peter

peter x sirius

lily x sybill

mrs zabini x rita

lily x regulus

lily x barty

lily x barty x evan

evan x barty x xenophilius

this fandom really often portrays walburga as the abuser and orion as just... well, just being there and not really caring, or sometimes people just make him a good father, and honestly? it's the 70s. walburga is a woman. orion he is a man. you really think that she is the one in control here? i'm not saying that she is innocent, because she obviously isn't, but he isn't either and it annoys me that it's always "walburga's a+ parenting" and it's always her being abusive, and her being mad, and her being an awful person, and orion, oooh, poor babygirl, he wants to protect his kids from her but she is the one controling everyone in this house because she is in a position of power as a WOMAN IN 70S. nothing against walburga being portrayed as abusive, because she was abusive, but don't make orion innocent

i would love to hear your opinion about all that i said here (but u don't have to obviously it's just a stupid ask you can just answer it with a dot, but if u have time and energy i'd love to hear ur opinions)

maybe i will come up with something else later, if it happens i'll send another ask

(quietly praying that i won't get death threaths over this)

First of all James Potter is my favourite character ever. He is my sweetheart and I kin him. So yeah, for me he is the perfect imperfection. I agree his made some mistakes, but I don’t view him the way you do. I’ve been there in high school, humiliating people that bully other innocent people or even my friends. I’m not proud of it, I’m just saying I know where he comes from. It’s not easy to stop a bully and I felt like putting them down was the only way to protect others, and I think James thought the exact same thing. Again I’m not proud and I don’t know if I’ll do it again.

On that same note. I hate Snape. I think nothing justify bullying an 11 year old. And he wanted to be a death eater. So I always hate him, in fanon and canon.

2. I loooove Jegulus, it’s my fav ship and I would only read something if it has Jegulus. lol. Total opposites. Mmm i think it’s a great love story and i never get tired of reading it. I’ve honestly never been a fan of Drarry but I don’t mind people shipping them.

3. I know! We should all stop that and just spread love and some legs, lol, jk. But seriously guys, everyone has the right to a different opinion and if you don’t like it, just look the other way .

4. This is so true, I actually hc him as Aaron T Johnson jut bc I think he is the perfect James Potter, but of course I’m not racist like at all. I even love the Reiky fancast bc he is part of skam and so bloody perfect.

I also love to mention I love Mary, Dorcas and Kingsley and all the fan art.

5. I honestly looove dorlene but i do hc lilylene bc it seems natural to me, I first saw them tw as the og bffs and I feel like girl friends are meant to fall in love or at least have crushes on each other. At least that always happens to me w mine.

8. THIS I LOVE (send fics pls)

10. This I like very much (and if anyone has fanfics pls send)

18. I mean I don’t know how to view this as a feminist. You know, I like the woman being the powerful one, but hence again, is I misogyny to blame her for everything and call her a bitch just bc she is a woman and let Orion of the hook?

I JUST FIGURE HOW TO RESPON TO THIS, IM SORRY IT TOOK ME FOREVER

AND PLEASEEEEEEE DONT SEND ANY DEATH THREADS ANYBODYS WAY!

THANKS FOR YOR QUESTIONS

[bibibbon]

"Can we be friends or have moots with those who have very different views from us?"

What will your answer with that ask above?

Me, I have a friend (starts off as moot) who is a multishipper. I mean they can find ships from any fandom they're in, and once they love it, they'll make fics and arts of that ship.

About BNHA, they're die hard fan of BKDK, don't ask me, even I can't understand it (I'm also anti Bakugou and BKDK). But my friend and I can still talk about fandom stuff (minus the ships cause I'm not really into shipping).

Don't you think fandom have become more toxic these days? Like, even if I don't ship bkdk, but I never think to say rude things or send death wish to those who ship them. I feel sad when my friend receive those negative things just because of shipping fictional characters.

Thanks for bring positivity to BNHA fandom. My friend was surprised when finding out, you're anti bkdk but never say rude things to the shipper. You're the first anti bkdk blog that they followed and like the posts.

Even if BNHA end with disappointing last arc, it's a great journey overall, right? I don't get people who talked shit to the writer/artist of a certain work? Horikoshi-sensei have work hard all these years, we should appreciate his hard work, at least....(I can feel how hard writing is as a writer myself).

Now, at least I can see that BNHA near its ending from last year. But for JJK I did not see that coming. Is it true that JJK will also ending this year? What do you think the ending will be, tragedy or open ending? Can Yuuji defeat Sukuna?

As long as there's mutual respect between one and another I do believe that two people with different views can be friends. However, this honestly depends on the person for example I personally wouldn't be friends with someone who has a completely different set of morals than mine. Other than that( and maybe a few things I suppose) i think its good to surround yourself with people who have different views as it allows you to build a much more nuanced perspective on certain things and honestly talking to people who you have different views than can be fun.

Honestly depending on the websites or platforms your in different fandoms vary in their level of toxicity and all. I have found it that the most popular fandoms are the ones that have the highest levels of toxicity and Iam completely against it. People should be allowed to like or dislike or comment on whatever without recieving death threats or hate by others because at the end of the day these are simple pieces of fiction and the person you're hating/harming is a real being behind the screen.

I would like to thank you for your comment as I actually wasn't aware that I had such an impact on your friend and if the anons friend is seeing this I would like to apologise for whatever you went through as no one deserves to get hate or death threats for expressing themselves and making content for things they like.

Giving an author hate/death threats is completely inexcusable and shouldn't happen at all. I want to clarify that criticism (which is something that my blog is heavily centered around) is completely different to hate and while I think MHA has had a lot more downs than ups it's still a series with a lot of potential that has captivated me to be honest.

Also, I do want to bring to light that the manga industry in Japan is incredibly competitive and has put a lot of it's artists in tough, exploitative and outright inhumane positions so great works may lose quality overtime due to that or other external factors. In the end horikoshi is an amazing artist with potential to do much more but the writing ends up lacking in various aspects.

I have seen the posts saying that jjk will come to an end but I honestly doubt that gege will wrap up the manga at the end of the year. As of current the manga is in its last act and probably has one or two more arcs to go through before wrapping up to a conclusion. I used to be somewhat optimistic in hoping that jjk will follow the story of the younger generation overcoming and breaking the flaws and problems of the older generations so we would get somewhat of a bittersweet/happy ending but I do see a bad/open ending much more plausible in the current direction ths manga is heading in.

[random-iz-stuff]

An aroace that doesn’t ship anything ranks every Invader Zim ship they are aware of:

No offence to anyone. Also don’t expect many “I ship it” moments because I really don’t ship anything.

ZaDr (Zim and Dib romance):

The one and only Invader Zim ship that needs no introduction. If you’re been in the modern fandom for any amount of time, you know about ZaDr. It’s the most common ship in the entire fandom and I see why. The enemies to lovers dynamic, the parallels between the two of them in canon, ✨ The Gay✨, etc. This ship is THE Invader Zim ship and it’s easy to see why.

I personally don’t ship it for a few different reasons. I like my Zim and Dib with a more frenemies dynamic when they aren’t at each other’s throats for one, plus I just don’t ship things like 99% of the time. That just how I work.

This right here can be said for any ship on this list involving Zim; but I also headcanon Zim as being aroace, which conflicts with literally every ship involving Zim. My version of Zim just doesn’t mix with any ships. For me, Zim and romance is like oil and water.

That being said, I’m not against ZaDr and I don’t dislike it. I don’t actively seek it out, but I also don’t mind looking at it if it pops up on my dash. I just like ZaDf a bit more.

Do I ship it: No

How I pronounce it: Za-Dur

Rating: 8/10 (it’s a classic and even though I don’t ship it, giving it anything less would be a disservice to it)

ZaGr (Zim and Gaz romance):

ZaGr is a really interesting ship to me. Not in a character or canon way, but in a meta way. Because from what I understand, ZaGr used to be the most popular IZ ship back when Invader Zim was a newer show, before ships like ZaDr became acceptable and more mainstream.

Now it’s way less common when compared to ZaDr, but you can see it everywhere in older works. I just find it cool that you can tell how old parts of the fandom are based on how popular or common ZaDr and ZaGr are. ZaGr is still popular nowadays, but it used to be the go-to IZ Ship before ZaDr became mainstream and overtook it in popularity.

Kinda but not really moving on from a meta perspective, I can see why it originally became popular, but also why it fell from grace and was overtaken by ZaDr. Both Zim and Gaz show a hated for humanity, share an interest in video games, have the same dislike of Dib and Gaz seems to be one of the few characters that Zim shows any respect towards whatsoever. There was also the rumoured (and later disproven to exist) episode “Invader Dib”, which was rumoured to be the series finale before the show was canceled and would have supposedly implied that Zim and Gaz got together post-canon.

Plus in my uneducated opinion, ZaGr probably also became so popular because of the environment it came into existence in. ZaGr is one of the oldest ships in the entire fandom (I think), being a thing all the way back in the early 2000s when Invader Zim had first come out and recently been canceled. Back then, gay ships like ZaDr and TaGr were a lot less normalized than they are today and were considered to be either crackships, rarepairs or morally wrong because the early 2000s wasn’t exactly known for being accepting of LGBTQ stuff. So ZaGr simply had a lot less competition.

Then, when ships like ZaDr and TaGr became more normalized and popular, people started jumping to them because ZaDr simply has a lot more chemistry than ZaGr. Zim and Gaz only have a few minimal interactions after all.

ZaGr still exists and it’s definitely still prominent, but it’s often overshadowed by its gay relatives that are ZaDr and TaGr.

On another note, I really like the idea of Zim and Gaz becoming friends (much to Dib’s dismay and frustration).

Do I ship it: No, but I adore the more meta details of it.

How I pronounce it: Za-Gir

Rating: 6/10 (the meta stuff elevates it quite a bit, but as an actual ship, things like ZaDr simply have way more chemistry)

ZaSr (Zim and Skoodge romance):

I don’t know why, but the ship name always gives me vibes of strength and durability. I really can’t explain it in any other way. Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Moving on from that, I can see why this exists. Skoodge was supposed to live in Zim’s base after all. Plus, with how underwritten Skoodge actually is, he’s a character that can be molded to fit the story or ship, basically making Skoodge a fanfic writer’s dream and basically any and all details regarding ZaSr to be sadly fanmade.

Now, I HAVE actually actively sought out ZaSr content before. It was mostly to find ZaSf stuff because the ZaSf tag is next to empty, but I have gone through the tag once or twice. Even though I don’t ship them romantically, I like the idea of Zim and Skoodge being friends and the ZaSr tag, despite being a shipping tag, is the best place to find content like that.

Do I ship it: Not romantically, but definitely platonically, in a best friends sort of way, and the ZaSr tag is my best (and only) source of content for that kind of thing

How I pronounce it: Za-Sir

Rating: 8/10 (I don’t ship the two romantically, but the tag is a very good way to find content of Zim and Skoodge being friends)

ZaTr (Zim and Tak romance):

This one is in a very similar vein as ZaSr. I have gone through the tag, but mostly just because I ran out of content in the ZaTf tag.

Ship-wise, I don’t really get this one, but at the same time I get the impression that it was popular at SOME point because I’m pretty sure that it was a semi-common thing in older works. I just don’t get WHY though. Maybe as an alternative to ZaGr back before ZaDr became an acceptable option? I really don’t know. I just don’t see it.

Do I ship it: No, but I have used the tag to search for ZaTf content before

How I pronounce it: Za-Tur

Rating: 4/10 (I really don’t understand the appeal of it. I’m a fan of ZaTf with Zim and Tak becoming friends or at the very least frenemies, but shipping the two of them romantically seems like overkill)

ZaTr alternate version (Zim and Tenn romance):

No. Just no. I headcanon that Zim and Tenn are twin siblings, so that should sum up my thoughts on ZaTr [alternate] pretty damn well.

And I’m confident to say that no one is going to fight me here and argue that “it’s just your personal headcanon that they’re siblings so it’s fine” because literally no one ships this.

This ship is stupidly rare and I’ve only ever seen two, maybe three things with ZaTr [alternate] in it. I’m including it simply because of those two or three things and because I said I’d review every ship I’m aware of, even if the ship barely exists and is accidentally made into twincest because of a headcanon I have.

Do I ship it: Fuck no

How I pronounce it: Alternate Za-Tur (or Za-Tur 2)

Rating: 0/10 (it’ll be a cold day in hell when I ship twincest and a goddamn blizzard in hell when I let go of my “Zim and Tenn being siblings” headcanon)

TaGr (Tak and Gaz romance):

I actually used to ship TaGr way before I made this blog. Then I stopped without really knowing why. I left the fandom for a while and when I came back TaGr had just sort of fell off for me and didn’t hit the same. I don’t know what changed. Nowadays I don’t actively seek it out, but also won’t complain if it pops up in my dash. I’m neutral towards it.

Tak and Gaz have basically no interactions in canon, and yet based purely on their personalities you KNOW that they’d work well if you placed them in the same room together. They even have similar aesthetics. And as an added bonus, you have ✨The Gay✨.

You can also pronounce the name by saying “tiger” in a super heavy southern accent and that makes it the best ship by default. You can do the same with the misspelling of the name (GaTr) by saying “gator” in a super heavy southern accent.

Do I ship it: Not anymore (but I used to)

How I pronounce it: Ta-Gir (like tiger with a super heavy southern accent)

Rating: 9/10 (the name and how you can pronounce it does some of the lifting there. It’s just fun for me to say. If you couldn’t pronounce it like tiger or gator in a super heavy southern accent it would be a 7/10)

DaTr (Dib and Tak romance):

This ship definitely exists and it is a ship.

To be honest though, DaTr gives off the vibes of a toxic byproduct of ZaDr and TaGr.

Despite that however, to my knowledge, DaTr is another one of the oldest ships in the fandom that’s as old as ZaGr, being a ship that was often seen alongside it. Zim gets with Gaz and Dib gets with Tak. Like ZaGr, it became a lot more rare with the rise of ZaDr and TaGr. It’s still around, but it’s a lot less common than it used to be.

However, I don’t think it really holds up nowadays. Dib and Tak simply don’t have much chemistry together besides an equal hated of Zim and ZaDr and TaGr seem like way better alternatives.

Plus, just by looking at them, I refuse to believe that Dib likes women and Tak likes men. ZaDr/TaGr shipper or not, there’s no way in hell that they’re both straight.

I do like the name though, I’ll give the ship that. DaTr. Reminds me of Data.

Do I ship it: no

How I pronounce it: Da-Tier or Da-Tur. I alternate between the two

Rating: 2/10

TaTr (Tak and Tenn romance):

I get why this ship exists. A part of it does have to do with Tenn having no canon personality and being able to be molded to fit the story or ship, just like Skoodge but even more malleable because Tenn has even less canon details, so you can really have any dynamic or story that you want with this ship. There’s also a few other details like Tenn being one of the only named, canon, female Irkens in the show besides Tak. ✨The Gay✨ is also a factor.

I’ve mentioned before that I find this ship a bit funny when you take into account how similar Zim and Tenn look, with Tak looking at Zim and thinking “worst enemy, kill on sight” and then looking at Zim with eyelashes and curled antenna and being head over heels, but I got to admit, TaTr has grown on me quite a bit.

It’s one of the only ships I’ve actively searched for (not counting the ships I’ve looked at when searching for platonic content like ZaSr and ZaTr) and I don’t even know why exactly. I just enjoy it.

Do I ship it: I don’t exactly know. I like the ship, but I’m not sure if I’d call myself a avid shipper of it. Probably? You know what? What the hell, my answer is Yes. TaTr is the only ship on this list that gets a yes from me

How I pronounce it: Tatter

Rating: 9/10 (I like this one)

RaPr (Red and Purple romance):

I can definitely see the chemistry between the two of them. They’re practically inseparable in canon, share the same interests and likes and also the line “he LIKES snacks Zim” exists. I’ve seen compilations of the Tallest just called “the Tallest being gay for each other compilation” and I completely understand where they’re coming from.

That being said, I have exactly one complaint. The name. If it was structured as “Purple and Red romance” instead of “Red and Purple romance”, it would spell “PaRr” which can easily be pronounced as “Parr”. RaPr had the opportunity to become one of, if not THE ONLY Invader Zim ship that’s actually pronounceable by a human tongue in one universally accepted way, but it actively refused to do so and now I can’t stop pronouncing it like “Wrapper”, which I think, in Tallest Purple’s own words, is a stupid name.

Do I ship it: no, but I have no reason not to. I honestly just refuse to ship it out of spite over the stupid sounding name. That’s the only thing stopping me from shipping it

How I pronounce it: Wrapper

Rating: 8/10 (would be 10/10 if it was spelled as Parr)

PRaZr (Purple, Red and Zim romance):

I don’t usually give this one much thought, but it’s kind of funny when you think about it alongside the actual events of the show. “Invader Zim gets kicked out of the polycule to work eternal food service after permanently ruining a major military operation”

Do I ship it: no. I got no real thoughts on it either

How I pronounce it: Praz-er

Rating: 4/10

PRaDr (Purple, Red and Dib romance):

Wait that’s a thing that actually exists? Really? Neat.

Do I ship it: I literally didn’t know it was a real thing until writing this (so no)

How I pronounce it: Prad-er

Rating: ???/10 (In my opinion, I simply don’t know enough about the ship to say anything. I’m just putting it on this list because I learned about it’s existence while making this post)

Anything with Keef in it (ZaKr, KaDr, etc):

Honestly, I keep forgetting that Keef exists, and the same can be said for any ship involving him.

For ZaKr (Zim and Keef), I can see it as an unrequited crush on Keef’s end, but just can’t see Zim returning any feelings.

For KaDr, I can’t see anything. Apart from the unmade episode The Return Of Keef where Dib teams up with Zim to get rid of Keef, I don’t think they have any real interactions. I could very easily be wrong because I just don’t have a very good memory when talking about Keef, but I can’t think of any times where the two of them interacted positively, or even interacted at all.

Plus, unlike ships like TaTr, where Tenn has no set canon personality and can be molded to fit the story or ship, Keef, despite his lack of appearances, does have a set personality, and both Zim and Dib are very annoyed by it. Keef is one of the only things that can get Zim and Dib to work together, and that’s only so they can get rid of him. KaDr simply has no foundation in my eyes.

However, I have nothing but compliments for the names. ZaKr and KaDr just sound nice to me. I think it’s the “K” adding something that isn’t seen in any other ships. It has an almost exotic sound to it.

ZaKr:

Do I ship it: No

How I pronounce it: Zak-er

Rating: 4/10 (Keef having an unrequited crush on Zim is an interesting idea that I might want to keep in mind and I like how the name sounds, but that’s doing all the heavy lifting. Without those two details, ZaKr would be even lower)

KaDr:

Do I ship it: No, but the name has a very nice ring to it. Even better than ZaKr.

How I pronounce it: Kad-er

Rating: 3/10 (purely because of the name)

Za2r/ZaZ2r (Zib and Zim Number 2 romance):

I don’t really get this one. I get the appeal of ZaDr, and I understand why Za2r exists (evil counterpart to ZaDr) but Za2r just doesn’t work in my eyes.

Ignoring my headcanons for Number 2, the whole point of Zib is that he’s a Dib that’s absolutely lost it and gone down the full xenophobic genocide route, becoming something worse than the very Irken Empire he seeks to exterminate. Putting him in a relationship with Number 2 sort of defeats that whole thing he’s got going on.

Bringing back my headcanons for Number 2, Number 2 is waiting to betray and overthrow Zib at the first possible opportunity, and never gets his chance because of Zib’s virus plan. No relationship between the two of them is going to work out for any amount of time in my eyes or perspective, especially when you factor in my Aroace Zim Headcanon.

This ship is also completely impossible to say out loud. Invader Zim ship names are already hard enough to pronounce on their own. YOU DIDN’T NEED TO ADD A NUMBER INTO IT. If you add a number into the middle of the ship name, my brain is going to bluescreen trying to pronounce it.

ZaZ2r looks like the password found on a wifi router and I’m going to remove a point just because of that.

Do I ship it: No. Not really a fan

How I pronounce it: I don’t because you can’t pronounce this abomination of a name IT HAS A NUMBER IN THE MIDDLE OF IT

Rating: 1/10 (I’d give it a 3/10 if the name wasn’t impossible to pronounce and difficult to read)

DaGr (Dib and Gaz romance):

Fuck no, fuck you, I’m not even going to give this one the time of day. THEY ARE CANON SIBLINGS. THEY ARE BROTHER AND SISTER. Thank GOD I’ve only ever heard of this ship and have never actually seen anything with DaGr in it. It’s so rare that it’s practically nonexistent.

One thing I hate about this ship (besides the obvious) is the name. It’s Dagger. DAGGER!! Why does this horrible ship get one of the best names?! WHY??!

Do I ship it: fuck no I would rather die

How I pronounce it: Dagger

Rating: -9/10 (at least ZaTr [alternate] was only twincest due to a headcanon I have and therefore isn’t universally twincest. It’s only twincest to me (and anyone else with the “Zim and Tenn are twins” headcanon). Dib and Gaz are fully canon siblings. That’s incest no matter how you look at it. Plus I’m super pissed off over the name. Why does the incest ship get the cool weapon name?)

[maxphilippa]

You know, for someone constantly ranting about the bad side of the II fandom, you spread a lot of negativity yourself. Especially when it comes to shipping and character interpretation, because apparently no one’s allowed to accidentally overlook any part of a character or see humanity in characters who are morally wrong and know it.

Honestly, I know almost nothing about the bad side of the II fandom, but I’m pretty sure there’s more to it than an admittedly questionable but popular ship and people not writing the characters how you see them. Which at least in my opinion, isn’t actually bad but just normal fandom that happens everywhere

Ironically for an artist, I think most of your recent posts have just been about this kind of stuff. What happened to the you that made one of best AUs in II Fandom?

Sincerely,

A Concerned Fan

. anon. the thing that happened was that I stopped repressing myself and my thoughts when it came to the fandom itself. i never said that people aren't allowed to unintentionally/accidentally overlook certain things or that they can't see humanity on morally wrong characters, what i did mean to do is to encourage people to study the characters more and to try to think out of the black/white bad/good perspective, and to understand that complex characters aren't all the same and that every single character is more than just an stereotype, to actually try to look deeper for the characters other than for shipping reasons. to actually try to get the series for what it's worth and to not ignore parts that are canon of it.

i've been on the bad side of the ii fandom for months and honestly, i cannot talk about a lot of things about it because it would get me buried alive, because harassment and death threats by some of the people around here are things that happened to one of my friends and to me too. i am not mentally ready to try to cover all of that yet but you are right on me being more negative lately, and meanwhile i do have my reasons for it (been harassed, saw how my friend struggled for months to recover from all the harassment she got on the fandom), things that ultimately hurted me deeply.

so i bring up the things that also cause those problems and such, going against popular hcs is a big thing still and it kind of sucks a lot. i've been more tired lately considering how the fandom appears to have gotten worse on those aspects, which ultimately drains my energy, and seeing a thing that you love being treated like it can only work if you change everything, seeing something that you love being misinterpretated but not seeing people try to at least analyze it or get it, it. sucks. it makes you feel tired. because you really love that media, but the negative part of the fandom is so strong that it affected you, even though you still very much love the media itself.

and it does hurt but also.

but i am sorry that i got too caught up on it too. i can't say that it's going to get calmer with time because it's still affecting me and my friends, but I genuinely do want to bring with time a more positive look on things. yet my tone when it came to those things wasn't the best one and i apologize for that too. i genuinely don't want people to think that i am saying "you aren't allowed to make mistakes", i did a lot of them! a lot of mistakes! and that's okay!!! everyone makes mistakes. what i want people to do is to try and learn more about the media on general because it is good and i really want people to look more on the media than rather just settle for the fanon!!!

. oh and also i am just. angry with the fandom. it's not an "oh i just think they're like this" my issue with the way people treat ii and it's characters is that they do twist them way too much to the point it feels terribly ooc and it feels like people don't really. I am all up for interpretations genuinely and I encourage them!!! But I want people to understand the media so the interpretations actually feel. You know. On character. To not depend on the fanon. and i'd really like it if the fandom became more accepting of others and to be more open about things. and to maybe not be so extreme when people say that they don't like a popular thing too? there is a lot to fix here buttttt that is something the community itself has to work on. absorbing too much of it's negativity hurted on a personal level

And I am still here, I don't know which AU you're talking about but I genuinely do appreciate that you consider that I made "one of the best II AU's", and please do not be concerned. It's been rough lately but I can assure you that I'll be okay. It's easier to focus on the negative part but also, focusing on it too much has made me more grumpy lately and I really do want to talk more on why I love II and make content of it. Thank you for sharing your worries too anon. I'll take that on count. :]♡

[the1975attheirverybest]

What I mean with she’s not like the other influencers I meant that she doesn’t commodify her life like the others, I mean there are certain influencers that literally share everything they do, including how many time they piss during the day. I’m not a fan nor a hater of her, I just noticed that she could easily share more things about her private life to gain more popularity, especially now that she’s dating Matty and she literally doesn’t. Also i think it’s safe to say that she does more things as a model than as an influencer these days? Like she has done quite a good number of campaigns and walked the runway for a good number of designers, so idk it feels a bit reductive to say that she’s simply an influencer. All that being said I know that she comes from a wealthy family and I think she knows that since she never made a mystery of her origins. I genuinely take at her face value and I only pay attention to her when people share things on twitter since I don’t even follow her on instagram (that being said, I want to specify that I understand the criticism of Matty’s love life, but at the same time I don’t because even if his choices are not ideal, I still think that I don’t him personally and I never will, so if he’s happy with Gabbriette so be it. I think it was way more hypocritical of him dating TS last year since he publicly criticised her lack of substance and her approach to music from a business point of view). Again, I mean no hate to you or any of your anons, I just think this is a interesting conversation to have since it’s very nuanced

Yeah. I get what you mean!

Okay, I think that the way that we’ve been talking maybe conflates different types of social media use so let me be more specific:

I think that being an “influencer” isn’t just type of job. A lot depends on the platform and what your “niche” is or whatever. We won’t go into the nitty gritty but suffice it to say Gabbriette is not a “day in the life” tiktok influencer who has to put out 5-8 videos a day with stuff like morning routines and evening routines. And “here’s where I went today” and “get unready with me” she’s an Instagram model. The can’t be an irl model (this is not me shitting on her btw this is just fact. She’s too short for it and stuff like that) so she had to tailor her content to that. Naturally she’s gonna post about clothes and jewelry and stuff. This is not because she understands the moral depravity of monetizing your entire existence for clicks and stuff. This is simply because she has to be brand friendly for her type of work. Brands won’t wanna work with her if she acted a certain way or posted certain types of content.

Her job hinges upon her being aspirational not relatable.

It only takes a few moments of thinking when you look at how she used to look and act during her stint in Nasty Cherry vs now. She’s just hopping on the succubus chic thing rn. Once that’s fades, she’ll hop on some other trend.

Being an IG model still depends on those qualities that I find dangerous, the foster self-centeredness, exploiting people’s parasocial relationship with her in this aspirational way of wanting to be like her so they buy her clothes off depop or buy whatever she promotes or copy her eyebrows or whatever, is extremely materialistic, and depends by and large upon being brand-friendly, being likeable (literally and figuratively, she needs people to hit like on her content), and all those gross things that make this a problematic career at best and a downright evil one at worst. Again, all which matty has come out staunchly against.

There are reasons that not all influencers are content creators and not all content creators are influencers. I’m not saying you can’t have an online presence and be a morally conscious person. You just can’t have the kind of presence that she does and be a self aware person. Most content creators who care about social economics and justice have hard lines about brand deals and what sponsorships or collabs to take and stuff like that. That’s why they can never be an influencer. Gabbriette definitely is one. She’s one that has a niche in food and fashion so she’s obviously not gonna make other types of day to day stuff. But that’s not out of the goodness of her heart that’s just how being an IG model works.

[bananahoneycomb]

Other signs Eddie may return in S5: Eddie has a lot of Jesus parallels

tw: christian religious talk

I think they could bring Eddie back and it would work beautifully with the narrative of both the show and book.

I do enjoy the Kas theory, but there are other compelling things that may point to him coming back.

I am not religious currently, but I used to very much be and some things just jump out to me: I see a lot of Jesus parallels with Eddie.

From the recent book and the show we know Eddie has been persecuted by by the town in general and in particular as part of the Satanic Panic. However, Eddie demonstrates far more moral fiber and kindness than any of those who wield a cross as a weapon against him. Now, Eddie being good and a far better than those who hate him by itself isn't a clue but when I add it to the other things I see it becomes one.

The metaphor of his 'sheepies'. This one is a big one for me because of how often Jesus is referred to as a shepherd and how many parables he gives of taking care of his sheep.

He dies willingly to save one of his sheep

When the bats get him he is spread out on the grown, not in an exact crucifixion position, but very close with his arms laid wide. He hasn't had anything in his hair until this battle started and now there is the bandana like a crown (of thorns).

The injury that is implied to kill Eddie is the bats biting on the side of his abdomen/flank. The placement is the same as the spear Longinus which was the killing wound to Jesus on the cross. A spear was also the weapon he carried.

Eddie making Dustin promise to look after the sheep is reminiscent of Jesus's talk with Peter, the rock of the church

He is literally forsaken by his father. (Father, why have you forsaken me?)

Has alternative father figure in Wayne akin to St. Joseph

Skull Rock is sort of a temptation of Jesus on the mountain in which he is asked if he wants to stay or go forward and he chooses to go forward

I need to double check this, but 3 people when asked about about Eddie/Hellfire pretend not know Eddie or be associated with Hellfire: Lucas when asked by Jason and the basketball team; Dustin, Max, and Lucas when questioned by the Sheriff in front of their parents (and Erica) after they are caught by Lover's Lake; This reminds me of Jesus being denied 3 times (even if that was 1 person for Jesus).

This is not religious symbolism but I'd like to point out that Jason foreshadowed his death with 'first hangover makes you feel like you're going to split in two'. I think Eddie foreshadows his death and resurrection when he pretends to die and fall on the ground when he meets Chrissy in the woods.

The irony of the character being hunted by zealots in the Satanic Panic being Jesus coded is so satisfying to me, particularly because I know someone who was hit by the Satanic panic and was so so much kinder of a person than any of the assholes wagging their tongues and backbiting him.

Anyway, it's been a while for the religious stuff for me but it's still in there, hope you find it interesting. I think it makes for an interesting 'Eddie gets resurrected' build up alternative to Kas. Although, with popular vampire mythos the Jesus tie works with vampire!Eddie too.

[pikaflute]

☕️ adult animation in general :}

i really feel like adult animation, as a whole, is an aspect of animation so overlooked by people online because they have mushed peas for brains. do not get me wrong, there's a lot to criticize/is bad, but thinking that the only "good adult stories" lie in animation geared towards kids is stupid and really doesn't highlight the stories adult animation does tell. like if animation is for all ages, why the hell do people only recommend shows and movies clearly aimed at an audience made for children. "oh but(x) is for all ages" i don't think i have to tell you why the talking cat movie and the Australian show that airs on a kids channel may be aimed towards a certain demographic.

a main criticism of adult cartoons is that they rely on sex, drugs, and cursing jokes. now i could point out that people laugh when that jokes are animation for tweens but whatever. all i'm gonna say is, so? adults do those things, obviously they're gonna joke about it. (also people loveeee saying smiling friends and hazbin are so different than adult animation despite BOTH shows using this humor. hell, while not a western animated cartoon, panty and stocking's humor is like this and no one shits on it.) and when adult animated shows aren't focused on humor (LIKE PEOPLE WANT THEM TO BE) people complain About them being too depressing or miserable to watch (DESPITE THEM WATCHING SHIT LIKE THE OWL HOUSE WHICH PEOPLE PRAISE FOR IT'S DARK STORYTELLING). basically no matter what genre it is, I feel like adult animation can't win.

people always point out the artstyle too which again really isn't a problem. there's a lot of beautiful adult animated cartoons and ones that are really stylized, but everyone ignores them to make fun of the family guy ripoff that will get canned in two minutes. and that's really the biggest problem yeah? the family guy ripoffs are what people judge literally the entire landscape of adult animation by. despite there being really good stuff out there, it's judged by the few that suck dick and balls. people used to do with kids' animation and now people complain about how the whole genre must suck. and then when people recommend shows that are good they get all mad and go "well there's only a few that are good!" or "well...that's comedy based so it doesn't count" LIKE AT LEAST GIVE IT A CHANCE!!!!

AND. AND!! it seems like even the industry is stacked against adult animated projects. netflix cancelling qforce, tuca and bertie, and inside job for one, but also adult swim's "put eggs in one basket" strat they have with rnm. it seems like adult swim only (for many years at least) cared about rnm and it seems they didn't put as much effort in promoting the other show on the network. adult swim being one oif the only (besides like fox) that host adult animation kinda sucks but a lot of these stories that people create don't seem to reach their full potential because networks are scumbags. adult swim has built a good will reputation with most of it's fans (i say most because [looks at paper shredder]) by being cool and hip with what their audience likes but at the end of the day they are a network. and they act like any other scumbag network. see their desire to just cancel shows: moral orel and venture bros for instance. and well. you know. [looks at a paper shredder] or adult swim refusing to pay carey means (the voice of frylock) residuals. in other news there's a new season of aqua teen coming soon.

the only adult cartoons people talk about are the really popular ones or the ones that suck. from my experience (see: college campus in nj) the only adult cartoons people discuss are rick and morty and south park. which is like UGH. Ive seen people in archer shirts though, but it's mainly those two, which sucks because i feel like there's much to choose from. and on the other hand people love to talk about the ones that suck. despite everyone saying they weren't going to watch velma they did. they hatewatched it. and they gave it attention social media. "but it was all negative" king, that's still attention, do not act surprised when they green light this for season 2. you hatewatch the bad shows and then act surprise when good shows that you don't watch at all get canned but the bad ones do. curious!

conclusion: i think if you want to say animation is for all ages you gotta watch adult animation! yes! it's not going to be what you want sometimes, it might be a bad artstyle, or have dumb humor, but you gotta go out of your comfort zone sometimes! ask people for recommendations online and i am sure you'll fine something for you. and most importantly STOP MAKING TWEETS AND POSTS DISPARAGING ADULT ANIMATION. YOU'LL NEVER APPRECIATE THE MEDIUM FULLY IF YOU KEEP SHITTING ON WHAT IT HAS TO OFFER!!

second conclusion: i don't care how good arcane is i'm not watching a league of legends show.

third conclusion: stop recommending bluey as a show for adult it is literally for preschoolers. i know you'll say it's good and i'm sure it is, but if you think bluey is the best show for adults right now you literally have mushed peas for your brain. go see a doctor.

fourth conclusion: also metaloclaypse sucks dick. don't watch that

[sproutwings]

I'm curious about your opinion on Brudick, and also I wanna read you rave about Sladick ♥

Two for the price of one! :D I'll start with Slade/Dick because I love them so much! 💙🖤🧡

What made you ship it?

I wasn't into DCU comics or Batfam stuff at all, so I only knew Dick from live action canons (mostly the old Batman TV show from the 1960s – the reruns were on TV when I was a teenager and it was a formative experience in many ways :D), and Slade from his short DCEU scenes. Then @wednesdayhey wrote a fic Dickstroke fic that I happened to stumble upon and read canon blind, and I fell hard and fast for them!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I could just eat up the entire dynamic up with a spoon. The different morals and attitudes and the antagonism that comes from it, the way that Nightwing can still hold his own against Deathstroke, the grudging respect. That arc in Nightwing 1996 where Slade casually breaks into Dick's apartment to let him know that he has a contract in Bludhaven and Dick is pretty much unfazed by having an enemy watch him change and in the end, after some fighting and banter, Slade agrees to let Dick buy off his contract by one dollar and fifty cents is one of my favorite things. I generally love the idea that Dick can't be sure of where he stands with Slade – he's a serious threat that Dick can't afford not to take seriously, but he also has maybe a tiny bit of a soft spot for him.

Then there's the whole thing where Slade has a hand in Bludhaven's destruction as revenge for Dick turning Rose against him, and on the one hand, I hate how it probably permanently alters the sometimes-enemy-sometimes-ally dynamic. On the other hand, in terms of fic fodder, it's so ripe for angsty fix-its! *\o/*

I generally like it better when Slade is morally grey rather than an all-out evil supervillain, though. I love the two of them bantering and navigating UST-filled uneasy alliances, lingering resentments, maybe with some unfounded fear from Dick and unexpected mercy thrown in. (Also, this is one of the few fandoms where I'm very much into A/B/O, so I'm also here for that.)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not so much an opinion as a preference – I know the animated cartoon is very popular and made a lot of people ship them, but the ship dynamic there is not how I like my Slade/Dick, and the whole apprentice arc thing is kind of a turn-off for me. My favorite version of Dickstroke is Deathstroke/Nightwing rather than Deathstroke/Robin.

For BruDick, my answer is somewhere between "I don't ship it" and "it's complicated" :D Why don’t you ship it? / What would have made you like it?

I don't ship it as a requited thing that potentially happens for real. For once because cross-generational incest is a bit of a squick to me (KINKTOMATO and all), but also because I just don't see Bruce feeling that way about Dick - and even if he did, he'd never admit it even to himself.

What I can and do see is Dick having complicated feelings for Bruce and wanting his love and approval in a way that might or might not involve romantic or sexual attraction. Basically, Dick (let's face it: all the Robins, really) is the walking embodiment of daddy issues.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I think the whole dynamic between Bruce and Dick is incredibly interesting. It's a beautiful mess, and I like both the messiness of it as well people fixing it in fic and getting them to a happier place.

You can still ask me about ships I may or may not ship .

[mrawkweird]

So the teaser for Invincible season 2 dropped a while ago looking more polished in the animation department due to being directed by animator Balak. Some time after a tweet started to make the rounds about how someone was shocked to find out this incredibly fine looking animation for a tv show was done by a nsfw artist. Now they clarified that they didn't say this in a negative sense but the damage was kinda sorta done.

Now I'm sure I'm gonna sound cringe when I say this but I feel like this comes from the result of stuff like cancel culture, or the amount of terminally online kids who don't know anything but have learned to try get the moral highground as fast as possible and even the recent stigma against nsfw artist being the "easy way" to popularity.

Everyone is back to assuming "what you see is what you get" or judging a book by it's cover especially when it comes to nsfw artist. Hell it's even worse now cause it's general pornography as well the more taboo art.

I'll never forget or forgive that shit that happened last year when someone on the Amphibba crew was revealed to draw nsfw art of the shows characters got attacked and forced into hiding.

I feel like a decade ago when becoming a nsfw artist in the open was becoming a thing a lot a people were worried that it meant any dream of making into the industry was probably not gonna happen but look at Bruce Timm, Rebecca Sugar (yes really), Ian Jones Quartly and now Balak.

Hell, what am I talking about? Balak already made it before this dude is part of the main team of a popular comic as well as it's tv adaption, which has some of the most tasteful sex/nudity and hard hitting violence western animation has possibly ever seen especially for tv as well being a part of independent small animation studio.

Anyone genuinely shocked and confused that someone can draw porn and general good art is someone who is admitting that they can't think outside the box.

I saw when someone mentioned who animated it and I was wondering when the cluster fuckery would begin. I don't know why some people even bother trying to come out talking as if some of these NSFW animations isn't some of the most legit looking shit these days. It shouldn't be surprising because once you mastered fuck psychics in animation you mastered the world and that should become a test before you get brought on to animate a project. "Oh, you wanna animate on the OK KO Movie? Well, just get me a test animation of Carol and Wilhamena double teaming Captain Planet by next week and I'll see if there's a spot for you".

Also, nobody should be playing the moral high ground card when they're clearly showing that they know of these things a little too well. It's like when teachers get fired for having an Onlyfans. Like, how the fuck did y'all find out? How did y'all confirm it?. And I still remember when the streets tried to come for Rebecca. Shit, Walt Disney legit got a secret stash out there too. For every single person that always wants to point fingers just let their search history pop up one time.

[kringas]

There is a disturbing cyclical nature of internet culture. And I don't mean that in a broad sense, I mean that in a small sense. I mean in a tiny way. I mean how everything repeats over and over and over again. There's an obsession, and I do say obsession, with repetition. 

I am the first to say that repetition is actually a good thing. I love repetition. In fact, I listen to every single song I like on loop for hours at a time. I listen to a lot of musical cast albums, and even the tracks that are like 30 seconds long, the ones that are just people talking, I listen to those on loop for hours. My Spotify Wrapped is a mess.

 I have nothing against repetition conceptually,  but I feel like everywhere I go, every single thing I look at when I'm scrolling through the endless feeds of Instagram or Twitter orr whatever, it's all the same things. Try as I might, it's all the same.

I've been seeing this popular thing. Instagram edgelords in the comments on meme pages, I found that they they tend to make jokes over and over and over again. They're doing it because it's funny that they're doing it over and over again. If you don't think it's funny, you're the fool. everyone knows it's not funny, everyone's supposed to understand that it's not funny and therefore not laugh. But also you can't not not laugh. 

It is a series of bizarre social standards on these internet communities. every single one of these spaces, where you're coming in expected to be more ironic than human, it's a type of elaborate social ploy. It's a circus. And you can make a joke about circuses and clowns but I really think that everyone is the audience and everyone is the clown and they know that they're the audience that they know that they're the clown so who's winning?

Now that may seem completely unrelated to what I was saying but I think that in these internet communities, deep irony poisoned, deeply self-loathing, but self-loving too, it's all about winning. 

I think the other half of this equation is that the people know that they're not winning. I mean no one else is winning, they know that everyone involved in the situation is a loser, but what they're waiting for it's for someone to come in and to be even more of a loser. A person who does not understand that they are meant to be a loser. That is the target.

 Now this felt kind of familiar to me, as I was pondering this concept…  This is also how I think a lot of bad and unkind behavior happens in life. Not just bullying or cruelty, but just the day to day meanness that is inflicted on those around us. When you are crappy to the person at drive thru window, it's a matter of you feeling hurt and inflicting it outward. This elaborate social sphere is that everyone feels like a loser and therefore they want to make someone else feel like a loser but they don't realize that everyone around them feels like a loser so maybe the solution here is for everyone to constantly be announcing how much of a pathetic loser they are.

I think almost anything could be used in the quest for good you know. I think that really anything anything on Earth can be used to make the world better. So my plan my ultimate plan is to make an Instagram meme page. And from this Instagram meme page, I will make 30 to 50 sub accounts. Using all these accounts, I will comment on all of the regular funny posts, saying "oh wow I'm such a loser" and stuff like that, self hating, to the audience of irony poisoned 26 year olds with no sense of self.

Now, one may argue that this goes against Instagram or Facebook terms of conditions but,, this is important, I don't care. I think it's notable that these are evil evil companies, and therefore really and doing anything against them I think is morally fine. One might also be able to argue that, you know, there are things in their rules that are good but I think I am the exception to all rules.

Or rather I think I'm the exception to the rules when I'm doing good and this will be this will be good. I think if anyone could just be more open and honest and clear with exactly what they're thinking, what they're saying and what they're trying to do in every social situation, to deconstruct the weird, obscene, bizarre, social niceties that they play with, we would all be so much funnier!

I appreciate you reading this wonderful article about you know social irony and whatnot but what I'm going to say even further that you should support me on this cause. You too should make 30 to 50 accounts on Instagram where all you do is post about how much you hate yourself in the comments of meme pages. It would be fantastic.

Okay that's just part one. See if the world believes that you're doing good it will let you do anything. And I don't mean the moderators of Facebook or whatever. I mean like the world as a whole. I mean God. My next part of this goal, once I have successfully convinced a lot of people who have seen these manufactured comments to be open about their self-hating, is to use it against them.

I believe objectively that pain is a bad thing. And I think people will feel a lot less pain if it's scared out of them. So by using their deepest darkest feelings about themselves, about the world around them, about the people around them, to hurt them, they won't feel pain anymore. 

This probably sounds absurd. But how do we train ourselves to achieve our goals, especially the ones that are hard to achieve? We use shame. We don't want to say that we use shame, but we use shame. You make yourself feel bad about eating that cookie. You make yourself feel bad about watching Netflix instead of reading a book. Shame is the ultimate way to fix anything, so why does this shame have to be internal? Why can't I replace the internal version of your self hatred?

Even if you're some softie or whatever who's against shame and guilt, wouldn't it be better for them to direct their self hatred at me rather than themselves. I can be destroyed. Temporarily at least. They also can destroy themselves, but destroying me, multiple peoples' self-hatred will be destroyed. 

Frankly, my ultimate goal is for profit, so the destroying thing can come after I make my millions in wealth. But can you imagine the collective catharsis? If we just turned our own self-hatred into a singular enemy, surely nothing could go wrong, no one would hate themselves, and therefore it would solve all of our emotional problems. 

So, in conclusion I may be torturing people for evil but ultimately it comes from a good place, and even more ultimately, it'll be good for us as a society. Thank you.

[bechaerin]

hello, all you cool cats! beyond happy to be here and to introduce chaerin to all of you! i only have a profile page up because i love coming up with connections/plots as i read about all your muses! if you’d like to plot, don’t hesitate to like this post and i’ll come message you. beneath the cut will be a—what i’m hoping—brief introduction to chaerin!!! also, a small sidenote, but i've heard that tumblr has been shadowbanning blogs that mass follow so i'll slowly be following people on the masterlist!!

her background first!! first born of two girls. father is an accountant, mother a university professor, little sister is still in high school; very average family in all sorts of ways, but a loving one, nevertheless

chaerin’s been into art ever since she was young and was told she had a talent for painting at a young age, and that’s where she was pushed. not against her will, of course, because she enjoyed it as well. this is just to say that it’s pretty much all she’s known in her life since she was like six. she shifted a little once she got to high school and is currently a visual communication major at hongik university! her family isn’t super well off, and she thought that visual communication would be a more useful degree. however, she works part-time as a teacher’s assistant at a painting hakwon so she never abandoned painting

now you’re probably thinking: what made chaerin want to go into stardom? 

she won’t be shy in saying that, a good portion of it, is because she really would like to be less of a burden on her parents financially. they’re nowhere near struggling, but she understands that the reason she was able to learn art for so long was because of her parents. with her little sister preparing for college now, she’d like to be able to, at the least, provide her with an allowance of some sort in the future

second, she’s always been quite interested in music. she knows how to play the electric guitar as well as the piano. whenever she goes karaoking with her school friends, they’ve commented that she has a lovely voice. she was part of a kpop dance crew within her college for a year before she had to quit because of time commitments!!! it’s been an underlying passion that she’s sort of supressed

lastly, she’ll be the first to admit that she can be a little naive, but she’s extremely curious how it feels to be so loved and admired by people. it’s something she dreamed of with her work, but she just wants something more exciting. she’s spent so much of her life sitting still and painting, or now as a college student, she spends hours in front of a camera working on her projects. she wants something new in her life!

now onto her personality. she’s used to doing a lot of things on her own so she’s quite reserved and individualistic. likes to be more of an observer rather than stepping out into the spotlight. she wasn’t spoiled, but i do believe that she had a pretty sheltered life (since she didn’t do much except art from a young age) so she’s pretty nice to everybody. she hasn’t had a reason to be wary of the people around her and stuff like that. genuinely believes in being kind because kind people are the winners at the end of the day. that way, she never has to be ashamed of her actions or words. has a sort of high morality, and she finds it difficult to understand how people think differently from her. if someone disagrees, she gets that it can happen, but she wouldn’t understand why they think that way when she believes that her way of thinking is correct. truthfully, she’s quite a noob when it comes to the whole idol scene. she’ll know a few very popular idol groups, but she’s always just listened to the sort of music her parents played for her, and she’s just a really big fan of younha. there’s a lot out there for her to discover!

as for plots, i feel like she’s a very flexible muse so anything can work for her! maybe your muse is a big idol fan and tries to introduce her to their favorite groups! someone who’s intrigued by her art? it’s something she has a lot of pride in. you catch chaerin sort of snooping around the vocal or dance academy that you attend and ask her what she’s doing. she hangs around the hongdae and sinchon area a lot since that’s where she goes for university; perhaps you catch her at the same spot of the same cafe and decide to start a conversation? there’s a common misconception that art school kids are super wealthy. while chaerin isn’t poor or anything, she’s really more middle-classed than anything. maybe your muse misunderstands her and think she’s super privileged? or even the opposite can happen! perhaps your muse is the one that’s privileged and a little spoiled, and chaerin’s not a huge fan of them. that’s all i could think of at the top of my head, but more plots related to music would be nice as well!!! please do throw anything at my direction, and i’d be more than happy to work something out!

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

What are some of your favourite tropes?

Do you have any tropes that you hate reading but love to write?

Are there any tropes that you would like to see more of?

Honestly, I'm pretty generic when it comes to tropes, and will vibe with any of the great oldies like your typical chosen ones, lost royalty, elemental magic, runaway princess etc etc. It all comes down to execution, which is where I usually get up on my very very very tall and smug horse.

As for tropes I hate reading but love writing? I dunno, is that a thing? Why would I like to write stuff I hate to read? The closest to this mentality I'd get is probably when I think I could pull off a thing better, but I only think so because I like the tropes/ideas in the first place. I usually look for things I want to read, and write stuff I would like to read, as well. I'm not really someone who likes to read things that aren't already in my general area of interest. I don't go "Wow I hate this thing! I'm gonna write it now!"

That being said, for how popular enemies-to-lovers is, I can't remember reading a good example of it, lol, but I do very much want to write it someday. Then again, people define enemies-to-lovers in such broad terms that it's really a matter of taste. It's just that nobody has yet to hit that specific collection of requirements I personally have for the dynamic.

One trope I think is very tasty and delicious is reverse horror, and that term is mostly used to describe video games at the moment. But I loooove the idea of a horror story where the true horror is the protagonist. Like, not action stuff like Doom or anything like that, but imagine a straight up horror thing where the creatures or monsters come out swinging, then the tone shifts as you realize they're the prey, and the thing they're messing with is a much bigger threat.

It's a trope that understandably doesn't have a lot of maneuverability in terms of storytelling, cuz once you do this, you've pretty much deleted all the tension and turned it from horror to action or comedy, but it's great power fantasy fodder. I've been playing with the idea of some sort of angelic monster hunter that follows this premise, where their catchphrase is "be not afraid" because their true angelic form is incomprehensible and terrifying to the demonic horrors of the story, but they're still a good guy.

Related to that, I also love the "No-Sell" trope, particularly when it's employed by an underdog character against the Big Bad. I'm kinda over the anime-ass climaxes where the protag must be beaten to a pulp in order to find their last reserves of power and save the day. We don't all need to follow that three-act structure. So I would like to see stories where the villain's downfall has been planned for a while, and they've already lost because the hero eclipsed them long ago, but just don't know it yet.

Also I think we should bring back revenge stories. No more "uwu revenge bad just ask nicely for justice" shit. I hate it when revenge stories are now framed less as "this will have consequences for you, and will likely hurt you and not really bring any closure" and more as "uwu violence is never the answer! violence bad! just forgive and forget or you will be as bad as the perpetrators!" Stories thrive on conflict and people doing bad shit, at times self-destructive, but often justified or at least understandable. All this moralizing and crap makes for really miserable reading and/or viewing. Noboy's out there saying John Wick shouldn't have avenged Daisy.

Basically right now I'm in my "What if MC was the monster all along?" phase. "What if, in my quest to stop the horrors, I must become what they fear?" type shit.

Anyway it's late and I'm rambling, but I hope this answered your questions!