#and then you get to sit around and play blorbos with other fans

[vladdyissues]

The great thing about canon giving you only vague details about a character is the fact that you can take that character to the Build-A-Blorbo workshop and stuff them with whatever headcanons your little heart desires.

[qqueenofhades]

hilary, I really love talking about history with my friends but sometimes I talk about a historical person that I'm interested in and my friends act like just because I know things about a famous historical person I support everything they did. even when I know they know I don't support slavery, racism, sexism, etc. how do I keep from losing my cool when they do this?

Look, I have no idea where the "if you talk about anything complex/consume this material/think about it in any way, YOU TOO MUST SUPPORT IT AND BE PROBLEMATIC AND BAD!!!" mindset came from, but I honestly and deeply wish it a very killed with fire. It's the same anti mindset where if you read Morally Impure Fan Fiction, you are Morally Impure, but apparently now extends to... learning about the literal entirety of human experience? Why does this not surprise me, while also making me want to put my head through a plate glass door?

Once again, I don't know what people think historians DO, but I can assure y'all, it's not sitting around talking about how Totally Great [fill in the historical person, place, or thing] absolutely was, and how there were no problems with it ever and everyone should just be like, totally down with it, man. (Tubular.) In fact, the practice of academic history is often directly focused, especially nowadays, on identifying these problems and previous interpretations, putting them into context, and discussing how they happened in the first place. Considering that we're suffering from such a profound crisis of historical ignorance, both deliberate and inadvertent, and have seen how that manifests in current events (which are just the history happening right now), I am... boggled that "we shouldn't talk about anything because it was Morally Problematic!!!" is, indeed, getting serious play. Once again, it's the anti-intellectualism that is just as rampant on the left as it is on the right, while dressing itself up in different language and pretending to support different goals. But either way, any critical philosophy based on "we can never talk about things that went wrong/people who did Wrong Things in the past" is absolutely dead on arrival as any use to anyone. Ever.

Obviously, there are complexities in how to approach this material, and I personally don't think that historical figures, especially complex ones, should be "fandomized" or treated just as Cute OTP Blorbos or sanded down to fit a sanitized fictional box (unless they are explicitly fictionalized/being used in a fictional context, and even then, yeah, it's good to keep the background in mind). It's not that this is wrong -- after all, historians get into this line of work because they have Big Thoughts and Many Feelings about historical people/places/things and want to work on those in a variety of contexts -- but it's a little uncomfortable, at least for me. That said, it's still not inherently wrong, in any way, to be interested in/want to talk about people from the past. They're human, for god sakes! You are also human! They are your ancestors! Of course you, a primate with higher reasoning and anxiety, are curious about them! You want to know their stories and consider their circumstances and ponder why they did things, including bad things! If you can't do that, shun other people from doing it, and therefore you are completely cut off from your species' entire backstory and have no frame of reference for anything at all, you're going to end up an idiot. Guaranteed.

Anyway: yet again, people talking about history (or fiction, or anything at all) in a complex way that takes into account the fact that uh, people have never been perfect in their entire existence does not mean that the person is Bad or Supports All The Evils of Human History or whatever. I'm not sure what this attempted-gotcha "don't you know they were a bad person!!!" is going to accomplish, other than giving someone the same kind of fleeting self-righteousness high that comes from Being More Correct On The Internet (or wherever), but like... if you like studying history, and they know you like studying history, I don't know why they would think you don't know that, unless you tragically failed to post a 50-page disclaimer first. And it's stupid, and it's juvenile, and it's not useful, and I think you're entitled to say much of what I've said above, in whatever amount you please, because yeah. Sheesh.

[blocksruinedme]

About to go insane. Jimmy SolidarityGaming cannot catch a break in any of the series that he's in. Loser in Empire Smp. And as of yesterday, still a Loser in Life Series. And yet so many of us unconditionally adore him?

So last night, for reasons, I got into the shower to wash my hair at 3am, while decently intoxicated. While the water was heating up I looked at the mcc team list, and started thinking about Jimmy and mcc and the decisions he makes as a content creator and how he has to hustle because he doesn't have natural bonuses like "being good at minecraft" or "being booksmart" or "having a good memory". As I stepped into the shower almost said aloud "I'm worried people don't appreciate Jimmy enough." And wondered if I should go back a "Reasons Jimmy is Great #373-402" tumblr post.

But there I was just standing in the water in the middle of the night afraid[1] people don't appreciate Jimmy. I soooorta thought I would have chilled out about this (gorgeous) wet paper bag of a man with (charming) loser boy swag (and great comedic timing and a kind and loving personality and big heart) nine months later, but *apparently not*.

Anyway to address the ask - I like Jimmy winning things cause it makes him happy. It does not affect how much I adore him, because... I don't care about winning? I'm thinking about why.

I grew up in a Sports Household that was devoted to a team that has not made it out of the playoffs since... many decades. This both gives me "caring about winning is bother a sucker's game and setting yourself up for misery and meh" and "if you drop your team/blorbo because they haven't won in a couple decades, you're Not A Real Fan".

I am very competitive in some ways, but only a few really translate out of "I want to personally excel". This is hard, actually, to think about why I don't care when my first though was "but why would I care?"

Also coming in 40th at mcc makes the 1v3 dodgebolt wins so much sweeter

In the end what I care about is that I adored watching the Bad Boys and Jimmy had a blast. Would I have enjoyed him beating the curse? Yeah! Am I sad he looked so bummed? Well yes for sure. But my boy chose to be silly and jump off bridges *so many times*, I don't even want to count how many times he did it total. He made his bed, and he fell off a bridge into it.

Meanwhile Empires... yeah there's no "oh poor Jimmy" when the whole thing is what he wants. I listen to a lot of streams, mostly of him but also other people, and he's literally asking for it. fWhip once said it's because Jimmy's much more comfortable roleplaying/acting reactively, instead of coming up with the thing. He loves making his shocked faces and using his affronted voice, and he asks his friends to do things for him to react to.

PERSONALLY I'd love if they expanded Jimmy's empires reactions to be less about other PCs being mean to him, I'm hopeful that this fae can expand to a huge disaster where he's totally fucked but it's all by NPC/environment and his friends can help him. (As someone who used to play/run boffer LARP campaigns, it just feels SO larp. spouse and i sit around and point and shout about how we would do these things. 100% the reason i started going here was because last life felt like an awesome larp.)

So my love is unconditional because it's for a silly guy in London who loves his friends and minecraft, is kind to his fans, and makes me smile every single time I see him. If I'm sad, the best thing to do is put on the intro to any Jimmy stream or video, it's his big hello everybody! smile that warms my soul. He makes me happy and he makes me laugh and he could be the worst at everything and it would mean nothing. He is my blorbo, my special little boy, my wet paper bag of a man, and even my therapist thinks he has a good effect on my life. <3 <3 <3

...though I do hate watching him be inefficient at stardew valley, I don't play minecraft but i'm good at sdv and now I think I get the pain of watching him play minecraft. But I'm there for Jimmy, not the games. <3

[1] note: you do not have to appreciate Jimmy! It's fine. Trashed Vee really wants you to, and sober Vee thinks it makes life better to love Jimmy, but please don't take this post as weirder than it already is.

[katierosefun]

The hilarious thing about that anon is that joo won can't act for shit. He wears everything on his face and he literally starts shaking when he's overwhelmed with emotions. Has emotional breakdowns and bursts in with his heart first and feet second. He shoulders the crimes of his father and expects dong sik to punish him for it because he thinks he deserves that just for being his son. And even when dong sik asks if he's alright he's genuinely confused because wasn't he supposed to suffer? How is that a cause for concern? So he asks why would you ask me that since you're trauma is the one getting dredged up again. Like he's also not upto his neck with it. He at one point believes that 7 or 9 year old him refused to hold his mother and that's why she "disappeared".

The anon is brushing away guilt like thats a show that portrays guilt in a very soft and loud and wonderful light and how could they even think to completely miss the point.

The last ask have incredible details deconstructing that anon. Virtue signalling is the most harshest light and a false one to shine on joo won especially.

(where's that one post that says "it's my blorbo, Jan" when you need it)

and you're precisely right! joo won can't act for shit, and the only time he does act for shit is when he's completely aligned himself with dong sik, and you know that the second things start to go in motion, he absolutely breaks out of that mask (joo won shouting at han ki hwan remains rent free in my mind).

and you're right: i think guilt is honestly one of . . . the main points of the show? dong sik has some form of intense survivor's guilt (as referenced in how he badly treats himself, all from sleeping without the heat on to going out of his way to help people in a way that no one managed to help his sister), and joo won basically carries around the guilt of geum hwa's death. even in episode 16, dong sik has to sit joo won down and be like, stop using your guilt to go overboard. the whole point of the show, i think, is that your grief and your guilt and your sadness will be absolved at some point, so long as you keep walking with others, and i think it's incredibly disheartening when people somehow . . . completely miss that point. i say this not just as a fan of beyond evil, but also, just like . .. knowing how intentional the writer kim su jin, director shim na yeon, and the whole cast and crew were in creating this show--and i think from at least a writer's perspective, i think there can be something incredibly saddening about pouring your all into something, only to have someone completely ignore your point.

but also, at the end of the day, you're right: they're my blorbo, jan. leave us alone to play and etc etc

[nico-di-genova]

an ask game for your ocs is all ive ever wanted buckle up because they've been bouncing around my skull for YEARS and i need to know everything !!!

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

🌈 RAINBOW — what is your oc's sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

Maya you have joint custody of the blorbos as this point tbh 🥰.

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

They don’t listen to music at all, they love engaging in the act of sitting in complete silence. :) jk jk

The band itself is alternative rock, which they all like listening to. Josh is into the heavier stuff, metal and 80s rock, but also rap.

Keegan is more the indie/alternative type - bleachers, badsuns type energy.

Liv is also an 80s rock girlie, but she’s also a fan of synth-wave.

Elijah loves classical music. He’s the reason the bands’ second album had classical instrumentation layered throughout.

🌈 RAINBOW — what is your oc's sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

Josh: Male, bisexual.

Keegan: non-binary, uses they/them pronouns, but also isn’t necessarily attached to any pronouns. Also demisexual.

Liv: Female, lesbian.

Elijah: Male (trans ftm), straight.

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

Josh: his persistence/drive, the care/love he has for those he’s close to and his creativity.

Keegan: their ability to see the best in people, honesty and friendly.

Liv: DEDICATION. If she doesn’t know how to play something she’s gonna commit to learning it within the hour. Confidence and adventurous, she’s half the reason the other three go outside of their comfort zones.

Elijah: leadership, he’s good at keeping the other three focused. Reliable and trustworthy.

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

Josh: has a birthmark around his left eye that is vaguely crescent moon shaped and can be seen when he cries. Always has to sit in the corner seat where he can see the majority of the room when at a restaurant.

Keegan: when they get super anxious or overwhelmed they need a distraction. They’ve found doodling on something works best, so they’ve set up a system with Josh where when they tap Josh’s hand in the middle of an interview or something, Josh will offer his arm for Keegan to doodle on. Always keeps a sharpie/pen on hand because of this.

Liv: makes intense eye contact with people. To the point that it’s like a Thing for fans. You want to get Liv’s attention during a concert, because she will just stare you down.

Elijah: habitual finger/knuckle cracker, has started wearing a fidget ring to help with this.

[eldesperadont]

headcanons that nobody asked for about my wrestling blorbos under the cut hehoo 🌈

any character i like is queer and/or ND in my head lmao but heres a few people i have proper thoughts on

NJPW

Hiromu: autistic polyam king, neither cis or het, queer queer queer

El Desperado: dealt with self worth issues and depression since he debuted on the main roster, got better in the last few years tho :)

unfortunately in love with Hiromu - gender doesnt play a role in his attraction, not big on labels

Jay White: smug disaster gay, *slaps his head* this bad boy can fit so many mental issues in it, sooo insecure and masks it all till he can't anymore, calls himself King SWITCH so imma take that literal-

No but really i have a lot of thoughts about Jays motivations, in my reading he feels like the only way to make it in njpw as a gaijin is if you disregard the rules, fans and opinions of others - he's deeply afraid of everything he did to even be a wrestler having been pointless, he may cheat to get to his goal but a title is a title, the ultimate proof of his sacrifice having been worth it.

Juice Robinson: genuinely thought about giving up on wrestling, i don't buy his 'haha i tricked u all' explanation, he either reached out to BC or — the spicier take :)c — Jay reached out to him:

He knows how its like to be at rockbottom, feeling like everythings pointless. (his post WK15 promo) The guys Jay was in the dojo with were/are people he genuinely cared about (i could bring up counless examples), so he couldnt sit by and watch Juice throw his shot away

KENTA & Naito both gimme "bastard dad that constantly messes and jokes around but actually deals with a lot of depression and anxiety and whenever he (in the most unexpected moments) brings it up it gives you whiplash, feels like forbidden lore" vibes; they are very similar and i love them a lot, ive written about that before here

also Kenta and Shibata are bitter exes

ELP: bi adhd DUMBASS. with more depth than u would think, dreads all his sacrifice not paying off in the end, similar to Jay, thats generally my theme for Bullet Club, if these dudes weren't so toxic they could be a great support system for one another

Robbie Eagles: bi nerd with the worst taste in men lmao, Ospreay's his ex, him and ELP are whatever the hell they are, obsessed definitely - ive written about them a bit here and here

BUSHI: transmasc genderfluid dude :)

Miho Abe & ZSJ: are whatever makes you fall in love with the trash emperor, they both date TAICHI

Kota Ibushi: adhd/autistic mlm king. okay no but genuinely i have so many feelings about Ibushis struggle to fit in, to do as others expect of him, being the weird one - i can relate to that so much it makes me cry

LIJ group dynamic:

Shingo and Naito are bastard brothers that annoy each other on purpose, Sanadas the younger brother both get along with

Naito and Bushi are parental figures for Hiromu, based on Naito being Takahashis mentor and Hiromu literally describing Bushi with お母さん, mother.

Shingo is Hiromus loud scary uncle, Sanada is his cool quiet uncle

Naito and Bushi are married.

also a few aedub thoughts:

all of BCC is autistic.

Kingston has adhd.

HOOK is autistic, non verbal most of the time, uses sign language.

the whole roster's queer good for them good for them (except the ones i dont like.)

my Danhausen thoughts!

EDIT: i forgot Ricky, Ricky Starks is autistic

idk that's it, i dont have many HCs for aew so far lol

[lordoftherazzles]

Random Writer Anon!!

When you get this answer one of the questions (or all if you really want!) then pass it on to 5 writer friends! 🥰If you have more than one WIP, pick at random! We want you to talk about your works, and celebrate with you! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to answer these questions, I’ll be back with more next Sunday. 😉

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream/brainstorm” stage?

Who is your favorite character in this WIP and why?

Oh!! This is so wonderful!! I love the idea, Anon!! <3 And I thank you (and a handful of others) for dropping into my inbox! :) I'm going to answer all of these with different fics, so let's get going!!

Let's talk about....Bookbinder//Songwriter!

What are you most excited to write with this WIP?

OKAY!! So I have a great answer for this one. The next chapter I think I am going to touch base on a little flashback, to truly flesh out and highlight just how Bilbo and Thorin met. If you recall in chapter one, and even in one of the later chapters (...7 I think??) it's known that Thorin struggled HARD to ask Bilbo out, or do anything, because he's a big goob, and we love him. I want to show off exactly what happened - was it love at first sight? Did someone say something silly in embarrassment? We're going to find out, and I am so excited to do it! Also, there are some conflicts on the horizon, and I'm sure many of you who are familiar with the fic can guess as to what. If not, I'll leave you with this little hint: it doesn't hurt to be wary when those who abandoned you suddenly come out of nowhere with "good intentions". Success of others makes people do anything to get a hold of it.

How has this WIP changed since the “daydream / brainstorm” stage?

So this started out as a request, probably for a one-shot at the time, and it terrified me. Brainstorming it was....agonizing lol just as it was scary. This is my first modern au style fic, and it was so intimidating. Initially I was just going to do this as a few one-shot highlights, and then after the....second chapter??? I think??? I decided to just make it a full fic - it's one of those that could go on forever, I think, and it's evolved so much since the start - just as I've evolved with it. I've learned to love modern aus, and what started out as a scary experience and what I felt was an "underrated" fic, has become one of my favorites, and a fan favorite to many.

Who is your favorite character in this WIP and why?

This is a terribly hard question. I think the obvious answer(s) is Bilbo and Thorin, respectively, as they ARE the main characters of the story, my blorbos, the ones I put into any universe and dote on whenever I can. I could sit here and ramble for ages about why I love this version of them, but I think I can convey that the best in the fic itself. So for a non-bagginshield answer.... Radagast - While he's not been in the fic a lot, he's like the uncle/grandpa figure in Dis and Thorin's life, especially since they've lost their brother, father, and their grandfather Thror disowned them. He's a supportive adult who is typically on their side, and while sticking true to his portrayal in the movie, he's quirky and odd, and I love him to bits. He also has a pet raccoon that lives in the trash cans behind the bar??? AWESOME. He's been rooting for the Durin family, and I feel like can provide a safe space for them, as well as advice when needed. Is it good advice? That remains to be seen. Nori - The mischievous little gremlin, and Dwalin's significant other, as well as bass player for Durin's Desolation. He's SUCH a fun and cheeky character to play with, but he has a wonderful heart in his chest too. He's a fantastic partner for Dwalin, and while yes, he gets on the nerves of everyone ever, he genuinely cares about those around him. He gives me a great excuse to put some silliness into the chapters whenever he is around. Sometimes you just gotta be silly, dirty, and annoying, I guess lol

Thank you so much for this ask!! I'm so glad I got to babble about this fic a little bit!!

[beardedhandstoadshark]

What Jrpg games do you recommend checking out?

jrpgs are more of a playstation thing which I don’t own so my recommendations most likely wont be the best ^^;

Ans you probably mean the classic "round based w/party system I’m guessing, and not "rpg and from japan” like Dark Souls would be, sooo…

Short version:

Etrian Odyssey (if you can deal with occasional jank)

Mother/Earthbound series

Undertale/Deltarune

Mario & Luigi series (kinda)

Honkai star rail (if you do not engage with the gacha)

…turns out that despite playing a lot of jrpgs, a good chunk are defunct now cuz they were taken off, aren’t actually true jrpgs, and also I. Kinda really dislike how 95% of them make you stop every few seconds to load and go into a different screen just to spam a, sit through a minute of animations and screens, and then go out again to do it again a few sec later. So these choices are heavily biased to that.

Long version/reasons:

Obligatory Etrian Odyssey plug here! Ever wanted to throw your favorite blorbos together and make them go on a dungeon crawler adventure? Fan of 5-member round based battle systems with front/back row formation and boosts? Thought "the ingame map is crap, lemme make my own”, thirsting for a true challenge where pressing A to win isnt enough and you’re encouraged to treat even normal encounters like the danger they’re supposed to be? And maybe finally figure out what the heck that one random blog on your dash keeps talking about? Well then, youre in luck, as a certain game series called Etrian Odyssey might just be for you, and HD Remasters of the first 3 games are on steam!

…though just as a warning, as much as I loved the og game (and I heard the remasters have lots of Quality of Life upgrades), EO1 is kinda janky in corners lmao. The "old school” vibe it was going for in these older games reflects on the gameplay at times. Haven’t played og or hd 2 but apparently it’s similar. Only heard good things about 3 though!

Earthbound (as far as I played it anyways) is very cool and unique too. Especially the presentation and interactions with the world and all. Comes with switch online, though its VERY easy to find it emulated in random websites. It also heavily inspired Undertale, thats gotta count for something. Mother 3 just got released on there too but for some reason again only in Japan, so its still free sailing on the seas for that one, more than ever now.

Also if you can press A to win in a battle the game just instantly defeats the enemy on the map instead which is the best thing in any jrpg ever and should be done by more games. …It flashes though, which sucks for the eyes a bit.

Speaking of which, Undertale + Deltarune are absolutely deserving of their hype. They might not be from Japan but they carry the energy.

Aside from that…I mean. Theoretically speaking the Mario & Luigi games count as jrpgs. They’re pretty cute and fun, the setting is quirky, the more active gameplay that lets you dodge and counter is a neat breakup from the standing around doing nothing wait of the genre, and I just love the bros being bros ok. They’re the bros ever, always but especially here.

Honkai Star Rail is also not from Japan but very much aiming at weebs, plus powered by the floods of money coming from 2 other big budget hyper-successful and hyper-exploiting gacha games, while also being one. It being Honkai and therefore Hoyo’s favorite child, the presentation is even more on point than Genshin. Also slightly more f2p friendly than its cousin, and that game is already more fun as f2p than whaling like they want you to. …the auto-battle button unfortunately gets use at time, though. Can’t say if it gets too grindy later on though, haven’t played that far.

…yea that pretty much it rn. Sorry :( If I remember more i might come back to this but otherwise thats that ^^