#bc its clearly a controversial topic

[transmychem]

kicking off my first analysis…

the most “clearly trans” (or not?) song by mcr.

“Not That Kinda Girl”

this unfortunately quite literally involves gerard and how they seem themselves.

lets dive in..

“everybodys talking bout the way you left your man” not to be THAT person but… around the time this song was (most likely) wrote was when Gerard and Bert McCracken had a falling out… not to mention they literally held hands during the Under Pressure performance. so.. yeah “everybodys talking bout the way you held his hand”

now these could be interpreted as filler lyrics… however i would like to interpret it as Gerard figuratively drowning in the media’s portrayal of him and the expectations society has. kinda enough said..

ignoring the “borrowed” lyrics and the implications of that… jk.. there are a lot of implications of gerard borrowing lyrics from one of the first technically “feminist presenting” songs about a woman who is done with societies shit. sound familiar?…

“so say goodbye to all my friends” if im getting my facts right Gerard lost two good friend around this time… Frank and Bert… from my knowledge frank and gerard and well most of mcr for that matter were fighting and on the verge of quitting the band. and well i already mentioned what happened with Bert.

“i fell in love with her again” … this is obviously about Gerard and Lynz relationship.. a lot of people, even people close to him, did not want him marrying Lynz for countless reasons whether theyre valid or not. They got married around this time, and there was a lot of controversy because these things happen when youre a hot and famous rockstar especially a hot famous rockstar that kisses men… because the women want you the men want you and the gays want your representation. everyones gonna hate his spouse by default (not defending lynz (IDK anything about her)these are just facts…)

“everybodys talking bout the way you cur your hair” we know Gerard cut his hair and dyed it white for the black parade around this time. everyone was talking about it. obviously didnt give a flying fuck.

“everybodys talking bout the way you smoke that there” sensitive topic warning: … people were probably still talking about Gerards known cocaine addiction… and his path to sobriety and caring wayyy too much about what he does. they criticize him for smoking cigarettes bc ppl are insane and paranoid for some reason. i guess people are always hypercritical about celebrities especially if theyre a huge role model for vulnerable youth. Gerard has never cared too much about all that though. “i dont care at all”

now that we have established this song is clearly about Gerard, lets talk about a reoccurring line in this song

“cause im not that kind of girl”

this phrase has been kicked around for ages about women who sleep around or something. being “not that kinda girl” implies your “different from other girls” mostly in the sense that youre not a floozy or whatever… like lets not pin queens against eachother..

now why did Gerard use girl? he could have said “not that kinda guy/boy” but perhaps no one would get the reference unless they can read into the irony…

but i think Gerard likes the irony of using “girl” as a way to refer to themselves. because people have treated him and his relationship like hes just some “silly girl” or something. like they think Gerard is some kinda whore for kissing men and having gfs… the way society tends to view bisexual/queer people… (using bisexual bc theyve done things with guys and girls publicly and that makes you bisexual by societies standards..)

this song doesn’t necessarily have to do with being trans if you put it that way. Gerard is probably using “girl” to refer to themselves because of the irony.

but i’m gonna say this song is trans because why the fuck not.

thats just how i interpret it. it has trans vibes.

does not necessarily mean its about gerard, because gerard has made up so many characters for his music alone, why would this not be about just another character? the answer lies in the fact that all these things happened to him. hes talking about himself. isnt all singing, all lyrics, really about self awareness and self loathing or pondering of self? dont get me started… also the fact that all characters authors create are some fragment of themselves.. so yeah. referring to yourself as a girl (if you were born male) is just kinda trans…

now one last point after this conclusion. possibly a stretch. this song could be Gerard telling people they’re still queer even though they’re in a relationship with a woman. If this song is about Gerard being a girl then they’re saying they’re still queer for being in a relationship with another girl... tumblr dont FREAK. i said it was a stretch. (though it’s literally in the text…) but could just be like i said, just Gerard saying they’re still queer despite being in a “heterosexual passing” relationship and nothing else…

and this part i almost forgot… sorry for being all over the place i have adhd…. but this part kinda confirms my theory. “all your life i let you down”… is Gerard saying they let us down by letting society believe they are cis? idfk.

anyway. thats what makes me think this is the most off the bat transgender esque song.

transfems and lesbians this is YOUR song.

<3

[padfootastic]

Hellooo! I know this may be a sensitive question due to the nature of the Marauder's Fandom but I'm curious if you have any thoughts about why Wolfstar is so popular? I know many ships are popular but I kind of feel that Wolfstar is disproportinately so if you know what I mean? If you go to Ao3 and filter out sirius/remus the stories are halved :( which makes me sad bc I don't like Wolfstar but there ought to be good stories there. Even when I filter Wolfstar, it still sneaks in!!

hahaha r/s discourse my beloved <3 (lol i’m mostly kidding. i’ve been lucky to fall under the radar so far, not to jinx it, but ik it doesn’t take long to attract the wrong kind of crowd with such controversial topics 💀)

and like, yeah, totally agree that i think r/s is extremely disproportionately popular. i can think of a few reasons-

- premier gay ship at a time when there was none. it’s a super, super old ship and the kind of proximity and history implied in marauder friendships, particularly the actual interactions between r/s is v tempting. also, wasn’t there something about how the actors were told to act like they were in a relationships or sumn in the movies? idk i never rly saw it but that could’ve definitely effected it.

- it’s a convenient pairing. james & lily, remus & sirius, no one cares about peter. nicely tied up with a bow, yeah?

- stereotypical surface level portrayals of remus as the nerdy, wet towel bookworm and sirius as the hot, rebellious bad boy is a classic trope for a reason. (altho i’m sure this is a vicious cycle on its own—both the portrayal and popularity reinforce each other) there’s also something about like, remus and his hidden darkness contrasting sirius’ very visible darkness yeah? oh also! i often think it’s a bit of a self insert thing too? sirius is so clearly too good for him, he’s super competent and attractive and rich and just has. a lot going for him, yeah? and most people can’t put themselves in his shoes. you know who else is relatable though? meek lil remus lupin. and for him to get the absolute catch that everyone wants? well. isn’t that the perfect scenario? (and like, to be fair, not bashing this. at all. i’m all for self inserts, i love it. i think it’s one of the best uses of fiction one can partake in)

- it’s angst fodder, especially the older interpretations. not just the canon timeline, but right back to the prank—you have a lot to work with. it’s also great for AUs, like u can play around a lot ykno?

anyway, yeah. few reasons why i think it’s popular. pretty sure a lot of it is also just,,,nostalgia and momentum? as well as remus being the only reasonable option for sirius and vice verda bc of the lack of other eligible characters without making things horribly AU. of course, i’m horribly biased bc i don’t think it’s a good pairing at all, atleast not in most of its iteration i’ve seen, and of course, i’ll always, always consider james/sirius to be superior. (i don’t think i’ll ever not be mad that it’s not the premier m/m ship, actually, considering all the material we get for two characters who’ve never been together in real time but oh well)

[spywitch]

I feel sort of Bad about it but like, I feel like I’m at a point where talking about things I am passionate about with people is fucking not worth it 95% of the time, because the effort of explaining a bit of knowledge I have learned, or a belief that I have to people is almost never worth it. Like whats gonna happen if I do is either:

A. They don’t care, will zone out and forget everything I said, even if they were the ones who asked me to explain, bc they don’t realize how much background context is needed to fully understand.

B. Despite knowing little to nothing about said topic, they will try to argue with me about everything I say. When im not even looking for a debate im just trying to share info. Even if I try desperately to explain that is something I have researched and learned a lot about in order to understand that some commonly repeated things about said topic aren’t accurate.

C. Upon learning that you have an ~unusual or controversial identity or belief, they will try to grill you about it and ask you details about everything you believe… often in a way that clearly seems they are questioning if you are as “unreasonable” as others with that identity/belief seem to be. Like when you tell someone you are trans, and they start being like “but you don’t think everyone should raise their babies gender neutral right?” or “you dont think its transphobic to be unattracted to trans people right?” or some other bullshit dumb topic to try to make sure you’re one of the “good” ones

Its like in order to dispell misinfo and misunderstandings about some things I know a thing or two about it require long explainations sometimes and people are NOT good fucking listeners. honestly sometimes im just terrible at communicating my opinions too, so its just like. Man do not ask me about that thing you arent going to be a good listener. Like it feels like most ppl arent worth the effort of trying to teach them anything, or trying to have a discussion/debate with them about complex or nuanced topics.

[bedcorpse]

that study bible is so funny tho bc it was clearly written by conservative commentators (my parents church would have never given it to me if it werent) but they're aware they have to be fence sitters about Controversial Topics like women doing anything other than being mothers so its like "you can do other things but being a sahm is probably the best. but maybe not. but it is. submit to your husband and dont fornicate ❤️"

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Saying it’s racist not to like eeaao is the same as saying it won because the Oscars wanted to be "woke". Should we say it’s antisemitism not to like the fabelmans or homophobic to want Tar to lose, and that the Oscars were Irish-phobic this year, lol. And saying the cast is likable as if many losers weren’t also likable and as if perceived likability is at least 50% good PI. It’s just giving ammo to the people who think the movie isn’t really good and was massively rewarded for the wrong reasons, at least not for its quality, it’s a toxic premise. And it’s coming from someone who didn’t dislike the movie (but also think it wasn’t the best and had flaws).

(Diff anon same topic) imagine thinking EEAO is mediocre when we get the same old biopics and war movies every year🙄

So I think it’s time to move on from this discourse! (Btw idt it’s the same rlly bc it’s a valid criticism—Def some of it has been v clearly racist, and then there’s been some critiques around hype or style, but overall, it’s just v weird it produced so much controversy. Like why didn’t last year in quite this emotional way, which makes you wonder). Anyway, v happy for Michelle, who has always been wonderful and this gave her so much to do. On the topic of biopics—that’s a big interesting question tbh on how they can be done less formulaically, bc they truly are and it’s a mess.

Anyway, this all reminds me I still need to watch Navalny and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Also there are only 4 eps of djats left 😩 and I hope they’re good!

[allhailbrokeloose]

My fandom Beliefs..

never quite understood why ppl need posts like this, but i think i get it now.. its mostly about kpts ofc but i decided to go through other fandoms as well while im at it.. so.. in order to avoid any further awkward interactions and unpleasant surprises here are my preferences and Opinions on controversial topics (that seem completely asinine, yet somehow garner strong opinions). may not correlate with what i post on the daily, but this holds more creditability lol. nothing is negotiable, everything is a subject to Revision bc 1) im unstable lol 2) the more you know..

KPTS: 100% apo, 20% jeff (yeah, i know, math aint mathing but wwyd its love) uhh.. so many sensitive topics, where do i start.. okay.. build: dont care, but some of his fans just happen to be Seriously Horrible vile ppl practicing double thinking like its a religion, so pls DNI jic mile: ,,,dont care,,, but some of his fans just happen to be Seriously Horrible vile ppl practicing double thinking like its a religion, so pls DNI jic (the irony of these two fandoms fighting sm isnt lost on me) bible: dont care, but some of his fans (ROSATURNS) just happen to be PRECIOUS RAYS OF SUNSHINE, SWEET CINNAMON BUNS, THE BESTEST PPL ON THE PLANET 💕 tong: oh boy.. i changed my opinion abt him three times.. hes a sneaky snake for sure, but i still like him, sue me 🤷‍♀️ ma and bbb fans: like unicorns, check your bias above the rest of the cast: dont care but i sorta like job bc hes toll and gives apo piggybacks lol. oh and annita is super hot and sprite is a queen ot16: yeah no, cmon, its bs, ppl cant even stan two ppl like they mean it you want them to stan 16 ppl at the same time 🙄 props for the effort ofc but even those who try have huge giant biases the size of an elephant family: yeah no its even bigger bs. you know how in commerce theres a rule that 80% of the profit is made by 20% of the products. hope the analogy is clear boc: well we have to give them credit for how kpts turned out, the problems begin when we try to identify the credit for what exactly. imo its adaptation of that trash of a novel + quality of the production, all the rest i attribute to the actors. while giving them credit for that its still clear to me that they are really bad at artist management and smm and are largely Unprofessional. you'll see me cheering on ppl hatin on boc, bc first of all its fun, and second of all i find this hate-hate relationship with the fandom quite beneficial for both parties. BUT like this topic is not hot for me, bc im not sure if any other company currently available in TH BL industry could have done any better. STILL i can see that ppl on tumblr for some reason like to defend boc even when they really really screw up big time, so if you feel the urge to defend them reading this pls DNI pond: dont really care, but his chase for fame is Amusing. and as a ceo all the companys pros and cons are largely on him kpwt: dont really care, if it sells it sells, they seem to be having fun with it. "but its cringe" - i dont think with these categories, if you do not like it, just dont watch it, like i havent seen 50% of it and im like content abt it the novel: its trash daemi: its trash shipping kimchi and/or jeffbarcode: not my cup of tea, but if it floats your boat go right ahead, im not the one to judge what i ship: kp (but its yk.. lukewarm), jeffbible (i honestly believe this is the only sincere rs in the cast regardless of its nature), apo with Happiness (regardless of its form) do i think my faves are perfect: well nope, clearly not, look at their frens cracking r*pe jks like they are being paid for it and we are only being shown the tip of that iceberg. i mean tell me whos your friend.. but i just think that my faves are better than yours 😎 bc yk jks abt age and bad habits (esp based ones) are just jks, jks abt r*pe are never just jks

YR: 97% omar rudberg, 3% malte gårdinger well im not that deep in other fandoms, so just some potentially controversial things off the top of my head wilmon endgame: well ig? otherwise what all of this was for? but honestly idc, if they decide to make it dramatically realistic i would understand second season: yeah no sorry i didnt like it, i watched it and i immediately forgot abt it. all i got out of it is that omar is super hot, which i already was aware abt. its sorta sad bc first season was lifechanging for me and also it was one of the few shows i have actually watched more than once . i will still wait for s03, but my expectations are low shipping edmar: not my thing, but generally its ok in my book if done respectfully (eg dont stalk dont send death threats dont let them see your sexual fantasies abt them etc) nurbo: uhh.. are they still 2gether? anyways idc what i ship: honestly nothing id like omar for myself lol (see there's no need to hate on his real and/or fictional partner in this situation). but omar+malte would be super hottt

TWN: 70% jaskier, 30% yennefer books: didnt read but like i Respect them and i understand that twn is a shit adaptation that missed everything that was possible to miss abt the books lauren: yeah i dont like her shes largely off putting geraskier: yeah i sorta ship it but i use the other half only as a shipping tool for jaskier, like you can replace it with anyone else, i wouldn't even notice (yeah, i know, the irony) blood origin: boring and unnecessary what i ship: geraskier and yennskier, which is groundbreaking bc i dont usually ship het, but its just so delicious honorable mention: you will see me randomly hatin on ciri, bc I JUST DONT LIKE HER LET ME BE

watcher: 50.95% shane, 49.05% ryan my toxic trait is believing that this fandom is drama free (pls forgive me this blissful ignorance) and the only controversial topic is shyan: yes i ship it baby. cmon i think the boys are also into it. in a fun way ofc, not a full on delulu mode. ofc i dont believe that they be casually fucking, but the thought is largely Entertaining. you know its there and if its there its there 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ once again no stalking, death threats, porn where they can see it, keeping it civil 😌

[daisiesonafield-blog]

It’s easy to think every single thing is part of a conspiracy but it’s not usually true. Olivia and Harry are a big tabloid target now, so all the tabloids are going to be coming up with their own angle to get clicks. Every single celeb couple regularly has engagement rumours. US started it and then the even lower level tabloids piled on. DM obviously checked if Harry was confirmed to attend and when he wasn’t, they ran with it. If he doesn’t go, he will look like a dickhead though. He’ll look like he’s abandoning Olivia and also the project. Is she going to sit at the press conference by herself? Just her and Chris? Can’t see the studio loving that. And I feel badly for the crew who worked hard on the project only for its director (and Harry) to make it look asinine.

Hi dear,

Yeah that's pretty much what I meant when I said it's all promo and promo is all lies.

It's clear they're trying to handle this bc they would've been absolutely insufferable with holivia and Olivia inserting herself in every single press piece. But now they've pulled back due to the backlash, and she's not playing the leading role of 'Harry Styles' adoring girlfriend who watches her bf every night on tour' - you know every Harry fan's dream! Anyways, I digress. What I mean is, she would've been on tour with him and doing pap walks, and they would've released even more interviews and articles about her/him/dwd had it not been for the RS backlash. So they're "laying low" until the controversy blows over.

But the point of my post and what I said was pretty much that this is all just bs drama to drum up more press and interest in her and DWD. Ofc some of it is just trashy tabloids jumping on the 'hot topic of the moment', but a lot of it is also what they've pushed to go ahead. Haven't you noticed how in all of this drama there has been very little targeted towards Harry? Nothing about him "cheating with Olivia". They mention it, sure, but they're not making it into a scene. Tabloids would love to use any and all scandals for their own profit, and yet they're not using this. This would make it even more dramatic. And there's no mention of Harry's situation or anything in regards to the drama. Just a ton for Florence, Olivia and Shia. That's in part bc Harry hasn't commented, but also bc they have a tight grip on the narratives they let out there. Harry's image is that of a sweetheart so they can't very well have endless tabloids about him being an outright asshole. And they do control that.

I'm not sure about Daily Mail checking, bc The Hollywood Reporter actually said H was confirmed to attend. So like I said, they're just creating more drama so people tune in to the event and they get more clicks.

Once that's over they'll surely release a new wave of drama until the movie is out. Or use whatever dumb ass arguments come out of Olivia's mouth during her interviews.

I agree H would not look good if he pulled out of the festival last minute. I just worry what they'll do once there. Obviously everyone is expecting him and Olivia to have their big "red carpet couple debut". Hopefully this recent wave of backlash slashed those plans. They should not do that. They should absolutely not have them together and put H with Florence - who plays his character's wife. That's what would make the most sense. Now if Flo is actually backing out of press, then put him with Gemma and Olivia with Chris, bc isn't he her husband in the film? Or am I mixing it up? Whatever. The point is, any sane team would not want on set romances in their movie press tour. It's about the characters not the actors. Except Olivia has made damn well sure this movie is about Olivia Wilde and her life. "The Victory Project" de damned.

--

I don't even know where I'm going with this. Clearly I'm tired. In more ways than one.

All you get is me ranting.

Note: related to this

[6blackfilin9]

I love your Anko fanart! Tell me, what are your views/headcannons on Anko X Kazuku?

hThank you so much for the ask, finally I can answer it

here is my big thank you for the waitng

In a nutshell, the shipp was created by accident while me and my buddy were working on our first Naruto AU in 2019, where Kakuzu and Deidara survived their shitty plotholes end eventually ended up in Konoha

Yeah

so, the shipp’s birth date is july the 1, 2019

anything like classy, aristocracy kind of tension-filled passionate gothic romance with playful, psychological games & hurt/comfort vibes with slight scent of rivalry is KakuAnko

Basically, they are: a very, very old man with absolutely horrendous background who’s trying to finally have his mother*cking 10 or 30 years of peace, and a rather young lady with a rocky youth who’s being good & noble yet has very strong antihero tendencies

You know, I think they do have potential, since, in fact, they seem to be very similar, at the core

They are both very pragmatic realists, the people of logic and reason, yet if Kakuzu’s irritability doesn’t affect him a tiny bit due to his ideal self-control, Anko’s can lead her to quite bad places, sometimes. They put their interests in the first place, and even though she tries to attach them to Konoha’s, she still has ‘personal’ things (I’ll write ‘bout it lower*). Their mindsets are so complicatedly organized that, at some point & way, it prevents them from having many close people, and makes them very hard to see through and predict

Both of them are very flexible & adaptive, independent individuals with similar outlooks on plenty of things and high intellectual level. They clearly can find plenty of traits that they would highly respect and adore in each other

Here I will speak mostly for “why and how” kind of things, bc both of them are terribly tricky to accurately figure out. But there will be some headcanons too

So, there are still some odds about them, due to the strong difference in their occupation, like, in plenty of cases they are really tricky to be brought together, because:

- Of the job

In original, Anko is a Konoha’s special jounin, and she is very dedicated to serving the country. Independently of whether she likes her job or not (depends on the plot), she orienteers at the people, at society’s gain from her work. So, accordingly, in any other AU her job is somehow connected to civil service, whether it’s something police-like, connected to science, or something like CCG in Tokyo Ghoul

Kakuzu, on the other hand, is a hitman and a persona non grata in literally all the five big countries, Konoha too (which makes it barely possible to bring them together in the original universe without hard complications or heavy drama. But still possible). He orienteers on his own gain alone, but, depending on the job, it can include others’ gain, too.

This detail makes him a saint once he holds supervising position in some company or any high position in the government (the better the working conditions of the staff now- the more money in the prospective), and the sheer nightmare once he has it on the opposite side of the law. Him as a mob boss is a complete different topic for discussion, but to get the point, in this case, the trouble isn’t him increasing the level of criminality (its rather vice-versa), but taking hold of too much control in the high and underground structures. Even as an ordinary hitman he’s rather tricky, since everything depends on the case

In most of the stories, they come to some sort of compromise, and how hard it is to reach it depends on how shitty his job is and how attached they are to each other at the moment

Like, in the above mentioned Shippuden AU and Harry Potter AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) everything went like clockwork, because there they are both more or less on this side of the law, in Tokyo Ghoul AU (which I also wrote with my buddy) it is a bit more complicated, with her being in-law and him being very much outlaw, in the Avatar AU (which I also figured out with my buddy, but we never happened to write it) it is also pretty smooth, with both of them being outlaws and then jumping out to the glory after all the shit is done, but in another Shippuden AU of mine, this all would be just a motherfucking bloody disaster

- Kakuzu is actually a hard nut to get attached to anyone

He lived too long to be truly afraid of anything, though. Its mostly because he doesn’t really need to get attached to or become close with someone to satisfy his need for communication. The man can get along with anyone once he wishes to, he can have countless acquaintances and plenty of buddies, but he doesn’t have many comrades and barely can call anyone a friend. Because he is used to lose everything and everyone he ever had or happened to have, because of his inhumanly lengthened lifespan.

It requires time for him to get used to the person, and then, eventually, in some cases, spend plenty of it to get attached

Plus, for him, due to his profession, each close connection is a really great responsibility for him. In most cases, he’d think twice of weather he is ready to take it or not

Though it of course has the personal factor, too

In Anko’s case, she has a grand privilege by being a very intelligent and keen woman, not just in cognitive plane, but in emotional, too. High emotional intellect is actually a rare trait, so she automatically stands out of the crowd for him. Even though it won’t guarantee his alliance, it will grant her his high respect and some sort of sympathy

- Kakuzu is, technically, an asshole

He does have his moral compass, which includes a great amount of common social morality, but he also has that “I am working” state

Even though Kakusu has a set of professional principles, and he still acts accordingly to what he thinks is right, one and the very same situation can be solved diametrically different once the context changes from working to casual and vice versa

This, and him being very independent and quite antisocial, makes the degree of assholeness depend on various factors

This can lead to major conflicts of interests, and if they are possible to have any compromise or not is strongly attached to the circumstances. After all, both are very, very prideful and dignified people

- In other words, the only major issue for them would be morality questions. It’s possible to make the case acceptable for Anko, since both of them ain’t truly squeaky clean, along with Kakuzu being willing enough to watch his borders

- She is provident and doesn’t really need a lot of money on a daily basis, which is much of a joy to him lol

- *they both seek for the stable ground, first of all

Taking in consideration the life conditions Kakuzu had in his youth (despite war state, he still stably had family, friends, grand respect from everyone, home, warmth and food) and how terribly he was torn out of his secured social environment, I believe what he seeks through all his bounty hunt and other money-connected manipulations is stability. Sustainability he had back then. The only way to have it in the conditions of our existent world order is to have money (and a very good mind and luck)

Anko has indeed much more altruistic motives, yet it’s still not that simple. It seems to be, on the first sight, yet considering the “Orochimaru related cases” and her very wayward behavior toward them, it’s clear she keeps her own motives and needs in mind oh so well. The service she has is very well payed, it allows her to do what she likes or believes is right, and to have the living conditions she finds comfortable. And only here, relying on the made sustainable basis, she does what she does

- Thus, they both illustrate the principle “first help yourself, next help the other” just right

- She knows she can keep an eye on him, yet it’s clear for her that her influence isn’t borderless, as well as telling him off some stuff is kind of a not wise thing to do. So in the majority of cases, she never interferes

- This is not common, yet he can actually change some plans if the situation is serious and the compromise can’t be found. He is that kind of person who works on a further prospective, and in this context, this would be the relationship with his loved one

- While Kakuzu is quite conflicted and has very reserved controversial persona, Anko is both controversial, conflicted, and sort of two-faced, on top of that

She is a very sincere, cheerful and humbly honest human being, yet she has some darker natural traits of her character that became rather strong with age and traumatic experience. Cunningness, guile, ways-depend-on-the-case and a bit of ruthlessness, that is. Moreover, she has some unsolved personal issues, which makes her even more twisted.

Like, remember the time when she confronted Orochimaru during the exam? And Kabuto, on the war? Getting rid of them is indeed beneficial for Konoha, but it’s clear that for her it is personal vendetta in the first place. She wouldn’t have tried to do this alone, otherwise, because these two are rather dangerous ones, to say the least.

She uses greater good to cover her real motives (even though it is not truly complete bullshit), and seems to have a terrible habit to keep silence about really important things, which makes her quite prone to lying, in some cases

And sometimes it very badly pisses Kakuzu off, since it makes her prone to doing useless but dangerous shit too

Yet this not any kind of separate hidden side, it is integrated into her personality, and coexists with her bright one. That’s where her violent humour comes from, for example.

But Kakuzu, on the other side, is completely monolith individual, yet sometimes his mindset can create contradictions when it comes to something important to him. but it's another topic

And seeing these layered constructions, and motives, they can pretty finely predict each other’s behavior. Not super-neatly, but they for sure see the basis. This is what helps Kakuzu to prevent Anko from doing some stupid shit, sometimes

- Anko has a role of an indicator for the people who don’t understand and see the changes in Kakuzu’s mood sometimes, since she usually reacts quite openly. Yet, when she has the same unreadable mask of cold, or one of guile, it’s a nightmare for them

- They prefer the non-verbal way to show their feelings, even though Anko is obviously the more chatty one

- They don’t say things such as “I love you”, or other sensual stuff like that really often, believing it to be some sort of cherished words that shall not be spelled mindlessly

- Anko isn’t majorly into PDA, but she fancies it much more than Kakuzu does. She has her whole moments of studying something with her hands, whether it’s a hand, scar or face. He’s more into passive display of affection, like wrapping an arm over her waist or leaning to her or something of this kind; they can allow themselves to (not sexually) kiss in public though

- She knows he doesn’t like to walk hand in hand due to considering it a youthful thing, so there are times when she intentionally walks holding on to his sleeve; generally they walk separately in order not to bother each other, but sometimes they walk arm in arm (like an old Victorian couple lol)

- Being older and wiser, Kakuzu eventually upholds some kind of mentoring position, yet he never considers himself any kind of a teacher or master to Anko, believing her to have a good head of her own. He is just insightful enough to break something through to her or give a word of advise

- This, combined with his highly powerful demeanor, also makes him have the leading position in their relationship

- Anko respects him much enough to fortify this, entrusting with plenty of life questions (like organizing the family budget), even though they make the majority of decisions together. Mostly because he is truly wise and highly experienced individual.

- This makes him one of the very few people Anko would actually listen to and take their opinion in consideration

- So basically they have equal relationship with some tendency to patriarchal order

- And it is, really, mostly economically-based disbalance, with him earning much more than she does

- Yet they never have any financial-based issues, since both of them keep in mind and respect the contributions of each

- There is major power play here, too. He has the absolute might, she has seduction. Anko loves how he makes her want to submit to him, let him have all the power, so she likes provoking him. And she knows he adores it, loves the subtle control she has over him

- They don’t have conflicts in their everyday life. Each knows how to avoid pissing one another off

- He cherishes her playful demeanor, her intellect. Combined with her cunningness, it allows her to rival him, in social sphere. The way she constructs her phrases, the way she speaks, mimics, moves, how bewitchingly it suits her feminine snaky features makes his blood boil and heart melt

- Both of them, actually, have rather specific kind of dry, dark humour. Kakuzu’s is very cynical, satirical, quite often menacing and subtly demeaning; Anko’s is very sarcastic and quite dirty, even gruesome and rather violent

- Sometimes they “fight” verbally as a form of a play. In some circumstances they may sound pretty vile, so some unobservant people mistake this for display of hate

- In general, Anko is the one to heat things up with her playful demeanor, which can include provocation and rivalry, and Kakuzu is the one to keep this energy in borders, accumulating it up to much more intense states

- They both put the comfort in the first place when it comes to household. Everything must be cozy, useful, silent and super clean

- Yet they are both very unpretentious and modest, really

- She absolutely adores when he is showing his serious, severe side, or powerful demeanor. She finds it incredibly suitable for him. She also likes how his real age is sliding out in this or that way. Like, even though he has rather young face (that of 37-40 y.o.), his eyes give away that he’ve seen oh so much more than it seems; the grumpy noises and grunts he makes, the lazy attitude in movements and the way how rapidly he finds a comfy pose once he has a chance to take a seat

- They are both rather patriotic, yet while in the most stories Anko’s feelings mostly lay towards the country she lives in, Kakuzu’s more often lay towards some places, so called small motherland.

- Kakuzu actually could be a source of deep, strong admiration and delight for her, despite all of his bullshit. The unbreakable will he has, mighty burning heart, all the wisdom, talents and mind. Being sent to fight god damn Hashirama, clearly a genius of his times, financial & management genius at the least. And, still, after all the hard times he’ve been through, he maintained the very strong sense of dignity and nobility, even though slightly twisted due to the profession and abnormal lifespan

- And the very same things can serve as the source for her chagrin: with all those traits, he could have been so much more rather than a criminal. With all the gifts he’ve got, he could have been of great use to society. He’s much easier about this, since his prospective is much wider and embraces decades (and in some universes even centuries) instead of months & years, and he knows that he’d be switching sides throughout his life, being on this and that side of the law, yet he still is a bit uncomfortable once it’s brought up

- They are deeply into science, which makes them atheists. He’s into medicine and human biology, she’s into chemistry and reptilian biology; both of them are nuts for physics, history and psychology

- They solve complicated physical and mathematical problems together time to time. She is the first one to have tea-breaks due to losing her temper over it, he tries to figure things out right until you can sense the smoke coming off his head

- Actually, they do have a stumbling stone aside from job & morality complications. And this is Anko’s attitude towards Orochimaru

What she does is basically ruins her life very-very slowly, maintaining the issues she has and planning to make him pay for all he’s done

Kakuzu knows exactly what is really going on with this attitude and why, but he can’t really do anything about it. Like, he knows he can’t make her change her mind or put something into her head

All he can do is really nothing but try to explain how those things are working, and even this option is basically a landmine field for him. At some level she does understand that he could probably be right, yet she just refuses to go back on her mind. And this is actually really dangerous, so at some moments they can fight quite badly about it

- He’s scared shitless to lose her, though; especially like that, even though he knows clearly that he will, anyway, sooner or later

- he knows that losing loved ones ends up with sheer disaster for him, yet he isn’t afraid to pay such a high price for those six, five or four decades of being with her. Because these decades are that of a paradise ones for him. Wife and family, as well as stable job, incomes and life conditions, are some sort of physical definitions of sustainability he craves. Especially family, yet it’s far ahead to plan

- The fact that he will have to bury her one day makes her rather depressed, as well as the knowledge that the only thing she can really do about it is to try to bring him as much happiness and comfort as possible before she dies

thank you, i'd say more, but it's too much already

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true, but if they are I can sort of see why they're going for this route? I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

TL;DR: My kneejerk reaction was to be saddened, and I don’t like that this is starting up, and will continue to fuel, fandom drama. Ultimately, if we want peace, we’ll embrace the fact that the existence of this adaptation doesn’t take away from the existence of the books, and it also doesn't mean we have to acknowledge it.

It makes me wonder whether AMC wants us to make a storm about this. We’ll see...

After all, what makes this adaptation any more important than the graphic novels of the ’90s, the graphic novel Claudia’s Story, movie!IWTV, or movie!QOTD? In fact, many fans here on tumblr consider VC to be a trilogy only!!! and don’t accept the majority of the PUBLISHED CANON so what makes anyone think we have any obligation to swallow this AMC adaptation as some kind of gospel?

I see movie!QOTD as a buffet of ideas carried in an official fanfiction work, and I don’t accept as my headcanon the various things it changed about the books that I didn’t particularly like, such as merging Magnus and Marius (which, IMO, effectively made both characters more morally reprehensible). I accepted the things I did enjoy, like casting a Black/POC actress to play Akasha. I see this AMC adaptation as a buffet of ideas, some can be taken, and some not, it’s just another official fanfiction work.

[Anon, I need to catch other ppl up on the information, too.]

Deadline.com informs us that in the AMC adaptation for Interview with the Vampire, Jacob Anderson has been cast as Louis. I'm not familiar with him, but it looks like he’s a successful actor, from Game of Thrones and other things, he’s also joining Series 13 of Doctor Who. I’ll have to check him out from an acting standpoint!

Aside from his talent as an actor, this is by far the most controversial thing that's happened in VC fandom recently. I've been thinking about this for a few months now, talking about it privately online and offline, still gathering my thoughts. So this post is not engraved in stone, it’s initial thoughts on this.

I’m glad to see ppl talking about it and I’m sure we’ll have more public discussions. I’m trying to discuss it very carefully, but also, this is an entertainment blog, my opinions are mine alone, and I’m not looking for dogpiling on anyone, I have no obligation to respond publicly or privately to anything. Plenty of other ppl have differing opinions on this. So take all of the following with more than a grain of salt, I’m not being salty, I’m providing the links to the little info we’ve seen pulicly, I’m giving my initial thoughts, and I’m also trying to add a little levity because ultimately, again, this is an entertainment blog, and I try to add a little humor to help with such serious topics, humor can help ppl talk about controversial things.

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The casting of a POC/Black actor (I’m sorry I don't know the preferred terminology, let me know if you know what Anderson prefers) confirms at least one part of theilluminerdi articles that stated that Louis’ race will be different from the books. I didn’t post about these before bc I wasn’t sure how reliable theilluminerdi’s sources are (and I'm still not sure), but this was one major aspect that theilluminerdi announced before Deadline did, so now seems to be the right time to share those articles. For now, you can go check them out yourselves rather than have my reposting of the information, trigger warning: mentions of sex workers and race in the changes to the canon story of Interview with the Vampire.

>>>theilluminerdi articles from May 21, 2021 and July 15, 2021:

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/05/21/interview-with-the-vampire-amc

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/07/15/interview-with-the-vampire-amc-2

^Meme of Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park reads: “Your writers were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I’m using that meme with a little levity here, clearly an AMC adaptation of vampires in which the producers/writers have chosen to change the race of a main character (arguably the original protagonist of the series) isn’t in the same VICINITY as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that broke out of containment and killed visitors to the park, but John Hammond’s intention for the creation of that park was very good, as I assume this race change was intended. Time will tell.

“But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.”

“Creation is an act of sheer will.” 

- John Hammond, Jurassic Park

Race is a more complicated subject than ever, so for AMC to make this bold change, I hope they have POC and Black writers on staff and are handling this very carefully. Even then, no racial group, including POC and Black people, are a hivemind, disagreements are bound to happen in the writing room, whether in good faith or bad. People have different intentions and motives, compromises will probably be made with the story in many ways, we all know how it goes with collaborations; the end product is a shared vision among multiple creators. This could be a potentially controversial adaptation, I don’t know whether they’re aiming for that or not, but with the elements it has so far, it seems to be headed that way.

Here's a comment by "Angellus" on the 5/21 article. It's undeniable that there's going to be the accusation of racism thrown at anyone who has any negative view of this change, regardless of their reasons. I find it unfair and narrow-minded that any negative response is automatically assumed to be coming from a racist point of view. To say that changing Louis' race is unequivocally an improvement fails to take into account how that change has a Domino effect on all of the other parts of the story. Not the least of which is that, if he is still a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term) that adds a whole new racist element to his owning Black/POC people, even though, apparently there were Black/POC plantation owners. 

Not the least of which: How will this change impact his relationship with Lestat? Particularly when Lestat has the added issue of being described in those articles as having “mind control abilities” and “insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection,” a terrible combination in terms of consent, even in a relationship of the same race, let alone invoking Caucasian/white dominance over Black/POC people, AND Lestat being the catalyst to Louis’ questioning his sexuality:

Lestat is insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection, petulance can quickly turn to ruthless rage which causes frenzied acts of horrifically brutal violence. Lestat also has mind control abilities. Lestat initially infuriates Louis, but this soon turns to fascination which leads Louis to question his religion and sexuality. 

^Screencap reads: "I love how racist everyone is in the damn comments, this doesn’t pervert the story you’re all racist and it’s disgusting. I’m looking forward to it, I hope you keep crying your salty racist tears asswipes."

It makes me question whether Angellus truly believes what they wrote, if this is an ideology, or a troll. I would suggest their use of the term “pervert” is correct though, pervert means: “alter (something) from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.” That’s what this race change does, factually. Although, in this context, “distortion or corruption” carries a negative connotation. It would take a lot to show how this change does not meet the definition or “to pervert,” though.

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true

I agree 1,000%, I was hoping that these were just rumors. But, aside from the race change, if this were the only change, I find Louis being a brothel owner to be equivalently morally reprehensible to being a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term). Ideally, they’d change his career to something that doesn’t involve benefiting from the bodies/labor of others in any morally reprehensible manner.

I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

He might still be a slaver. Who knows. Being morally reprehensible as a mortal man didn’t seem to me to be crucial to the story, but they still could have chosen something better. It seems to me like they want a brothel so they can have eye candy for an audience who want to see sex workers, maybe full frontal nudity. 

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What also gets my attention is that Anne and Christopher Rice have not yet posted publicly about it, which leads me to believe that this change wasn’t their choice. They take every chance to brag when they’re proud of something, every chance to crowdsource about casting ideas or which VC books Anne’s fans liked best, etc., and in this case, as of Aug. 31, 2021, (and to be fair, maybe I missed it), I haven’t seen either of them post about this on the official VC FB, Anne Rice’s FB, Annerice.com, Christopher Rice’s FB, or christopherricebooks.com. If it had been their choice, I think they would have gladly trumpeted their credit by now, but maybe they’re waiting to do it in a specific venue. Time will tell.

[lady-sphinx]

Few things are less understood than the hieros gamos – the “sacred marriage”.

Considered to be the “Holy Grail” of sexual rituals, is it within reach of comprehension and explanation?

One of the most intriguing, nebulous and controversial topics of history and magic is the “hieros gamos”, “the sacred marriage”. Believed to incorporate both sex and ritual, it should not come as a surprise that throughout history, it has attracted many – and often, those who should truly well stay clear of it.

Its fame has meant that the theme was used by Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code”, where he described it as how “man could achieve a climactic instant when his mind went totally blank and he could see God”. Brown is not the only one who has linked the experience with tantrism and the withholding of orgasm. He is, of course, also the man who considered Mary Magdalene’s vulva to be the Holy Grail. The quest to define the hieros gamos foremost is one of answering the question who and when it was performed. Some – including Dan Brown – link it to temple prostitution, while others see it as the king of the country who marries “the land” – in the form of a high priestess – to rejuvenate it.

For the Greeks, it was more abstract. They considered it a marriage between the gods and hence apparently outside of the reach of ordinary human beings.

It was only in the Jewish and medieval tradition that the hieros gamos became linked with magic and ritual and it is therefore here that we find the current obsession with it. As such, in 1605, Cesare della Riviera wrote that “in Europe, the tracks of these ancient rituals pass through the Gnostic schools, the alchemical and cabalistic currents of the Middle Ages and Renaissance – where numerous alchemical texts can be read on two levels.”

What is the hieros gamos?

At its core, the sacred marriage is more of a sacrament than a ritual. It is a marriage between husband and wife, but is of a sacred nature: it is a marriage blessed by the gods, with active participation of those deities, present in the act of lovemaking between the two humans. Focusing on the king having sexual intercourse with the high priestess is thus largely a misnomer, as the king was equally a high priest, and the queen… a high priestess.

In the 20th century, Carl Gustav Jung studied the hieros gamos through the Rosarium Philosophorum, a series of twenty woodcuts, printed in Frankfurt in 1550. The images have a clear sexual and royal nature: a king and queen are depicted with the sun and the moon, sharing a bed, performing sexual acts, as a result of which they become one, and are transformed.

And it is with these woodcuts that we come to the core of the hieros gamos: indeed, the primary purpose of the sacred marriage is that two equals, twin souls, a husband and wife, reunite through the hieros gamos. In short: the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage, was not a marriage of just any human beings, but of twin souls.

They – like so many other religions – believed that each human being possessed a soul. That soul was half of one unit, which consisted out of one male and one female half. This meant that for every human being alive, there was a perfect twin soul. The quest in this lifetime was to find that twin soul, and be reunited with it. This was the truest of loves; the greatest quest. If not the Great Work of Alchemy.

The alchemist Nicolas Flamel stated that he was only able to accomplish the Great Work while in the presence of his wife Perenelle, but it was equally accepted that the majority of marriages here on earth, was not between twin souls. Once the twin souls had found themselves, apart from understanding the true depths of love and kinship they shared throughout their many lifetimes together, the hieros gamos would be completed at some point.

What was it? It was seen as God personally “attending” a sexual activity, in which the human beings – male and female – each get “infused” by the divine essence of the male and female component of God.

The best-known historical example of such a sacred marriage is between King Solomon and Queen Sheba. The story relates how the Queen of Sheba travelled from her homeland to meet Solomon, to perform the hieros gamos with him.

This story is discussed by Kathleen McGowan in her fact-based novel “Book of Love”. She relates that ancient traditions stipulate God had both a male and female aspect: El and Asherah. Tradition relates that they desired “to experience their great and divine love in a physical form and to share such blessedness with the children they would create. Each soul who was formed was perfectly matched, given a twin made from the same essence. […] Thus the hieros-gamos was created, the sacred marriage of trust and consciousness that unites the beloveds into one flesh.”   

Echoes of the sacred marriage can be found in the Song of Songs, directly linked with Solomon and describing love making. The title highlights it was the holiest of all songs, underlining its importance. Margaret Starbird has pointed out that there are strong parallels between the Song of Songs and poems to the Egyptian goddess Isis. Of course, both Solomon and Sheba and Isis and Osiris were twin souls, and hence able to experience the hieros gamos.

The Song of Songs became very important for the Kabbalists, specifically following the Book of the Zohar, which saw the Song of Songs as a prime example of the hieros gamos. It is in the Zoharic Kabbalah that God is represented by a system of ten spheres, each symbolizing a different aspect of God, who is perceived as both male and female. The Shekina was identified with Malchut, which was identified with the woman in the Song of Songs. Her beloved was identified with Yesod, which represents God’s foundation and the phallus or male essence.

Within the Jewish religion, Malchut and Yesod are El, the fatherly creator god, and his consort, Asherah. He was identified with the bull and She with the mother goddess. Indeed, women who have experienced the hieros gamos note that they have experienced this mother goddess energy, some even mentally visiting some of her sanctuaries during the experience. The imagery also reveals how long our ancestors have been familiar with this sacred marriage: the link between the bull and the earth goddess is visible on the walls of Catal Huyuk, built in the 8th millennium BC.

The hieros gamos should therefore be more appropriately labelled the reunion of twin souls, while incarnate in the body, through sexual activity, involving the active participation of the male and female aspect of God: “What God has put together, let no man separate.”

Those who have experienced such union find it largely impossible to describe – “beyond words”. They are, however, capable of breaking down the experience in some components. The man will become one with El, while the female melts with Asherah, the “Queen of Heaven”. During this union, it is entirely possible that Asherah or El is more prominent in one partner than in the other.

During these encounters, the sexual activity exceeds – and is different from – a normal orgasm; it is normally more intense, prolonged and multiple, whereby the orgasm itself is more energetic, rather than physical. However, the presence of this divine energy should not be seen as a form of possession; normally, the human sexual energy is equally present, and the sexual experience is a balance and interplay between both energies. To put it crudely: the hieros gamos is a foursome: two human beings, and El and Asherah operating with and through them.

Where does this leave the reputation of the hieros gamos as a form of temple prostitution? Asherah has been linked with the Mesopotamian Ishtar, whose cult did involve sacred prostitutes. However, should we perhaps see in these women initiatrices: women who prepared and taught certain methodologies as to how sacred sexuality should be experienced between partners, so that their union could lead to a sacred marriage?

Interestingly, the world’s oldest poem, “The Epic of Gilgamesh”, relates how when Gilgamesh discovers the wild man Enkidu, he sends him to Shamhat, a priestess of Ishtar. She was instructed to teach Enkidu how to live as a cultural human being, suggesting that our ancestors identified culture specifically with how to make love properly – the hieros gamos way.

These examples, and the example of Solomon and Sheba, make it clear that the quest of the hieros gamos is not open to anyone: it is only the bailiwick of twin souls. It is why Flamel noted that it was only possible to be performed with Perenelle, clearly not only his wife, but also his twin soul.

It is also not so much ritual, but total union of body, mind and spirit: the two parts of one soul become united in the body, thus accomplishing in the body what they were at the beginning of time: a unity. The Great Work. And this union was “blessed” by the sacrament of the hieros gamos, in which God themselves, present at the separation of these souls at the beginning of time, reunited and blessed the two lovers.

So even though tantric yoga as such has nothing to do with it, tantrism does know about this state of perfect union and has labelled it Samadhi. It is the state where the respective individualities of each of the participants are completely dissolved in the unity of cosmic consciousness – the two units are reunited. For tantrics, the deities are not El and Asherah, but Shakti and Shiva.

Because it is “restricted” to twin souls, the hieros gamos might not hold the sexual and ritual appeal that many would like to give it. But it is nevertheless the most important sacrament of all, as it was the completion of the quest of the soul in life: to find his twin soul and reunite, and within this love, continue their life, combined.

People who have experienced the hieros gamos agree that this is a unique experience. One person stated that during the hieros gamos, both partners experienced total orgasm, though this was without any physical activity – through a physical connection, the other partner experienced perfectly the sexual stimulation the other person was sending in the mind – in short, the partners were both not only reading the other person’s mind, but interacted within that mind – as one unity of cosmic consciousness. Another person described it as “utter bliss” or what “heaven” must have felt like.

The feeling of “heaven on earth” may indeed be what the hieros gamos was all about: the twin souls in heaven, experiencing their divine union on earth.

As above, so below?

[radramblog]

What happened to Dirk in Homestuck^2?

Why am I doing this to myself.

I memed a little yesterday when I was posting that article around social medias about Homestuck jokes, because once again we are in lockdown and I am therefore Stuck at Home. Canned laughter goes here. But there’s a topic related to the comic- or more specifically, its aborted sequel, Homestuck^2, that I’m interested in delving into a little bit. I’m going to avoid talking about spoilers as much as possible, but considering said comic takes place not only after the events of the massive sprawl that is Homestuck but also the more linear but still messy Epilogues, some amount of sus shit is inevitable.

Anyway. Much maligned is what the Epilogues and 2 did to everyone’s favourite decapitation target, Dirk Strider, and I have a theory as to why it happened this way.

To begin with, let’s summarise what and who Dirk is through the course of the comics. Fair warning from me, though, it’s been a while since I read through this.

Dirk Strider is a teenager who grew up in a post-apocalyptic future Earth, completely devoid of physical contact with other people and only really ever gets to talk to 3 other people, only one of whom is in anything remotely resembling a relatable situation. He struggles with self-identity, having created numerous robots including an artificial intelligence based on his own brain, aka Lil’ Hal. He’s somewhat of a control freak, and a bit of a cold aloof asshole, but means well, and is pretty gay. NBD. The kinda guy to set up a plan meticulously and thoroughly, not informing any of the moving parts even if said parts are his friends, and often involving some form of self-sacrifice.

Throughout the comic he further reckons with self-identity problems and his own self-loathing including entering a relationship with Jake which doesn’t go well and he eventually breaks off since he knows his overbearing and manipulative behaviour is Not Cool and Pretty Toxic but doesn’t know how to shut it off. Eventually he reaches the God Tier as a Prince of Heart, gaining the power to literally annihilate souls, which he never actually uses since he gets yeeted into deep (Paradox) space and then everything goes to shit. Except none of that happens because of the Retcon (aside from the God Tier bit) and we don’t actually see how that shit progressed in the canon timeline. I think. Dirk’s arc, as it were, doesn’t really come full circle- while he does assist in Dave’s character…growth? he really isn’t the focus of that conversation. This immediately precedes the action climax and there isn’t literally any dialogue after that so that’s what we’re left with.

I like Dirk in Homestuck a lot. It’s hard not to, considering the flashes heavily featuring him (Unite/Synchronise and Prince of Heart: Rise Up) are genuinely excellent, along with many of his music themes being absolute bangers. He gets to interact with Caliborn a lot, with a pretty great banter, there, and the whole splintered personality thing is a really interesting hook for a character. I think he’s my favourite of the Alpha kids, a controversial pick considering I know everyone loves Roxy so much. I think, I’m not as in tune with the fandom as that statement implies I am.

And then the Epilogues/Homestuck 2 came.

Now I read the Meat half of the epilogues first, but that’s more interesting, so we’ll tackle Candy first (this is going to get real confusing for those who haven’t read this comic, huh).

In Candy, Dirk almost immediately kills himself, citing the irrelevance of the timeline as cause, an act considered by whatever mechanism governs God Tier deaths to be Just because he hates himself (and also bc of things we’ll get into), so it actually sticks. This isn’t super relevant for the discussion, but that’s just kinda so unbelievably fucked up? Entirely? I’d imagine if you read Candy first you might get entirely turned off by this, which I’m sure a lot of people did.

Meat is where the, well, meat of post-canon Dirk is. You see, a concept very quickly introduced in the tail end of the original comic is the Ultimate Self, an idea where you somehow encompass every different timeline iteration or alternate version of yourself. This was pretty clearly tacked on to make it so characters whose arcs all happened in the retcon timeline could have their not getting an actual arc explained away, but it didn’t land then and it sure doesn’t land for me now. Anyway, in Meat, Dirk becomes his ultimate self, making him near-omniscient and able to control the fabric of the story himself- for much of this story, he is the narrator. And he uses this power to fuck with all his friends really distressingly without their knowledge (or consent), including breaking up a marriage, in order to further his own goals which largely appear to be just keep the story going so to not fade out of relevance. It’s a plot that makes no sense with his previous characterisation, but I guess now that he’s the Ultimate Self he’s a different person? But I liked old Dirk, and I don’t like New Dirk. He’s a villain now, but he made a much better anti-hero.

But this would be fine if he (or the epilogues, or Homestuck^2) were written well. But they aren’t. Dirk’s dialogue is long, painfully drawn out, with tangents that tend to amount to pure wank, misused literary references and pointless metaphors that go on and on, filling the screen with a bright orange screed that hurts to look at as much as it does to comprehend. It’s not fun. And we’ve seen Dirk communicate before, obviously, the story of Homestuck is built around chatlogs, but it wasn’t like this. He was sarcastic, dryly witty, blunt at times. Even when he was literally talking to a different version of himself it didn’t get that masturbatory.

I was so confused about what the hell happened to Dirk, because I had no idea what the hell someone writing this character was thinking when they turned him into this. And then, the 21st page of Homestuck^2 dropped.

And it all came together.

What Ultimate Dirk and Terezi are referring to is Pony Pals: Detective Pony, a children’s book about some girls who hang out with ponies and solve a mystery. It’s a real book, buy it for your 5-year-old.

Except they’re not referring to that, they’re referring to the Homestuck Canon version of Detective Pony- a birthday gift from Dirk to Jane, heavily edited and to be much more obscene and eventually developing into it’s own story, stated to be “tough, emotionally draining, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible”.

Except the quote “Remember Longcat, Jane?” and references to philosophy, dead languages, and ancient earth culture aren’t referring to the three pages of the Dirk-edited Detective Pony we see in the actual comic itself. That quote doesn’t appear there.

That image is from Detective Pony, by Sonnetstuck- the 40,000 word fanfiction from 2014 that serves as a completed version of Jane’s copy of the book. An expansion of what we see in canon. And it’s a tough, emotionally draining read, but cathartic in all the worst ways possible.

It’s a very good fanfiction.

In the later bits of Detective Pony, we can start to see the origins of what would become Ultimate Dirk’s signature style of writing. Long blocks of rambling text, orange dripping down the page, references to philosophy and history and language that go on and on. And it probably does look familiar to those who read the Epilogues and ^2. 

But there are a couple of key differences here. First of all, it’s just better written? The way these rambles circle back on themselves is so excellent, the absolute absurdity of this being written on top of a pony book for little girls, the humour (beyond some of the more immature stuff), it’s just a really well-written piece of fiction. Hell, you don’t even need to be familiar with the character of Dirk to enjoy it. It’s a harrowing piece, but it’s also self-aware- because it’s not supposed to be tough, draining, cathartic etc. just for Jane- it’s clearly that for Dirk himself.

The second part is, of course, that this is a fanfiction. It’s not canon, it’s not official, this is by someone who really likes Dirk for people who really like Dirk. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, so if you bounce off it (and I’m sure a lot did), then you don’t have to keep reading it, it’s fine, thanks for playing. As much as Homestuck^2 tried to doll itself up as “dubiously canon” it’s still the official continuation of the story, and that means if it’s as difficult to get into as Detective Pony, that’s going to be a problem for a lot of people.

The other part of it is that Detective Pony’s exploration of Dirk’s character is, well, in character. When the man himself steps in as a character in his own book, the explorations of what he is as an author, who he is as a person, make perfect sense for what we see of him at the start of the comic. He is that manipulative, blunt person, and he is aware of his faults. He’s the kind of person to hide a lamentation on his own failings inside an impenetrable maze of a story layered on top of a book about fucking ponies. Ultimate Dirk does not act like Dirk, outside of the “manipulator” angle, something that Dirk was aware of and trying to improve in the comic. But I guess people don’t have arcs, right?

It’s so interesting to see the seeds of Homestuck^2 laden within Detective Pony- because the meta angle that and the epilogues take is also represented in said fanfiction. While the nature of canon is a facet of the work, the idea of authors and narrators fighting for control of a story, different ideas in mind for the characters, one being more personally connected to them than the other, it’s all there. When I wrote about Fallout 4 in the past, I mentioned being worried that Bethesda took the wrong lessons from Skyrim- seeing something successful and trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle. I think Homestuck^2 is an extreme example of this- the writers of the comic saw Sonnetstuck’s masterwork and thought, yeah that’s great, we can do that. But they just can’t. And with the comic crashed and burning, the probably won’t ever get a chance to. Dirk is forever stuck as this amalgamation of himself that looks nothing like any individual version of him ever did.

At least we will still have Detective Pony, and many other excellent fanworks, for actually good Dirk content. I admittedly haven’t looked into much fanfic written during/post-epilogues, and I’m kind of afraid of what I’ll see- I can only hope the fanbase didn’t take the same wrong lessons as the official team did.

[ectonurites]

Batcest shippers read comics, actually. And they write them, and draw for them. Please continue to make a fool of yourself pretending otherwise.

i got ranty here so the tldr: yeah no shit, you’re taking something i tweeted entirely out of context, i’m well aware of those facts and im not ‘pretending’ anything lmao

onto my full response:

i see you must have come from my twitter! and yeah, i’m unfortunately aware there are people who ship batcest working for dc, its super upsetting! the person who designed the current red hood outfit just posted j*ydick on their twitter today, which is horrifying to see.

like listen im not... im not gonna go out and harass people for shipping batcest. I literally do not have the energy, and I know I’m not gonna be convincing anyone of anything bc the people who chose to ship batcest have made their choice there.

but I’m always gonna advocate for like, those people TAGGING THEIR SHIT so that especially minors but also anyone else who doesn’t want to see fuckin’ incest doesn’t need to. And like, the creation of lists of what creators are making that stuff so people can block and move on? I also think that’s good. Like I don’t think people should go harass anyone over this because its just... theres no point. But letting people who don’t want to see it know who to block so they can move on? that’s a good thing.

The comments of mine I think you’re specifically talking about were about a specific but common type of fanon batcest shipper, because like... immabe real! its very clear a lot of the batfam community on here in general don’t read the comics, (like, as in many people will OPENLY ADMIT that they don’t) and thats not even an inherently bad thing, like people are allowed to interact with media how they want to! But when people get so divorced from canon by only reading fanworks or versions of characters that have been altered and their relationships altered, its easy for misconceptions about all of it to spread, and people to be shipping pairings that literally bear no resemblance to the canon versions/relations of the characters. This isn’t even exclusive to the people shipping batcest. However with the people shipping batcest like... its when those relationships in canon get blurred by just a fanon game of telephone that it becomes easier for them to justify shipping it, you know? That was the point I was trying to make on twitter (i think it was last night? this morning? i dont remember. its 1am rn time is fake)

but like, i’m sorry but in current canon Jason, Dick, Tim, and Damian all consider each other siblings (and Jason had even made a comment at one point in rhato about having four brothers, meaning he probably includes Duke too!). That is... canon. You can see multiple instances of this if you’re reading current comics. And while they have complicated relationships with Bruce, they do all consider him a father (even when Jason says he doesn’t- he literally flip flops on it depending on how he feels in a given day because of his trauma and stuff, but like there will be times only a few issues apart where he will or won’t admit Bruce is his dad). All of these characters have been adopted (or in Damian’s case obv adoption wasn’t necessary) by Bruce in canon at different times (and Cass also, but that’s only in pre new 52 as of right now)

If you are chosing to ship any of the siblings together (or any of them with bruce) you are chosing to ship incest. That is an active choice you are making, and you have to accept the consequences of that. Any judgement/backlash you face for shipping incest is something you are accepting by chosing to ship it.

And if you go “oh but they’re only adopted siblings not REAL siblings-“ you’re an asshole, because adopted siblings are real siblings. I don’t care if they didn’t grow up together, do you realize how invalidating that is towards like, real life people? The amount of people I’ve seen who are adopted themselves get insanely triggered and upset by that kind of content (not just in this fandom btw!) because it just shows people don’t see those familal bonds as being real? It’s not insignificant.

I know ‘media affects reality’ is a controvercial topic, and like obviously ‘i see this thing in media thus i will do it’ is NOT how it works, but the things you normalize/glorify in media you consume says a lot about your thoughts on the topics. Framing matters. Like obviously ‘haha i watch hannibal, gonna go eat people now-‘ is not the case. especially because that media doesn’t frame it as a good thing. That’s the thing I think people miss in these discussions a lot of the time. If you are like ‘i am going to explore how traumatizing incestual relationships could be through these characters’ with batcest? like go off! that could be interesting honestly, and that’s not glorifying it. But acting like ‘omg i just think its so romantic ❤️’ with stuff between characters who canonically are siblings... again you are accepting the judgement that may come your way by publicly doing that.

anyways, i’m well aware of how prevalent batcest is both in the comics industry and around here, i’m aware plenty of them do read comics, and you definitely missed the context in my tweets of me saying things like “a lot” “it feels like many” etc when saying batcest shippers don’t read comics. Context matters my dude ✌️ (also wanna point out, a lot of really gross people work in comics. Racist people, antisemetic people [even today there was some controversy abt that in some hulk comic i believe?] these people being in those industries is... not a good thing even if its normalized???)

But really I think its kinda funny to uh call me a ‘fool’ for something you think I’m doing because you took my words out of context. And maybe you weren’t trying to come off as smug but you absolutely do here and it just strikes me as very funny that you like... are acting like you’re smarter than me or better than me for being okay with incest being normalized in a fandom for superhero comics, a type of media that MANY KIDS READ AND PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSION ABOUT, while I’m bothered by it.

I don’t talk about this stuff much on here because again, I don’t want to fight about it, I’m not gonna go out of my way to try to change people’s minds on any of it because I know that won’t accomplish anything, I much prefer to just... ignore the content I don’t want to see, maybe warn other people especially minors who also don’t want to see it, and move on with my life. You really didn’t need to bring this to my inbox here, but like go off I guess 🤷

editing this quick just to add in the tweets i made i think this anon is referencing that i very clearly started with ‘so many of them’, not me saying it applies to all of them

[jaeminlore]

Speaking of reading ff/real books:

Can you recommend me a book that you like (do you even read books?)

Itd be even better if the book is something like a ff but if not its also ok.

So what i want to ask:....

What is your favorite book?

(do you even read books?) i’m sorry but the wording is so freaking funny also no. i don’t. i am just starting to get back into reading nonfanfic books so take these recs with a grain of salt.

right now i’m reading this book called 10 rules for faking it by sophie sullivan. i’m not done but it’s a romance/comedy about a girl who does this dating show podcast thing, while crushing on her manager who is also crushing on her and it’s rlly cute as of now but i’m not done with it.

PETER DARLING by austin chant is so much like a ff it’s comforting in a familiar way but it’s so so good. it’s mlm, with a twist on peter being a trans man who falls in love with hook. hook isn’t an asshole in it either he’s just a dude. it’s very fantasylike tho so if you don’t like that genre then it probably isn’t for you. you can find the pdf for free online but i also recommend supporting the author bc he deserves it. he’s also writing a sequel.

one i have in my queue is called spoiler alert by olivia dade and it literally has the cutest summary. it’s got a plus sized oc!! the male protagonist is an actor, and he hates the movie adaption of his character so much that he writes fanfiction on the side to write his character better. the female protag is a fan and the two meet, etc. i haven’t read this so i genuinely don’t know if it’s as good as its summary, but it’s worth checking out

sugar by deirdre riordan hall is a book about a girl who is struggling with a binging disorder and an abusive family, but she falls for her new neighbor (i will defend even to the death) and the feeling is mutual. it’s very much a bittersweet story, but it highlights self care and healing, so i like it. trigger warning tho for the above mentioned topics

this one is popular but simon vs the homosapian agenda by becky albertalli is so so good. if you’ve seen love, simon the book adaption is a million times better with less plot holes and genuinely lovely charcaters. also by becky, the upside of unrequited was rlly good. i don’t remember much but ik it was my favorite. it also features a plus sized protagonist so !!!

butter, and dead ends by erin jade lange are both such good books to me but it’s been a long time since i’ve read them so i’m not sure how good they would be now. both feature controversial topics esp about bullying, ableism, fatphobia, and s*lf h*rm, so take them with a grain of salt. butter is about a boy who literally gains popularity by promising to eat himself to death. like. eat on livestream until he dies. it’s an incredible commentary (to me) about how far humans will go to be loved, as well as how far we will go to watch fellow humans destroy themselves as long as it’s entertaining. dead ends is about a special-needs boy asking the bully of the school for help in finding his father. it also has controversial topics, since one of the protagonists is very clearly a bully and is using the other protagonist. i rlly like the grayness of her characters, but if you don’t like that sort of thing, than i do not recommend these books.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Ok maybe controversial opinion but the fandom often explain Alec’s s1 arc by internalized homophobia and I’m honestly not sure it’s the case? I mean, coming out doesn’t magically heal internalized homophobia and Alec acts very sure of himself. He doesn’t shy away from an open display of affection, he doesn’t seem to have any major hang ups about sex or relationship, he says that he couldn’t have what he wanted not that he was ashamed. I’m not trying to insinuate that growing up gay and being in

the closet in the homophobic society wasn’t traumatic, bc it was, - look at how unhappy he is in s1, - but it feels like in Alec’s case his reasons were rooted in the deep understanding of who he was and what he wanted and what kind of consequences it could have for him (and his family too since the clave clearly imposed a shame culture). It seems Alec did a lot of thinking and observations and decided he simply couldn’t afford it.

oh, you've come to the right place! i couldnt agree more, so here thats not really controversial lmao. i agree, i dont think what drove alec most was internalized homophobia. i fully disagree that it was denial and ive talked about it in length, and while i think internalized homophobia was there to some extent because its almost impossible not to have some level of it when you live in a homophobic society, i think alec is... shockingly not self hating in that sense, all things considered

like dont get me wrong i know that alec self harms and has many very very deep issues but i dont think they primarily stem from him Hating Himself For Being Gay. i think it's more the abuse from his mother and his sense of responsibility that he got from there. and again i relate to that because while i never had a lot of internalized bi/transphobia angst, i definitely had issues with trying to get my mom's approval lmao. and like maybe in part they are related to the idea that of course you know you will never fully get ur parents' approval when ur queer and theyre queerphobic but.... yeah. i dont think he actually internalized the idea that him being gay was bad as much as he knew that other people believed in that and wanted to be approved in other ways. add some sweet sweet abuse to that and immense pressure to protect ur family and loved ones, particularly when you are already an eldest brother seeing ur siblings being treated like shit and wanting to take the brunt of it for them and.... yeah. you have more predominant factors

and like you said once he decided to come out he never really stepped back? like he wasn't struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, he wasn't angsting because he wanted to be different but he couldn't, he never hesitated. as soon as he came out it was full on "these are my terms, you either acknowledge and respect that im gay and in a relationship with magnus or you fuck off"

so yeah the very no bullshit attitude and the way he never had any missteps in that sense tell me that alec had been making a conscious decision to not come out for his safety. and his struggle was with trying to 1- keep that hidden, and 2- find some sort of happiness in that terribly constricting environment, not with the fact that he's gay itself

anyway i know that im repeating other posts so ill stop here (you can go to my "alec lightwood meta" tag to see the old posts if ur new lmao this is basically the main topic i talk about when it comes to him) but anyway, yeah

[abri-chan]

I kinda wanna know your opinion, there's this person drawing jojo characters such as narancia and fugo in lewd situations, they tend to draw alot of horny art, which is fine, I follow fizintine who does amazing art but this stuff is my taste. People say its okay because the age of consent is different and the characters are fictional, but I think its really odd that someone defends their art that depicts a minor even if its a guy. Its the same as lolis. Thoughts?

I should probably research on the topic of minor depiction in art or writing. But assuming this is horny for the sake of horny, so no plot point like Guts being sexually abused by his uncle like in Berserk.

I think the important thing is that is okay to be uncomfortable with things... If you think it's something you don't like or that you wish wasn't a thing, that's okay. It doesn't make you a bad person or an anti, and you have a right to have boundaries. I don't want people to feel like they have to go along with anything to be a good sport in the fandom. Discomfort is fine, disliking is fine.

I would have to know what exactly this person draws, bc many characters in JoJo do look and act older than their actual ages. So you can slap any age on them, but visuals are stronger than an idea at the back of your head. If someone suddenly said Prosciutto is 16, I would be confused bc he clearly looks like a man. Even characters like Narancia and Fugo look more like young adults, 19ish or so than children. So maybe this artist is not the best at explaining what they mean, but they could be saying: the age doesn't matter in fictional characters bc it doesn't really match their physical appearance. Jotaro for sure didn't look 17 in SDC! Furthermore she's depicting lewd situations with characters of the same age, and that's different from lolis imo. From what I have seen, lolis are usually depicted as clearly children in appearance, and then the age of 100 is slapped on them. And the age in this case doesn't matter bc in one's eyes they are a child: again, visual is stronger than the idea of an age. It could be the opposite of a Loli for this artist, a loli is said to be 100 but looks like a child, meanwhile we can be told someone like Jotaro is underage but he looks adult.

I'm not going to say fiction doesn't affect reality bc it does, but like I've said in other posts, it's not easy to track how causation works. Sometimes there's a direct correlation, sometimes there isn't. But fiction is not real life in the sense that if I saw anime Fugo IRL and thought he was 19, but learned he's 15 obviously I would not flirt or start a relationship with them. Bc IRL there are consequences: there's an advantage an adult has and there's manipulation and power imbalance and a teen is not sexually or emotionally mature to have a relationship with an adult. But the thing in fiction is that it is usually never like that: Fugo acts like an adult, looks like an adult, so all that information overrules his age. You can entertain the fantasy that he is fully adult bc all signs point to that. IRL that would not be the case.

I think that's why fiction is a lot about exploring safely when it comes to things you can't do IRL. Noncon/dubcon is another topic that is uncomfortable and divided; but fictional lack of consent is different from real life lack of consent: it would not be fair to say people that read noncon want to be r*per IRL.

And a lot of times people draw taboo for the shock value or to push back against something. Especially when antis attack you see pro-shippers go to extremes in retaliation. So it's never clear why a creator uses taboo bc there can be many reasons, and it's even less clear what it says about their IRL morals or stances.

***

There are more controversial takes to this, and I may get hate on this, but there are interesting articles out there on topics that are taboo. For example, there may be evidence that people may be born with sexual attraction to children (they could be decent people that don't harass kids bc that is wrong. They're not MAPs, bc they don't encourage or advocate that an adult should be with a child). In many cases they can't access therapy bc the cops will be called on them, even tho they have done nothing. (Not every person that is attracted to women will harass women, so why can't we apply the same logic to these people?) There have been talks in how VR can be used to alleviate the situation, and it's a controversial topic bc while no real children are hurt... will there be consequences in the real world in normalizing child porn? What about things like deepfakes? These topics are not usually researched bc they are taboo, but it is food for thought in terms of how we define fiction and reality, when fiction becomes more and more tangible with technology.

[briinstardust]

Yes exactly, but also it bucks saying "I know its alot heavier then a ladder truck" and its like no it will paralyze you or kill you and eddie knew that and was the only one thinking clearly. Plus he knew how much buck struggled after the truck, I adore buck but he shouldn't have been allowed to do that at all, as soon they relaised who sam was buck should have be removed away.

You out here with the controversial statements and I fucking love it!!!!!!!

Honey yes! Just let me collect all of myself like wow, we out here. yes!

Absolutely. When Buck is saying that it’s like he’s not even fucking thinking that this could actually kill him, and his team members and the people they’re desperately trying to save. Eddie absolutely was trying not to scream at Buck for this irrational thinking pattern that he has a habit of developing. Bc Buck does this, we see him do this more than once, his thoughts spiral out of control before the thought has even fully settled into his mind, words are just coming out of his mouth.

The only thing Eddie is managing not to say to Buck here is “This sounds like some mad dumb shit, and I’m not having it, shut the fuck up.”

and like even having said that just now, I don’t even see Eddie being mad when he’s saying it, it’s still like Eddie is like “why can’t this man listen, he’s turned off all of his hearing. he’s not listening to me bc he’s not hearing me.”

We have a 100% stan from me on this topic! Buck should have never been allowed to go back inside that motherfucking train car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a delicious conversation we’re having right now

😏😏😏

Buck should have been removed, but you know why he wasn’t. bc no one said anything. and you know what else. I would not have faulted Eddie at all if as soon as he heard Abby’s name, and saw Buck’s look of shock, and realized this was the Abby if he’d put his foot down right there and said, “You are not fucking going anywhere near that train car Buck” and Buck and Eddie started having their own argument about how Eddie isn’t in charge of Buck, and Buck is just trying to do his job, and Eddie went off on Buck being way too close to the situation, and that he would do anything to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere near that train car. like wow.